Parliamentary questions
Carol Mochan
846 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
14 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is encouraging and supporting women and girls to be able to be involved in football.
Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government understand the importance of sport and physical activity for women and girls in Scotland and the positive impact that has on their physical, mental, and social health. Football plays a key role in this because it has a reach into commu…
14 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether patients with advanced or complex Parkinson’s disease have access to the most up-to-date therapies and services available.
Answer · Jenni Minto: While the Scottish Government sets the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland, it is NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally who have responsibility for both service delivery and ensuring people receive the right care for them, taking into account r…
10 Mar 2025 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on how the Scottish Government is working to improve healthy life expectancy.
3 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support the Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Fife coalfield populations, in light of the Coalfields Regeneration Trust’s report, State of the Scottish Coalfields 2024, which suggests that nearly one in 10 adults in those areas have bad or very bad health compared with the …
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government is committed to improving health and reducing health inequalities, and supporting our more vulnerable communities, which can include our former coalfield communities.We know that poverty and unemployment are key drivers of ill health a…
3 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it measures the number of women who leave the workforce due to experiencing menopause; from which sector, and whether such women seek financial benefits.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The health and wellbeing of women at work is a key element of the Scottish Government’s approach to Fair Work, including supporting women experiencing symptoms of menopause.The Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of women who leave the …
3 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve the "job density", the ratio between the number of employee jobs and the local working age population, for people living in former coalfield areas, in light of the Coalfields Regeneration Trust’s report, State of the Scottish Coalfields 2024, which …
Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Government is taking action to create jobs and boost employability in our coalfields communities. We are investing over £900 million in Growth Deals for Ayrshire, Glasgow (including North and South Lanarkshire), and Edinburgh and South East…
3 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it measures any progress made by each NHS board to follow the diagnostic pathways for gastrointestinal problems.
Answer · Neil Gray: Delivering high quality endoscopy is a priority of the NHS Scotland clinical and service teams.The Scottish Government commissioned the National Endoscopy Programme Team, with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD), and Scottish Government officials routi…
3 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) sheriff courts and (b) Police Scotland to ensure that the best pathways are available for providing help to people experiencing alcohol problems in the justice system.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government regularly engages with both the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) and Police Scotland to discuss a range of matters arising in the delivery of justice services.Specialist or problem solving courts, the establishment of which…
3 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with community justice teams regarding offering support to those who provide help to people experiencing alcohol problems in the justice system.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government regularly engages with stakeholders including Social Work Scotland, COSLA, the Community Justice Voluntary Sector Forum and Community Justice Scotland, to discuss a range of matters arising in the delivery of justice services. With reg…
3 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to raise awareness of gastrointestinal conditions and symptoms.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living with gastrointestinal conditions and symptoms in Scotland are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put peop…
3 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Competition and Markets Authority’s final recommendations from its infant formula and follow-on formula market study, as they relate to Scotland.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government welcomes the Competition and Markets Authority’s market study on infant formula and follow-on formula. Parents need to be able to make fully informed infant feeding choices. Where a family chooses to formula feed, the cost of ess…
3 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is improving knowledge and training regarding gastrointestinal issues for primary care professionals to improve their awareness of asymptomatic, vague, acute or non-colorectal symptoms.
Answer · Jenni Minto: NHS Education for Scotland provide a range of resources and training programmes for GPs and the current GP curriculum comprehensively covers gastrointestinal issues.A new primary care cancer education platform – Gateway C – was launched on 30 Apri…
3 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to reduce the number of women who leave the workforce due to experiencing menopause.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The health and wellbeing of women at work is a key element of Scottish Government’s approach to Fair Work, including supporting women experiencing menopause and those who feel forced from the workforce due to their symptoms.In the absence of powers on e…
3 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring that the most beneficial pathways are in place across the country for people with alcohol-use problems to ensure that their alcohol treatment plans are having long-term results.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The pathways in place across the country for people with problem alcohol use are developed and implemented by local services based on local needs assessments. The services necessary are commissioned on the advice of local Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships. The S…
3 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support parents on lower incomes who are disproportionately affected by infant formula pricing due to reported higher rates of formula feeding, in light of the evidence heard by the Competition and Markets Authority during its infant formula and follow-on formula mar…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government continues to take wide-ranging action to support low income households, including allocating over £3 billion a year to policies which tackle poverty and the cost of living. This investment includes £6.9 billion for benefits…
26 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any public sector organisations breaching existing health and safety legislation regarding the provision of single-sex toilets.
