Parliamentary questions
Douglas Lumsden
1,891 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many pupil support assistants are employed in schools, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The latest data on pupil support assistants is available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/school-support-staff-statistics/
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what most recent assessment it has made of the value for money of media training provided to (a) ministers and (b) civil servants.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Media training offers Ministers and civil servants skills to represent the Scottish Government professionally and effectively in media appearances. Since 2016, all media training for Ministers or civil servants has been provided by Scottish Government Communi…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidelines it has regarding the provision of media training to (a) ministers and (b) civil servants, including how costs are approved and monitored.
Answer · Ivan McKee: On appointment, all Ministers are offered media training options as part of their induction. Civil servants who may carry out media interviews in the course of their duties can request media training through the Scottish Government’s Communications Divi…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers have been signed off work due to stress in each year since 2018, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Local authorities have the statutory responsibility for delivering education. Therefore the Scottish Government does not collect data on teacher absences or the reasons for them.
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers are employed on a (a) permanent, (b) temporary and (c) supply contract, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The latest available data on teacher contract type, broken down by permanent and temporary, are published in the 2023 Teacher Census Supplementary Statistics here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/teacher-census-supplementary-statistics/Data on supply teache…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers who qualified in each of the last five years have secured permanent positions, broken down by (a) subject and (b) local authority.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Data on post-induction scheme teacher employment broken down by subject, Local Authority, contract type (permanent/temporary) and mode of working are published on the Post-Probationer Teacher Employment Dashboard, here: https://scotland.shinyapps.io/sg-post-p…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the availability of permanent teaching posts.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government is committed to increasing teacher numbers to deliver improved outcomes for children and young people.The number of teachers in permanent posts has remained stable at more than 80% over the past 10 years. In addition, the number of tea…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many speeding offences on trunk roads the procurator fiscal decided to take no further action in relation to, in each year since 2018, broken down by the (a) reason for the decision and (b) trunk road.
Answer · Dorothy Bain: As referenced in the answer to S6W-34140 on 20 February 2025, the format in which locus information is recorded and in particular whether the locus for each case is a trunk road or otherwise would require a manual check of each case. This question cannot be r…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what disciplinary actions have been taken in response to incidents of accessing or attempting to access pornography on Scottish Government devices or computers in each year since 2018, broken down by the outcome.
Answer · Kate Forbes: As outlined in the Scottish Government’s IT Code of Conduct attempts to access, active accessing, downloading, displaying, storing and the distribution of pornographic, racist or other offensive material, or material relating to illegal activities is co…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions related to assaults on doctors have resulted in (a) convictions and (b) other outcomes, in each year since 2018, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Angela Constance: It is not possible to separately identify which prosecutions for assault were specifically for assaults on doctors
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what penalties have been imposed following convictions for assaults on doctors in each year since 2018, broken down by the (a) type of penalty and (b) NHS board.
Answer · Angela Constance: It is not possible to separately identify which convictions for assault were specifically for assaults on doctors
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to support doctors who have been victims of assault in the workplace.
Answer · Neil Gray: No-one should be the victim of abuse or violence while at work and assaults on NHS staff are completely unacceptable. We encourage Health Boards to support criminal proceedings, where appropriate, against anyone who assaults staff. NHSScotland staff can acces…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure transparency and accountability in the use of any public funds for legal advice and representation for ministers and former ministers.
Answer · Shona Robison: Accountable Officers are in place to ensure that public money is used efficiently and effectively in line with guidance published in the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM). The SPFM provides guidance on the proper handling and reporting of public funds.
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated cost of road traffic offences on trunk roads is regarding (a) enforcement, (b) legal processes and (c) accidents, broken down by trunk road.
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-34138 on 7 February 2025 for information on recorded levels of road traffic offences in Scotland. No information is held centrally relating to the costs associated with enforcement activity, legal processes and…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the reporting and recording of assaults on doctors across all NHS boards.
