Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-28271

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the cost to the public of producing the report, Scottish Government Pain Management Panel: Report on Phase 2 of engagement with the panel, regarding chronic pain information compiled by The Lines Between, which was the private firm commissioned by the Scottish Government.

In summer 2022, the Lines Between were commissioned to recruit, support and engage a diverse cross-section of people with chronic pain across Scotland to establish a Pain Management Panel to help inform the Pain Management Implementation Plan. The total cost of the contract with The Lines Between was £40,000 exclusive of VAT. The cost of formatting the report for publication on the Scottish Government website was £516.58.

Question reference: S6F-03204

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 July 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 July 2024

To ask the First Minister asdfas meeting date adding in meeting date to view

Question reference: S6T-02019

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 July 2024
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government sadfsad

Question reference: S6W-28351

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 2 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with local authorities regarding the procedure for dealing with objections to proposals for redetermination orders, in light of reported concerns regarding the requirement for local authorities to refer a matter to the Scottish Ministers for confirmation of proposals where there is an objection to such an order.

The procedures surrounding Redetermination Orders are contained within the relevant legislation (The Stopping Up of Roads and Private Accesses and the Redetermination of Public Rights of Passage (Procedure)(Scotland) Regulations 1986.

Transport Scotland undertook a review of the Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) process, which included Redetermination Orders, in 2021. Stakeholders consulted during this review included local authorities. As part of the findings of this review Transport Scotland has highlighted that Redetermination Orders are not needed in all circumstances.

For example, if a local authority has made a TRO which effectively determines the means by which the public can exercise their right of passage over the road then it may not be necessary to also have a Redetermination Order to give effect to the restrictions on traffic. However, the decision on whether a Redetermination Order is required for a project ultimately remains with the relevant Roads Authority.

Since 2020 Transport Scotland has received 7 Redetermination Orders for determination where objections have been maintained. 6 of these have received a Ministerial Decision within an average of 4 months without referral to a Public Local Inquiry. One other is under active consideration having been received on the 4 th June 2024.

Question reference: S6W-28175

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 27 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of people diagnosed at a late stage with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting people living with dementia. We worked with a wide range of partners and people with lived experience, including those with dementia with Lewy bodies, to inform our new national strategy published last year. The first two year Delivery Plan (published February 2024) sets out the agreed deliverables and improvements, including improving access to a timely diagnosis for all dementias. We know that receiving a timely diagnosis helps people to access the support and services right for them and to plan for their future.

We are working with Public Health Scotland, local and academic partners to add to the data we collect and publish on diagnosis and post-diagnostic support as well as the quality of experience of dementia support and services.

Question reference: S6W-28177

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 27 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to promote the Carer Positive scheme to employers across Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s National Carers Strategy published in December 2022 sets out our cross-government approach to carer support and recognition, with an emphasis on the need for collaboration between national and local government, the third sector, wider public and private sector. The Strategy sets out the importance of all employers being positive about carers in the workforce and outlines our commitment to fund and promote the Carer Positive employer accreditation scheme.

The Scottish Government funds Carers Scotland to run the scheme, raise awareness and engage with prospective employers. It does this through direct engagement, speaking at networks and events, and via one-to-one support. To date there are now more than half a million employees working in 275 Carer Positive organisations across Scotland. A full list of Carer Positive employers is published on the Carer Positive website .

The Scottish Government remains committed to promoting the scheme, and to ensuring that people who provide care for loved ones are able to do so in a meaningful and sustainable way whilst still being able to work, study and have full lives away from caring.

Question reference: S6W-28174

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many abandoned vehicles have been reported to local authorities in each year since 1999.

Information is not held centrally on the number of abandoned vehicles reported to local authorities. Management information is available from Police Scotland on the number of police recorded incidents of abandoned vehicles. This is provided below, split by the local authority within which the incident occurred.

It should be noted that not all abandoned vehicles will relate to cars and an incident may relate to more than one abandoned vehicle. This information was consistently recorded across all police divisions from the calendar year of 2019 onwards and therefore the figures provided below relate to the period 01 January 2019 to 18 June 2024. As such the 2024 figures relate to only a partial year.

Recorded incidents of abandoned vehicles, 01 January 2019 to 18 June 2024.

Local Authority	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Scotland	18,422	13,471	14,109	13,702	13,549	6,770
Aberdeen City	1,208	797	784	639	639	311
Aberdeenshire	680	559	534	553	496	261
Angus	367	282	320	248	295	123
Argyll and Bute	249	162	182	164	168	82
Clackmannanshire	145	103	131	130	99	49
Dumfries and Galloway	407	317	348	313	278	149
Dundee City	615	494	579	517	518	264
East Ayrshire	404	283	318	251	282	152
East Dunbartonshire	337	267	300	248	272	119
East Lothian	327	241	292	303	303	174
East Renfrewshire	280	215	227	224	214	114
Edinburgh, City of	1,889	1,208	1,388	1,402	1,286	657
Falkirk	526	425	408	419	450	238
Fife	1,093	854	859	846	907	437
Glasgow City	2,219	1,501	1,654	1,668	1,636	837
Highland	798	610	609	627	654	324
Inverclyde	236	185	199	167	147	70
Midlothian	409	255	302	261	304	151
Moray	258	208	192	202	217	103
Na h-Eilean Siar	44	32	26	34	25	10
North Ayrshire	417	315	345	328	297	132
North Lanarkshire	1,317	918	927	832	839	379
Orkney Islands	27	16	16	24	21	14
Perth and Kinross	478	374	374	425	369	202
Renfrewshire	696	482	447	517	485	243
Scottish Borders	287	256	249	260	252	137
Shetland Islands	23	22	20	22	20	15
South Ayrshire	337	295	264	261	300	131
South Lanarkshire	1,145	832	864	902	780	452
Stirling	264	215	224	211	246	101
West Dunbartonshire	327	253	235	179	232	119
West Lothian	613	495	492	525	518	220

Source: Police Scotland Management Information

Question reference: S6W-28176

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 27 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review pathways for patients to help improve earlier diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review pathways for patients to help improve earlier diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring everyone living with dementia receives the person centred support and care they need, regardless of which form of dementia they have. Our Dementia Strategy highlights that each individual person's experience of their dementia will be different and care and support needs to reflect that.

The current diagnostic pathway of dementia with Lewy bodies is through an individual’s GP. Clinical guidance on diagnosing suspected dementia with Lewy bodies is contained in the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) which covers assessment, diagnosis, care and support for people with dementia and their care partners. The SIGN Guideline was developed by Healthcare Improvement Scotland and partners in 2023.

The Scottish Government has also established a cross-governmental; cross sectoral steering group to help shape the Scottish Government’s role in contributing to the research and development of greater understanding around dementia risk, earlier dementia identification, diagnosis, and treatment, including the trialling of new treatments which can slow the progression of some dementias.

Question reference: S6W-28173

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 26 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many short-term lets it estimates have stopped operating since the introduction of the short-term let licensing scheme, broken down by local authority.

I will be shortly providing Parliament with an update on the implementation of short-term let licensing, which will highlight the difficulties with the accuracy and completeness of different datasets about short-term let numbers. Prior to licensing there has not been a single robust data source about the number of short-term lets in Scotland and while we recently started publishing data on short term lets licensing applications, this is still provisional and partial data that is subject to upward revision in future releases. The Scottish Government therefore does not hold the information requested.

Question reference: S6O-03724

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government test test

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