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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-06506

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much each NHS board has spent on contracts for external speech-making consultancy, broken down by contract, in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S6W-06474

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to lower the age for bowel screenings, and what assessment it has made of recent research and practice, including the US Preventive Services Task Force B-grade recommendation for screening for colorectal cancer in adults aged 45 to 49.

The Scottish Government will only make plans to introduce any changes to the eligible age range for the bowel screening programme in Scotland if this is recommended by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC).

The UK NSC advises Ministers and the NHS in the 4 UK countries on all aspects of screening. The Committee’s recommendations are based on the latest evidence and agreed criteria for appraising the viability, effectiveness and appropriateness of a screening programme.

The current age ranges for the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme are based on the 2018 recommendation that screening for bowel cancer using the faecal-immunochemical test should be offered every 2 years to men and women between the ages of 50 and 74 in the UK.

The Scottish Government continues to stress that it is important at any age to be aware of the signs and symptoms of cancer, and to report any concerns to a GP Practice so that these can be investigated.

Question reference: S6W-06469

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the Scottish Ambulance Service's demand and capacity review was (a) started and (b) completed.

Question reference: S6W-06517

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many service user complaints have been brought against each NHS board, how many of those complaints were upheld, and how much was paid in compensation from those complaints, in each year since 2007.

The NHS complaints procedure does not provide for financial compensation.

Public Health Scotland produce an annual statistical release with links to each NHS Board Annual Complaints and Feedback reports. All data prior to 2010 has been archived to the National Records of Scotland web archive.

The information available on service user complaints, including complaints upheld can be accessed from the following links;

Links to NHS Complaints Data

2020/21 - Annual report on NHS complaints - 2020 to 2021 - Annual report on complaints - Publications - Public Health Scotland

2019/20 - Annual report on complaints - 2019/20 - Annual report on complaints - Publications - Public Health Scotland

2018/19 - Quality Indicators | NHS Complaints Statistics | Health Topics | ISD Scotland

2017/18 - Quality Indicators | NHS Complaints Statistics | Health Topics | ISD Scotland

2016/17 - 2017-10-03-Complaints-Report.pdf (isdscotland.org)

2015/16 - 2016-10-04-Complaints-Report.pdf (isdscotland.org)

2014/15 - 2015-09-29-Complaints-Report.pdf (isdscotland.org)

2013/14 - 2014-11-25-complaints-Summary.pdf (isdscotland.org)

2012/13 - 2013-09-24-Complaints-Report.pdf (isdscotland.org)

2011/12 - 2012-09-25-Complaints-Summary.pdf (isdscotland.org)

2010/11 - 2011-10-25-Complaints-Report.pdf (isdscotland.org)

Question reference: S6W-06527

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the review process of its development programmes and small grants programmes in Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda and Pakistan.

Again, I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35666 of
3 March 2021 which sets out in detail the review process of the development and small grants programmes in Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda and Pakistan undertaken by the Scottish Government. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-06526

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what development programmes it is considering as part of its international development aid.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35666 of 3 March 2021 which sets out in detail the programmes the Scottish Government has decided upon as part of its contribution to international development. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-06495

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many members of staff in each NHS board received trade union facility time, in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S6W-06538

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how much of the £375 million committed to support businesses impacted by COVID-19 has been allocated, and whether it will provide a breakdown of how it has been distributed.

All of the £375 million identified by the Scottish Government to provide businesses with support has now been allocated, including underspend from some of the funds, where business demand has been less than initially forecast.

I wrote to all MSPs in January to provide an update on how the initial £276 million of the £375 million Omicron business support package had been allocated.

On 10 February, I set out how a further £39.5 million of the funding package would be allocated, and on 21 Feb we announced the £80m Covid Economic Recovery Fund for local authorities to support local economies and cities recover from the pandemic.

As with all our previous business support funding, we are publishing management information on the funding paid out to businesses from this support package on a weekly basis.

Question reference: S6W-06504

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much each NHS board has spent on contracts for external legal support, broken down by contract, in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S6W-06463

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that people are still able to access community defibrillators, that require an access code sent to a mobile phone, during times when mobile phone networks are down, such as during the recent storms Arwen, Malik and Corrie.

The Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) Strategy 2021 to 2026 , recognises the importance of defibrillation within the chain of survival. The strategy outlines a number of actions to ensure that Public Access Defibrillators (PADs) are mapped, maintained and accessible to the public.

If a PAD is stored in a secure, passcode-protected cabinet and is registered on the National Defibrillator Network (The Circuit), the security code to access the PAD cabinet will be held by the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS). This security code will be verbally provided to any member of the public that requires access to the cabinet. The code is not texted or transmitted to the caller’s mobile device.

In the event that the mobile network is down, as a consequence of poor weather conditions, and a member of the public requires access to a locked PAD cabinet, they should endeavour to contact the Scottish Ambulance Service via an available landline or public telephone.

We would recommend that defibrillator guardians follow the advice of the Resuscitation Council of the UK (RCUK) and consider placing their defibrillators in an unlocked cabinet in order to make them as accessible as possible. Further information is available at: https://www.resus.org.uk/about-us/news-and-events/consensus-statement-aed-cabinets.