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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5W-20538

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 21 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many independent dental practices have been subject to inspection by Healthcare Improvement Scotland since 2016, and how much these cost.

No practices have been inspected yet. The first inspections of dental practices will commence in March 2019. To date Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) has carried out pre-registration visits to dental practices only. It is estimated that Dental practice inspections will cost in the region of £1800 to £2000 per inspection. Fees are charged for initial registration and annual continuation fees which include the regulation and inspection process in its entirety. There are 24 currently practices registered and another 7 in progress.

Question reference: S5W-20540

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 21 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how patients can access the results of Health Improvement Scotland inspections carried out at dental practices.

Question reference: S5W-20416

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to BMA Scotland's comment that ISD statistics underestimate the consultant vacancy rate by excluding posts that have yet to be cleared to be advertised and do not take account of the reliance on locum doctors and “that by not including certain categories of vacancy, the official statistics simply don’t provide the full picture of the scale of consultant vacancies in our NHS”.

The number of consultants in post in NHS Scotland has increased by 50.8% under this Government, from 3,636.6 WTE in Sep 2006 to 5,484.8 in September 2018.

Vacancy statistics are a key part of quarterly official workforce statistics published by ISD Scotland and follow agreed measures of the size and composition of the NHS Scotland workforce.

Clear, agreed definitions are necessary to allow consistent comparison over time, and between individual NHS Boards. Every effort is made to ensure that in responding to ISD Scotland, Boards comply with data collection guidelines carefully, accurately and consistently.

We expect NHS Boards to always prioritise the recruitment of permanent staff to vacant posts. While this is taking place, the use of temporary staff allows essential services to patients to continue.

Question reference: S5T-01396

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 December 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason ministers will no longer hold a public session or Q&A as part of the annual review of NHS boards.

Question reference: S5W-20429

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 13 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to help women who are survivors of sexual violence to access cervical screening.

From 2018-19 we are providing funding to the Sandyford Clinic for women who have experienced rape or sexual violence and are due (or overdue) for their cervical screening test. The ‘My Body Back’ project runs clinics where women and transgender men who have experienced sexual assault are able to access cervical screening, STI checks, and coil fittings and removals. The clinics were started in response to requests from survivors, giving them a safe space in which they feel in control and have their needs met, regardless of when they were sexually assaulted.

We are also investing up to £5 million from the Cancer Strategy to tackle inequalities in access to screening, including cervical screening. A recent initiative we have funded includes the development and delivery of an education programme for smear takers in partnership with NHS Borders Joint Health Improvement Team and Scottish Borders Rape Crisis to raise awareness of cervical screening in vulnerable groups, with a focus on lesbian, bisexual women, the transgender community; female genital mutilation; childhood sexual abuse; rape & sexual assault and domestic abuse.

Question reference: S5W-20430

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 13 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to make it easier for women with learning disabilities to access cervical screening.

We are investing up to £5 million from the Cancer Strategy to tackle inequalities in access to screening, including cervical screening. This funding is supporting new activities, sharing of learning from local practice and innovation, to improve uptake of screening programmes, particularly amongst those least likely to participate.

A number of these projects focus specifically on women with learning disabilities and recent examples include:

The recruitment and training of Learning Disability Health Champions to raise awareness and understanding of the cancer screening programmes, including cervical.
Initiatives to help people with learning disabilities engage with the cervical screening programme through creative learning sessions such as using theatre, focus groups and champions.
Working with the Learning Disabilities Service to promote health literacy and to encourage a culture of “Normalisation and Talkability” around cervical screening to ensure that people with learning disabilities have additional support and increased engagement with services.

Officials continue to work closely with Cervical Screening Coordinators from all NHS Boards to develop local level initiatives to improve uptake for all women and to promote cervical screening services by communicating effectively with a range of audiences.

Question reference: S5O-02703

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 December 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve support for women who have lipoedema.

Question reference: S5W-19808

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 12 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the number of female apprentices completing their training reportedly falling by 11% in the last four years, what it is doing to reverse this trend, and what specific action it will take on this issue in relation to STEM-related subjects.

The figure stated is not an accurate reflection of female achievement. Apprenticeship frameworks vary in the number of years they take to complete, therefore achievement level by year is not necessarily the most reliable indicator of success of any particular group. On this basis considering the overall female achievement rate is a more meaningful figure, which in 2017-2018 was 77%. Overall, the proportion of females starting apprenticeships has been consistent over recent years.

Through our Developing the Young Workforce – Youth Employment Strategy and our STEM Strategy for Education and Training we make clear our ambitions to improve gender balance in areas such as early years and construction. And, we are seeing early positive signs of improvement in STEM, with an increase in female apprentice starts from 6.6% in 2016-17 to 9.1% in 2017/18 (+ 2.5%).

In addition, the Skills Development Scotland (SDS) five year Apprenticeship Equalities Action Plan (EAP) details the measures SDS will deliver to stimulate change in the short, medium and long-term. The plan specifically outlines the challenges to be addressed to improve gender imbalance within uptake of some occupational frameworks.

The Apprenticeship Equality Action Plan also highlights Skills Development Scotland’s actions with training providers and employers on both recruitment practices to attract more young women to choose apprenticeships, and the support they provide to ensure they stay on and complete their apprenticeship.

Question reference: S5O-02693

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the procedures used by the Public Defence Solicitors' Office and the Scottish Legal Aid Board to investigate workplace bullying and harassment.

Question reference: S5W-19856

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 29 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its spokesperson’s comment in the Scottish Daily Mail on 10 November 2018, whether it will confirm that it does not support the decriminalisation of abortion and, if so, what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

The Scottish Government confirmed in its Programme for Government for 2016-2017 that it had no current plans to change the law on abortion. The Scottish Government is not opposed in principle to the decriminalisation of abortion. However our priority is to focus efforts on improving abortion services. The Scottish Government is continuing to work with NHS Boards to look at how further improvements can be made to abortion services in Scotland.