Parliamentary questions
Douglas Lumsden
1,891 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what criteria it considers appropriate for balancing the cost, visual impact, and safety when assessing major electricity infrastructure projects that run through prime agricultural land.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: Potential impacts on communities, nature, and cultural heritage, including the cumulative effects of developments, are important considerations in the decision-making process.The decision whether to grant consent for an application is taken only after careful…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what implications EY's forecast contraction in Aberdeen's mining and quarrying sector could have on local employment between 2025 and 2028.
Answer · Kate Forbes: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-36120 on 10 April 2025, there is significant uncertainty in the economic outlook and economic forecasts can be subject to revision. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reasons for which Aberdeen is forecast by EY to miss out on the pace of growth in professional services compared to other cities between 2025 and 2028.
Answer · Kate Forbes: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-36119 on 10 April 2025, EY’s independent forecasts set out their estimates of future GVA growth across different parts of the UK and different sectors of the economy. All answers to written Parliamentary …
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of EY's forecast that Aberdeen is expected to have the slowest gross value added (GVA) growth in the UK between 2025 and 2028.
Answer · Kate Forbes: EY’s independent forecasts set out their estimates of future GVA growth across different parts of the UK. They forecast that Aberdeen’s GVA will grow on average 0.9% per annum between 2025 and 2028. The pace of growth in the region is largely expe…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has identified potential growth sectors in Aberdeen to compensate for EY's forecast contraction in the city's mining and quarrying sector over the next three years.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government has published independent analysis on the Energy System and Just Transition and it is available online at https://www.gov.scot/publications/energy-system-transition-independent-analysis.The analysis suggests potential growth sectors in…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland report, Investigation into the care and treatment of Mr TU, published in March 2023, what its position is on whether a fatal accident inquiry should be carried out into the circumstances surrounding the homicide,…
Answer · Angela Constance: In Scotland the Lord Advocate is constitutionally responsible for the decision on whether or not to undertake a Fatal Accident Inquiry. As set out in the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc (Scotland) Act 2016, the Lord Advocate may hold a Fa…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland report, Investigation into the care and treatment of Mr TU, published in March 2023, what action it will take in response to each recommendation; when any such action will be completed, and how progress will be monitored.
Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government provided a response to the Commission regarding their recommendations and our proposed actions in October 2023. An update on those actions undertaken since then and still ongoing is provided for each recommendation.Recommendation 1 The…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the longest duration has been from the date of death to the conclusion of a fatal accident inquiry since 1999, and what the reasons were for the duration of this process.
Answer · Dorothy Bain: COPFS holds records of all concluded Fatal Accident Inquiries dating back to 1 April 2013.For that period, the longest duration from the date of death to the conclusion of the Fatal Accident Inquiry was in relation to the FAI into the death of Boguslaw Kopec.…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland report, Investigation into the care and treatment of Mr TU, published in March 2023, what steps it has taken to ensure that NHS boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships consistently follow good practice in risk assessment and …
Answer · Maree Todd: It is for Health Boards to ensure that they are consistently following good practice in risk assessment and discharge planning, however Scottish Government regularly engages with Boards at official level to ensure they are providing a safe, high-quality servi…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland report, Investigation into the care and treatment of Mr TU, published in March 2023, what steps it will take to ensure that mental health services consistently involve families and carers, especially in discharge planning and crisis…
Answer · Maree Todd: NHS Boards have duties under the Carers Act to involve unpaid carers in decision making and planning the return from hospital of the person they care for (or will care for). More specifically, the Core Mental Health Quality Standards state that a person&rsquo…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland report, Investigation into the care and treatment of Mr TU, published in March 2023, whether it will introduce measures to ensure that all remand prisoners are provided with suitable accommodation and support upon unexpected release…
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-36086 on 24 April 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland report, Investigation into the care and treatment of Mr TU, published in March 2023, what steps have been taken to ensure that any disagreements within multidisciplinary teams regarding compulsory treatment orders are formally recor…
Answer · Maree Todd: It is for Boards to establish local processes for addressing disagreements within multidisciplinary teams, however it is for the Mental Health Tribunal to decide whether a Compulsory Treatment Order is to be granted.
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland report, Investigation into the care and treatment of Mr TU, published in March 2023, what investment has been made in assertive outreach services to support any individuals with complex co-occurring mental health and substance misus…
Answer · Maree Todd: The Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) Standards set out what people should expect from substance use services. MAT Standard 3 sets out that people at high risk of drug-related harm should be proactively identified and offered support, while MAT Standard 9 s…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland report, Investigation into the care and treatment of Mr TU, what progress NHS boards have made in implementing training to improve the identification and management of any risks relating to violence, substance misuse, non-engagement…
Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government provide funding to NHS Education for Scotland (NES) who are responsible for developing and delivering healthcare education and training for NHS, the health and social care sector and other public bodies. We provided NES £30 milli…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland report, Investigation into the care and treatment of Mr TU, published in March 2023, what progress it has made with Community Justice Scotland to pilot post-custody outreach services, including the timelines for implementation.
