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-25762

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 8 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4T-00686 by Michael Matheson on 6 May 2014 (Official Report, c. 30491), what progress it has made in implementing the recommendations in the report, National Review of Asthma Deaths; what its position is on the report's recommendation that a national audit of asthma should be established, and what analysis it has made of the audit that has been commissioned for England and Wales.

The Scottish Government remains committed to working in partnership with the National Advisory Group for Respiratory Managed Clinical Networks and continues to work with the group to look at the report’s recommendations which includes consideration of the recommendation to establish a national audit of asthma. This is being taken forward as part of a wider programme of work to deliver improvement locally.

Given that the scope and remit of the recently commissioned England and Wales audit of asthma is not yet clear it is difficult to carry out any analysis at this stage. We have however made appropriate links with the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership which is taking forward this work and will continue to review it as it progresses.

Question reference: S4O-04442

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support the estimated 850,000 people in Scotland who are deaf or have a hearing loss.

Question reference: S4W-25563

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 2 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish a draft of the Scottish microchipping of dogs regulations.

Question reference: S4W-25564

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 28 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what steps NHS boards are taking to display the number of nurses on duty at the entrance to hospital wards.

Application of the nursing and midwifery workload and workforce planning tools has been mandatory since April 2013, and all NHS boards are expected to use the tools to inform local workforce planning.

As part of the wider mandating process, NHS boards’ Local Delivery Plans should set out the approach that the board is taking to ensure the mandatory application of the nursing and midwifery workload and workforce planning tools, how this process is informing workforce planning and how the board is communicating information to key stakeholders.

All boards are now using the tools to inform workforce planning processes and decision-making. NHS boards are reviewing processes and developing systems to ensure transparency in terms of reporting nurse staffing numbers and the Scottish Executive Nurse Directors’ Group serves as a forum for sharing best practice. Some boards have introduced a whiteboard area outside wards with details of staff on duty.

Question reference: S4W-25565

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 28 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have had weight loss surgery in each NHS board in each year since 1999, broken down by type of treatment.

The information requested cannot be provided fully due to the reasons set out below. The following table shows information on the number of patients with a recorded diagnosis of obesity that have had bariatric surgery procedures undertaken, by NHS board of treatment and type of treatment from 1999-00 to 2013-14. Because of changes in the way that procedures are coded it is not possible to provide figures by procedure type for all years. The figures include revision and reversal of bariatric surgery.

Source: Information Services Division (ISD), SMR01

Key:

N-A Data has not been provided because there were no specific codes available at that time

