Parliamentary questions
Sharon Dowey
756 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
15 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment has been made of the presence of the range of horticultural opportunities that are featured in careers guidance, including in the areas of (a) science, (b) technical, (c) retail, (d) tourism, (e) planning and (f) health.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government recognises the wide range of careers available in the horticultural sector and the importance of educational pathways to deliver graduates equipped with the skills and expertise demanded by the sector. Officials are therefore currently…
14 Nov 2023 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce accidents and improve overall safety on the A77.
9 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what provision it plans to make to support children and young people with cancer to travel to their specialist treatment when they are not required to stay as an inpatient.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has several sources of funding available to children and young people with cancer, in Scotland, to assist with the travel expenses incurred for travelling for cancer treatment. These include the Patient Travelling Expenses Scheme and T…
9 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements have been made to support children and young people travelling to England to receive (a) CAR-T therapy and (b) other specialist and innovative cancer treatments not yet available in Scotland.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government acknowledges that that it can be difficult for patients when there is a need to refer them outwith Scotland for specialist treatment. Ministers expect Health Boards to be mindful of this, to discuss patients’ circumstances with them,…
9 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it plans to undertake a full review of the Young Patients Family Fund, including its eligibility criteria, to assess its impact to date.
Answer · Jenni Minto: We continue to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of the Young Patients Family Fund (YPFF) and keep this under review.
8 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken in light of the report of the review of the Victim Notification Scheme, which was published in May 2023.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government commissioned an independent review of the VNS in spring 2022 to ensure that the scheme was working well for victims. The review published its report and an easy read summary in May this year. It made 22 recommendations for change o…
8 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to introduce legislation to make changes to the Victim Notification Scheme, in light of the publication of the report of the review of the scheme in May 2023.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government commissioned an independent review of the VNS in Spring 2022 to ensure that the scheme was working well for victims. The review published its report and an easy read summary in May this year. It made 22 recommendations for change o…
8 Nov 2023 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what clarification on teacher number arrangements will be provided to local authorities this year.
3 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the use of service level agreements in relation to employment contracts adheres to the NHS Scotland Partnership Information Network (PIN) policies, which define a minimum standard of best employment practice.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Individuals from NHS Scotland Health Boards fulfilling Service Level Agreements continue to be supported and managed under the policy requirements and the terms and conditions of employment of their substantive role. They will also be expected to meet certain…
31 Oct 2023 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it offers to local authorities to help reduce the number of people on social housing waiting lists.
31 Oct 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to review non-domestic rates, particularly for hospitality businesses.
Answer · Tom Arthur: Since the independent Barclay Review of Non-Domestic Rates, we have implemented a range of key reforms and changes to the non-domestic rates system, some of which came into effect on 1 April 2023. We remain committed to three-yearly revaluations with a one-y…
24 Oct 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21760 by Angela Constance on 9 October 2023, how many of the 543 charges under the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021 that led to a conviction in criminal court between August 2021 and March 2023…
Answer · Angela Constance: Data about the number of charges resulting in a conviction has been extracted from the management information used to publish the Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard (Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Ser…
20 Oct 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill will be reintroduced to the Scottish Parliament at reconsideration stage.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: I moved a motion for Scottish Parliament to reconsider the United Nations Convention on the Rights Of the Child (Incorporation)(Scotland) Bill on 14 September 2023, which was passed unanimously by Parliament. The amendments to the Bill were formally lodged wi…
17 Oct 2023 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much public money it plans to spend in this financial year and in 2024-25 on any work designed to further the case for Scottish independence, including the costs of publication of any independence-related documents.
11 Oct 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government at which stations Scottish Fire and Rescue Service high reach appliances will be located.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: The location of Scottish Fire and Rescue Service high reach appliances are listed below and can be found here: SSRP Information Pack (external-doc-library.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com) Inverness Central Aberdeen Oban Perth Blackness Road, Dundee Greenoc…
11 Oct 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish a list of all Scottish Fire and Rescue Service stations that are planned to be closed in the next year.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: There are currently no plans to close any fire stations in the next year. SFRS are currently considering the responses to a public consultation on the future of Leadhills Fire station in South Lanarkshire however, no decisions have been made at present.
