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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-28751

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the drug being tested as a possible treatment for COVID-19, what steps it is taking to ensure that there are adequate supplies of hydroxychloroquine to treat people with rheumatoid disease, and whether it can offer a similar assurance to that given by NHS England that it will maintain supplies for its service users.

Access to medicines should not be affected by the current COVID-19 global pandemic. There are no known supply issues and hydroxychloroquine remains available from manufacturers for community pharmacies to order through wholesalers.

There are a number of established clinical trials to explore whether a number of medicines, including hydroxychloroquine, may provide a potential treatment for COVID-19. Public Health England has secured relatively large volumes of hydroxychloroquine specifically for any NHS clinical trials across the UK, including Scotland, and the NHS has been advised to order through established supply routes so that prescription supplies are not affected.

The Medicines Healthcare and products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has published a reminder that hydroxychloroquine is not licensed to treat COVID-19 related symptoms or prevent infection and that it should only be used for this purpose within a clinical trial. The MHRA has also added hydroxychloroquine to the list of medicines that cannot be parallel exported from the UK in order to protect stock in the country for UK patients.

Question reference: S5F-04126

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 May 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 May 2020

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government is doing to ensure that the NHS remains open for treating conditions other than COVID-19.

Question reference: S5W-27923

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 3 April 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made an assessment of options to improve the resilience of the country's electricity infrastructure, in light of plans to expand the use of electric vehicles and the replacement of gas central heating systems with electric alternatives.

The Scottish Energy Strategy, published in December 2017, set out our vision for the future energy system in Scotland. Scotland’s energy networks will play a vital part in delivering our Strategy, and the transition towards a low carbon future. It is crucial that they are developed and funded in a way that recognises the key role they play in the energy transition, and capable of delivering a sustainable, low carbon future.

The Scottish Government, through the Energy Strategy, also set out a bold ambition to phase out the need for new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2032, eight years ahead of the rest of the UK. In addition, on 3 March 2020, the Scottish Government introduced the Heat Networks (Scotland) Bill to the Scottish Parliament. The Bill aims to encourage greater deployment of district and communal heating in Scotland by introducing regulation to the sector.

Decarbonising transport and heat will be vital, as we highlighted in our Vision for Scotland’s Electricity and Gas Network to 2030; this creates particular challenges for planning and operating our electricity networks, which must be able to support the increased demand that growth in these areas will create. This includes enabling the rapid rollout of low carbon technologies, including heat pumps and electric vehicles (EVs), the latter alongside an EV charging network which can accommodate and support them. Achieving this will require innovative approaches to make the most effective use of new and existing network capacity, balancing costs and benefits to today’s consumer against those of future consumers and society as a whole.

Increased demand and applications for connection to the electricity distribution network will also increase our reliance on the electricity system. We need to ensure that our electricity networks are upgraded to serve that demand, and that our capacity to generate zero carbon electricity continues to grow. We are working closely with Scotland’s network owners to understand what needs to be done and when, and engaging regularly with Ofgem and the UK Government to ensure that the regulatory system can facilitate the necessary investment.

The Scottish Government has recently established a new group focused on Scotland’s energy networks. The Energy Networks Strategic Leadership Group (SLG) provides a knowledgeable and influential forum for discussing the ways in which the development of Scotland’s energy networks can recognise and deliver Scottish energy and climate change policy objectives.

We continue to support renewable generation projects in Scotland, and welcome the recent consultation on allowing onshore wind and solar to compete in future Contracts for Difference (CfD) auctions. These sources, as well as offshore wind, island wind and marine renewables, will help meet that higher electricity demand, and deliver our target for the equivalent of 50% of all energy to come from renewable sources by 2030.

Question reference: S5O-04262

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that people across the country have easy access to community sports facilities.

Question reference: S5W-27507

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the proposed sale of Glasgow Prestwick Airport, and when the successful bidder will be named.

I advised Parliament on 19 December 2019 that a Preferred Bidder had been selected and set out the reasons why the identity of the Preferred Bidder could not be disclosed. I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-26761 on 19 December 2019. 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

Good progress continues to be made and we are satisfied with how the sale process is developing. I will update Parliament further in due course once discussions with the Preferred Bidder have concluded.

Question reference: S5W-27579

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 28 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential disruption to a child's education caused by having a parent in the armed forces.

We fully recognise the potential disruption which Armed Forces children may face during their education.

The Additional Support for Learning Act places duties on education authorities to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs, long and short term, of pupils in their schools. The supporting statutory Code of Practice is clear that additional support needs encompass a wide range of barriers to learning, including those which might impact on children from forces families such as interrupted learning and parental deployment. The assessment of needs and the support required depends on individual circumstances and is a matter for the education authority, school and family.

The Scottish Government continues to work with a wide range of stakeholders to help understand and promote support for the education needs of children from military families.

Question reference: S5O-04210

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress it is making in implementing the proposals in its paper, A Fairer Scotland for Older People: A Framework for Action.

Question reference: S5W-27287

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 25 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to ensure that patients who were involved in the recently published trial of the blood test for early diagnosis of people at risk of lung cancer continue to receive the follow-up screening attention that they need.

Question reference: S5W-27286

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 25 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when the funding for a lung cancer screening pilot programme that it committed to in December 2019 will be released, and what the next steps are to implement this programme.

The Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office awarded funding in January 2020 for a two year research project led by the University of Edinburgh titled: “How should Scotland respond to the challenge of Lung Cancer Screening: a mixed methods feasibility study?” that will examine how to best identify those at highest risk of lung cancer and offer them a medical check on their lung health. The project is expected to start once the arrangements needed to conduct the study have been put in place by the research team.

Question reference: S5W-27310

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 25 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to implementing a screening programme for lung cancer, in light of it being the most common cause of death from cancer in Scotland.

The Scottish Government, along with the rest of the UK is advised on all aspects of screening by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent expert advisory group. Due to a lack of evidence to support the use of the screen tests within a population screening programme the UK NSC do not currently recommend screening for lung cancer. We understand the VKNSC will review the evidence again following the publication of the results of the NELSON randomised lung cancer screening trial. The Scottish Government is exploring what further opportunities exist for Scotland to contribute to the emerging evidence base.