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-00846

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 29 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what its current estimate is of the number of people living in fuel poverty.

Question reference: S4W-00830

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 29 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the minimum (a) training and (b) qualification requirements are for volunteers working with older people.

It is an employer’s responsibility to train staff. Employers must ensure that all those working in their services have the appropriate skills and knowledge to carry out their role.

The National Care Standards clearly state that services must have policies and procedures in place which cover all legal requirements, including staffing and training. This includes having a staff development strategy and effective training plans in place for all staff.

Question reference: S4W-00891

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 29 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many student midwife places there have been in each NHS board area in each year since 1999-2000.

All midwifery students undertake placements within NHS boards during each year of their training programme. The pre-registration midwifery programme consists of 50% theory at university and 50% placement within NHSScotland.

Pre-registration midwifery students are not recruited to NHS board areas but to the universities providing the training programme. Information on the number of placement opportunities by NHS boards is therefore not held centrally.

Question reference: S4W-00886

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 29 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive (a) how many student midwives have received a bursary, (b) what the average bursary has been and (c) what the total cost of bursaries has been in each year since 1999-2000.

The total number of pre-registration midwifery students receiving bursaries, (including allowances and placement expenses), the average bursary and the total cost of bursaries from 1999-2000 to 2009-10 in the following table:

Year	Number of Students in Receipt of Bursary	Average Payment per Student	Total Amount Paid (£1,000's)
1999-2000	560	£4,325	£2,422
2000-01	555	£4,405	£2,444
2001-02	665	£5,075	£3,380
2002-03	450	£5,120	£2,304
2003-04	530	£5,045	£2,675
2004-05	515	£5,390	£2,775
2005-06	485	£5,535	£2,684
2006-07	465	£5,465	£2,541
2007-08	505	£5,895	£2,977
2008-09	755	£5,950	£4,492
2009-10	615	£6,010	£3,696

This data has been supplied by the Students Awards Agency for Scotland and is the most up to date available.

Question reference: S4W-00849

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 29 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is on course to end fuel poverty by 2016 as set out in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001.

The Scottish Government remains committed to eradicating fuel poverty in Scotland by 2016 as far as practicably possible. The number of people in fuel poverty at any given time is determined by income levels, energy prices and the energy efficiency of their homes. We have seen fuel price rises recently by Scottish Power that have clearly impacted on the number of people affected by fuel poverty.

Energy prices are dictated by markets and regulation of the energy companies is reserved to Westminster. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth has written to OfGEM seeking discussions with them and urging that they build on their Retail Market Review to deliver a radical simplification of tariff structures including considering possible compulsory tariffs for the fuel poor. OfGEM subsequently announced, on 22 June 2011, that it would press ahead with a radical overhaul of the retail energy market, including looking at sweeping away complex tariffs.

Question reference: S4W-00833

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 29 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to improve training for care workers.

Employers are responsible for the training and continuous learning of their employees.

Bodies such as Skills for Care and Development, the sector skills council for the social services sector, the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland and the Scottish Qualifications Authority amongst others, support employers in training their workforce.

There is guidance and tools available to all employers in the social services sector which supports the identification, level and quality of training required for their employees. This includes the SSSC Code of Practice, National Occupational Standards, Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework and the Continuous Learning Framework.

Question reference: S4W-00829

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 29 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the minimum (a) training and (b) qualification requirements are for care workers working with older people.

It is an employer’s responsibility to train their staff. Employers must ensure that all staff have not only the appropriate skills and knowledge to carry out their role, but ensure that the knowledge and skills is continuously updated.

The National Care Standards clearly state that services must have a staff development strategy and effective training plans in place for all staff.

Staff working in care home services for adults are required to register with the Scottish Social Services Council. A condition of registration is that a person has, is or working towards, an appropriate qualification for the job they undertake.

Question reference: S4W-00800

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how it is ensures financial inclusion for less- well off families.

Responsibility for the delivery of financial inclusion lies with community planning partnerships and a comprehensive and responsive range of support and intervention services exists across the country funded through the Local Government Settlement.

Supporting the provision of welfare rights and money advice is a key aspect of the Scottish Government’s approach to tackling poverty. The Achieving our Potential budget funds national infrastructure for the sector, this year for example:

Citizens Advice Direct continues to receive core funding of £400,000 and an additional £80,000 to provide telephone benefit checks to those people referred through the Energy Assistance Package and Home Insulation Scheme;

The Child Poverty Action Group provides a second tier advice service and has received £408,000 this year to deliver the Second Tier Advice, Information and Training Services, and the Benefits for Students Training, Advice and Information Service. This offers advice, training and support to frontline staff that are in contact with households that are likely to be entitled to benefits and tax credits, and

MATRICS, a collaboration between Citizens Advice Scotland and Money Advice Scotland, will receive £191,600 towards training and support for the money advice sector.

Scottish Government has also invested in a number of innovative local services, for example:

Link Housing Association are receiving £300,000 to continue their Older People’s Advice Service, which provides an outreach support and advice service in Glasgow, Falkirk, Clackmannanshire, North Lanarkshire and West Lothian to vulnerable older people with a particular emphasis on clients who have health problems, or who live in remote areas, and

Macmillan Cancer Support has been allocated £406,500 this financial year to continue to provide benefits advice and support across the five cancer treatment centres in Scotland and in two NHS boards for patients with long-term conditions.

In addition, a number of organisations and initiatives receive Scottish Government funding to provide a wide range of support to individuals and families which includes welfare rights and money advice, for example the Lone Parents Helpline, Parenting in Scotland, Contact-a-Family, National Debtline and the Family Nurse Partnership programme.

Question reference: S4W-00799

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 May 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it takes to promote and develop credit unions.

Question reference: S4F-00087

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 June 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 June 2011

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government will take in response to figures showing that one in 10 care homes have been assessed by Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland as weak or unsatisfactory in at least one area of inspection.