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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-00438

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many overseas visitors arrived directly into Scottish airports or ports in 2021, broken down by, where available, (a) the stated reason for the visit, (b) how many of the visitors provided evidence of a negative COVID-19 test at the point of arrival, (c) how many visitors were tested for COVID-19 by health authorities on arrival, (d) how many visitors were found to be positive for COVID-19 on arrival and (e) how many visitors were denied entry on the grounds of public health alone.

Information on arrivals into the UK are published by the Home Office and can be found here: Immigration statistics, year ending March 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

All travellers have to take a COVID-19 test within 72hrs of their departure; evidence has to presented to the carrier prior to boarding the aircraft at their port of origin. To be allowed to enter the country, all travellers need to be in possession of the relevant managed quarantine or test package dependent on which country they have come from or transited through. This is checked at the UK border.

Question reference: S6W-00451

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what exemptions from the £1,750 COVID-19 hotel quarantine charge it (a) is currently considering and (b) has considered and ruled out.

There are arrangements in place to allow travellers to travel without pre-payment of the Managed Quarantine Hotel/Testing Package who are claiming Hardship. The Scottish Government have agreed to accept the costs of Scottish residents on Low Income benefits. The list of agreed benefits is:

Universal Credit
Child Tax Credit
Council Tax Reduction
Working Tax Credit
Housing Benefit
Income Support
Pension Credit
Income-based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Carers Allowance

Question reference: S6W-00444

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS patients in the Central Scotland parliamentary region have waited over 12 weeks for treatment in each year since 2018-19.

Information on the number of NHS patients waiting for treatment is published quarterly by Public Health Scotland and can be found at NHS waiting times - stage of treatment 25 May 2021 - Data & intelligence from PHS (isdscotland.org)

This data shows the number of patients on waiting lists and how many have been waiting over 12 weeks. This is shown by NHS Board and can be filtered to show numbers by specialities.

Question reference: S6W-00410

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the appeal launched by the European Stroke Organisation in May 2021 calling for health ministers across Europe to sign a declaration for action on implementing a Europe-wide stroke action plan, and how its response impacts its Stroke Improvement Plan.

The Scottish Government welcomes the work of the European Stroke Organisation and we agree that it is vital to ensure improvements are made to stroke pathways and services, including prevention, treatment and care.

Through our Programme for Government commitments and the Stroke Improvement Plan, we are already reflecting the aims of the European Stroke Organisation’s appeal targets.

We will continue to implement our Stroke Improvement Plan which sets out our priorities for improving diagnosis, treatment and care for those affected by stroke alongside the ongoing work to deliver the Programme for Government stroke commitments. We are expecting a report on progressive stroke services by the end of December 2021. This will set the intention for our future actions to improve care for people with stroke.

Question reference: S6W-00446

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many planned NHS operations took place in the Central Scotland parliamentary region in each (a) of the last three years and (b) month since April 2021, and how many were cancelled, also broken down by reason for cancellation.

Question reference: S6W-00409

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to publish the definition of its progressive stroke service as detailed in its Programme for Government 2019-20; what plans it has to implement a progressive stroke service, and how it will ensure that people who survive a stroke in Scotland will have the same opportunity to achieve their recovery potential as those across the rest of the UK and North West Europe.

The Scottish Government is expecting a report on progressive stroke services by the end of December 2021. This Report will help to support and drive improvement in stroke services across Scotland.

The Scottish Government is 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. That’s why the Programme for Government 2019-20 commits to ensuring that improvements are made to stroke pathways and services, including prevention, treatment and care. Work is ongoing to deliver against those commitments.

Question reference: S6W-00470

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made by the COVID-19 vaccination programme management and delivery team in addressing lower confidence in vaccinations in some ethnic minority communities, and in identifying where there are continuing gaps in the take up of the vaccination.

Question reference: S6W-00456

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what medicines or other products are unavailable from the free prescription service due to shortages of supply, broken down by (a) the reason for each shortage, (b) when it expects each shortage to be resolved and (c) whether it will allow a substitution option for each medicine or product until supplies resume.

Shortages of medicines are an ongoing part of the day to day management of the NHS. The pricing and supply of medicines are reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government have regular engagement with the UK Government regarding the management medicine shortages as part of the UK Medicine Shortage Response Group.

Medicine shortages can occur for a range of reasons including supplier difficulty in sourcing core ingredients, removal of drugs from pharmaceutical provider lists and international supply issues. Most shortages are short in nature. Shortages are ameliorated by prescribing alternative medicines or therapeutics until a shortage is over. Information on current and ongoing supply issues relating to individual drugs or devices is shared by NHS Scotland via Medicine Supply Alert Notices (MSAN) with the relevant networks within the service to help prescribers and dispensers meet patients’ on-going medical needs. MSANs are published at SHOW - SGHSC - Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates . The NHS Scotland Prescribing Advisers’ Network provides support to prescribers on the use of alternative products.

Question reference: S6W-00447

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the independent public inquiry on care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic will (a) be launched, (b) conclude and (c) publish its findings.

Question reference: S6W-00442

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that there are no discrepancies in pay between nurses and other healthcare workers who administer COVID-19 vaccinations.

We have worked to ensure that nobody is placed at detriment as a result of their participation in the programme as a vaccinator.

Our desire to protect as much of Scotland’s population as quickly as possible has necessitated the deployment of all available resources, and the rate of progress we have seen would not have been possible without the mobilisation at pace of a large, capable and diverse workforce. We are grateful for the contribution nurses have made alongside other Healthcare Professionals.

It is our expectation that reliance on the temporary measures currently in place will reduce as Health Boards continue with efforts to recruit a sustainable vaccinator workforce.