Answer · Kaukab Stewart: No. The Scottish Government is not responsible for monitoring or enforcing compliance with health and safety legislation, which is a reserved matter.
26 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on existing health and safety legislation regarding the provision of single-sex toilets.
Answer · Kaukab Stewart: The Scottish Government expects all organisations to comply with the law, including health and safety regulations applying in workplaces. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Workplace) Regulations 1992 are made under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974,…
26 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to make the provision of single-sex toilets a condition for receiving public funds, where an organisation occupies or owns a relevant building.
Answer · Kaukab Stewart: The Scottish Government expects all organisations to comply with the full range of legislation that applies to them, including health and safety legislation. Given the breadth of legislative requirements that there may be across different sectors, it is not f…
26 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has contacted public sector organisations to clarify health and safety workplace regulations regarding the use of single-sex toilets, and, if not, whether it plans to do so.
Answer · Kaukab Stewart: The Scottish Government has not contacted public sector organisations to clarify health and safety workplace regulations regarding the use of single-sex toilets and we have no plans to do so. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 make pr…
26 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action is being taken to help improve support and treatment services for children and young people with long COVID.
Answer · Jenni Minto: We have commissioned NHS National Services Scotland to establish a long COVID Strategic Network. This has a multi-disciplinary working group focussed on children and young people, which has worked to develop a clinical pathway to support the appropriate asses…
26 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to conduct an equality and human rights impact assessment on paediatric long COVID services.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government has no plans to conduct an equality and human rights impact assessment on paediatric long COVID services.NHS Boards exercise responsibilities in relation to planning, commissioning and delivering healthcare services, and take overall r…
25 Feb 2025 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported view of the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland that proposed changes to legislation on religious observance diverge from the recommendation by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to allow young people to independently opt …
12 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards achieving the aims of the Personality Disorder Improvement Programme.
Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government is funding a Personality Disorder National Improvement Programme which has been developed in partnership with the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland and is being delivered by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS).The aim of the…
6 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the increase in funding for alcohol and drugs policy announced in its 2025-26 Budget revision will help to address the need to “increase focus and funding for tackling alcohol-related harm”, as set out in the Audit Scotland report on alcohol and drug services.
Answer · Neil Gray: Scottish Government are committed to providing an additional £250 million over the current parliamentary term to reduce drug deaths and improve the lives of people who use drugs and alcohol.The increase in funding of £2.5 million to the alcohol an…
5 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made on delivering each of the recommendations of the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland, in particular, recommendations 52, 53 and 54.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Valuable work has been undertaken to deliver against the recommendations made by the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland.In December 2024 work concluded to address all 55 of the recommendations, and each has now been completed or transitioned…
29 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the implementation of similar measures in Scotland, what its position is on the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 in Ireland.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government draws on the best available international evidence when developing policy, including considering the effects of public health legislation in other countries such as Ireland.The Scottish Government is a member of the British-Irish Counc…
29 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the diets of adolescents aged 11 to 15.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government recognises that improving children’s dietary health and increasing levels of healthy weight are complex issues that require a range of collaborative actions by governments and stakeholders.The Scottish Government is committed to …
29 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with developing an apprenticeship model for allied health professionals.
Answer · Neil Gray: There is currently a moratorium on new apprenticeships in Scotland while work is ongoing with the Scottish Government’s post-school education and skills reform programme.However, one of the key recommendations of the Allied Health Profession (AHP) Educa…
29 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when its next meeting with the A77 Campaign Group will take place, and when it plans to host a roundtable meeting with the A77 Campaign Group and other interested stakeholders on issues regarding the A77.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I had a productive meeting with members of the A77 Campaign Group on the 21 November 2024. Following that my officials from Transport Scotland last met with the A77 Campaign Group on 5 December 2024 as part of a regular series of meetings that they have with …
29 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report, Dietary Intake in Scotland’s CHildren (DISH), which found that only 8% of children meet the recommended Scottish dietary goal for free sugars.
Answer · Jenni Minto: I note the publication of the Dietary Intake in Scotland’s Children (DISH) report. It is disappointing that the DISH report found that only 8% of children are meeting the recommended Scottish dietary goal for free sugars. The Scottish Government recogni…