Chamber and committees

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-26507

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 15 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether the plans for an online postal self-sampling service outlined in the Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Action Plan 2023-2026 will include testing for hepatitis C.

Public Health Scotland is currently leading the national roll-out of online postal self-sampling to test for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) with funding from Scottish Government. The service will initially offer testing for the most common STIs which are chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and HIV. The scope of the service will be kept under review, with potential to add further tests if evidence suggests this would be an effective and cost-effective approach.

Testing for hepatitis C is currently available through a range of routes, with a particular focus on settings which are most likely to be accessed by people at highest risk of infection, such as drugs services and prison healthcare. The Scottish Government has also funded research and pilot projects – including opt-out testing in three Emergency Departments – to help identify optimal approaches to testing for hepatitis C and other blood borne viruses in order to achieve our elimination goals.

Question reference: S6W-26819

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 April 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 May 2024

To ask to the Scottish Government for what reason social landlords reportedly have access to grants and additional time to support Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) compliance, in light of reports that many private landlords, who are struggling with rising mortgage costs and subject to rent control measures, limiting the ability to recoup any associated costs, do not have access to the same level of support.

Question reference: S6W-26821

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 April 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 May 2024

To ask to the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards reviewing the operational arrangements of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), as committed to in its consultation on reforms to EPCs.

Question reference: S6W-26820

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 April 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 May 2024

To ask to the Scottish Government what incentives there will be for landlords to comply with the new Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) regulations, in light of the reported current lack of enforcement by local authorities.

Question reference: S6W-26347

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many public sector vehicles are exempt from the (a) Glasgow and (b) Edinburgh Low Emission Zone.

There is no specific exemption for public sector vehicles.

The national exemptions set in the LEZ legislation include: vehicles for disabled persons, emergency service, military, historic and showman vehicles.

As stated in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, each local authority may offer local time-limited exemptions.

The number of public sector vehicles exempt from each Low Emission Zone is a matter for the relevant local authorities as the information requested is not held centrally.

Question reference: S6W-26447

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 10 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the anticipated local government elections in 2027, what information it has on when any work to redraw mainland council wards will commence.

Boundaries Scotland has the statutory responsibility to review the electoral arrangements for local government areas. In line with the requirements of the Local Government Act 1973, Boundaries Scotland must submit to Scottish Ministers a report on its review of the electoral arrangements for a local government area no more than 15 years after the previous report for that area was submitted. Boundaries Scotland is currently conducting the Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries, and will report to Ministers by 1 May 2025. Work to review council wards will recommence once this review has been submitted. The Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Bill proposes an amendment to the deadline by which Boundaries Scotland must complete the next local government reviews, from 31 December 2028 to 30 April 2031. This is to align the 15-year period between reviews with the five-year local government election cycle.

Question reference: S6W-26352

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 9 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what review it will undertake of the funding formula for health services, in light of the projected population growth in the NHS Lothian area.

We remain committed to ensuring funding is distributed equitably across the country as set out in the 2021-22 Programme for Government. The existing National Resource Allocation Formula (NRAC) is updated on an ongoing basis for a range of factors including population demographics, relative health needs and remote and rural factors. We will continue to assess the need for a more detailed review of the formula, in line with developments in National Care Service funding and Integration reform.

Public Health Scotland review the calculations each year, which informs the geographical allocation of the NHS budget, ensuring resources are distributed fairly. The Scottish Government is not involved in the calculation of the target values. However, we use the formula to ensure appropriate allocation of resource. In 2024-25, we will provide an additional £31.1 million in parity funding, ensuring that all Boards remain within 0.6% of their target.

Work to determine how the review should be taken forward is underway, with an initial meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on Resource Allocation (TAGRA) having taken place to consider the next steps to determine scope and timing of the review.

Please note that the main driver of the NRAC formula is the population size of each area for the target year and as such each run incorporates the most up-to-date population information available. This includes the latest population estimates (including census data) and sub-national projections published by National Records of Scotland (NRS).

Question reference: S6W-26354

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 9 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of patients diagnosed with diabetes have been provided real-time glucose monitoring devices in each NHS board in each year since 1999.

This information is not held centrally.

Some information on the percentage of people using glucose monitors and other diabetes technologies can be found in the Scottish Diabetes Survey, which provides an annual summary of key issues and trends in diabetes care and treatment in Scotland. The Survey provides annual data going back to 2004 and can be found here: https://www.diabetesinscotland.org.uk/publications/#survey-docs.

The next iteration of the Survey, covering data for 2023, will be published later this year.

Question reference: S6W-26358

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 9 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many inpatient beds for children and young people have been available in each NHS board in each year since 1999.

Table 1 provides the average available number of staffed beds that were recorded for paediatric/child and adolescent specialties in Scotland for each year from 2001-02 to 2022-23. Information on bed numbers prior to 2001-02 is not available. A figure showing the amount of these beds that were recorded for psychiatric child specialties is also provided.

Due to the way specialties are recorded for beds data, it is not possible to use the Public Health Scotland beds statistics to estimate the total number of beds that are available for use by different services and/or departments. For example, selecting the Paediatric specialty grouping will only provide a partial picture of the staffed beds that are used for children’s services. This is because many beds used for children are not recorded under paediatric specialties and are instead recorded under more specific specialties, such as Haematology, Neurology and Respiratory Medicine.

Furthermore, the specialty recorded for a bed depends partly on what the patient is being treated for: therefore, for some wards, the mix of specialties may change over time.

Due to the volume of data included, a table including a full breakdown by NHS Board has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 64979).

Table 1: Average available staffed beds in paediatric/child & adolescent specialties, NHSScotland, 2001-02 – 2022-23

Financial Year	All paediatric specialties	Psychiatric paediatric specialties only
2001-02	948	59
2002-03	914	49
2003-04	900	41
2004-05	855	44
2005-06	873	44
2006-07	859	45
2007-08	836	45
2008-09	829	45
2009-10	811	54
2010-11	825	52
2011-12	816	51
2012-13	807	51
2013-14	813	46
2014-15	806	51
2015-16	790	58
2016-17	784	55
2017-18	784	55
2018-19	773	55
2019-20	777	55
2020-21	757	57
2021-22	794	60
2022-23	792	55

Source: Public Health Scotland

Question reference: S6W-26704

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 April 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the most recent cancer mortality statistics will be published, in light of annual figures reportedly not being published in autumn 2023 in line with the normal publication schedule.