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-28047

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 28 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on whether any of the care homes that BUPA has put up for sale are in Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-28048

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 28 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions (a) it or (b) the Care Inspectorate has had with Four Seasons Health Care regarding its financial viability and how many care homes the company (i) owns and (ii) operates in Scotland.

The Care Inspectorate is in regular contact, and meets, with senior managers of Four Seasons Health Care. A range of issues are discussed including information relevant to financial viability. This information helps determine the level of risk, potential impact and any action that may be required in terms of contingency planning. Four Seasons Health Care has 57 care homes and one support service in Scotland and these are operated through 23 named providers from the Four Seasons group.

Question reference: S4W-27913

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 28 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when it will announce the (a) remit and (b) chair of the review of aspects of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003.

The Scottish Government wants the review of the inclusion of learning disability and autism spectrum disorder within the definition of mental disorder under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 to be genuinely participative and to involve stakeholders in shaping the remit and format of the review. To this end, we have asked the Mental Welfare Commission to work with the Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability on holding a stakeholder event to gather views on the remit and format. Announcements on the remit of the review will be made after these views and recommendations have been considered.

Question reference: S4W-28043

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with COSLA regarding the cost of meeting the £7.20 per hour national minimum wage requirement from April 2016.

The Scottish Government maintains regular contact with COSLA but, apart from discussions of the impact on the care sector, has not discussed the cost of meeting the national living wage from April 2016 with them. The Scottish Government is aware that Scottish local authorities have been paying their staff at least the Scottish national living wage of £7.50 per hour since April 2013.

Local authorities and their trade unions have agreed a pay deal for the period 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2017 which continues to exceed the requirement of the minimum wage. As of 1 April 2015, the Scottish Local Government Living Wage of £7.85 per hour will be applied, following which there will be an increase of 1.5% on all spinal column points.

Question reference: S4O-04702

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made toward achieving its target that no person will live in fuel poverty by November 2016.

Question reference: S4W-28028

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 21 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government by how much income from grants and fees for the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives is expected to reduce in 2015-16; which of the centre's teams the budget reduction will impact on, and what assessment it has made of how this might impact on the support that the centre provides to (a) employers and (b) people in work.

Question reference: S4W-27745

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 15 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to protect patients' privacy and ensure that apps promoted as NHS Apps are safe.

The applications designed specifically for mobile devices used in NHS boards are treated no differently from any other application or service and should be risk assessed and tested at board level or nationally prior to being officially released. The apps presenting the highest risk for patient safety are classed as medical devices. The regulation and certification of medical devices is a reserved responsibility of the UK Government. A clear distinction needs to be made between these official applications and any other application which a healthcare worker may choose to use on their personally owned device. The Scottish Government makes clear in its Information Governance guidance to boards that patient-identifiable data should only be stored and accessed from approved applications and devices.

Question reference: S4W-27744

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 15 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether every NHS board has carried out a privacy impact study and, if so, whether these are publicly available.

Question reference: S4W-27632

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 1 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will continue the Monitoring and Evaluation of Scotland's Alcohol Strategy after 2016-17.

Question reference: S4W-27434

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether and, if so, when it will publish a consultative draft of the social responsibility levy under the Alcohol etc. (Scotland) Act 2010 and begin the consultation required under section 15(3) of the Act.

The Scottish Government have implemented a wide range of measures to tackle alcohol misuse in our Alcohol Framework. We are currently working on the next phase of the framework to build on the progress made to date and intend to introduce it in 2016.

A social responsibility levy under the Alcohol etc. (Scotland) Act 2010 would require certain prior engagement and consultation activities. If it is decided to progress such a levy, then the Scottish Government will undertake these activities.