Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-22421

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 March 2019
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jeane Freeman on 1 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent report by Healthcare Improvement Scotland regarding the clinical management of breast cancer in NHS Tayside.

The Scottish Government, along with NHS Tayside, will, as a matter of urgency take into account the findings and recommendations of the Heath Improvement Scotland Report – “Clinical Management of Breast Cancer in NHS Tayside”.

In order to progress matters as quickly as possible, the Chief Medical Officer commissioned an expert group last month. This group will be chaired by Professor Aileen Keel (Chair of the Scottish Cancer Taskforce and the Director of the Innovative Healthcare Delivery Programme) and will fully consider all the individual recommendations. That Group is expected to present their findings in June to coincide with expected resolution of the issues highlighted in the HIS Report.

In advance of publication of the Report, the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Pharmaceutical Officer also convened a multidisciplinary clinical Immediate Response Group to deliver an informed consensus risk assessment relating to this variation in clinical practice in NHS Tayside. The findings of that report are now being considered urgently by NHS Tayside in order that they can inform and support patients and families who may have concerns around the treatment of breast cancer in NHS Tayside. The Scottish Government would expect that patients are fully informed and are involved in any decisions taken by their clinicians with regard to their treatment and that patients feel empowered to ask questions about treatment, benefits and risks and any alternatives available.

While we recognise that this report may be concerning for patients and their families who have undergone chemotherapy for breast cancer in NHS Tayside since 2016, it must be stressed that the risk of negative impact is very small. It is also important to note that the variations in treatments detailed in the HIS report are not routinely found elsewhere in Scotland.

Patient safety is always the number one priority in NHS Scotland, and the findings and recommendations of today’s report will now rightly urgently be considered by the Scottish Government and NHS Tayside. The Scottish Government would expect NHS Tayside to act immediately should there require to be a change in their clinical practices.

Question reference: S5O-03087

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it defines trail hunting in relation to its proposals for legislative changes to fox hunting practices.

Question reference: S5F-03221

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 March 2019

To ask the First Minister what progress is being made with the implementation of Frank’s Law.

Question reference: S5W-22021

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 25 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the latest available combined costs for prescription charges and eye tests in (a) Scotland, (b) England and (c) Wales.

Prescription charges were abolished in Scotland on 1 April 2011. Prescriptions issued on Scottish prescription forms (GP10) are dispensed to the patient free of charge by Scottish community pharmacies. The current prescription charge in England of £8.80 per item is due to increase to £9 per item from 1 April 2019. Prescription charges were abolished in Wales on 1 April 2007.

Eye examinations in Scotland have been provided free of charge since 1 April 2006 to all UK residents and those exempt from charges under the National Health Service (Charges for Overseas Visitors) (Scotland) Regulations 1989. Free NHS funded eye examinations in England and Wales are only provided to certain groups of patients. Patients in England and Wales who wish to have their eyes examined and who are not eligible for a free NHS funded eye examination typically have to pay a private sight test fee, which varies by provider.

Question reference: S5W-22020

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the latest available figures for tuition fees for a first full-time degree in (a) Scotland, (b) England and (c) Wales.

Eligible students studying their first full-time degree in Scotland would not be expected to pay any tuition fees, due to the Scottish Government’s commitment to paying the tuition of qualifying first full-time undergraduates.

Students studying in England for their first full-time degrees would be expected to pay tuition fees of up to £9,250 per year.

Students studying in Wales for their first full-time degrees would be expected to pay tuition fees of up to £9,000 per year.

Question reference: S5W-21721

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 21 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of properties in each local authority have had access to broadband in each year since 2014.

Due to the commercial nature of much of this information, the Scottish Government does not hold data on broadband coverage percentages. However, independent broadband analysis site, thinkbroadband.com - the same source that the UK Government quotes for its own figures - provides breakdowns of coverage percentages for both fibre broadband and superfast broadband at Local Authority and Constituency level. The following tables show coverage percentages from 2014 to end February 2019.

