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-18257

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) core beds there are and (b) additional beds were brought in for COVID-19, across NHS Ayrshire and Arran, broken down by NHS facility.

Public Health Scotland publish which shows the number of available staffed beds and percentage occupancy (Table 4) by financial year (2012-13 to 2021-22) and by quarter (2020 Q2 to 2022 Q1), by NHS Board and hospital location. In addition, PHS produce a which provides similar beds information up to and including the quarter ending 30 September 2022. Data for the quarter ending 31 December 2022 was published on 30 May 2023. The PHS statistics do not provide specific information on COVID beds. NHS Boards reconfigured parts of hospitals during the pandemic, with, in particular, significant increases in critical care capacity, and this should be taken in to account when interpreting the annual bed statistics.

Public Health Scotland also publish statistics on the number of patients in hospital with COVID-19 which is available in the with Health Board level data available through the Open Data Platform: . Until 7 May 2023, this also included the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICU.

Question reference: S6W-18219

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 1 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much money has been spent on or invested in the A77 since the start of 2023.

The Scottish Government has invested £5,793,617 on the management and maintenance of the A77 since January 2023. This figure includes all aspects of maintenance including major resurfacing, drainage improvements and routine maintenance activities such as vegetation clearance and grass cutting. It also includes targeted road safety measures, maintenance of bridges and structures and winter service.

Between January 2007 and December 2022, the Scottish Government has invested £64 million in five separate major capital schemes on the A77. These schemes are:

A77 Haggstone Climbing Lane & A77 Glen App Improvements - £18.7m

A77 Park End to Bennane - £5.5m

A77 Symington to Bogend Toll - £10.6m

A77 Maybole Bypass - £29m

There has been no expenditure on these schemes in 2023.

Question reference: S6W-18216

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 1 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on improvements to the A77 at Glengall.

Question reference: S6W-18174

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to improve the (a) awareness and (b) survival rate of bladder cancer in Scotland.

A new Detect Cancer Earlier campaign – Be The Early Bird – was launched on 6 th March 2023 and ran for four weeks, aiming to reduce fear of cancer and empower those with possible symptoms to act early. The campaign has been developed with primary and secondary care clinical input and will be independently evaluated. We have a dedicated page on our NHS inform website, which highlights the causes, symptoms and treatment for .

We know that the earlier cancer is diagnosed, the easier it is to treat and even cure, which is why we continue to invest in our Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme. Since DCE launched, positive shifts have been noted. Our new earlier cancer diagnosis vision in Scotland is due to be published shortly as part of our ambitious new 10-year cancer strategy, which will outline the future of the DCE Programme.

The Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan, backed by £70 million investment, was published on 30 November 2021. The Plan focuses on key areas such as clinical pathways, workforce training and development and innovation.

In partnership with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD), we are committed to developing and implementing clinical pathways that optimise the value of endoscopy and urology diagnostics in each patient’s care. This includes refreshing ‘Once for Scotland’ clinical pathways to prioritise demand for cystoscopy, including where bladder cancer is suspected.

Question reference: S6W-18217

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the upgrading of a number of laybys on the A77.

Question reference: S6W-17790

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to develop a new partnership with the hospice sector, and whether it has any plans to remunerate hospices for potential staff wage increases.

The Scottish Government is considering the issues that the hospice sector raised at its meeting in March with the then Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and the then Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport, including immediate and longer-term funding issues.

It is the responsibility of Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to plan and commission adult palliative and end of life care services for their areas using the integrated budgets under their control and the Scottish Government is therefore continuing to engage with Health and Social Care Chief Officers in relation to the issues raised.

Question reference: S6W-17898

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-17358 by Michael Matheson on 4 May 2023, by which date the Digital Prescribing and Dispensing Pathways programme will be rolled out across all NHS boards.

Question reference: S6W-17632

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 18 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated to (a) therapeutic and (b) palliative care for people with cancer in each financial year since 2007-08.

Question reference: S6O-02291

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to improve patient access to dental services.

Question reference: S6W-17791

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-04293 by Graeme Dey on 25 November 2021, whether it will provide an update on these plans, and whether all planned secondary legislation is now in place.The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 prohibits pavement parking, double parking and parking at dropped kerbs, and gives local authorities the relevant powers to enforce these new provisions. To support these provisions, a suite of regulations is required to bring the new legislation into force. These give local authorities the tools they need to be able to tackle the issues of inconsiderate and obstructive parking.

The first of these regulations regarding the Exemption Order Procedures that local authorities must follow, was laid in Parliament in December 2022. A copy of the legislation can be found here:

We have had a long-standing commitment to allow local authorities 12 months from when these regulations come into force to assess their streets and put in place any exemption orders and physical signs and lines before enforcement can go live in late 2023.

In addition we will shortly be launching a public consultation on the Enforcement Procedure Regulations which will define how a local authority can issue a Penalty Charge Notice to someone found to be in contravention of the new national prohibitions for Pavement, Dropped Kerb & Double Parking. The secondary regulations required to ensure local authorities have the powers they need to enforce this will be laid in Parliament later this year.