S6W-36996

Asked by: Kerr, Stephen (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Central Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish a breakdown of running costs for each of its buildings in which average desk occupancy fell below 50% in the last year.

Answered by McKee, Ivan - Minister for Public Finance

No. This information is not proactively published. Information on running costs for Scottish Government buildings has been previously provided, under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

S6W-36961

Asked by:

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average time spent by each fire station was in each of the last 10 years in engaging with stakeholders on reducing the risk of wildfires.

Answered by Brown, Siobhian - Minister for Victims and Community Safety

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

S6W-36960

Asked by:

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average cost to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was of dealing with each wildfire incident in each of the last 10 years.

Answered by Brown, Siobhian - Minister for Victims and Community Safety

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

S6W-36957

Asked by:

Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) vacancies and (b) understaffed hours were reported by each fire station in each of the last 10 years.

Answered by Brown, Siobhian - Minister for Victims and Community Safety

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

S6W-36873

Asked by: Kerr, Stephen (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Central Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of what the potential economic impact on families and communities would be if up to half of all care homes were to close.

Answered by Gray, Neil - Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care

We do not want to see the closure of good quality care homes and we understand the concern this causes for residents and their families, as well as for the wider community. Of course, when a home closes this can have a knock-on impact to the local economy, this particularly is felt in rural and remote areas of the country.

The economic impact on families and communities can go beyond traditional economic measures and can be greatly influenced by individual’s own circumstances and their reactions to any such changes.

We know that Scotland’s Adult Social Care sector is a significant contributor towards the Economy, adding multiple billions in Gross Value Added and employing tens-of-thousands of people. Whilst challenging to estimate we do note recent reports, commissioned by the Skills for Care and Development Alliance, which provides some indication of the potential scale of the economic value of social care in Scotland (Economic and social value of the UK adult social care sector: Scotland).

Additionally, I would highlight that although we have overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, the statutory responsibility for delivering, commissioning, providing appropriate social care capacity at a local level lies with local authorities, NHS boards and integrated Health and Social Care Partnerships. This includes the responsibility for these local authorities to develop contingency plans for each service they commission or provide, to have robust plans in place should a service close, as well as risk assessments to determine potential impacts on the local social care sector, wider system and economy.

While I recognise the seriousness of the risks faced by the social care sector, the projections from partners such as Scottish Care are the worst-case scenario. Investment by the Scottish Government into the social care sector has increased quite substantially, during a period in which pressures on public finances have been most acute

We do understand the anxiety and growing concerns within the care home and wider social care sectors regarding the current pressures on the financial viability of the sectors. Pressures that have been significantly added to by decisions taken by the UK Government, such as the increase in employers National Insurance Contributions, changes to the social care visa system and salary threshold levels.

Scottish Government officials are undertaking a programme of work to understand and respond to the current financial viability pressures in the sector and the impact that this change will have. That work remains ongoing and will continue to work with partners across social care to help manage the current risks and move towards a more sustainable future for social care within the country.

S6W-36676

Asked by: Briggs, Miles (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Lothian)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have accessed cancer drug trials in each NHS board area in each year since 1999.

Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health

Directly comparable data is available from Financial Year 2014-2015 onwards corresponding to the introduction of the EDGE clinical research management system across the territorial NHS Boards and this data has been provided in the table below.

Patient recruitment figures by Financial Year are provided for 11/14 territorial NHS Boards. NHS Orkney and NHS Shetland patients are routinely treated as part of the NHS Grampian service and patients from these boards are included in the NHS Grampian recruitment figures below. A similar arrangement exists between NHS Western Isles and NHS Highland and is reflected in the recruitment figures below.

Accessed has been interpreted as patients who have been consented and recruited into a trial.

Drug trials has been interpreted as a Clinical Trial of an Investigative Medicinal Product as defined in the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trial) regulations 2004.

S6W-36598

Asked by: Kerr, Stephen (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Central Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential financial burden on (a) housing associations and (b) social landlords in meeting their decarbonisation requirements.

Answered by Allan, Alasdair - Acting Minister for Climate Action

Our consultation last year on a new Social Housing Net Zero Standard (SHNZS) asked for views on proposals to require social landlords to improve fabric efficiency and install clean heating where it is technically feasible and cost-effective to do so. Feedback from this consultation estimated the total upfront costs for the sector to 2045 of installing clean heating systems and improving energy efficiency would be around £6 billion, with an average cost per home of around £14,000.

We continue to discuss next steps for the proposed Standard and longer term financing options with key stakeholders from the social housing sector. I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-36595 on 24 April 2025 and S6W-36596 on 1 May 2025 for further context.

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/written-questions-and-answers

S6W-36947

Asked by:

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what additional funding it has allocated to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in the Highlands and Islands to enhance its capacity to respond to wildfires.

Answered by Brown, Siobhian - Minister for Victims and Community Safety

The allocation of resources within the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is an operational matter for the Chief Fire Officer and SFRS Board. Scottish Government has not allocated funding to SFRS for the specific purpose of tackling wildfires, the £422.2 million budget is allocated to support the whole range of SFRS functions.

The budget for 2025-26 provides SFRS with an additional £18.8 million in support of front line services.

Scottish Government is supportive of the SFRS Wildfire Strategy which was launched in 2023 and is supported by a planned spend of around £1.6 million over the course of three years. SFRS responds to wildfires using a tiered system of fire stations which include the latest technology and techniques to safely bring any incident to a conclusion.

SFRS remains ready and able to respond to any instance of wildfire that occurs across Scotland.

S6W-36614

Asked by: Hamilton, Rachael (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its next Creating Hope Together suicide prevention action plan.

Answered by Todd, Maree - Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport

The first three year Creating Hope Together action plan was published in 2022 and covers the period 2022-2025.

As outlined in the answer S6W-35639 on 27 March 2025, we are starting to develop our next three-year action plan which we intend to publish in early 2026. This will build on the existing suicide prevention work and the significant insights gathered over the lifespan of the current action plan, as well as reflecting emerging and new evidence on suicide prevention. We will be engaging with our key stakeholders, our lived experience panels and others in the coming months so that they can help shape the next action plan.

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/written-questions-and-answers

S6W-36726

Asked by: Lumsden, Douglas (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - North East Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland report, Investigation into the care and treatment of Mr TU, published in March 2023, what the findings were of any assessment it has carried out on the impact of a lack of continuity in senior medical staffing on patient care.

Answered by Todd, Maree - Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport

The Scottish Government has not undertaken any specific assessment in regards to the impact of a lack of continuity in senior medical staffing on patient care. However, we regularly engage with Boards at official level to ensure they are providing a safe, high-quality service to patients.

In addition, we are progressing the actions within the Mental health and wellbeing: workforce action plan 2023-2025 which seeks to address key workforce challenges. This includes the Mental Health Nursing Review and Psychiatry Recruitment and Retention Working Group, which are due to report shortly. This work has been informed by views from each profession and people with lived and living experience.