Answer · Neil Gray: Health Boards have reporting systems in place to capture data on violence and aggression. At present, Health Boards collect this data locally.We are exploring how we can improve incident reporting systems and investigating proposals for developing standardise…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many assaults on doctors have been reported in each year since 2018, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Neil Gray: This is a matter for NHS boards and Police Scotland. The information requested is not held centrally.
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that doctors are protected from assault in the workplace.
Answer · Neil Gray: Abuse towards NHS staff is unacceptable, and Health Boards must take appropriate action against anyone who assaults a staff member. It is an employer's duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees.The Scottish Government continues to work…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average time taken for Police Scotland to report a speeding offence to the procurator fiscal (a) is and (b) has been in each year since 2018.
Answer · Angela Constance: Since April 2023, the Scottish Government has published the median journey time from offence date to verdict date, and the median times for each of the stages the criminal justice system, including the median police known to Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many reported assaults on doctors have resulted in (a) charges being brought and (b) prosecutions, in each year since 2018, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Angela Constance: It is not possible to separately identify which charges and prosecutions for assault were specifically for assaults on doctors
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many road traffic collisions have occurred on each trunk road in each year since 2018, broken down by the severity of the incident.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: From summer 2019, Police Scotland introduced a new system for recording traffic collisions. Due to improved recording and categorisation processes, it is expected that there will be an increase in the number of casualties and accidents on Scottish roads that …
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many penalties were issued for drink or drug driving offences on each trunk road, in each year since 2018.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of penalties issued for drink or drug driving offences committed specifically on trunk roads. The Criminal Proceedings database does not contain this level of detail - we are unable to break down…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions for speeding on trunk roads led to a (a) conviction and (b) acquittal in each year since 2018, broken down by (i) trunk road and (ii) court location.
Answer · Angela Constance: (a)The latest available information on convictions is for the financial year 2022-23.Number of people convicted for speeding offences on trunk roads, where main crime, in Scottish Courts, by court location (LA), 2018-19 to 2022-23. 2018-192022-23 We…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what enforcement measures are in place to address road traffic offences on each trunk road, including any specific measures on the A90 and its section north of Dundee.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Enforcement of road traffic offences is the independent responsibility of Police Scotland. Alongside general enforcement activity by Police Scotland, there is also the operation of safety cameras in some stretches of trunk roads.The Scottish Safety Camera Pro…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many reports of speeding were submitted to the procurator fiscal by Police Scotland in each year since 2018, broken down by trunk road.
Answer · Dorothy Bain: The following table shows the overall speeding numbers grouped by financial year reported. Charges have been identified using the Scottish Government classification of level 2 of speeding. The format in which locus information is recorded and in particular wh…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on external legal advice in relation to judicial reviews, broken down by case since 2018.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has spent the following amount in relation to judicial reviews. We are unable to provide a breakdown by case name due to GDPR considerations. Some case names will be in the public domain because the judgments have been published with t…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many reported assaults on nurses have resulted in (a) charges being brought and (b) prosecutions, in each year since 2018, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Angela Constance: It is not possible to identify which charges and prosecutions for assault were specifically of assaults on nurses.
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what cybersecurity measures are in place to detect and block access to pornography or other inappropriate content on its devices and networks.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government uses industry leading firewall and perimeter security technology to categorise websites and to either allow or block access to those categories accordingly. Access to certain categories is entirely blocked from all devices connected to…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure transparency in the use of public funds for media training.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Since 2016, all media training has been carried out internally by staff in the Scottish Government Communications Division at no additional cost. Through the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, all requests for information related to media training, i…
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many road traffic offences have been recorded on each trunk road in each year since 2018, broken down by type of offence.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government does not hold this data.
23 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to support nurses who have been victims of assault in the workplace.
Answer · Neil Gray: No-one should be the victim of abuse or violence while at work and assaults on NHS staff are completely unacceptable. We encourage Health Boards to support criminal proceedings, where appropriate, against anyone who assaults staff. NHSScotland staff can acces…