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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-19475

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 1 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) thrombolysis and (b) thrombectomy procedures have been carried out in the last year; what information it has regarding how this compares with the rest of the UK, and what plans it has to increase to the number.

The Scottish Stroke Care Programme (SSCP) report 2018 states that in 2017, 1046 (12%) patients with ischaemic stroke received thrombolysis, the highest annual rate so far, and one which compares favourably with the rest of the UK and other European countries. The Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme indicates that the percentage of all stroke patients given thrombolysis from April 2017 to March 2018 was 11.5% in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The SSCP also reports that 13 patients received thrombectomy in Scotland in 2016-17. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2016-17, 537 patients received thrombectomy according to the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme. We recognise the benefits of thrombectomy which can significantly improve outcomes and quality of life for some people who have had an ischaemic stroke by reducing their level of disability. That is why the Directors of Planning Thrombectomy Advisory Group are producing a national planning framework for the provision of thrombectomy for Scotland. It is intended that this will be completed by early 2018. It will be the basis for moving forward on implementation and spread of thrombectomy provision in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-19353

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 26 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question to S5W-18905 by Joe FitzPatrick on 5 October 2018, what guidance has been issued regarding the use of Rezum as a treatment.

In September 2018, The National Institute for Health and Care <br>Excellence (NICE) published interventional procedures guidance <br>on the use of transurethral water jet ablation for lower urinary tract <br>symptoms caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia <br>(link: <a href="https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ipg629"> https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ipg629 </a> )

The Interventional Procedures (IP) programme aims to protect the
safety of patients and to support doctors. Each piece of guidance
makes recommendations about whether the interventional
procedure is safe enough and works well enough for routine use.
NHS Scotland is part of the IP programme and all IP guidance is
applicable in Scotland
(link: http://www.healthcareimprovementscotland.org/our_work/
technologies_and_medicines/nice_guidance_and_scotland/
interventional_procedures.aspx )

Question reference: S5O-02506

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 October 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to encourage doctors to relocate to rural practices.

Question reference: S5T-01261

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 October 2018
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it can provide that it has taken all required steps to protect consumers, food safety and the farming industry, following the discovery of BSE on a farm in Aberdeenshire.

Question reference: S5W-18905

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 5 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether the drug, Rezum, for the treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is available in Scotland, and, if not, for what reasons it is not included in SIGN guidelines.

The Scottish Government is aware that Rezum has recently been recommended by NICE and could be considered as an additional treatment for NHS Scotland patients. However, the role of the Scottish Government is to provide policies, frameworks and resources to NHS Boards to allow them to deliver services that meet the needs of their local populations. Within this context, the actual provision of healthcare services, is the responsibility of local Boards, taking into account national guidance, local service needs and priorities for investment.

Question reference: S5W-18697

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 25 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-18323 by Joe Fitzpatrick on 29 August 2018, whether it would consider amending the Prohibition of Smoking in Certain Premises (Scotland) Regulations 2006 to include bothies in the list of no-smoking premises to eliminate any uncertainty of the definition in schedule 1.

I refer the member to my answer to S5W-18323 pointing the member to the Scottish Government’s Tobacco Control Action Plan - http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2018/06/9483 .

The member will note from the Plan that our priority is on addressing health inequalities and cutting smoking rates, rather than legislation.

The Scottish Health Survey 2017, published on 25 September 2018, includes a number of areas where good progress has been made in key areas of population health.

In particular the smoking rate for adults has continued to fall and is now at 18 per cent (down from 28 per cent in 2003 and down from 2006 figure of 21%).

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Question reference: S5W-18517

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 18 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to increase grant support for Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action, in light of reports that it has not received any funding increase in the last five years in line with annual inflation.

As one of Scotland’s 32 third-sector interfaces (TSIs), Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action provides crucial local support for the third sector in Aberdeenshire whilst also informing local and national strategic priorities.

The Scottish Government has maintained significant levels of funding for TSIs since their inception in 2011. The current level of total funding to TSIs of £8.155 million per annum will continue for a further year to the end of September 2019. Within this, Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action’s share will continue at £316,800 per annum, the level it has been since 2012-13.

Question reference: S5W-18519

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 18 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its drive toward more community engagement and empowerment, what action it is taking to increase grant support for third sector interface organisations.

Question reference: S5W-18516

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 September 2018
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 13 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that many households were without water over the summer as they were dependant on private supplies, what action it is taking to improve the water infrastructure in rural areas.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with SEPA, Scottish Water, local authorities and others to ensure that those on private water supplies are supported through the unusually dry conditions we experienced this summer. In particular, the Scottish Government agreed to provide additional funding to local authorities in order to mitigate the cost of providing emergency supplies of water.

The Scottish Government continues to monitor the water scarcity situation carefully and, as we do following any significant disruption, will carefully review the issues that arose during the summer to see what lessons can be learned. In particular we will consider how private water supplies can be made more resilient to unusual events in future.

In relation to infrastructure improvements, the Scottish Government funds a non-means tested grant of up to £800 per household to support improvements to private water supplies. Advice on the improvements required and how to access the funding should be sought from the relevant local authority. In relation to public supplies, Scottish Water continues to invest in water supplies, including in rural areas, to ensure improve the quality and resilience of services.

We are currently consulting on the investment priorities for the water industry for the period 2021-27 and welcome views on how infrastructure should be provided in rural areas. The consultation closes on 28 September 2018.

Question reference: S5W-18357

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 5 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on removing the ban on the sale of raw milk.

There are no plans to remove the ban on the sale of raw milk in Scotland.

Raw drinking milk (and cream) has historically been recognised as a high risk to public health due to its association with a number of food poisoning outbreaks, mainly Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli O157 infection, and 12 potentially associated deaths in Scotland.

To mitigate this risk mandatory pasteurisation of raw cows’ drinking milk was introduced in Scotland in 1983, and extended to drinking milk from all farmed animals in 2006. Since these controls were put in place illnesses linked to the consumption of raw milk in Scotland have virtually disappeared.

Food Standards Scotland advises Ministers on food safety matters and have confirmed that mandatory pasteurisation is consistent with the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food advice, who recommend pasteurisation as the key critical control point in the prevention of milk borne disease. It is also in line with the recommendations of the E.coli Task Force Report from 2001, commissioned after 21 people died in a major food poisoning outbreak in Wishaw in 1996, which highlighted the raw milk ban in Scotland as a positive step in protecting consumers from the risks of E.coli O157. Mandatory pasteurisation also protects the wider community, as milk borne pathogens such as E.coli O157 are known to be transmitted through person to person contact.

The most recent scientific review, published in January 2015, was conducted by experts from the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Panel on Biological Hazards. This scientific opinion on public health risks associated with raw milk in the EU concludes that raw milk can be a source of harmful bacteria – mainly Campylobacter, Salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) - including E. coli O157 - and Listeria monocytogenes. The EFSA opinion identifies further hazards but these are not considered to be a significant risk in Scotland or the UK.

Given the historical evidence and weight of expert scientific opinion in favour of mandatory pasteurisationto protect public health, there are currently no plans to lift the ban on direct sales of raw drinking milk in Scotland. http://www.foodstandards.gov.scot/business-and-industry/industry-specific-advice/dairy