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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: S6W-28636

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 July 2024
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Kate Forbes on 18 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Chair of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s report on Module 1, covering pre-pandemic preparedness and resilience, which publishes on 18 July 2024.

We welcome the publication of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 1 report on pre-pandemic preparedness and resilience. A copy of the report is available online at Module 1 Report - UK Covid-19 Inquiry (covid19.public-inquiry.uk) .

The Scottish Government will carefully consider the Module 1 report and provide detailed responses to its recommendations in due course, within the timescales set out by the Chair.

Families across the country lost loved ones to the Covid-19 pandemic, and we offer our deepest sympathies to all those who have experienced pain and grief as a result. It is with their loss in mind that we continue our efforts to make effective, practical and measurable improvements in pandemic planning and preparedness.

The implementation of recommendations will require collaborative action with our counterparts across the four nations, and the Scottish Government is committed to working together, at all levels, in a way which allows us to best prevent, prepare for and respond to future whole system civil emergencies.

In parallel to the UK and Scottish Covid inquires, we have sought to identify key actions needed for the future. For example, the Standing Committee on Pandemic Preparedness was commissioned to provide advice on threat intelligence, assessment and response, priorities for research, ways to strengthen response infrastructure and priorities in relation to the Pandemic UK Risk Assessment. The Standing Committee’s final report is due this year.

As a direct result of lessons learned during the pandemic, the Scottish Risk Assessment (SRA) now presents a more generic pandemic scenario, reflecting a broader range of possible manifestations than previous iterations. The purpose of the SRA, alongside the UK national risk assessment, is to help the resilience community, at all levels, to understand and plan for the possible civil contingencies risks which Scotland may face. This includes how we can prepare for, respond to and mitigate the potential impacts of these risks, and recover from these events.

We recognise however, as set out in the Inquiry’s report, that there is further work to be done. It is important that we work together with communities, households and businesses to understand how we can make Scotland more resilient and support the most vulnerable in our society.

Question reference: S6W-28497

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 July 2024
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when ministers will be in a position to provide an update to the Parliament on the work of the Chief Medical Officer’s office to review the recommendations of the Cass Review and its implications for Scotland.

Today, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) has laid the multidisciplinary team's full report (SG/2024/132) in Parliament. The CMO is also writing to the Convener of the Health, Social Care and Sport committee to set out the findings of the multidisciplinary team. Given the significant interest, the full report and the CMO's letter will also be published on the Scottish Government website later today.

Pre-election guidance prevented this update from being provided in the run-up to the UK General Election, but a commitment was made to Parliament to provide this at the first opportunity after the restricted period ended.

The conclusions of the report will now be considered and used to improve gender identity healthcare for children and young people. The Scottish Government will update Parliament after recess.

Question reference: S6W-28139

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 25 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update regarding its current position in relation to potentially lifting the prohibition on fishing vessels landing berried hen lobsters from the (a) Solway Firth and (b) North Channel of the Irish Sea, in light of reported concerns from the fishing industry that the Marine Directorate research that underpins the prohibition is inadequate.

The situation in the Solway Firth and Northern Channel was unique, as those areas were not covered by our crab and lobster assessment areas. Therefore they did not benefit from the robust evidence base we have used to underpin our decision making.

After listening to concerns, officials met with fishers in that area over concerns of disproportionate impacts on their businesses. In response we adopted a co-management approach that put these fishers in the front seat of a bespoke scientific trial aimed at improving the evidence base and, longer term, developing a time series of data. Vessels participating in this initiative have now been issued with relevant permissions to continue to land, sell and consign berried lobsters.

Our prohibition on fishing vessels landing berried lobster hens from Scotland’s waters is a short-term measure designed to deliver benefits for stock health ahead of this fishing season, and that will be monitored and kept under review. This kind of prohibition is a common fisheries management tool that is already in place across England and the Shetland isles.

Question reference: S6F-03280

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 June 2024

To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on the Scottish Government’s work to roll out the Carer Support Payment.

Question reference: S6O-03626

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how citizens' assemblies can help ensure that the views of people in rural communities are taken into account in decision-making on matters of importance to rural Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-27895

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 May 2024
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jenni Minto on 28 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to increase access to diabetes technologies.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone living with diabetes can access the care that they need to live their lives well. This includes increasing access to diabetes technologies.

Between 2016 and 2022, we invested £29.6 million of additional funding to support the increased provision of diabetes technologies.

I am delighted to confirm that this financial year, up to £8.8 million of funding will be made available to expand access to diabetes technologies in Scotland. The focus will primarily be on providing access to all children that want Closed Loop Systems, but will also allow us to continue increasing access to adults.

This investment will allow us to continue developing innovative care models for diabetes in Scotland that have a focus on digital pathways and peer support.

Question reference: S6W-27770

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2024
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Neil Gray on 22 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has identified during the course of its ongoing investigation any other public sector organisations that have been impacted by the cyber attack on NHS Dumfries and Galloway infrastructure.

As part of the on-going forensic analysis, NHS Dumfries & Galloway identified that files belonging to National Records of Scotland, that were stored on the NHS D&G IT infrastructure, have been stolen as part of the cyber-attack. As National Records of Scotland are the data controller for those files, they are now considered a second victim in this incident. As such a crime report has been made to Police Scotland.

National Records of Scotland have undertaken a risk assessment and are taking appropriate actions to notify individuals that have been affected. National Records of Scotland will issue a news release later today to provide further information to members of the public.

Question reference: S6W-26990

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 7 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on (a) the uptake and (b) any assessment that it has made of the effectiveness of the Small Producers Pilot Fund, since it was launched.

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands launched the Small Producer Pilot Fund in December 2023 with £180,000 of funding in financial year 2023-2024 for two small-scale abattoir projects, a new information resource webpage for small producers, to develop a framework to assess small producer data, and to procure a service to deliver training courses for small producers. We are currently assessing the outcomes of the abattoir work and the website will launch shortly. This Government remains fully committed to supporting economically active small producers with £1 million in 2024-25 through the Small Producer Pilot Fund.

Question reference: S6W-26657

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 23 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported announcement from DADDS dental practice in Dumfries that it is to close, which will reportedly lead to the deregistration of 4,000 NHS patients, whether it will provide an update on what steps it is taking to support access to dental care for people residing within the Dumfries and Galloway Council area.

We introduced major NHS dental payment reform on 1 November 2023 which includes a new fee structure designed to make it more attractive for dentists to provide NHS services, and this has generally been well received by the sector.

I acknowledge that access remains challenging in certain areas, including Dumfries and Galloway - which is why we have made tailored funding available, including grants of up to £100,000 for opening a new or extending an existing practice in the area, as well as ‘golden hello’ payments of up to £37,500 for new trainee dentists practising in the area.

Scottish Government continues to work closely with NHS Boards, including NHS Dumfries and Galloway, to ensure they have the necessary support to offer continuity of NHS care to patients.

Question reference: S6O-03332

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to assist the Scottish Prison Service in the recruitment of new officers, in light of reported concerns regarding an ageing prison officer workforce.