Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-34435

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has cost to run the National Dental Inspection Programme in (a) 2024-25 to date and (b) the four previous financial years.

This information is not held by Scottish Government.

The National Dental Inspection Programme (NDIP) is a key function of the Public Dental Service, delivery of which is the responsibility of Health Boards.

From the financial years 2020-21 to 2023-24, Scottish Government provided funding to Public Dental Services via Health Board allocations, however this did not specify funding for NDIP. From the financial year 2024-25, this funding has been baselined in to the overall Health Board allocation and is not separately identifiable.

Question reference: S6W-34327

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 16 full-time equivalent roles to support the mental health and wellbeing of the NHS workforce have been filled since the publication of this pledge in the national workforce strategy in March 2022.

Question reference: S6W-34326

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the health budget was spent on the National Wellbeing Hub in the financial year (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25.

Question reference: S6W-34328

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the adequacy of wellbeing services for healthcare professionals, including in relation to their accessibility, frequency of usage and success in reducing burnout rates, in light of reported research by the Medical and Dental Defence Union Scotland (MDDUS) stating that 67% of doctors in Scotland say that their empathy for their patients is reduced because they have compassion fatigue.

Question reference: S6W-34332

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will make a representation to the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth requesting that it reviews its Standing Rules and considers admitting devolved parliaments and legislative assemblies to its membership.

Question reference: S6W-33271

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 28 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with the assessment of whether to include spinal muscular atrophy screening in health checks for newborns.

Scotland’s screening policy relies on recommendations from the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent scientific body that provides advice on screening policy to all four UK nations. To date, the UK NSC has not recommended Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) screening through the existing newborn blood spot test, and has stated it requires further evidence before a decision can be made.

The UK NSC continues to monitor and review the rapidly developing evidence base regarding SMA screening. Most recently, in November 2024, the interim results of a new modelling study into SMA screening for the UK context were presented at a workshop to stakeholders. The findings of this study, in conjunction with the proposed In Service Evaluation of SMA screening in some areas of England, will inform the UK NSC’s considerations regarding whether SMA screening should be recommended.

The UK NSC updates on significant developments regarding potential and existing screening programmes on their blog. This can be found at UK National Screening Committee – News and updates from the UK National Screening Committee

Question reference: S6W-33595

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the article Infinite and Everywhere, which was published in August 2024 by These Islands, and the reported view that "renewables are a low return on capital business", that they represent a different economic opportunity to oil and gas, and that "It is the Union which unlocks Scotland’s potential in renewables".

The Scottish Government does not share this view.

The returns to Scotland from renewables are substantial. For example, the Fraser of Allander Institute estimates that in 2021 Scotland’s renewable energy sectors and supply chain supported over £10.1 billion of output, more than 42,000 full time equivalent jobs, and over £4.7 billion of Gross Value Added across the Scottish economy.

The reality is of course that some factors influencing our energy potential are governed at the UK level and decisions about that are taken in Whitehall. The Scottish Government is working collaboratively with the UK Government to ensure that decisions resulting from the ongoing Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) will be beneficial for Scotland’s people and economy.

The Scottish Government believes that an independent Scotland which maximises local renewable power generation can create greater energy self-reliance, reduce our exposure to the volatility of global gas prices, and ensure the lower cost of renewables is passed through to customers.

Question reference: S6W-33957

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 7 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of the Spanish Tax Lease system, which is applied to finance agreements for the purchase of ships, making it possible for shipping companies to purchase ships built by Spanish shipyards at a 20% to 30% discount, and whether it (a) can and (b) will develop a similar system in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-33281

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 24 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will update section 19 of the Historic Environment (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2011 to increase the maximum fine for offences in relation to unauthorised works and listed building consent above the current maximum of £50,000, recognising the effect of inflation, and whether it will consider pegging the fine to the independently assessed cost of restoring any damage.

Question reference: S6W-33272

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what areas of brain cancer research it allocated funding to in 2023-24, also broken down by the amount allocated to each area.

Within the Scottish Government, funding of Health and Care Research comes under the remit of the Chief Scientist Office (CSO).

CSO funds research projects via its Translational Clinical Studies (TCS) Committee and the Health Improvement, Protection and Services Research (HIPS) Committee

https://www.cso.scot.nhs.uk/grant-funding/response-mode-funding-schemes/

CSO funds capacity building research via its Fellowship Funding programmes

https://www.cso.scot.nhs.uk/fellowship-funding/

Research funding is not allocated to any particular condition and CSO funds research across the clinical spectrum. All applications go through a process of independent expert review to allow funding decisions to be made. Applications on Brain Tumours are welcomed and CSO's role is well known across the Health and Care research community in Scotland

In 2023-24 the following funding was awarded specifically for research in Brain Cancer

TCS/23/18 - Assessment of Brain Tumours with Dynamic T2* and Lactate MR under Oxygen Challenge to Evaluate Aerobic and Anaerobic Metabolic Status of Gliomas

£299,918

Tessa Jowell Fellowship in Neuro-oncology

£44,237

In addition, CSO provides infrastructure funding to support the delivery of clinical studies in the NHS in Scotland. In 2023-24 the cancer-specific component of this infrastructure funding was £1,112,434. This figure includes funding for the NHS Research Scotland Cancer Research Network and the CSO component of funding for the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres in Edinburgh and Glasgow (co-funded 50:50 with Cancer Research UK). The purpose of this funding is to support the delivery of early and later phase cancer clinical studies, including in Brain Tumours.

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