	Fibre coverage
Local Authority	Jan-14	2015	2016	2017	2018	Feb-19
Aberdeen City	72.7%	93.2%	95.5%	97.1%	97.5%	97.5%
Aberdeenshire	17.6%	78.2%	85.4%	90.8%	93.1%	93.3%
Angus	62.6%	78.3%	88.1%	91.6%	94.7%	95.0%
Argyll & Bute	0.9%	49.5%	71.6%	88.1%	91.1%	91.4%
City of Edinburgh	90.7%	93.7%	96.4%	98.6%	98.6%	98.6%
Clackmannanshire	55.9%	80.6%	97.5%	99.6%	99.8%	99.8%
Dumfries & Galloway	18.9%	79.9%	87.6%	92.6%	94.8%	95.0%
Dundee City	95.3%	98.0%	98.7%	99.4%	99.3%	99.3%
East Ayrshire	51.7%	86.5%	92.2%	96.5%	97.0%	97.0%
East Dunbartonshire	77.9%	91.5%	94.7%	98.6%	99.4%	99.5%
East Lothian	33.2%	76.7%	88.0%	93.8%	96.7%	96.8%
East Renfrewshire	85.7%	90.7%	95.1%	97.3%	99.0%	99.0%
Falkirk	85.6%	89.9%	93.8%	98.0%	97.9%	97.9%
Fife	53.4%	86.5%	95.2%	98.1%	98.8%	98.8%
Glasgow City	75.9%	92.7%	95.4%	98.3%	98.7%	98.7%
Highland	21.8%	73.0%	84.3%	91.4%	92.2%	92.4%
Inverclyde	72.0%	90.8%	93.3%	98.3%	98.9%	98.9%
Midlothian	49.0%	76.5%	91.2%	97.3%	97.2%	97.1%
Moray	7.1%	82.4%	89.3%	93.9%	95.5%	95.5%
Na h-Eileanan an Iar	1.6%	39.7%	59.4%	81.0%	85.9%	87.2%
North Ayrshire	43.3%	80.5%	92.3%	98.8%	99.2%	99.2%
North Lanarkshire	78.3%	93.8%	96.2%	98.6%	98.9%	98.9%
Orkney Islands	12.0%	44.0%	69.0%	81.9%	81.5%	81.9%
Perth & Kinross	40.0%	69.1%	85.1%	91.4%	93.4%	93.7%
Renfrewshire	77.0%	92.3%	94.8%	97.6%	98.6%	98.6%
Scottish Borders	23.1%	72.8%	84.1%	90.6%	94.0%	94.4%
Shetland Islands	35.1%	48.4%	78.0%	83.8%	85.2%	85.3%
South Ayrshire	46.4%	84.9%	90.8%	96.3%	97.6%	97.9%
South Lanarkshire	72.0%	91.5%	94.8%	97.8%	98.6%	98.7%
Stirling	58.6%	80.3%	87.8%	94.7%	95.4%	95.8%
West Dunbartonshire	88.8%	96.3%	97.2%	99.0%	99.3%	99.5%
West Lothian	64.4%	84.5%	90.6%	98.1%	98.6%	98.6%