11 Oct 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many Scottish Fire and Rescue Service high reach appliances have been in operation in each of the last five years.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: In the last five years, SFRS have had a total of 26 High Reach Appliances in their fleet. From 4 September this year, as part of the SFRS operational strategy and after careful consideration and scrutiny of Incident Recording System (IRS) data, this number w…
11 Oct 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many Scottish Fire and Rescue Service appliances currently in use are more than (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 20 years old.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The SFRS fleet, its maintenance and usage are matters for SFRS.
11 Oct 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish a list of all Scottish Fire and Rescue Service stations that have closed in the last five years.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: There have been no Scottish Fire and Rescue Service stations closed in the last five years. Information regarding the SFRS estate is published annually and can be found here Statistics | Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (firescotland.gov.uk)
6 Oct 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to increase capacity in NHS Ayrshire and Arran to prevent operations being cancelled for reasons related to capacity and other non-clinical issues.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government is working closely with NHS Ayrshire and Arran to increase capacity and reduce cancellations. A number of improvement actions to enable the prioritisation of resources to areas where the capacity gap has the greatest impact are already…
5 Oct 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the most recent data on the number of people currently living with dementia, and what plans there are to update this data.
Answer · Maree Todd: As stated in Everyone’s Story: A New Dementia Strategy for Scotland , dementia affects an estimated 90,000 people in Scotland, an estimated 3,000 of whom are under 65. However, every person with dementia is unique. Dementia affects people in lots of different…
5 Oct 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to include dementia as a key priority area in the next Women’s Health Plan, in light of recent data from the National Records of Scotland showing that dementia is the leading cause of death for women in Scotland.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The priorities for any future Women’s Health Plan are not yet determined. Future aims and priorities will be developed in collaboration with women and girls, including our lived experience stakeholder group, clinical experts and relevant stakeholders alongsid…
5 Oct 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the first three national dementia strategies in Scotland, and what the conclusions were.
Answer · Maree Todd: Our previous three dementia strategies consistently maintained a focus on improving the quality of care for people living with dementia and their families through work on diagnosis, including: post-diagnostic support; care co-ordination during the middle stag…
5 Oct 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of people currently diagnosed with dementia have received or are receiving their guaranteed minimum of one year of post-diagnostic support, and what steps are being taken to ensure that this support is provided to everyone with a diagnosis of dementia.
Answer · Maree Todd: In 2020-21, the latest year for which we have data, we estimate that there were 6,569 people diagnosed with dementia and referred for dementia post-diagnostic support. This is a 20% reduction on the 8,137 diagnosed in 2019-20, which is likely to be due to the…
5 Oct 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the most recent data on current rates of diagnosis of dementia, and what steps are being taken to address any barriers to diagnosis.
Answer · Maree Todd: To estimate diagnosis rates in Scotland we are developing an approach that compiles a dataset of CHI numbers of people with a dementia diagnosis from multiple health and social data sources. Based on this approach, and using our current model for estimating t…
2 Oct 2023 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government will take to tackle the reported rising rates of crime and antisocial behaviour at retail premises.
27 Sep 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding for mental health services has been allocated to prevention in each financial year since 2021-22.
Answer · Maree Todd: Funding for mental health services is drawn from the overall funds allocated to NHS Scotland by the Scottish Government. The latest available data from the Public Health Scotland Scottish Health Service Costs shows that for 2021-22 total expenditure by NHS …
27 Sep 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding through the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund (a) has been provided in each financial year since 2021-22 and (b) will be made available in the next two financial years.
Answer · Maree Todd: Over the last three years (2021-24), £51 million has been provided through the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults. The following amounts have been provided in each year:2021-22 (Year 1) – £21 million.2022-23 (Year 2) – £15 million.2023-24…
27 Sep 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much total funding has been put into mental health services in each financial year since 2021-22.
Answer · Maree Todd: Funding for mental health services is drawn from the overall funds allocated to NHS Scotland by the Scottish Government. The latest available data from the Public Health Scotland Scottish Health Service Costs shows that for ? 2021-22 total expenditure by NHS …
26 Sep 2023 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how and when it will introduce a leavers fund for victims of domestic abuse, which would provide a social security payment for those who feel the need to flee their homes.