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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S5W-18850

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 1 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to promote the use of local natural stone in its buildings.

The Scottish Government estate comprises 73 buildings of which 18 are Crown owned. Of these 18 there are 2 that make use of local natural stone, these are Saint Andrew's House and Governor's House - both of which are Grade A listed properties in Edinburgh. There is a 'stone graveyard' situated in the grounds of Saint Andrew's House which allow replacement stones to weather over time. Both properties are surveyed annually in line with our Conservation Plan and should there be a need to replace any stone this is undertaken as part of Planned Maintenance for the properties.

Question reference: S5W-18970

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 27 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress being made to deliver the recommendations of the Montgomery Review of Access to New Medicines.

We are continuing to work towards the implementation of the recommendations from the Review of Access to New Medicines.

Recent developments include the publication of the Access to Medicines Data Scoping Taskforce Report “Building Capability to Assess Real-World Benefits, Risk and Value of Medicines: Towards a Scottish Medicines Intelligence Unit”. The new “Ultra-Orphan” decision pathway will also begin to come into place from October 2018. And the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) continues to enhance its effectiveness and accessibility to the public, and has now begun to publish new explanatory leaflets about individual decisions.

From August 2018, the SMC also introduced interim accepted advice for medicines with a conditional marketing authorisation from the European Medicines Agency.

Question reference: S5W-18979

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 27 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the provision of electronic prescribing in the NHS.

The ePharmacy Programme is a multi-year programme that has helped revolutionise the way GP prescriptions are issued, dispensed at community pharmacies and processed for payment by the NHS, using Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions.

Over 100 million prescriptions are dispensed in the community annually in Scotland, with over 90% of these prescribed by GP practices and dispensed at a community pharmacy. Over 97% of GP prescriptions in the community are now issued electronically; of these over 93% are claimed by the pharmacies electronically and of these over 90% of these items are processed for payment automatically. This means that over 75 million items per year are now fully automated, with no transcription errors between prescribing and dispensing, delivering efficiency savings, and improvements in payment accuracy. All this has been achieved through the electronic prescription and pharmacy dispensing systems provided through the ePharmacy Programme.

Question reference: S5W-18939

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 27 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reports that cladding work at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow has led to some seriously-ill children being advised not to use the children's entrance; what discussions it has had with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde regarding this, and by what date the issues will be rectified.

The Scottish Government and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have been in regular contact to discuss NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's plans to ensure easy access into their buildings. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, the Royal Hospital for Children's project team and the Contractor have ongoing meetings since March 2018 to ensure that all matters that may impact on the patients and staff due to these works are kept to a minimum.

The temporary relocation of the entrance to the Royal Hospital for Children has been planned in conjunction with the site management team and appropriate safety precautions and temporary signage directing patients and visitors to the reassigned principal entrance are in place.

This phase of the works to the Children’s Hospital is scheduled for completion by the 6th March 2019, given the current progress of the works on site it is considered that this date will be brought forward and the front entrance will be reinstated quicker than the current programme.

Question reference: S5W-18849

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 27 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with local authorities to promote the use of locally sourced stone in buildings and in streetscapes.

Scotland’s built environment has a rich legacy of the innovative use of stone and we are keen to capitalise on and promote the use of our national assets wherever possible. The then-Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy met with the three founders of the Scottish Stone Group in November 2017, which was established to raise awareness of locally sourced stone.

Although it is for local authorities to determine where to source materials the Scottish Government’s architecture and planning policies encourage new development that responds appropriately to its context and which reinforces local identity and character. The use of appropriate materials is recognised as a key consideration in this.

Question reference: S5W-18944

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 27 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many clinicians have used the Peer Approved Clinical System (PACS) Tier Two system to apply for the breast cancer drug, Perjeta, and how many applications have been approved.

Question reference: S5O-02423

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 September 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that pupils in Lothian have access to as broad a range of exam level subjects as possible.

Question reference: S5W-18947

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of providing people with septo-optic dysplasia access to NHS stem cell treatment.

Question reference: S5W-18852

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 26 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to update its procurement policy to reduce the levels of imported stone in any public buildings.

Scottish procurement legislation, which implements EU public procurement Directives, requires that any technical specifications in relation to public contracts assures equal access of suppliers to the contract and must not narrow competition. In most cases, therefore, it is simply not possible to specify Scottish materials when placing public contracts. There may be some exceptions to this, for example where the materials in question have unique characteristics and they are required to be used under the contract in order to retain a building’s characteristics.

Question reference: S5W-18458

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 25 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government in light of reported concerns about the impact on health of traces of glyphosate being found in food products.

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) leads on matters relating specifically to food safety in Scotland. FSS liaises closely with Food Standards Agency (FSA) in the rest of the UK on food safety matters, particularly those regulated at EU level.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) leads for the UK on pesticide safety assessments. Neither FSA nor HSE have contacted FSS to discuss glyphosate as current residue levels in food are not considered to provide concern for food safety.