Questions and answers

Question reference: S6F-01014

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 April 2022

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-01013

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 April 2022

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-07865

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage will be included in the work to make an informed policy decision on the contribution of North Sea production to the global climate emergency and to Scotland’s economy, security and wellbeing, as outlined in the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party Shared Policy Programme, in light of the programme stating that “we do not have an entirely shared vision for the role of hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage across the whole economy”.

As part of the Bute House Agreement with the Scottish Green Party, the Scottish Government has committed to undertaking a Programme of Work and analysis to better understand our energy requirements as we transition to net zero and how this aligns with our climate change targets and the goal of the Paris agreement to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.

The Programme of Work will provide a balanced and informed analysis of the role that technologies such as hydrogen and CCUS can play in our just transition to net zero – with a focus on the potential of the sector, and its infrastructure and assets. The Scottish Government published its draft Hydrogen Action Plan on 10 November 2021 and will publish the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan in Autumn 2022.

Question reference: S6W-07837

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the information provided to cancer patients.

NHS 24 has recently completed an initial review of the cancer specific information on NHS Inform, to ensure it is clinically safe and any out of date information has been removed. Meanwhile NHS 24 is in discussions with a third sector organisation on the potential for an API (Application Programming Interface) to facilitate the sharing of information through enabling information to be systematically gathered and displayed on NHS Inform.

Question reference: S6W-07862

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on the work to make an informed policy decision on the contribution of North Sea production to the global climate emergency and to Scotland’s economy, security and wellbeing, as outlined in the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party Shared Policy Programme, and at what specific stage this work is currently at.

As part of the Bute House Agreement with the Scottish Green Party, the Scottish Government has committed to undertaking a Programme of Work and analysis to better understand our energy requirements as we transition to net zero and how this aligns with our climate change targets and the goal of the Paris agreement to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. This work is detailed in the Scottish Government’s response to question S6W-03953 on 25 October 2021.

The Programme of Work’s evidence base and some of its initial outputs will feature in the Scottish Government’s draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP) which will be published in Autumn 2022. The ESJTP will consider the whole energy system as part of the strategy and indicate the change required in electricity generation, heat, transport and all energy demand across Scotland.

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-07863

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the work to make an informed policy decision on the contribution of North Sea production to the global climate emergency and to Scotland’s economy, security and wellbeing, as outlined in the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party Shared Policy Programme, being due by the end of 2022, how this work and its findings will be taken into account in its Energy Strategy, which is due later in 2022.

Question reference: S6W-07856

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 25 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government on which date it anticipates the full public consultation will launch on a statutory duty of candour for police officers in the operation of their duty.

The Scottish Government will continue to support Police Scotland and wider partners as they respond to Dame Elish Angiolini’s review. We will launch a public consultation this year on those recommendations which require legislative change including creating an explicit duty of candour for police officers. The responses to this consultation will provide the basis for bringing forward a Bill and Regulations which will promote fairness and transparency and strengthen public confidence in our police. I will provide a further update to Parliament in due course.

Question reference: S6W-07864

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the findings of the work to make an informed policy decision on the contribution of North Sea production to the global climate emergency and to Scotland’s economy, security and wellbeing, as outlined in the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party Shared Policy Programme, will be published.

Question reference: S6W-07852

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions it has met its cancer treatment time guarantee in each year since 2012.

Information on NHS Scotland performance against the 62 and 31-day standards has been published by Public Health Scotland (PHS).

Information on NHS Scotland performance from 2012 to Q1 2020 is available on the Information Services Division site, which has since become part of PHS, located here: Latest Publications | ISD Scotland

Public Health Scotland has since June 2020 published quarterly breakdowns, located here: Publications - Public Health Scotland

Question reference: S6W-07860

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 25 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the development and wellbeing assessment tool currently being piloted by South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership could be a viable and cost-effective option to reduce screening waiting times for young people with suspected neurodevelopmental conditions.

The Scottish Government’s understanding is that the wellbeing assessment tool being piloted by South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership called the Autism Resource Co-ordination Hub (ARCH), is a support service for children, young people, adults and their families. It is not intended to replace services already provided by health, education or social work with regard to assessment, diagnosis or treatment of neurodevelopmental conditions.

The Scottish Government is committed to implementing the National Neurodevelopmental Specification: Principles and Standards of Care for Children and Young People, published in September 2021, which specifies service standards that all children’s services should follow, to ensure access to support is effective and consistent across Scotland. The ARCH service complements existing services and the Principles and Standards set out in the Neurodevelopmental Specification by providing the support provided by universal services, and the neurodevelopmental assessment pathway provided by NHS Lanarkshire community paediatrics and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

To support improvements across Scotland, £3.06 million was allocated to NHS Boards in 2021-22 to build professional capacity within Boards to support children and young people with neurodevelopmental support needs.

In March 2022, Scottish Government also provided over £750,000 to five local authority areas to run tests of change on the implementation of the Neurodevelopmental Specification. These tests will run over the next six months and will provide learning and evaluation to be shared across other local authorities and health board areas to inform and assist national implementation of the Specification.

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