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-32040

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that the recently announced £150 million of investment for the former Hunterston coal terminal in North Ayrshire delivers economic growth for the local region around it.

The Scottish Government welcomes the significant investment being made in the redevelopment of Hunterston marine yard to create a renewables hub, which it is anticipated could support thousands of jobs for the local community.

Peel Ports suggest that the site will be capable of hosting critical infrastructure, manufacturing, and fabrication facilities for the deployment of offshore wind. These will have the potential to boost local, regional, and national economies, creating employment opportunities in the local area and supporting local businesses.

The Scottish Government’s investment of up to £500m over five years to anchor our offshore wind supply chain in Scotland, is expected to leverage additional private investment of £1.5 billion in the infrastructure and manufacturing facilities critical to growing the sector.

Officials will continue to work closely with Peel Ports on the company’s plans for investment to maximise the benefits for the local region.

Question reference: S6W-32041

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle public health issues in (a) general and (b) relation to (i) alcohol consumption, (ii) unhealthy diets and (iii) smoking, in light of recently published data from the Office for National Statistics, which reportedly found that Scotland has some of the lowest life expectancy rates in the UK.

The Scottish Government continues to adopt a comprehensive approach to address public health issues focusing on early prevention, reducing inequalities and creating the conditions to support people to lead healthier lifestyles.

This includes addressing the underlying drivers of heath inequalities by continuing to allocate around £3 billion a year in 2024-25 to a range of actions to tackle poverty and mitigate the impacts of the ongoing cost-of-living-crisis. This includes funding for free bus travel, the provision of early learning and childcare, as well as providing direct financial support through the likes of the Scottish Child Payment.

The Scottish Government has taken clear action to improve population health including continuing and increasing Minimum Unit Pricing of alcohol – estimated to have saved hundreds of lives - and delivery under our Tobacco and Vaping Framework including ongoing work on the UK Tobacco and Vapes Bill to create a smokefree generation.

We are taking action to improve diet and increase physical activity. This includes ongoing work to consider restrictions on promotions of high fat, salt and sugar foods under our Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan, and promoting active lifestyles through our Physical Activity for Health Framework.

Furthermore, to address long term population health challenges work is ongoing to produce a Population Health Framework in partnership with COSLA and in collaboration with our wider partners. This will set out a whole system approach on population health seeking and key actions that seek to improve population health.

Question reference: S6T-02253

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the recruitment and retention of nurses, in light of recent reports that the number of students accepted onto nursing courses remains below its targets.

Question reference: S6O-04149

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what levels of support are currently available to women experiencing domestic abuse.

Question reference: S6T-02241

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported review of more than 1,000 CT scans, in light of concerns regarding the quality of assessments made by a consultant radiologist.

Question reference: S6W-31649

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to ensure that the funding planned as a result of the HIV Transmission Elimination Delivery Plan Implementation Short-Life Working Group (HIV-TEDI) Workforce Education and Community Engagement call for proposals for HIV education and training will include targeted training for mental health practitioners, and how the funding will be used to reduce stigmatising experiences and improve care and mental health outcomes for people living with HIV.

Question reference: S6W-31648

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that all HIV clinics have the resources and staffing necessary to implement the British HIV Association (BHIVA) standards for psychological support for adults living with HIV.

The Scottish Government’s sets out our approach to ensuring that people living with HIV have equitable access to high quality care and treatment to support them to live well.

We are aware of the recent HIV Outcomes Beyond the Virus report and will be working with the HIV Transmission Elimination Delivery Implementation Group and the Scottish Health Protection Network’s HIV Clinical Leads Group to consider its recommendations and ensure that psychological support for adults living with HIV meets the high standards we would expect.

The Scottish Government is also providing NHS Education for Scotland with around £30 million in 2024-25 to deliver multidisciplinary education, training and workforce expansion for staff supporting adult and children’s mental health and psychological wellbeing. In September 2023, the Scottish Government published the and the . These set out the standards to which we expect psychological therapies and mental health services to be delivered, including appropriate staffing.

Question reference: S6W-31812

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the role of Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland has reportedly not been filled, and when it anticipates that it will be.

The Patient Safety Commissioner is a Parliamentary office-holder and is being recruited by the Scottish Parliament. They will be appointed by His Majesty on nomination of the Scottish Parliament.

As the Commissioner will be an independent public advocate for patients on issues of safety the Scottish Government does not have a role in the recruitment process. The Commissioner will champion the value of listening to patients and will hold organisations to account for their responsibility to take patients’ concerns seriously.

Question reference: S6W-31650

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it will address any gaps in the integration of social determinants of health, such as housing and poverty, into mental health and HIV care pathways.

Early intervention and prevention are key priorities for the Scottish Government in taking forward our approaches to mental health and wellbeing, and HIV transmission elimination. We recognise that physical and mental health can be influenced by many factors, including home life, work, physical environment and housing, income, communities, relationships, difficult or traumatic life experiences and inequalities.

We are therefore working across government and with partners from a range of different sectors to better understand and address the social determinants of health. In relation to HIV, this specifically includes working with public sector and third sector partners to address barriers to prevention, testing and treatment and investing in interventions to ensure equitable access to high quality care that supports people to live well.

Question reference: S6O-04069

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent reports that many towns in Scotland are so-called legal aid deserts.