Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S4W-22665

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 29 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what the status is of the recently leaked paper suggesting that the NHS will have to meet a funding gap of up to £450 million.

As has been stated previously, this paper is part of the regular discussions among NHS leaders to plan proactively for future healthcare provision, so as to ensure that we maintain the delivery of quality care and treatment within boards’ allocated funding. Budget planning enabled NHS to make efficiency savings of 3% per year for the last six years – releasing more than £1.5 billion to be redirected to fund frontline NHS services.

For 2015-16 there is a planned overall increase of £256 million in health resource spending. This will see the resources allocated to territorial NHS boards, those who deliver direct patient care, increase by 2.7 per cent. This is an above real terms increase, and represents the sixth above-inflation increase in a row. Every territorial board will see their budgets increased.

Additional capital funding will take the overall increase to £288 million in 2015-16, bringing the total health budget to £12.16 billion.

Question reference: S4W-22661

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 29 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what the budget will be for each new health and social care partnership in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.

In each partnership area, it is the responsibility of the health board and local authority to delegate functions to the integration joint board, and budgets relating to those functions.

Each health board and local authority will agree an integration scheme, setting out their integrated arrangements for health and social care, and this will include their method for determining budgets to be delegated to the integration joint board. The integration scheme is subject to ministerial approval.

Question reference: S4W-22660

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 29 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what financial challenge West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership will have in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17 in light of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde projecting a 10% budget reduction over those years.

Question reference: S4W-22659

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 29 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether all health and social care partnerships in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area will be subject to a 10% reduction in budget for (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.

Question reference: S4W-22651

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 28 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on tackling the gender pay gap in each year since 2007-08.

Since 2007-08 the Scottish Government has committed £3,912,003 to fund projects aimed at tackling the gender pay gap and occupational segregation which is a cause of the gender pay gap. Funding is provided to a range of organisations including: Close the Gap, Equate Scotland (formerly the Scottish Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology), Women@work, Women onto Work and the Career Wise Initiative.

Funding provided to each organisation in each of the years from 2007 to 2015 is contained in the following table.

	2007-2008	2008-2009	2009-2010	2010-2011	2011-2012	2012-2015	Total
Close the Gap	£110,000	£183,206	£203,182	£208,342	£205,000	£615,000	£1,524,730
Women @work	£64,500	£89,164	£95,455	£95,456	£95,405	£292,295	£732,275
Women onto Work	£130,000	£159,204	£129,948	£132,848		£225,000	£777,000
Equate Scotland					£26,000	£601,998	£627,998
Career Wise Initiative						£250,000	£250,000
							£3,912,003

Question reference: S4W-22664

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 28 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has cost to run the medical assessment unit at the Vale of Leven Hospital in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S4W-22649

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 28 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what the gender pay gap has been for (a) full-time and (b) part-time employees in each year since 2007-08.

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) provides information about the levels, distribution and make-up of earnings and hours worked for employees in all industries and occupations. The latest data provides a snapshot of earnings as at 17 April 2013. The gender pay gap is calculated using median hourly earnings excluding overtime.

Gender pay gap for full-time and part-time employees:

Year	Gender pay gap: full-time employees	Gender pay gap: part-time employees
2007	11.9%	-2.2%
2008	10.8%	-10.9%
2009	8.5%	-7.2%
2010	7.4%	-8.3%
2011^a	5.8%	-10.4%
2011^b	6.6%	-10.3%
2012	8.4%	-10.3%
2013	7.6%	-10.9%

Source: ASHE, April 2007–April 2013, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. Covers employees aged 16+ on the PAYE system on adult rates whose pay was not affected by absence

2. There are two sets of results for 2011. Estimates for 2007-2011^a are based on Standard Occupational Classification 2000 and are directly comparable. Estimates for 2011^b-2013 are based on Standard Occupational Classification 2010 and are directly comparable. The results for 2007-2011^a and 2011^b-2013 should not be directly compared.

3. The gender pay gap of 7.6% in 2013 for full-time employees can be interpreted as, for those working full-time, women earning 7.6% less than men. The gender pay gap of -10.9% in 2013 for part-time employees can be interpreted as, for those working
part-time, women earning 10.9% more than men.

Question reference: S4W-22809

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 28 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-22577 by Margaret Burgess on 3 October 2014, whether it will issue guidance to local authorities on cancelling arrears of the so-called bedroom tax arising in 2013/14.

The Scottish Government has no plans to issue guidance to local authorities on cancelling arrears arising due to the so-called bedroom tax in 2013-14 or arrears as a result of any other aspect of welfare reform. The management of arrears remains a matter for landlords.

The Scottish Government provided local authorities with £20 million to compensate tenants affected by the bedroom tax through Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) in 2013-14 and £35 million in 2014-15. Local authorities may top up their DHP accounts in the current year to make payments in line with local priorities, including payments in respect of legacy arrears, if they choose to do so. The Department for Work and Pensions are responsible for producing the guidance manual on DHPs.

Question reference: S4W-22662

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 28 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what its position on whether activity at the medical assessment unit at the Vale of Leven Hospital should be (a) reduced or (b) removed before April 2017 and whether it is aware of any plans to do so.

Question reference: S4W-22666

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 28 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing's comments in the Lennox Herald on 19 September 2014 regarding the medical assessment unit at the Vale of Leven Hospital in which he is reported to have said, “I give you a guarantee now that services in the Vale will continue and we are actually looking at improvements we can make north of the river in terms of accident and emergency services. I can assure your readers that this is not going to affect the Vale hospital. It will have absolutely no impact on the Vale whatsoever” are accurate and, if so, reflect Scottish Government policy.