Questions and answers

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 ��˿�� 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: S6O-00134

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports vulnerable people in the prison system.

Question reference: S6W-02585

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 8 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will implement the Scottish National Party manifesto commitment to renew every play park; how much funding will be allocated to this, and what support will be provided to ensure that (a) the renewed parks are regularly maintained and (b) any antisocial behaviour at these renewed facilities is addressed at a community level.

The Scottish Government is providing funding of £60 million towards renewing play parks in Scotland to ensure that all children have access to quality play in their own community. This funding will be distributed to local authorities over the course of this parliamentary term. The first allocation of £5 million for 2021-22 was agreed with COSLA in July 2021 and every local authority has been notified of their individual allocation.

The funding being provided is for the renewal and refurbishment of play parks, ongoing maintenance of play parks is the responsibility of individual local authorities, who will manage their budgets and allocate financial resources to play parks maintenance based on local needs and priorities. We are continuing to work in partnership with COSLA to agree a suite of national aims and principles to provide the framework for delivery of the commitment.

The Scottish Government want every child to have safe access to play and expect that local authorities and other local agencies will play their part in ensuring this. Law and order around the location of public play parks is matter for the relevant local authority and Police Scotland, who are able to exercise powers under the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, section 96 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, section 18 - 22 of the Public Order Act 1986 and section 38 of the Criminal justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010.

It is for the local authority, Police Scotland and ultimately the courts, to use the powers available to them, to take appropriate and proportionate action against any individual taking part in antisocial behaviour.

Question reference: S6O-00101

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time is for cataract surgery.

Question reference: S6W-02128

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the current guidance on vitamin D supplementation.

We currently have no plans to revise our advice on vitamin D supplementation. We will continue to be guided by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) and others as the evidence base on vitamin D develops. We will review our advice as necessary based on their recommendations.

Our current advice on vitamin D supplementation, which is based on recommendations by SACN, advisors to the four UK nations, is available at

In terms of supplement dosage, our advice is a supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D (400 IU). This applies to adults and children over one year of age. Ten micrograms per day is the average amount needed by the majority (97.5%) of the population to maintain adequate vitamin D levels when UVB sunlight exposure is minimal to maintain bone and muscle health. Our advice is based on SACN’s 2016 report; Vitamin D and Health.

This report is available at:

In December 2020, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), SACN, and Public Health England published updated guidance on vitamin D in relation to COVID-19 following a rapid review of recent evidence. The guidance states that there is still currently not enough evidence to support taking vitamin D solely for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19. It reiterates that people should continue to follow current advice on vitamin D supplementation to maintain bone and muscle health.

The NICE guideline is available at

SACN published an updated rapid review on Vitamin D and acute respiratory tractinfections (ARTI) in December 2020. In it, SACN recommended the reference nutrient intake for vitamin D remain unchanged, at 10 micrograms per day.

The review is available at

In June 2021, SACN published a paper summarising monitoring of recent evidence on nutrition and COVID-19. It did not identify any new trials in relation to vitamin D and COVID-19 that would require the re-review of the current rapid guideline from NICE, SACN and PHE, or that would change current dietary advice.

The paper is available at:

SACN will continue to support NICE with their monitoring of evidence on vitamin D.

The UK COVID-19 Therapeutic Advisory Panel (UK C-TAP) continues to monitor ongoing COVID-19 related Vitamin D trials. It is responsible for reviewing and prioritising suitable compounds based on promising scientific evidence. Evidence on vitamin D and on COVID-19 is also being monitored by RAPID-C19, a multi-agency initiative aiming to get treatments for COVID-19 to NHS patients quickly and safely, as well as by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Innovation Observatory (IO), a national medical horizon scanning facility at Newcastle University. SACN has agreed it will no longer monitor evidence in relation to vitamin D and COVID-19/ARTI, as monitoring is being continued by these organisations.

Question reference: S6W-01792

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the NHS budget is spent on general practice costs.

Question reference: S6W-01793

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent GPs are employed.

A publication by Public Health Scotland on 26th January 2021 showed the total number of GPs in Scotland was 5,134 as at 30th September 2020, a rise of 89 compared to 2019.

Public Health Scotland are currently analysing data collected from the 2019 Workforce Survey, which will show the Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) figure for GPs in Scotland. Scottish Government are planning to collect WTE data on an annual basis going forward.

Question reference: S6W-01312

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the Versus Arthritis campaign for a six-point support package to be provided to those waiting for joint replacements.

The Scottish Government is supportive of the work of Versus Arthritis including the six-point support package. In support of this the Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport is due to meet with representatives of Versus Arthritis soon to discuss the initiative.

We are working in collaboration with the organisation to ensure that patients on waiting lists receive good communication and relevant support while they await treatment. This work will be ongoing with essential collaboration with patients, carers and providers including the National Advisory Committee for Chronic Pain NACCP.

Question reference: S6W-01191

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to (a) consult on and (b) implement the recommendations in its paper, Review of the Storage and Spreading of Sewage Sludge on Land in Scotland (The Sludge Review).

Question reference: S6W-01190

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the findings of the study that it commissioned on the human health and environmental impacts of the use of sewage sludge.

Question reference: S6W-01346

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 29 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how the level of uptake of (a) bowel, (b) breast and (c) cervical screening since its resumption compares with pre-COVID-19-pandemic levels.

Statistics for the cervical screening programme that will allow comparisons with pre-Covid-19 pandemic uptake are due to be published by Public Health Scotland on 1 September 2021.

Comparable data on national performance for uptake in the breast and bowel screening programmes that will allow comparisons between uptake before and after the COVID-19 pandemic will be made available in 2022. NHS National Services Division advise that recent uptake in the bowel screening programme is similar to pre-pandemic levels at around 67%. Breast screening uptake is measured on an annual and 3 year cycle with current indications that uptake is running at an average of 80% across the whole programme, which is higher than uptake prior to the pandemic.