Answer · Maree Todd: We recognise the importance of support for individuals on release from custody. While we are not currently pursuing a pilot on post-custody outreach, we are improving support for these individuals by introducing a new national voluntary throughcare service, U…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland report, Investigation into the care and treatment of Mr TU, published in March 2023, how it plans to improve coordination between NHS boards, social care, social work, and forensic services to support individuals with complex co-occ…
Answer · Maree Todd: Extensive work is ongoing to improve coordination of public services as part of our commitment to public service reform. We will support all areas to follow the Getting It Right for Everyone model of person-centred services (GIRFE). This model brings the pers…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland report, Investigation into the care and treatment of Mr TU, published in March 2023, whether it will ensure investment in assertive outreach services for any individuals at high risk of non-engagement with mental health and substanc…
Answer · Maree Todd: The Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) Standards set out what people should expect from substance use services. MAT Standard 3 sets out that people at high risk of drug-related harm should be proactively identified and offered support, while MAT Standard 9 s…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland report, Investigation into the care and treatment of Mr TU, published in March 2023, what steps it is taking to address any gaps in throughcare services, particularly for prisoners on remand, and whether this will include revisions …
Answer · Angela Constance: Throughcare services are in place to support individuals being released from custody to reintegrate into the community, which includes providing support with any accommodation needs. A new national voluntary throughcare service, Upside, with annual funding of…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland report, Investigation into the care and treatment of Mr TU, published in March 2023, what progress has been made in improving the involvement of families and carers in discharge planning within mental health services, and how improv…
Answer · Maree Todd: NHS Boards have duties under the Carers Act to involve unpaid carers in decision making and planning the return from hospital of the person they care for (or will care for). More specifically, the Core Mental Health Quality Standards state that a person&rsquo…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that consistent standards are applied across Scotland in relation to deciding whether discretionary fatal accident inquiries should be held.
Answer · Dorothy Bain: COPFS staff take into account the terms of Section 4 of the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc. (Scotland) Act 2016 when identifying cases where it may be appropriate for a discretionary Fatal Accident Inquiry to be held.In addition, detaile…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed any barriers to implementing recommendations arising from fatal accident inquiries, and, if so, what any such barriers were.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government has acknowledged that there are concerns about the operation of fatal accident inquiries. In January of this year the Scottish Government announced a focussed, independent review of the FAI system. This review is to look at the efficie…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of recommendations from fatal accident inquiries have specifically related to healthcare practices in each of the last three financial years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Angela Constance: This information is not held centrally. However all recommendations are published on the website of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and are publicly available.
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it maintains a central register of recommendations made by sheriffs in fatal accident inquiry determinations, and, if so, how it ensures that these recommendations are tracked and reviewed.
Answer · Angela Constance: Determinations, recommendations and the response(s) to those recommendations from the body at which they were aimed are published on the website of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and are publicly available. The Scottish Government expects that the …
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has adequate staffing and expertise to efficiently manage fatal accident inquiries, and what assessments have been made of this.
Answer · Shona Robison: I engaged with the Lord Advocate, Solicitor General and the Crown Agent during the 2025-26 budget process which informed the allocation to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. The portfolio received a resource budget of £225.2 million for 202…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) support and (b) guidance it provides to organisations to implement recommendations arising from fatal accident inquiries.
Answer · Angela Constance: FAIs cover a wide range of policy areas and recommendations are equally wide-ranging. The Scottish Government expects that the relevant individual policy area or public body would take action in light of any recommendations.
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many fatal accident inquiry recommendations have required legislative changes in each of the last three financial years, and how many of these have been implemented.
Answer · Angela Constance: This information is not held centrally.
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of recommendations from fatal accident inquiries have related specifically to health and safety improvements in workplaces in each of the last five years, broken down by sector.
Answer · Angela Constance: This information is not held centrally. However all recommendations are published on the website of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and are publicly available.
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed the impact of any resource constraints within the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service on the progress of fatal accident inquiries.
Answer · Angela Constance: As a non-Ministerial office, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) is responsible for preparing a detailed budget for each financial year. Throughout the Budget process, the Scottish Government liaises with the SCTS to identify its budgetary requir…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to enhance public access to information about fatal accident inquiry outcomes, recommendations and their implementation status.
Answer · Angela Constance: The statutory framework for FAIs is the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc (Scotland) Act 2016. The legislation introduced a requirement for the Sheriff conducting the FAI to make a determination setting out their conclusions and recommendat…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many fatal accident inquiries in each of the last three financial years have specifically addressed concerns regarding workplace safety.
Answer · Angela Constance: This information is not held centrally. However all recommendations are published on the website of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and are publicly available.