Miles Briggs

10 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that less than 10% of patients survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Scotland, what action Ministers are taking to improve CPR training and defibrillator familiarisation in schools, to improve citizen response to an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government is a partner in the Save a Life for Scotland Partnership, which is working to ensure that all school aged children in Scotland will be given the opportunity to be equipped with CPR skills and increase defibrillator familiarisation acro…

10 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS Scotland regarding increasing the number of centres that can provide CAR T-cell therapy beyond Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Answer · Neil Gray: Scottish Government has not had discussions with Boards about expanding CAR-T cell therapy provision beyond the current centres in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.Until late 2024, adult CAR-T cell therapy in Scotland was delivered through a single specialist …

10 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that palliative care is considered and reflected in other relevant policy areas.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The development of our new palliative care strategy – Palliative Care Matters for All - has been informed throughout by ongoing collaboration with relevant policy areas across Scottish Government, such as health and social care, housing, equalities and …

10 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has provided in relation to locating defibrillators outside school buildings.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Decisions on whether to install defibrillators in schools are a matter for local authorities. The Scottish Government published a guide in 2018 providing advice on purchasing and installing a public access defibrillator. This can be found at the following lin…

10 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many young people have received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested regarding CPR training in each local authority area.

10 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the findings laid out in Public Health Scotland's recent report on CAR-T for haematological malignancies from 2020 to 2023.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government welcomes the findings from Public Health Scotland’s (PHS) report on chimeric antibody receptor therapies (CAR-T) for haematological malignancies. The report, which is a collaboration between PHS and the Cancer Medicines Outcomes …

10 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that blood cancer patients from Scotland's most deprived areas have equal access to CAR T-cell therapies, following the findings in Public Health Scotland's recent report on CAR-T for haematological malignancies from 2020 to 2023.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government welcomes the finding that eligible patients are increasingly accessing CAR-T therapies.NHS Board Chief Executives have endorsed a three-centre regional service model for delivering CAR-T therapies across Scotland, in NHS Greater Glasgo…

10 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many visits to schools for engagement events have been made by community police in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

10 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many defibrillators have been located in (a) nurseries, (b) primary schools and (c) secondary schools in each local authority area in each of the last five years.  

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested regarding defibrillators in nurseries and schools.

10 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many classroom assistants have been employed in schools in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Information on the number of classroom assistants for the years 2003-2020 was provided in answer to question S6W-01069 on 14 July 2021 which is available on the Scottish Parliament website at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/questions-and-a…

10 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much "clawback" has been returned to and received by the Scottish Government in each year since 1999, broken down by individual (a) college and (b) university.

Answer · Graeme Dey: In referring to "clawback", Scottish Government assumes the question relates to differences in funding provided by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) via its annual allocations process to institutions based on forecast uptake of places at colleges and univers…

10 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on counsellors in schools in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is an absolute priority for the Scottish Government. Since 2021, we have continued to support our local authority partners with £16 million in funding to ensure that all school pupils aged 10 …

10 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment ministers have made of the policy to provide an automated external defibrillator to every state school in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; whether it will adopt this policy in Scotland, and, if not, for what reason.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Decisions on whether to install defibrillators in schools are a matter for Local Authorities.The Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy: 2021-2026 does not include a specific commitment to placing defibrillators in Scottish schools. Our policy is to work wit…

9 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review the Skills Investment Plan For Scotland’s construction sector to determine its effectiveness, and, if necessary, update the plan to reflect the current needs of the Scottish construction industry.

Answer · Graeme Dey: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38196 on 17 June 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-committees/…

30 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prevent any misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) by public bodies and ensure that creative talent is protected. 

