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: S6W-33766

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds regarding government-issued mobile phone usage, including call and data volumes, across its departments.

Question reference: S6W-33543

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many mental health services are currently available in rural areas, and what percentage of these are delivered via digital platforms.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. Decisions around the provision of mental health services is a local responsibility, planned by Integrated Joint Boards and delivered through a mixture of NHS, local authority and third sector organisations. The availability of service, including via digital platforms, will vary depending the local population needs and will be guided by clinical decision making.

Question reference: S6W-33475

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many surgical procedures have been cancelled in each of the last five years due to a lack of surgical screws or other necessary equipment, broken down by NHS board.

The number of cancelled operations under ‘non-clinical/capacity reasons’ is the most granular level of detail that’s provided from PHS’s website, breakdown as follows:

	12 months to November
NHS Board	Nov-24	Nov-23	Nov-22	Nov-21	Nov-20
NHSScotland	6370	6095	6038	4397	4621
NHS Ayrshire & Arran	417	400	342	146	418
NHS Borders	271	163	226	118	84
NHS Dumfries & Galloway	361	355	348	205	166
NHS Fife	293	397	347	215	198
NHS Forth Valley	387	247	123	121	99
NHS Grampian	806	599	848	734	654
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde	973	995	1231	784	782
NHS Highland	562	366	519	439	466
NHS Lanarkshire	346	367	314	175	244
NHS Lothian	1447	1562	1136	809	1014
NHS Orkney	46	0	39	107	87
NHS Shetland	61	72	21	15	2
NHS Tayside	89	160	172	189	193
NHS Western Isles	18	24	13	15	16
NHS Golden Jubilee	293	388	359	325	198

Question reference: S6W-33763

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to government-issued mobile phones, how much mobile data has been used by its departments in each of the last five years, and what the associated costs were.

The mobile data used in terabytes (Tb) on the Scottish Government’s account as part of our mobile voice and data contracts is shown below. This data is only available from August 2020, it is not possible to separate the associated mobile data costs by department from the overall spend.

January 2024 to December 2024 - 82.59Tb

January 2023 to December 2023 - 94.87Tb

January 2022 to December 2022 - 97.77Tb

January 2021 to December 2021 - 125.07Tb

July 2020 to December 2020 - 39.99Tb

Question reference: S6W-33489

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of compulsory purchase orders issued in each of the last five years were contested, and how many of these contests resulted in changes to the original orders.

The Scottish Government regularly publishes a register of compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) submitted to the Scottish Ministers for confirmation since 2012: . The current register, published in December, includes CPOs received up to the end of October 2024.

Whilst the register of CPOs does not include information on whether orders submitted for confirmation were opposed, it does indicate where orders were confirmed with modifications.

Question reference: S6W-33771

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve mobile connectivity for its employees in remote and rural areas.

The Scottish Government works closely with the framework supplier to ensure the best possible network coverage.

For Scottish Government (SG) employees in remote and rural areas using an SG-issued mobile device, Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi calling are permitted when mobile connectivity is insufficient.

The Scottish Government maintains membership in the Scottish Wide Area Network (SWAN).

SWAN, a partnership between the Scottish public sector and BT, is committed to accelerating the digital transformation of Scotland’s public sector, including in some of the most rural areas of the country.

The contract will enhance communication, data sharing, and collaboration across more than 94 public sector organisations and thousands of sites.

BT has pledged to provide significantly faster and more resilient fibre broadband and mobile connections to its network members.

Question reference: S6W-33762

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on contracts for government-issued mobile phones in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-33757

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many government-issued mobile phones are currently in use, broken down by department.

Question reference: S6W-33767

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it keeps communications secure for government-issued mobile phones.

Question reference: S6W-33678

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on recent drug-related deaths in rural areas, including Aberdeenshire, and what steps it is taking to reduce these figures.

National Records of Scotland publish annual accredited official statistics on drug-related deaths in Scotland. The latest release, covering 2023, is available at . The accompanying data file provides a more comprehensive breakdown of the statistics, including by both NHS board area and local authority area.

The Scottish Government publishes a quarterly report to provide an indication of current trends in suspected drug deaths in Scotland. The data in this report is operational information from Police Scotland who compile figures on the basis of reports from police officers attending scenes of death. This is management information and not subject to the same level of validation and quality assurance as Official Statistics. The latest release, covering July to September 2024, is available at . The accompanying data file provides a more comprehensive breakdown of the figures, including by Police Division.

The Scottish Government remains fully committed to reducing drug deaths and harms. Through the National Mission we are seeing success across a wide range of actions designed to save lives and reduce harms. The total funding proposed for alcohol and drugs, including health board baseline funding, is over £150 million in 2025-26. This includes maintaining £112 million funding for Alcohol and Drug Partnerships, continuing to fund grassroots organisations through £13m via the Corra Foundation, and supporting a wide range of activity - including supporting residential rehabilitation.