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-00494

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how its policies across government will support island communities to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Question reference: S6O-00477

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it anticipates the new SpeakGaelic language learning initiative will help increase the number of people speaking Gaelic and make learning the language more accessible.

Question reference: S6W-04184

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 15 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to help address the reported concerns of people living in Uig, Lewis, regarding mobile signal and 4G access, in light of reports of difficulties in getting EE to facilitate repairs to their local masts more timeously.

The Scottish Government are aware of a technical issue which affect EE 4G mobile telecoms access in Uig, Lewis. Scottish Government officials have been in regular contact with EE for the duration of the issue.

We understand this issue has taken longer to resolve than originally anticipated due to the availability of replacement parts, caused by global supply chain issues.

EE sought to provide interim solutions until the service could be fully restored which included reinstating SMS and voice services, with some limited data access.

EE have now resolved the issue by upgrading the entire module which also gives the mast site increased resilience.

Question reference: S6W-04063

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 9 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when local authorities will be informed of the Scottish Crown Estate Net Revenue allocation for 2021-22.

Question reference: S6O-00367

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation is being undertaken with communities regarding next year’s summer timetable for ferry routes within the CalMac network.

Question reference: S6W-03383

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 26 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to townships that are trying to improve the condition of their primary road to a point where it can be adopted by the local authority.

Question reference: S6O-00257

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to promote Scottish literature in schools.

Question reference: S6W-02796

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to invest in (a) paediatric and (b) adult epilepsy specialist nurses in the next five years.

Question reference: S6W-02795

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to (a) remobilise neurology services and (b) ensure equitable and timely access to services for everyone with a neurological condition in all regions of Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensure everyone with a neurological condition has timely access to care and services in all regions of Scotland. That is why we published a in December 2019 . We are investing £4.5 million of funding to implement the Framework’s aims and commitments. The aims include improving the provision of co-ordinated health and social care and support, developing sustainable workforce models and ensuring high standards of person-centred care.

Since 2015, the Scottish Government provides £2.4 million annually to improve specialist nursing services. NHS Boards make the decision on where to prioritise this funding based on local need. NHS Boards are expected to ensure that patients, including those who require epilepsy services, have access to a range of professionals to provide the appropriate management of their condition.

The Scottish Government launched its NHS Recovery Plan on the 25 August, which sets out our key headline ambitions and actions to be developed and delivered now and over the next 5 years. The plan is backed by more than £1 billion of investment over the next five years.

By the end of this year, we will publish a National Workforce Strategy that supports the delivery of the , specifically its key workforce targets. The strategy will set out the strategic framework through which we will design, develop and deliver training programmes in partnership with NHS National Education Scotland and the NHS Academy, offering new routes into the NHS, and broadening opportunities. In addition, it will provide NHS Boards a framework for assessing nationally the role of Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS). The NHS will gain additional 500 Advance Nurse Practitioners (ANP) over the next five years and we will be working closely with neurology services to identify areas of need for both ANPs and CNS capacity to better meet patient need.

A recent report published by the Chief Nursing Officer Directorate made a number recommendations regarding CNS roles. This work is being taken forward in Neurology (and epilepsy specifically) by a group with representation from Chief Nursing Officer Directorate, NHS Education Scotland, Centre for Sustainability Delivery as well as strong Epilepsy CNS Representation.

The impact of addressing the COVID-19 pandemic has meant that many health and social care services had to be suspended or reduced in scope and scale. This has affected almost all aspects of NHS care. Addressing the backlog of care, while continuing to meet the ongoing urgent health and care needs of the country, is a priority for this Government.

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery continues to work closely with Neurology services in all Health Boards. In particular work on Active Clinical Referral Triage aims to ensure patients who require appointments most urgently are seen as soon as possible, while those who may not benefit from a Consultant appointment are returned to the GP with advice and guidance; and Discharge Patient Initiated Review aims to avoid unnecessary return appointments, again supporting access for those patient who need to be seen in a timely manner.

Question reference: S6W-02797

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Epilepsy Scotland report, Epilepsy Services in Scotland, in relation to its findings regarding (a) neurology waiting times of more than a year in some NHS boards and (b) significant caseloads of more than 1,000 patients for some epilepsy specialist nurses.