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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 713 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S4O-01583

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the recent ISD Emergency Department Activity and Waiting Times report, which states that seven NHS boards did not meet the four-hour accident and emergency waiting times standard in any month between June and September 2012.

Question reference: S4W-10185

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the number of modern apprenticeship starts in East Lothian.

Question reference: S4W-10184

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason East Lothian has had no more that 1.2% of modern apprenticeship starts in the last three years, given that it has an estimated 1.9% of the country's population.

Question reference: S4W-10178

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government when the outline business case for the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh will be published.

NHS Lothian has published a redacted version of the Outline Business Case for the re-provision of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department of Clinical Neurosciences on its website at:

http://www.nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk/GoingToHospital/Locations/Reprovision/Documents/RHSC DCN OBC.pdf.

Following the completion of the procurement of the project we would expect an unredacted version of the Outline Business Case to be made available.

Question reference: S4W-10179

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated lifetime costs are for the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh and what the costs would be using traditional public sector procurement.

NHS Lothian plans to advertise the project through the Official Journal of the European Community (OJEU) in November 2012 and the competitive dialogue process will conclude with the appointment of a preferred bidder in 2014. Financial elements of the outline business case relating to the non-profit distributing (NPD) contract remain commercially confidential so as not to undermine NHS Lothian's position in securing the most financially advantageous contract for the project.

As the project forms part of the NPD programme announced in the November 2010 draft budget, it has already been determined that the project is suitable for and is to be procured under a revenue financial model. In terms of the value for money guidance published by the Scottish Government and being followed by NHS Lothian, there was no calculation of the costs which would be incurred if it were to be procured by a capitally funded route. The guidance referred to can be accessed via the following link to the Scottish Futures Trust’s website:

http://www.scottishfuturestrust.org.uk/publications/value-for-money-assessment-guidance-capital-programmes-and-projects-october/.

Question reference: S4W-10181

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that Scottish (a) companies and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) will be able to compete for contracts in the procurement of construction and maintenance of the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.

The procurement for the re-provision of Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children (RHSC) and Department of Clinical Neurosciences (DCN) at Little France will be openly advertised in line with best practice for public contracts.

The NHS Lothian Procurement team is working with the Scottish Futures Trust to ensure the “most Economically Advantageous Tender” is achieved. Part of this approach is to understand the potential supply chain and opportunities for the enterprises listed, within the confines of an open procurement.

The advertisement to be placed in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) will also stipulate that the procurement and contract documentation will contain community benefit provisions.

Question reference: S4W-10180

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what requirements for training and sustainability will be specified in the procurement of construction and maintenance of the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh.

Sustainability is a core objective of the project to re-provide services from the Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department for Clinical Neurosciences at Little France; this includes financial sustainability, energy efficiency and the wider community benefits.

As the procuring body, NHS Lothian is committed to adopting best practice and sustainability across all aspects of the project.

Examples of this include:

The appointment of a community benefits champion within the core evaluation team;

Engagement with the construction skills council and exploring the application of their training model for long term facilities management as well as during the construction phase;

Engagement with the local council’s economic development officer, and

Commitment to achieving a “very good” BREEAM (Building Research Establishment, Environmental Assessment Method) rating.

The advertisement to be placed in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) will also make clear that the successful contractor and its supply chain will be required to participate in the achievement of social objectives relating to skills development and the employment and training programme in accordance with the Authority’s Employment and Skills Strategy.

Question reference: S4O-01419

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to encourage the take-up of science subjects in secondary schools.

Question reference: S4O-01385

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 24 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of local authority budget constraints on the provision of services for pupils with additional support needs.

Question reference: S4T-00057

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 September 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it supports the proposals that the Scottish Court Service is consulting on regarding court closures.

	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
East Lothian	201	271	364