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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: S6F-01423

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 October 2022

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government is doing to reduce deaths in custody, including suicides, in light of reports of a 60% year-on-year increase.

Question reference: S6W-11019

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 29 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is still committed to building HMP Glasgow and HMP Highland as replacements for HMP Barlinnie and HMP Inverness, respectively.

The Scottish Government is committed to building HMP Highland and HMP Glasgow.

Work is underway to replace HMP Inverness with HMP Highland at the chosen site at Inverness Retail and Business Park. The initial contract was awarded in October 2021 and pre-construction work has started. HMP Highland will provide 200 places, allowing for more people to reside closer to their home in the community and enhance family contact.

The work on HMP Glasgow is also progressing. The contract for pre-construction services was awarded in July 2022. A key aim of the design is to create an environment that is inclusive and recognises the particular vulnerabilities of the population.

Question reference: S6O-01419

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the emergency stakeholder meeting on 12 September regarding its proposed new Agricultural Bill.

Question reference: S6O-01391

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the Scottish Retail Consortium's recommendation to accelerate the process of lowering the higher property rate.

Question reference: S6W-10427

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken on the impact of geographical variation in primary care pathways for the early detection of liver disease.

Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone with liver disease is able to access the best possible care and support and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and person-centred.

Although the Scottish Government has not directly undertaken any analysis into the impact of geographical variation in primary care pathways for the early detection of liver disease, we are aware of the work currently being conducted by one of our partners, British Liver Trust, who are gathering evidence on how best to improve the management of chronic liver disease in primary care.

Question reference: S6O-01348

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the error with Police Scotland’s online crime reporting system, which meant that between 3.00 pm on 31 August and 6.00 am on 1 September crimes reported through the online system were not recorded.

Question reference: S6W-10384

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many individuals died from alcohol-related liver disease in (a) North Ayrshire and (b) Inverclyde in each year since 2016.

Table 1 – deaths from alcohol liver disease (ICD-10 K70) in Inverclyde and North Ayrshire, 2016 to 2021

	yr
	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
	N	N	N	N	N	N

Inverclyde	14	14	12	18	21	15
North Ayrshire	27	27	24	33	33	26
All	41	41	36	51	54	41

Source: National Records of Scotland

Causes of death categorised using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems, 10th Edition (ICD-10). Alcoholic liver disease classified as ICD-10 code K70. Geographical breakdown based on local authority of residence of the deceased.

Question reference: S6W-10383

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how many individuals who died from liver disease in the past three years lived in (a) the 20% most deprived data zones in Scotland and (b) the 20% least deprived data zones in Scotland according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Table 1 – deaths from liver disease (K70 – K77) by SIMD Quintile 2019-2021

		2019	2020	2021
Scotland	ASMR	18.4	20.7	21.8
	ASMR lower CI	17.3	19.5	20.6
	ASMR upper CI	19.6	21.9	23.0
	Number of deaths	1013	1144	1203
Quintile 1 (most deprived)	ASMR	35.3	36.8	39.9
	ASMR lower CI	31.5	33.0	35.9
	ASMR upper CI	39.0	40.7	43.8
	Number of deaths	343	355	387
Quintile 2	ASMR	23.6	26.3	28.9
	ASMR lower CI	20.6	23.2	25.6
	ASMR upper CI	26.5	29.4	32.2
	Number of deaths	246	277	301
Quintile 3	ASMR	16.0	19.8	19.9
	ASMR lower CI	13.6	17.2	17.3
	ASMR upper CI	18.3	22.4	22.5
	Number of deaths	181	228	228
Quintile 4	ASMR	13.3	12.8	14.1
	ASMR lower CI	11.3	10.8	12.0
	ASMR upper CI	15.4	14.8	16.2
	Number of deaths	159	154	169
Quintile 5 (least deprived)	ASMR	7.3	11.0	10.0
	ASMR lower CI	5.8	9.1	8.2
	ASMR upper CI	8.9	12.9	11.9
	Number of deaths	84	130	118

ASMR – Age standardised mortality rate

Lower CI – 95% lower confidence interval

Upper CI – 95% upper confidence interval

Source: National Records of Scotland

Causes of death categorised using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems, 10 th Edition (ICD-10). Liver disease classified as ICD-10 codes K70-K77. Note that this is a wider definition than alcohol liver disease (code K70). For comparing SIMD quintiles, ASMRs are advised rather than number of deaths due to differing sizes and structures if the population across SIMD quintiles. Age-standardised mortality rates are presented per 100,000 people and standardised to the 2013 European Standard Population; upper and lower confidence intervals show the likely range of variation.

Question reference: S6O-01319

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the latest alcohol-related deaths statistics.

Question reference: S6W-10313

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 29 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of the impact of (a) alcohol misuse and (b) obesity on liver disease mortality rates, in the West Scotland region.

We know that alcohol misuse and obesity are the two main risk factors (together with blood borne viruses) that cause liver disease.

Research by the British Liver Trust shows that alcohol-related liver disease accounts for 60% of all liver disease. The latest alcohol-specific deaths statistics published by National Records of Scotland in August 2022 show that in 2021 alcoholic liver disease caused 795 deaths which is an increase of 36 compared to the previous year.

Living with obesity or being overweight is also linked with an increased risk of developing a non-alcohol-related fatty liver disease (NAFLD). According to the 2019 Scottish Health Survey , two-thirds of adults in Scotland were living with obesity or being overweight. Obesity prevalence in Scotland has remained relatively stable since 2008.

The Scottish Government has not carried out a specific assessment of the impact of either alcohol misuse or obesity on liver disease mortality rates in the West of Scotland.

However, we are determined to address Scotland’s problematic relationship with alcohol and unhealthy diet. We are in the process of reviewing the Minimum Unit Price and Alcohol Brief Interventions policies with an intention to consult on a range of potential alcohol marketing restrictions as we continue to implement the 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan .