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-28504

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 30 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how will it fund short break support under the Carers (Scotland) Bill.

Question reference: S4W-28505

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 30 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether the estimated £16 million for replacement care will be funded from money included in the financial memorandum to the Carers (Scotland) Bill and, if not, from where.

Question reference: S4W-28513

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 30 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether Police Scotland has added the use of defibrillators to its annual emergency lifesaving course; what percentage of serving police officers is now trained in the use of defibrillators and whether it is on course to have all serving officers trained by the end of 2016.

Police Scotland is in the process of piloting an automated external defibrillator awareness input which will be incorporated into the annual Scottish Police Emergency Life Saving Skills course. This will go live as of 1 January 2016 and will ensure that all operationally deployed police officers will be trained by the end of 2016. At this time, approximately 3.8% of police officers are trained in the use of defibrillators.

Question reference: S4W-28507

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 30 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how carer support will be implemented at the local level under the Carers (Scotland) Bill and how it will determine the allocation of new resources.

As set out in the Financial Memorandum, all functions created under the Carers Bill which relate to the delivery of services to adult carers will require to be delegated under integration schemes under the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014. All local authority or health board functions relating to carers under the age of 18 will be delegated if the local authority or health board so choose. This provides the framework for support to carers at local level.

Question reference: S4W-28514

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 30 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether all (a) police vehicles, (b) fire and rescue vehicles and (c) ambulances carry defibrillators at all times and whether all emergency service staff who use these vehicles are trained in their use.

Twenty-one specialist police vehicles carry defibrillators and all staff who operate these vehicles are fully trained in their use. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service holds a register of all vehicles and fixed locations where a defibrillator is installed/carried for use. Approximately 75% of its operational fleet carries defibrillators. Ambulances crewed by the Scottish Ambulance Service carry defibrillators at all times. Ambulance staff who use these vehicles are trained to use them.

Question reference: S4W-28508

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 30 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it expects a slow uptake of adult carer support plans and young carer statements in year one of the implementation of the Carers (Scotland) Bill and whether the funding and resources of local authorities are sufficient to meet their new duties in year one.

Question reference: S4W-28480

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 30 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many acres of land in the (a) crofting counties and (b) rest of the country are designated as common grazings.

That information is not held centrally. The Crofting Commission administers the regulation of crofting on behalf of the Scottish Ministers and the Chief Executive of that organisation was asked to supply the information.

The Crofting Commission has advised that only 80% of the common grazing land on the Register of Crofts has an extent entered against it. The 20% shortfall is partly due to certain grazings not being regulated, accordingly, no figures are registered with the Crofting Commission.

Of the 80% of common grazing land in the crofting counties that does have an extent, this totals 1,350,501 acres. Please note that this figure should not be considered as authoritative as some of the data is old. However, this is one of the reasons for the introduction of the new Crofting Register which, once complete, will provide an accurate extent of land under crofting tenure.

It should be noted that, in answer to point (b), the phrase “common grazings” is synonymous with the crofting counties and not commonly associated with land in the rest of the country.

Question reference: S4W-28461

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 30 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government on what days since April 2015 the 06.18 rail service from Wick has been delayed at Muir of Ord due to late running, also broken down by length of the delay.

The Scottish Government does not routinely hold information on specific delays per service, however ScotRail has provided the following details on incidents of delay since April 2015 affecting the 06:18 service from Wick between Dingwall and Inverness:

Date	Delay (minutes)
25-04-15	1
22-05-15	1
13-06-15	1
02-07-15	65
03-07-15	4
03-08-15	2
23-09-15	1
22-10-15	49
03-11-15	1
07-11-15	2
11-11-15	56

Question reference: S4W-28503

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 26 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will continue to provide (a) respite care funds, (b) carer information strategy funds and (c) the change fund under the Carers (Scotland) Bill.

The Financial Memorandum for the Carers Bill sets out funding for Carer Information Strategies and for support to carers, including short breaks, from 2017-18 onwards. The Integrated Care Fund (ICF) is providing £300 million to health and social care partnerships over three years from April 2015. The ICF builds on the Reshaping Care for Older People's Change Fund which ended in 2015 and can be used for support to carers.

Question reference: S4W-28502

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 26 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what additional resources for carer support it will provide to fund the implementation of the provisions in the Carers (Scotland) Bill and how these will be allocated.