Seòmar agus comataidhean

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

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 414 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6O-02197

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding how the Scottish Government analyses the impact on island communities of disruption to ferry services.

Question reference: S6W-16981

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 28 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the Minister for Transport will next meet with Highland Council to discuss the Corran Narrows crossing.

Question reference: S6W-16983

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 28 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Highland Council regarding the condition of roads in the Highland Council area.

Transport Scotland officials attend a quarterly liaison meeting with the Highland Council regarding trunk road matters within their area. In addition to the quarterly meeting, the Highland Council road officers get in touch with Transport Scotland officials as and when required.

The local road network is the responsibility of local authorities and they will allocate resources on the basis of local priorities.

Question reference: S6W-16984

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 28 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what specific support it provides to local authorities to address any potholes caused by deteriorating roads.

The local road network is the responsibility of local authorities and they will allocate resources on the basis of local priorities. The vast majority of funding to local authorities from the Scottish Government is provided via a block grant and we do not stipulate how local authorities should utilise their individual allocations. It is therefore the responsibility of each local authority to manage their own budget and to allocate the financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Despite UK Government cuts, the Scottish Government has protected Councils in the most challenging Budget since devolution to provide nearly £13.5 billion in the 2023-24 Local Government Settlement – a cash increase of over £793 million or 6.3%, which is a real terms increase of £376 million or 3%.

Question reference: S6O-02183

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of any potential impact on local communities of the reported deterioration of vital transport links in the Highlands and Islands region.

Question reference: S6W-16979

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 26 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the Orkney ferry replacement task force will next meet.

Question reference: S6W-16229

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time has been for patients from the Highlands and Islands region who have travelled to other NHS boards outside of the Highlands and Islands for treatment in each of the last 15 years, also broken down by (a) the patients' registered NHS board, (b) the NHS board patients were eventually treated in and (c) treatment or speciality.

The Median waiting time for patients residing in NHS Highland, NHS Orkney, NHS Shetland, and NHS Western Isles that have attended a new outpatient appointment or received treatment as an inpatient or day case in other NHS Boards, in each of the last 10 years can be found in the Scottish Parliament Information under Bib. No. 64141.

Please note that PHS are unable to provide data at procedure level, and so data are provided at specialty level only. NHS Board of residence is derived from a patient’s postcode at the point when they were added to the waiting list. Please also note that PHS are unable to provide data prior to October 2012, so annual data are provided from January 2013 onwards.

For each NHS Board/specialty combination, the number of new outpatient attendances and inpatient/day case admissions has been provided along with the median and 90th percentile length of wait. The median is provided rather than the mean because an average can be skewed incorrectly by a small number of very long waits that are recorded in error in the national data. The 90th percentile statistic indicates that 9 out of 10 patients waited less than or equal to the number of days shown and provides a more accurate representation of the length of wait experienced by patients.

Question reference: S6W-16462

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 24 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much money it expects to save from the change made to the Small Business Bonus Scheme in the Scottish Budget 2023-24, where the threshold for 100% rates relief will reduce from £15,000 to £12,000.

The Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) was reformed and eligibility extended in the Scottish Budget 2023-24. In the December 2022 Economic and Fiscal Forecast report, the Scottish Fiscal Commission forecast that this would reduce the cost of SBBS relief by £53 million in 2023-24, with similar annual savings of between £55 million and £60 million in subsequent years over the 5-year forecast period. This policy costing included the impact of a lower rateable value threshold for 100% relief as well other changes such as the introduction of a taper, and the extension of eligibility for properties with a rateable value up to £20,000.

Acknowledging the impact of the revaluation and of changes to SBBS, the Scottish Budget 2023-24 also included a Small Business Transitional Relief which will limit bill increases for properties that received SBBS relief on the 31st of March 2023 for the next three years. This policy is forecast to save ratepayers £40 million in 2023-24, £39 million in 2024-25 and £33 million in 2025-26.

The net savings to the Scottish Government of these measures combined is £13 million in 2023-24, £18m in 2024-25 and £24m in 2025-26.

Question reference: S6W-16227

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients from NHS (a) Highland, (b) Orkney, (c) Shetland and (d) Western Isles have been treated in other NHS boards outwith the Highlands and Islands in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (i) NHS board of treatment and (ii) speciality.

Question reference: S6W-16231

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address any distance decay in relation to health outcomes in the Highlands and Islands.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any evidence of distance decay in relation to health outcomes in Scotland.

Responsibility for service delivery rests locally with Health Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs). For NHS Boards that cover remote and rural settings, local planning is expected to take account of the particular needs of these communities. Officials engage with Health Boards and HSCPs on a regular basis to review health outcomes.