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: S4F-00334

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2011

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on the Royal College of Nursing survey, that shows that 37% of nurses have been discouraged from reporting, or told not to report, their concerns about issues such as patient safety and staffing levels at their workplace.

Question reference: S4W-04012

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 5 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive who the rehabilitation coordinators are for each NHS board and what protected time is available for this role.

Rehabilitation co-ordinators were appointed to all but one of the NHS boards across Scotland. The recruitment process was open to all health and social care staff with expertise in rehabilitation and strategic leadership skills. All but two of the rehabilitation co-ordinators appointed were allied health professionals (AHPs), one of whom came from a social care background. Their appointments were full time and funded by Scottish Government for a fixed term of two years. The post holders worked closely with the National Programme Manager for Rehabilitation and were expected to embed the key actions into the local delivery plans as part of their exit strategy. While most have now completed their term of office, they remain as key contacts within NHS boards for the ongoing development of rehabilitation and enablement services across Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-04013

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 5 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any NHS rehabilitation coordinator post has (a) had its time allocation reduced or (b) been eliminated since 2008 and whether there are plans to reduce the time allocation or eliminate posts in 2012-13.

Question reference: S4O-00469

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to address the shortage of short-term supply teachers as reported in TES Scotland on 11 November 2011.

Question reference: S4W-04025

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 23 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the Royal College of General Practitioners' guidance, Safer Prescribing in Prisons.

Question reference: S4O-00409

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met the Scottish Ambulance Service and what matters were discussed.

Question reference: S4W-03165

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 16 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the impact has been on site road maintenance and ownership as a result of the lease to the Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board of part or all of Site 6 at Almondbank.

Question reference: S4W-03865

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 15 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure the continuation of the work of Fine Cell Work in prisons if the new Scottish Prison Service rules prevent payment to prisoners for work done in cells.

I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

There are no barriers to Fine Cell Work continuing their work without direct payment to prisoners. However, as reward is integral to Fine Cell Work’s ethos as a charity, the Scottish Prison Service recently met with Katy Emck, the Chief Executive of Fine Cell Work to find a way forward that will allow prisoners to continue this valuable work without receiving direct remuneration. These discussions are ongoing.

Question reference: S4W-03870

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 15 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what it would cost the ambulance service to change the terms and conditions of all frontline staff responding to 999 calls to match those of other emergency services.

The Scottish Ambulance Service is an integral part of the NHS family and it is right that its staff work under the Agenda for Change terms and conditions package. Fire and police services have their own terms and conditions packages tailored to those services. All the packages have differences in things such as pay and progression structure, allowances, working hours and treatment of “unsocial hours”, pension contributions, retirement ages and leave entitlement. As any terms and conditions package needs to be considered in its entirety, it is not necessarily straightforward to compare one with another in terms of costs and no modelling has been done around this question by the Scottish Government. Ambulance Service staff will continue to be rewarded on NHS terms and conditions.

Question reference: S4W-03866

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 15 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers doing needlework to be therapeutic and valuable for prisoners.