- No cases identified

* Figure has been suppressed in accordance with the ISD Disclosure Protocol

Financial Year	Health Board of Treatment	Gastric Balloon/ Bubble	Sleeve Gastrectomy	Duodenal Switch	Bypass	Banding/ Stapling/ Partitioning	Gastrectomy
1999-00	NHS Borders	-	N-A	N-A	*	N-A	-
1999-00	NHS Grampian	-	N-A	N-A	-	N-A	-
1999-00	NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	-	N-A	N-A	-	N-A	-
1999-00	NHS Lothian	-	N-A	N-A	-	N-A	-
1999-00	Scotland	-	N-A	N-A	*	N-A	-
2000-01	NHS Grampian	-	N-A	N-A	-	N-A	*
2000-01	NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	-	N-A	N-A	*	N-A	-
2000-01	NHS Lothian	-	N-A	N-A	-	N-A	-
2000-01	NHS Tayside	-	N-A	N-A	-	N-A	*
2000-01	Scotland	-	N-A	N-A	*	N-A	*
2001-02	NHS Grampian	-	N-A	N-A	-	N-A	*
2001-02	NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	-	N-A	N-A	*	N-A	-
2001-02	NHS Lothian	-	N-A	N-A	-	N-A	*
2001-02	NHS Tayside	-	N-A	N-A	-	N-A	-
2001-02	Scotland	-	N-A	N-A	*	N-A	*
2002-03	NHS Fife	-	N-A	N-A	-	N-A	*
2002-03	NHS Grampian	-	N-A	N-A	-	N-A	-
2002-03	NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	-	N-A	N-A	*	N-A	-
2002-03	NHS Lothian	-	N-A	N-A	-	N-A	-
2002-03	Scotland	-	N-A	N-A	*	N-A	*
2003-04	NHS Ayrshire and Arran	-	N-A	N-A	*	N-A	*
2003-04	NHS Fife	-	N-A	N-A	-	N-A	-
2003-04	NHS Grampian	-	N-A	N-A	*	N-A	*
2003-04	NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	-	N-A	N-A	*	N-A	-
2003-04	NHS Lothian	-	N-A	N-A	-	N-A	-
2003-04	Scotland	-	N-A	N-A	7	N-A	*
2004-05	NHS Grampian	-	N-A	N-A	*	N-A	*
2004-05	NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	17	N-A	N-A	8	N-A	-
2004-05	NHS Lanarkshire	-	N-A	N-A	-	N-A	-
2004-05	NHS Lothian	-	N-A	N-A	*	N-A	*
2004-05	Scotland	17	N-A	N-A	10	N-A	*
2005-06	NHS Grampian	-	N-A	N-A	-	N-A	*
2005-06	NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	*	N-A	N-A	8	N-A	*
2005-06	NHS Lanarkshire	-	N-A	N-A	-	N-A	*
2005-06	NHS Tayside	*	N-A	N-A	-	N-A	*
2005-06	Scotland	40	N-A	N-A	8	N-A	7
2006-07	NHS Grampian	-	-	-	*	*	-
2006-07	NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	*	*	-	*	86	-
2006-07	NHS Highland	-	-	-	-	-	*
2006-07	NHS Lanarkshire	-	*	-	-	-	-
2006-07	NHS Tayside	*	-	-	-	*	-
2006-07	Scotland	62	6	-	*	127	*
2007-08	NHS Grampian	7	-	-	9	38	-
2007-08	NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	95	*	-	*	64	*
2007-08	NHS Lanarkshire	-	-	-	-	*	-
2007-08	NHS Lothian	-	-	-	*	12	-
2007-08	NHS Tayside	-	-	-	-	*	-
2007-08	Scotland	102	*	-	16	126	*
2008-09	NHS Ayrshire and Arran	*	-	-	*	23	-
2008-09	NHS Fife	-	-	-	-	-	*
2008-09	NHS Grampian	15	-	-	25	22	-
2008-09	NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	95	-	-	9	63	*
2008-09	NHS Lanarkshire	*	-	-	-	6	-
2008-09	NHS Lothian	-	6	-	*	16	*
2008-09	Scotland	116	6	-	38	130	*
2009-10	NHS Ayrshire and Arran	-	*	-	-	29	-
2009-10	NHS Fife	-	-	-	-	*	-
2009-10	NHS Grampian	16	7	-	12	*	-
2009-10	NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	38	*	-	10	39	-
2009-10	NHS Lanarkshire	*	-	-	-	11	-
2009-10	NHS Lothian	*	17	-	5	12	*
2009-10	Scotland	60	28	-	27	100	*
2010-11	Golden Jubilee National Hospital	-	-	-	-	10	-
2010-11	NHS Ayrshire and Arran	*	-	-	11	25	-
2010-11	NHS Fife	-	*	-	-	-	-
2010-11	NHS Grampian	14	7	-	15	*	-
2010-11	NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	39	*	-	6	40	-
2010-11	NHS Lanarkshire	9	-	-	-	9	-
2010-11	NHS Lothian	-	12	-	18	*	*
2010-11	NHS Tayside	*	*	-	-	10	-
2010-11	Scotland	65	25	-	50	101	*
2011-12	Golden Jubilee National Hospital	-	-	-	-	26	-
2011-12	NHS Ayrshire and Arran	*	*	-	13	26	-
2011-12	NHS Fife	-	*	-	11	*	-
2011-12	NHS Forth Valley	-	-	-	-	*	-
2011-12	NHS Grampian	*	7	-	7	-	-
2011-12	NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	9	*	-	*	33	-
2011-12	NHS Highland	*	-	-	-	-	-
2011-12	NHS Lanarkshire	*	*	-	-	11	-
2011-12	NHS Lothian	-	30	-	14	*	*
2011-12	NHS Tayside	5	32	-	*	5	*
2011-12	Scotland	21	77	-	49	107	*
2012-13	Golden Jubilee National Hospital	*	-	-	-	21	-
2012-13	NHS Ayrshire and Arran	*	10	-	12	10	-
2012-13	NHS Fife	-	*	-	*	*	-
2012-13	NHS Forth Valley	-	-	-	-	*	-
2012-13	NHS Grampian	*	*	-	12	6	-
2012-13	NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	*	11	-	*	44	-
2012-13	NHS Lanarkshire	*	-	-	-	8	-
2012-13	NHS Lothian	-	24	-	21	*	-
2012-13	NHS Tayside	-	22	-	*	*	-
2012-13	Scotland	12	77	-	52	99	-
2013-14	Golden Jubilee National Hospital	-	-	-	-	15	-
2013-14	NHS Ayrshire and Arran	*	19	-	14	*	*
2013-14	NHS Fife	-	*	-	-	*	-
2013-14	NHS Forth Valley	-	-	-	-	*	-
2013-14	NHS Grampian	-	*	-	14	*	-
2013-14	NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	*	8	-	-	56	-
2013-14	NHS Lanarkshire	6	-	-	-	13	-
2013-14	NHS Lothian	-	34	-	16	*	*
2013-14	NHS Tayside	-	5	-	24	*	-
2013-14	Scotland	11	70	-	68	97	*

