Chamber and committees

It is unknown how many of the 72 suspected criminal incidents were reported as wildlife crime over the past 14 years. This statistic was sourced from the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) when the unit recorded incident data. Since 2012, the unit has recorded intelligence logs only to reflect their core business; the police continue to record incident data and crimes.

Prior to the start of Scottish Natural Heritage’s 2013-14 freshwater pearl mussel survey, guidelines were established for the surveyors to report incidents of pearl mussel kills to Police Scotland and the NWCU. In addition, processes are in place with Scottish Natural Heritage and the ‘Pearls in Peril’ project to report all pearl mussel kills to Police Scotland and the NWCU.

Processes are also in place through the Scottish Crime Recording Standard for Police Scotland to accurately capture and record reported incidents.

The Scottish Government is not aware of the Environmental Impact Register.

Scottish Planning Policy is the Scottish Government’s policy on how nationally important land use planning matters should be addressed across the country. As a statement of ministers’ priorities, we expect it to carry significant weight in the preparation of development plans and to be a material consideration in decisions on planning applications.

The policy states: The presence (or potential presence) of a legally protected species is an important consideration in decisions on planning applications. If there is evidence to suggest that a protected species is present on site or may be affected by a proposed development, steps must be taken to establish their presence. The level of protection afforded by legislation must be factored into the planning and design of the development and any impacts must be fully considered prior to the determination of the application. Certain activities – for example those involving European Protected Species as specified in the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 and wild birds, protected animals and plants under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 – may only be undertaken under licence. Following the introduction of the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011, Scottish Natural Heritage is now responsible for the majority of wildlife licensing in Scotland.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) guidance referred to in the answer to question S4W-14153 on 1 May 2013 remains relevant.

More recently, the Guide to Hydropower Construction Best Practice by SNH, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Scottish Renewables published in October 2014 is also relevant, particularly sections 2 and 3:

http://www.snh.gov.uk/docs/A1443033.pdf.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The contract to run the NHSScotland Confidential Alert Line (NCAL) was awarded to Public Concern at Work (PCaW) following an open and transparent competitive tendering process. A specific requirement of this contract is “to provide confidential and impartial advice”.

PCaW is an independent whistleblowing charity and legal advice centre set up over 20 years ago to encourage workplace whistleblowing. NCAL provides a bespoke service to NHSScotland staff who have any doubt about how or whether to raise a whistleblowing concern, or worry about doing so. Advice is provided by impartial staff who are legally trained, and where appropriate, concerns can be passed to the health board or appropriate regulatory body on behalf of callers.

The Scottish Government continue to monitor performance to ensure contract deliverables are met.

The purpose of the NHSScotland Confidential Alert Line is to complement local whistleblowing policies and provide an additional level of support to NHSScotland Staff.

During the pilot phase of the line, we engaged with a range of stakeholders, to gather views on the value of the service and to help develop recommendations on its future. This included gathering views from staff, via a wageslip survey, where 67% of respondents agreed that the service was important and that they would consider using it.

Public Concern at Work, the service providers, carried out a more detailed six month evaluation of the service, which can be accessed at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0044/00446682.pdf

The Implementing & Reviewing Whistleblowing Arrangements in NHSScotland PIN was introduced in 2011. The policy makes clear that if a member of staff raises a genuine whistleblowing concern under this policy, they will not be at risk of losing their job or suffering any detriment as a result.

Individual cases are contractual matters which, by law, remain between the employee and their employer, i.e. individual health boards. Some cases are complex requiring the application of a range of policies. It would be for the relevant health board to consider the specific circumstances of each whistleblowing case and, where necessary, to take appropriate action to protect patient safety.

The Management of Employee Conduct PIN Policy sets out the rights and responsibilities of boards, managers, employees and trade unions/professional organisations in respect of employees who are subject to disciplinary action resulting from misconduct relating to their employment.

The policy sets out the relevant support mechanisms available for staff such as the role of human resources and relevant trade unions/professional organisations in providing support and advice to employees.

In 2013-14, as part of the newly introduced annual staff governance standard monitoring Framework, we sought assurance from all health boards that local whistleblowing policies are in place and for the number of reported whistleblowing incidents. All boards confirmed that local policies had been implemented. Information provided via the staff governance monitoring returns indicated that a total of 13 whistleblowing cases had been raised.

The Scottish Government do not centrally hold information on the number of whistleblowing incidents recorded in NHSScotland for previous years.

As at 16 December 2014 the Scottish Government has been notified of 14 NHS medical staff who are currently suspended. In relation to these medical staff we do not have information on the reason for the suspension.

Relevant statistics for suspensions relating to other staffing groups in NHSScotland are not collected centrally.

The Scottish Government provides annual grant funding to Scottish Mountain Rescue (SMR) of £312,000 and is the only Government in the UK to do so. The Scottish Government has provided £300,000 or more, in grant funding, direct to SMR, every year for this administration, despite budgetary constraints. The funding is distributed by SMR to the 27 voluntary (civilian) teams across Scotland, according to a formula agreed by the teams and the SMR committee.