- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 September 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 24 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-9536 by Stewart Stevenson on 5 March 2008 and the intervention made by the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change during the debate on ferry services on 10 September 2008 (Official Report c. 10640), whether there remains scope in the budget for the proposed Lochboisdale to Mallaig ferry service.
Answer
On 5 March 2008 I indicated that there was scope within the budget to fund a ferry service from Castlebay and Lochboisdale to Mallaig. The current proposal from Storas Uibhist is not for a service from Castlebay and Lochboisdale to Mallaig, but for a dedicated additional Lochboisdale to Mallaig service. Discussions are continuing with a view to resolving a number of issues to deliver our shared aim of providing a viable and sustainable ferry service linking Lochboisdale and Mallaig.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 24 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to answer S3W-15433 by Stewart Stevenson on 3 September 2008, whether it remains its view that there is no domestic legal impediment or European Union regulation that would prevent a publicly subsidised ferry service being run by an operator other than CalMac Ferries Ltd between Lochboisdale and Mallaig and, if not, what the reasons are for the change in its position.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-15433 on 3 September 2008. There has been no change in the Scottish Government''s position. 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/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 September 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional costs it estimates that NHS Highland will incur in running its car parking facilities after 31 March 2009.
Answer
The additional cost which NHS boards will be required to manage is the loss of income from car park charging. NHS Highland have estimated that income to be around £610,000 in 2009-10.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 September 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how the £1.4 million being made available to assist NHS boards that currently charge for car parking will be distributed.
Answer
The funding will be distributed on the basis of the estimated income to be received by those NHS boards in 2008-09.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 September 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that front-line patient services will not be affected when NHS boards have to fully fund the costs of maintaining their own car parks after the transitional funding period ends on 31 March 2009.
Answer
NHS boards are required to meet the health care needs of their resident population from within the funding made available to them. Ending car park charges does not change that and brings those NHS boards which currently charge into line with the nine NHS boards which have not introduced car parking charges.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 September 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the £1.4 million being made available to assist NHS boards that currently charge for parking is adequate to cover the ongoing costs of providing and managing hospital car parks.
Answer
Funding is being made available to assist those NHS boards which have factored car parking income into their financial plans over the financial year 2008-09. This action will give those NHS boards time to put in place measures to manage the financial implications of the removal of car park charges from 1 April 2009 onwards.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive when the results of the recent consultation on the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service strategy for the next five years and beyond will be published.
Answer
The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service plan to publish the results of the consultation on their strategy for the next five years by the end of September 2008.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 28 August 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive which island NHS boards currently pay staff Distant Islands Allowance and what the total cost has been in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
Distant Islands Allowance is paid to eligible staff by NHS Highland, NHS Orkney, NHS Shetland and NHS Western Isles. Total costs for each board have been as follows:
| NHS Board | 2005-06 £000 | 2006-07 £000 | 2007-08 £000 |
| NHS Highland | 48 | 57 | 56 |
| NHS Orkney | 371 | 523 | 567 |
| NHS Shetland | 840 | 840 | 840 |
| NHS Western Isles | 579 | 712 | 725 |
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 August 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how the Distant Islands Allowance is compensated for in the formula for allocating funds to island NHS boards.
Answer
The funding for hospital and community health services and GP prescribing is determined by the Arbuthnott formula. This formula is designed to take account of any unavoidable excess costs of supplying services to a board''s population, including the Distant Islands Allowance. Under Arbuthnott and the revised NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee formula, the island NHS boards receive higher cost adjustments than any of the mainland boards, reflecting their unique position and costs pressures.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 August 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how funding is calculated for island NHS boards and what additional costs are envisaged in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11.
Answer
The funding for hospital and community health services and GP prescribing is allocated to the 14 mainland and island NHS Boards via the Arbuthnott formula. The formula determines the share of funding received by each board based on the relative need for health care services of their population, adjusted for the unavoidable excess costs of supplying services to them.
For hospital services, the Arbuthnott formula includes an adjustment based on the relationship between the costs of delivering services and an indictor of remoteness. The costs are based on the ratio between a board''s actual expenditure and what their expected expenditure would be if they delivered services at the national average cost. The remoteness indicator is based on the number of road kilometres per 1,000 people. For community health services, the adjustment is based on a combination of a model that simulates travel times and costs in different geographical areas and the costs of providing services in remote general practices. Due to their relatively small size, the island boards receive a uniform remoteness adjustment.
The Arbuthnott formula has recently been reviewed by the NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) and their revised formula will operate from 2009-10. The revised excess costs adjustment for hospital services takes account of the difference between delivering a given service at national average costs and the actual local cost. NRAC took account of concerns raised by rural NHS boards by including two separate categories for island towns and island rural areas in their costs adjustment. This will help to ensure that the particular issues related to delivering services on islands are fully recognised. The island categories receive the highest cost adjustment of any category of residence used in the proposed formula. The community services adjustment was updated to reflect up to date data.