	Superfast coverage (30Mbps and above)
Local Authority	Jan-14	2015	2016	2017	2018	Feb-19
Aberdeen City	71.6%	90.0%	93.4%	95.7%	96.5%	96.5%
Aberdeenshire	16.6%	65.5%	73.0%	79.3%	81.1%	81.1%
Angus	58.8%	71.5%	79.9%	84.2%	87.5%	87.5%
Argyll & Bute	0.9%	41.9%	60.4%	78.1%	81.8%	82.1%
City of Edinburgh	90.5%	93.4%	96.2%	98.3%	98.4%	98.4%
Clackmannanshire	54.2%	77.8%	95.3%	98.0%	98.3%	98.3%
Dumfries & Galloway	17.0%	65.7%	73.4%	81.0%	83.1%	83.3%
Dundee City	95.2%	97.6%	98.3%	98.9%	98.9%	98.9%
East Ayrshire	48.5%	78.5%	84.9%	92.6%	93.5%	93.6%
East Dunbartonshire	77.6%	89.0%	92.0%	96.8%	97.7%	97.8%
East Lothian	31.9%	71.2%	81.8%	88.3%	91.3%	91.4%
East Renfrewshire	84.6%	89.1%	93.5%	95.9%	97.7%	97.6%
Falkirk	85.2%	88.6%	92.4%	96.5%	96.6%	96.6%
Fife	52.9%	83.2%	91.8%	95.3%	96.1%	96.1%
Glasgow City	75.2%	91.2%	94.8%	98.1%	98.5%	98.5%
Highland	20.3%	59.2%	68.3%	76.9%	78.6%	78.6%
Inverclyde	72.0%	88.1%	92.0%	96.8%	97.4%	97.4%
Midlothian	44.0%	70.3%	87.8%	94.0%	93.5%	93.5%
Moray	6.9%	71.8%	76.9%	84.9%	86.3%	86.4%
Na h-Eileanan an Iar	1.3%	25.4%	41.3%	64.5%	71.7%	72.3%
North Ayrshire	40.9%	75.7%	89.0%	96.0%	96.3%	96.3%
North Lanarkshire	77.3%	91.2%	94.9%	97.5%	97.9%	98.0%
Orkney Islands	11.1%	35.9%	48.9%	64.4%	64.7%	65.1%
Perth & Kinross	39.3%	61.0%	76.0%	82.8%	84.9%	85.1%
Renfrewshire	76.7%	90.7%	93.6%	96.4%	97.6%	97.6%
Scottish Borders	20.8%	59.6%	71.6%	80.1%	83.8%	84.2%
Shetland Islands	28.9%	37.4%	60.0%	72.1%	73.7%	73.7%
South Ayrshire	44.9%	80.0%	86.6%	92.8%	94.3%	94.4%
South Lanarkshire	70.2%	86.4%	90.9%	94.7%	95.7%	95.9%
Stirling	56.5%	73.6%	80.8%	88.3%	89.3%	89.7%
West Dunbartonshire	88.7%	95.5%	96.7%	98.6%	98.9%	99.1%
West Lothian	63.0%	81.5%	88.9%	96.2%	97.0%	96.9%

These figures show that fibre coverage across Scotland increased from 60.3% in January 2014 to 97.2% in February 2019. Similarly, superfast coverage increased from 59.3% to 93.4% in the same timeframe – an increase of over 34 percentage points.

Question reference: S5O-03075

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much of its Budget it allocated to the Court of the Lord Lyon in Scotland, and how the finance secretary reached this decision.

Question reference: S5W-22022

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the maximum toll or charge for use of a public road or bridge in (a) Scotland, (b) England and (c) Wales.

Question reference: S5W-21858

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 13 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what impact reduced levels of immigration as a result of Brexit could have on Scotland’s public services.

The UK Government proposal to end free movement will significantly reduce the number of people coming to Scotland to live, work and study. The recently published independent report of the Expert Advisory Group on Migration and Population estimates a reduction in net migration to Scotland of between 30% and 50% over the coming two decades if the UK Government puts in place the measures set out in its White Paper on immigration.

Key services, such as health and social care, depend on EU workers to make up a significant proportion of their workforce. A reduction in migration to Scotland of the level suggested in the White Paper will have severe consequences for Scotland's public services. A 5% decline in Scotland's working age population, as the Expert Advisory Group estimates, will reduce the number of workers available to fill roles, affect the Scottish Government's abilities to raise revenue for public services, and therefore increase the challenge of managing the consequences of an ageing population.

Question reference: S5O-02956

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 February 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the potential impact on sheep farming of Brexit.

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