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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: S6W-09680

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 26 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering introducing the routine testing for group B streptococcus in pregnant women, in light of reports that such testing takes place in other developed countries including the United States, Canada, Germany, France and Spain.

Any decision on whether or not to introduce a new national screening programme in Scotland is guided by the recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent expert advisory group which advises all four nations of the United Kingdom on screening policy. In 2017, the UK NSC recommended against the introduction of a Group B Streptococcus (GBS) screening programme. If a recommendation is made by the UK NSC to introduce GBS screening then the Scottish Screening Committee, in consultation with medical experts in this field, will advise Scottish Ministers on the most appropriate course of action for Scotland.

The GBS3 clinical trial , run by the Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit, is looking to gather evidence on whether a universal screening programme would be both clinically and cost effective. The UK NSC will review the evidence for screening once findings from the GBS3 clinical trial are published and the Scottish Screening Committee will give careful consideration to any recommendation the NSC makes. All NHS Boards have been made aware of the opportunity to participate in the GBS3 trial.

Question reference: S6W-09677

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 26 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to reduce the (a) rate and (b) number of group B streptococcus-related deaths in newborns.

We expect NHS Boards to follow the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidance in the diagnosis, management and treatment of Group B Streptococcus infection in pregnant women and their babies. NICE guideline NG195, Neonatal infection: antibiotics for prevention and treatment , published on 20 April 2021 and developed in partnership with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), is the most recent clinical guidance available.

All pregnant women in Scotland are provided with a copy of Ready, Steady, Baby! ( RSB!), a guide to pregnancy, labour and birth and early parenthood up to 8 weeks. RSB! is also available via the NHS Inform website and includes information on GBS . The RCOG Group B Streptococcus in pregnancy and newborn babies leaflet is also provided to women.

Question reference: S6W-09691

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 26 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much it expects the referral to the Supreme Court of whether the question for a referendum on Scottish independence contained in the proposed referendum Bill relates to reserved matters to cost.

Question reference: S6W-09417

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 26 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any (a) primary and (b) secondary schools that have exclusively gender-neutral toilets for children.

Question reference: S6W-09416

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 26 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any new (a) primary and (b) secondary schools being built with exclusively gender-neutral toilets for children.

Question reference: S6W-09393

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 26 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Police Scotland regarding police officers being stationed in schools through the use of pupil equity funding.

Question reference: S6W-09893

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 26 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many written parliamentary questions were answered (a) within and (b) after the due date, in each month since July 2021.

Question reference: S6W-09598

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 26 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02451 by Maree Todd on 21 September 2021, whether it will provide an update on how many cervical cancer screenings have taken place in each month since the start of 2019.

Further to the answer to question S6W-02451 which provided information on the number of samples collected within the cervical screening programme from January 2019 to August 2021. 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 The following table provides information for each of the months that followed from September 2021 to June 2022.

Cervical Smears collected
Month/Year	2021	2022
Jan		25990
Feb		26873
March		29722
April		24461
May		28919
June		27959
July
August
September	22562
October	22545
November	27967
December	19175

However, it is important to note that the Scottish Government does not routinely publish this information as it is only held as management data and is not subject to the standard quality control checks required for official publication. During the acute phase of COVID-19 management, the data was provided in light of the increased interest in screening performance. However, a report is produced annually providing fully checked information and statistics, and I now refer to the most recently published report which can be found here: Scottish cervical screening programme statistics - Annual update to 31 March 2021 - Scottish cervical screening programme statistics - Publications - Public Health Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-09615

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 26 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, following the implementation of the Young Person’s Guarantee and Kickstart Scheme in 2020, how many funded apprenticeship places have been (a) offered to and (b) taken up by deaf school leavers, including school leavers with mild or moderate hearing impairments.

Official statistics from our national skills agency, Skills Development Scotland show that there were 26 Modern Apprentice (MA) Starts, in the 16-19 age grouping, who were recorded as having a hearing impairment and were recorded as being school pupils prior to commencing their apprenticeship. This data covers MA starts from 1 September 2020 to 31 March 2022 and further apprenticeship data will be available when the Quarter 1 2022-23 report is published, which is expected in August 2022. These figures are on the basis of self-declaration and therefore may be higher than this.

Question reference: S6W-09767

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09142 by Mairi Gougeon on 6 July 2022, for what reasons it has taken over one year for the report on bird stomach contents to be finalised and published.