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-37695

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to address any regional variation in the uptake of home dialysis among patients in renal centres, in light of reports that this ranges from 7.2% to 26.2% across different NHS boards.

The decision to offer home dialysis to patients is primarily a matter for NHS Boards. Last year, we agreed a national policy to reimburse patients for the additional electricity costs of home dialysis so that patients are not exposed to the impact of high energy prices. It also removes the financial disincentive to making a choice for home dialysis over in-centre treatments, allowing personal choice in where and how to receive treatment.

Question reference: S6W-37515

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to establish a working group to investigate and consider any health impact on women due to exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES).

The Scottish Government has the utmost sympathy to the women who were prescribed diethylstilbestrol (DES) and the impact it had on them and their families.

However, Scottish Ministers have no plans to establish a working group on this issue as the regulation for the licensing, safety and efficacy of medicines is reserved to the UK Government and is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Question reference: S6W-37697

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ensure that there is (a) a specific focus on and (b) accompanying ringfenced funding for kidney disease in the forthcoming long-term conditions framework.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with long term conditions including Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

The Scottish Government is currently consulting on a new long term conditions framework to better recognise the fact that many people living with long term conditions, including CKD need the same types of support and care, regardless of their condition. The consultation will provide a valuable opportunity for us to hear from individuals, organisations and members of the public to contribute their view.

The themes of the subsequent framework will be informed by the consultation responses we receive, and I would therefore welcome responses from organisations and patients who have CKD. In the development of the framework we will identify what funding is available for implementation.

Question reference: S6W-37693

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many pupils in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools have needed catheterising in each year since 1999, also broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-37512

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many young people have received a private mental health diagnosis in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-37694

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many pupils in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools have been provided with prescription drugs by teachers during school hours in each year since 1999, also broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-37696

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce a policy to ensure that a minimum of 20% of dialysis patients in renal centres receive home dialysis.

The decision to offer home dialysis to patients is primarily a matter for NHS Boards. As detailed in my answer to question S6W-37695 on 27 May 2025, we have acted to address any financial disincentives to the patient by the agreement of a national policy across NHS Boards to reimburse patients for the additional electricity costs of home dialysis.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6O-04686

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the setting of budget allocations, what discussions the finance secretary has had with NHS boards regarding the National Resource Allocation Formula.

Question reference: S6W-35730

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 12 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop a single passporting system of support for students in (a) further and (b) higher education to support widening access.

The final report of the Commission on Widening Access was published in 2016. A lot has changed since 2016 and we are now considering what has worked well and what we could do better.

The Scottish Government recognises the need to simplify the support landscape for students as it can be difficult for young people and their parents and carers to identify what support is available particularly in non-linear learning pathways.

The Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) currently provides living cost support to higher education students whilst the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) provides bursary support to further education students via individual colleges. The Scottish Government is pressing ahead with the proposal to consolidate all student support funding within SAAS. Bringing student support responsibilities together unlocks opportunities and enables new ways of administering student support, collecting data and providing coherent information and guidance to learners and institutions.

Through the Student Mental Health Action Plan Scottish Government has committed to working with institutions, Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), CoSLA, and prospective students to explore what information institutions require to inform continuity of support for newly-enrolled students, and how students and their families can be supported to request and share this information with colleges and universities. This action is being driven forward by the Plan’s Delivery Group, which met recently, and includes consideration of the use of the Getting it Right for Everybody (GIRFE) practice model to support a more person centred offer of support.

Question reference: S6W-37205

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people under the age of 65 have received free personal care in each year since the instruction of the policy in 2002, broken down by local authority.

The extension of Free Personal Care to people under the age of 65, also known as Frank's Law, came into effect in April 2019.

The Scottish Government do not hold data on how many adults aged 18-64 were paying for or receiving personal care prior to 2019.

The Scottish Government began collecting data on the number of adults receiving Free Personal Care in each local authority from late 2018-19 (prior to the introduction of Frank’s Law). This information is published annually on the Scottish Government website.

Local Authority	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
Aberdeen City	320	320	300	330	350	360
Aberdeenshire	70	280	300	360	600	550
Angus	240	270	280	320	340	360
Argyll and Bute	190	210	210	230	210	210
City of Edinburgh	1,330	1,480	1,300	1,290	1,450	1,470
Clackmannanshire	110	130	140	140	170	170
Dumfries and Galloway	620	710	750	770	790	830
Dundee City	160	200	230	230	290	330
East Ayrshire	230	270	280	410	370	360
East Dunbartonshire	120	100	110	140	130	130
East Lothian	150	180	190	200	190	200
East Renfrewshire	80	100	80	100	110	100
Falkirk	190	210	210	180	200	250
Fife	630	1,020	820	770	590	600
Glasgow City	1,980	2,000	2,170	1,900	1,980	2,100
Highland	290	280	310	290	300	340
Inverclyde	220	270	270	290	300	300
Midlothian	180	200	210	200	200	190
Moray	220	200	220	230	240	250
Na h-Eileanan Siar	30	30	30	30	30	30
North Ayrshire	310	380	430	440	420	400
North Lanarkshire	320	280	340	340	330	300
Orkney Islands	20	10	10	10	20	20
Perth and Kinross	290	330	370	390	390	430
Renfrewshire	130	130	220	220	260	270
Scottish Borders	[NR]	[NR]	[NR]	[NR]	[NR]	230
Shetland Islands	60	40	70	50	40	50
South Ayrshire	420	390	420	410	430	440
South Lanarkshire	530	600	630	640	680	700
Stirling	200	210	230	180	200	230
West Dunbartonshire	160	180	180	170	170	180
West Lothian	740	690	800	700	730	760
SCOTLAND total	10,550	11,690	12,100	11,950	12,480	13,110