Answer · Ivan McKee: To prevent any misuse of artificial intelligence by public bodies we encourage best practice and advice through the Scottish Government’s Public Sector AI Task Force which meets on a monthly basis to support the safe adoption of AI, finding synergies an…

28 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to developing a dedicated Skills Action Plan for the construction sector, similar to that proposed for the offshore wind sector in the 2025-26 Programme for Government, in recognition of the sector’s reported significant skills gap, and in light of the Charte…

Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government is supporting plans for a more sustainable, productive, innovative and diverse construction industry.The Scottish Construction Leadership Forum (CLF), chaired by the Minister for Business, is the main forum for Scottish Government/ Ind…

28 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on proposals to introduce congestion charging schemes in local authorities.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Local authorities have existing discretionary powers to introduce local road user charging schemes under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001, which was brought into statute by a previous Parliament.We have committed, in our recently published 'Achieving Car Use…

28 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the rights of people to access collective advocacy.

Answer · Maree Todd: Section 259 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 gives people with a mental illness, learning disability, dementia and related conditions a right of access to independent advocacy. It confers a duty on each relevant local authority an…

22 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to identify any errors in reports on chronic pain that it has commissioned and supervised, in light of reports that one such report did not make it clear that it was based on accounts of commercially recruited people who were paid £200 each to participate, a…

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government takes the accuracy of its commissioned reports seriously and aims to ensure that work carried out on its behalf is appropriate.The report referenced was produced by an independent research organisation using established qualitative res…

22 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which tests, and for what types of cancer, are not included in the Scottish Genomic Test Directory for Cancer that are available under the National Genomic Test Directory in England.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Strategic Network for Genomic Medicine (SSNGM) is currently working to document and address these gaps as part of the genomic medicine strategy, with the aim of improving alignment and equity of provision across the UK.

22 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has achieved its reported commitment to provide a counsellor for every secondary school.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is an absolute priority for the Scottish Government.We continue to support our local authority partners with £16 million in funding to ensure that all school pupils aged 10 and above and all s…

22 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many self-employed counsellors have been contracted by each local authority to work in schools in each year since 1999.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Local Authorities have the statutory responsibility for education therefore the Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. Local authorities may hold this information.As part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to invest in access…

22 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many school buildings that have been surveyed still currently contain asbestos, and whether it will provide a list of any such schools, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Local authorities have statutory responsibility for the control and management of asbestos within their schools, therefore, the Scottish Government does not hold this information. Furthermore, health and safety is not devolved to the Scottish Government, and …

22 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the genomic laboratory transformation programme, initiated in 2022, is now complete, and what the new laboratory network now comprises.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Genomic Laboratory Transformation Programme, initiated in 2022, is ongoing and has not yet been completed.In March 2024 the NHS Scotland National Services Division (NSD) transformation team developed a two-year delivery plan to guide the next phase of tra…

22 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any economic impact of untreated attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism.

Answer · Maree Todd: As part of preparations for the public consultation on the proposed Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence Bill, the Scottish Government collated existing information on how current barriers in society affect the outcomes and wellbeing of neurodive…

22 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on school security measures in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: It is the statutory responsibility of local authorities to manage their school estate, therefore, the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

22 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how often the Scottish Genomic Test Directory for Cancer is updated, and when the next update will be.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Genomic Test Directory for Cancer is reviewed annually. The next update is expected to be in September 2025.As part of the transformation programme, the entirety of the cancer test directory has been mapped to the SNOMED Clinical Terms disease on…

22 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported reductions to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism services, and whether it plans to implement a national approach to providing appropriate pathways and support for neurodevelopmental conditions.

Answer · Maree Todd: I recognise that there has been a significant increase in adults seeking ADHD and autism assessments across Scotland. I recognise how important assessment and support through local services can be and I expect NHS Boards to deliver appropriate local services …

22 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many counsellors have been employed in schools in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: We continue to support our local authority partners with £16 million in funding a year to ensure access to school counselling services across Scotland.As part of the commitment, local authorities provide reports on school counselling services which incl…

22 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported pause in the work of the Scottish Genomics Test Advisory Group, what process is being followed to ensure that appropriate companion diagnostic genomic tests are available to cancer clinicians when making decisions about treatments for patients.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government remains committed to ensuring equitable access to genomic tests associated with Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) approved medicines.While the work of the Scottish Genomics Test Advisory Group (SG-TAG) is currently paused, processes …