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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: S5O-04721

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support older people experiencing social isolation ahead of winter.

Question reference: S5W-32089

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 14 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of some university students not being able to return to campus and others paying full price for a limited service due to COVID-19, what action it can take to reduce fees for (a) international, (b) postgraduate and (c) other university students.

Providing free tuition for Scottish domiciled and EU students is a core policy of the Scottish Government and it ensures that education in Scotland remains about the ability to learn and not the ability to pay. Students coming to study in Scotland from the rest of the UK would be expected to pay a tuition fee rate of up to £9,250, which is consistent with the rates charged for study in England. The tuition fee rate for both international students and postgraduate study are not set by the Scottish Government.

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are autonomous bodies with responsibility for managing their own affairs. The Scottish Government and Scottish Ministers cannot intervene in internal matters such as decisions relating to the reducing of tuition fees for international students and those from the rest of the UK.

Question reference: S5W-32009

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 2 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the plan by Stirling Council to take over control of the running of the Wallace Monument, and what discussions it has had with the council regarding plans it has for its development.

I am aware that the Stirling Council has recently decided to assume responsibility for the management of the Wallace Monument. Stirling District Tourism, which currently operates the building, contacted me in September 2019 about discussions over the future of the building, which were then ongoing. While I was sympathetic and hopeful that a sensible and reasonable outcome could be achieved, I said that there was no remit for the Scottish Government to intervene as the Council is the legal owner of the Monument.

We have not had any discussions to date with Stirling Council about its future plans for the Wallace Monument. The legacy of William Wallace is an important part of Scotland’s history and the Monument makes a vital contribution to the heritage and tourism offer in Stirling and in promoting Scotland’s story, domestically and internationally. I hope, under the local authority’s control, that this will continue.

Question reference: S5W-31719

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 1 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many people who experienced a stroke in 2019-20 received a thrombectomy procedure within six hours of presenting at a hospital, and what information it has on how this compares with the rest of the UK.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a thrombectomy service in Scotland. That is why the Programme for Government 2020 reaffirms our commitment to ensuring that a national planning framework is in place for a high quality and clinically safe thrombectomy service.

The pilot in the North of Scotland Thrombectomy service will commence in autumn 2020, with a fully operational service in NHS Tayside anticipated by 2023.

Information on thrombectomy procedures in England can be found at: https://www.strokeaudit.org/ .

Question reference: S5W-31721

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 28 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to stroke care stakeholders to ensure that they are fully trained in providing treatment to survivors; whether it is aware of any knowledge deficit and, if so, what action it is taking to rectify this.

The Scottish Government are committed to ensuring that people who have had a stroke receive the best possible care as quickly as possible to enable them to live longer, healthier independent lives.

We are continuing to implement our Stroke Improvement Plan which sets out our priorities and actions to deliver improved prevention, treatment and care.

We expect NHS Boards to appropriately plan and deliver high quality, safe effective services and to regularly review services to maintain high level of quality and safety that people in Scotland expect and deserve. We continue to support the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme as key to informing and driving improvement across stroke care.

The Scottish Government has provided funding to Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland to refresh the Stroke Training and Awareness Resources (STARS) on line training modules. These include modules on stroke rehabilitation. A new module to provide training to deliver hyperacute stroke care was launched on 17 July. These can be found at: https://www.chsselearning.org.uk/

Question reference: S5W-31720

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 28 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it made in achieving each of the targets for stroke prevention, treatment and care that were set out in its 2019-20 Programme for Government, and when it expects stroke survivors to gain full benefit from these.

Question reference: S5W-31718

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 28 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what financial model it uses to determine how much it spends on stroke care, and what account this takes of the social and economic impact of effective treatment.

Setting the Scottish Budget is a year-round process and, as part of this, funding is provided to NHS Boards. The NHS Scotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) formula is a method to ensure the fair and equitable allocation of funds between Boards, taking into account key determinants in the variation of healthcare need in populations. The latest target shares are available through this web link https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Finance/Resource-Allocation
-Formula/resource-allocationlatest.asp

The majority of funding is provided as baseline budget and NHS Boards have the discretion to direct this funding to local priorities including stroke care, although there are separate performance outcomes which must be achieved. NHSScotland’s performance is measured against Local Delivery Plan (LDP) Standards which comprise the priorities that are set and agreed between the Scottish Government and NHS Boards. Performance data is published by the Scottish Government and can be accessed at https://www.gov.scot/publications/nhsscotland-performance-against-ldp-standards/

Question reference: S5W-31544

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 28 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the December 2019 minutes of the National Advisory Committee on Stroke, which reportedly suggest that there are budget constraints when implementing stroke care.

The section of the minutes of the December 2019 National Advisory Committee for Stroke (NACS) which refers to budget constraints was in the context of a discussion of the development of new guidelines jointly with the Royal College of Physicians of London to update their National Clinical Guideline for Stroke (2016).

As part of the Programme for Government stroke commitments to improve current stroke services, the Chair of the NACS and the Stroke Association met with Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) on 10 March 2020 to discuss guidelines. HIS have provisionally agreed to carry out a review of evidence supporting the description of a progressive stroke service in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-31545

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 28 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much it spends on stroke care, and how this compares with how much it would have to spend to match the Royal College of Physicians’ 2016 stroke guidelines.

The Scottish Budget for 2020-21 commits record levels of investment in Health and Social Care services with portfolio investment in 2020-21 reaching over £15 billion for first time.

The majority of funding is provided as baseline budget and NHS Boards have the discretion to direct this funding to local priorities including stroke care. We have set out the wider policy within which NHS Scotland is expected to deliver services, and expect all NHS Boards to provide high quality care that is safe, effective and person-centred, taking into account up to date evidence based guidelines.

Question reference: S5O-04625

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to empower local authorities to take decisions that are right for their communities.