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-03139

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-24866

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 15 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the average processing time, from application to a final decision, has been for applications under the Scottish Dental Access Initiative in the NHS Dumfries and Galloway area in each of the last 12 months.

Question reference: S6O-03097

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that women in Wigtownshire have the choice to give birth as close to home as possible.

Question reference: S6W-24864

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications under the Scottish Dental Access Initiative in the NHS Dumfries and Galloway area have been (a) made and (b) approved in each of the last 12 months.

NHS Boards are responsible for receiving and approving applications for the Scottish Dental Access Initiative (SDAI). Successful applications are then sent to the Scottish Government for processing.

As such, the Scottish Government does not hold information on how many SDAI applications have been received in the NHS Borders area, and this information is held by the Health Board.

There have been no applications sent to Scottish Government in the last 12 months.

Question reference: S6W-25017

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what dental service provision is available for any young people who require braces but do not have access to an NHS dentist to carry out the necessary preparatory work required by their orthodontist.

Question reference: S6W-24862

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many dental surgeries in the NHS Dumfries and Galloway area have offered NHS services in each month since January 2022.

Question reference: S6W-24859

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 8 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that thousands of people in the Galloway and West Dumfries constituency have been deregistered as NHS dental patients, and the reported lack of NHS dental services, what measures it is considering to ensure the continuation of free dental prescriptions.

Question reference: S6W-24869

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 8 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason dentists treating patients privately are reportedly unable to issue NHS prescriptions, in light of reported concerns that this means that patients who are unable to get NHS dental appointments have to pay for both appointments and any medication.

Question reference: S6W-24927

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 7 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how its national Good Food Nation Plan will support food production in Scotland.

High-quality, nutritious food which is sustainably produced is key to our wellbeing – in economic, environmental, social and health terms. The national Good Food Nation Plan sets out six over-arching Outcomes which indicate key areas to further develop our status as a Good Food Nation. These Outcomes have been developed with regard to a range of issues and principles set out in the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022, including the fact that each part of the food system plays an important role in the provision of food. The importance of supporting food production is particularly reflected in Outcome 4: “Our food and drink sector is prosperous, diverse, innovative, and vital to national and local economic and social wellbeing. It is key to making Scotland food secure and food resilient, and creates and sustains jobs and businesses underpinned by fair work standards.”

As well as the national Plan itself, we are also currently consulting on the list of specified functions that will, once set out in secondary legislation, give practical effect to the Good Food Nation Plan. The consultation can be found at .

Question reference: S6W-24868

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its evaluation is of the provision of NHS dental services in Dumfries and Galloway in the last year.

The Scottish Government is aware of emerging access issues within NHS Dumfries and Galloway, noting that this is an area which has suffered disproportionately with dental workforce issues in the past – an issue which has only been heightened by the significant loss of EU workforce as a result of Brexit.

Whilst a formal evaluation on the provision of NHS dental services in Dumfries and Galloway over the last year has not been undertaken, as it is a matter for the NHS Board, Scottish Government is working closely with the Board through an Annual Delivery Plan to mitigate against the drivers of access issues. This includes regular meetings to strategically plan on the design and implementation of more sustainable dental services across the Board area. While this work continues, unregistered patients will continue to be able to access emergency and urgent care via Public Dental Service clinics.