Question reference: S4W-25531

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 26 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation by the Expert Working Group on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Community Pharmacy in August 2014, what its position is on including ulipristal acetate on the national patient group direction for emergency hormonal contraception.

The inclusion of ulipristal acetate (ellaOne) within the national Patient Group Direction for emergency hormonal contraception is still under consideration. The Scottish Government has been undertaking discussions and a consideration of the evidence in relation to ellaOne. In order to provide robust advice to NHS boards, we continue to review the evidence that is available and expect to provide advice to NHS boards over the summer once the assessment process is complete.

Question reference: S4W-25105

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much in arts funding has been awarded by (a) it and (b) its agencies in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Scottish Government funding for national cultural organisations brings benefits in areas across Scotland through their national activity, for example touring exhibitions and performances. It is not possible to break down how this national funding relates directly to individual local authority areas which also varies from year to year.

The majority of Scottish Government funding to local authorities, including the support of cultural services, is provided by means of a block grant and it is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate their own financial resources on the basis of local needs and priorities.

The Scottish Government’s funding in support of arts is made through Creative Scotland.

I have asked the Chief Executive of Creative Scotland, Janet Archer, to write to the member with the information requested about the allocation of funding for the arts by Creative Scotland and its predecessor organisations.

Question reference: S4O-04312

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 May 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to disabled college students.

Question reference: S4O-04303

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 April 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 6 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to help sustain and promote community-based industries.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting sustainable economic growth and tackling inequality across Scotland. Businesses, including community-based industries, can benefit from the wide range of support our enterprise agencies and local authorities provide.

In addition, enterprising third sector organisations can access business support through Just Enterprise. Supported by the Scottish Government, Just Enterprise is committed to the growth and sustainability of Scotland’s third sector – start up, business support, business recovery, procurement, leadership and learning services are all available.

Question reference: S4W-25103

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 23 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support the development of the NHS appointment text messaging service; whether such a service will be rolled out nationally and, if so, when.

A national contract negotiated by NHS National Services Scotland on behalf of NHSScotland is in place and provides a competitively priced text messaging service that can be used by NHS boards.

Text messaging increased by 37% in between 2012-13 and 2013-14. There has been a further increase of 26% in 2014-15 (to end of February). This amounts to over 20 million text messages to date in 2014-15.

There are no current plans to have a national text appointments service. NHS boards prefer to run these services as they integrate better with board processes and are more responsive to local circumstances.