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: S5O-02234

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 14 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that some of its and its agencies' staff have clauses in their contracts that prohibit them from speaking out or whistleblowing.

There is nothing in Scottish Government contracts of employment which prevents employees raising concerns. Our policy on raising a concern under the Civil Service Code and Whistleblowing ensures that staff are fully informed about how to raise different types of concern and what support is available to them during this process. The policy also ensures that managers are aware how to respond to any concerns raised and clearly sets out the roles of individuals, managers, investigating officers, nominated officers and the Integrity Group as well as the Civil Service Commission. There are no circumstances under an employment contract which could legally prevent someone from making a protected disclosure.

In addition, advice is provided to all Board members of executive agencies to highlight their responsibilities under the Public Interest Disclosure Act to ensure that the body has appropriate policies and procedures in place to allow staff to raise concerns and links to guidance from Audit Scotland on whistleblowing.

Question reference: S5O-02199

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to reduce waiting times for children’s health services in the Highlands.

Question reference: S5W-16246

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 15 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how the survival rate of people in Scotland with haemophilia compares with the rest of the UK.

Question reference: S5W-16247

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 10 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many recipients of haemophilia plasma-pooled products in each NHS board area are subject to public health observation for neurological disorders or abnormalities.

This is a matter for the UK Haemophilia Centre Doctors' Organisation (UKHCDO) which collects data related to the diagnosis, management and complications of bleeding disorders on the National Haemophilia Database. The UKHCDO is responsible for the surveillance of bleeding disorder patients identified as having received plasma products between 1990 and 2001 — the largest single 'at risk' group for variant CJD. The information requested is therefore not held centrally.

Question reference: S5W-16249

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 10 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many people with haemophilia in each NHS board area have died from (a) Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) and (b) other neurological conditions in each year since 1999.

No patients with haemophilia or other bleeding disorders have been reported to have died from any form of CJD in Scotland.

With regard to other neurological conditions, this is a matter for the UK Haemophilia Centre Doctors' Organisation which collects data related to the diagnosis, management and complications of bleeding disorders on the National Haemophilia Database. The information requested is not held centrally.

Question reference: S5W-16248

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 10 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to ensure that the people who were infected by contaminated blood are in receipt of the correct level of benefit and that no person who is entitled to these is left without regular payments, and how it monitors the effectiveness of this.

The payments provided by the Scottish Infected Blood Support Scheme (SIBSS) to those affected by infected NHS blood are not taken into account when calculating a beneficiary's entitlement to means-tested benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions. SIBSS gathers information on benefits claimed when assessing eligibility for income top-up payments or one-off grants and encourages beneficiaries to claim all of the benefits they are, or seem to be entitled to.

SIBSS also directs beneficiaries to financial advice services and has provided grants for a welfare rights advisor to provide detailed advice and assistance to some SIBSS beneficiaries who have appealed against DWP benefits decisions. However, SIBSS does not have information covering the full individual circumstances of any beneficiary and, apart from those beneficiaries seeking income top-up or one-off grant payments, does not have access to data about beneficiaries' benefits; therefore it cannot monitor whether all beneficiaries are accessing the correct benefits.

Question reference: S5W-16316

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 10 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the survival rate is of people aged (a) 50 to 59 and (b) 60 and over with haemophilia, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S5O-02063

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to consult people in remote and rural areas on the impact of the new GP contract.

Question reference: S5O-02029

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 April 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage female pupils to consider enrolling in the STEM teaching initiative run by the universities of Dundee and the Highlands and Islands.

Question reference: S5W-15012

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it would consider providing ring-fenced additional funding for The Highland Council and Argyll and Bute Council in relation to road repairs, in light of their responsibilities to maintain over 7,000 km and 2,000 km of roads respectively.

The Scottish Government has continued to treat all councils very fairly despite cuts to the Scottish resource budget from the UK Government. Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of the revenue funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including non-protected services, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

In 2018-19, councils will receive funding through the local government finance settlement of £10.7 billion, compared with £10.426 billion in 2017-18. This will provide a further real terms boost in both revenue and capital funding. Councils also have the flexibility to raise an additional £77 million by increasing council tax by up to 3 per cent.

Together with their increased council tax income, Argyll and Bute Council will receive over £210.2 million in 2018-19 compared with £207.6 million this year, an increase of £2.6 million. For Highland Council, together with increased council tax income, they will receive over £491.1 million in 2018-19 compared with £474.1 million this year, an increase of £17 million.

Also, following the recent snow event, the Scottish Government triggered the Bellwin Scheme on 2 March to assist local authorities with winter maintenance costs associated with this event. This discretionary scheme allows Ministers to make additional revenue support to local authorities to assist with immediate and unforeseen costs in dealing with the aftermath of emergency incidents.