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-02633

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 March 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 March 2015

To ask the First Minister what measures the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that NHS 24 is able to recruit and retain the staff it needs.

Question reference: S4W-24053

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 16 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether its proposed new card for multimodal travel will result in reduced fares for tram users on the Edinburgh Airport to city centre route via Edinburgh Park rail station.

Question reference: S4W-24207

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 10 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by Fergus Ewing on 28 January 2015 (Official Report, c.17), whether it will provide additional details of the full public health impact assessment on unconventional oil and gas production announced by the minister.

The public health impact assessment was announced as part of a wider body of work that the Scottish Government will undertake, including a full public consultation, during the period of the moratorium on unconventional oil and gas planning consents. As indicated during my announcement on 28 January 2015, I will keep Parliament informed of progress and further details will be announced in due course.

Question reference: S4W-24208

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-24039 by Shona Robison on 28 January 2015, how much of the Barnett consequentials received for health has been allocated and how.

All of the consequentials have been announced and will be used as follows:

	Total (£ million)
Additional National Resource Allocation Committee funding	33.1
New drug pressures – support for boards	32.0
Delayed discharge	30.0
Specialist nurses	2.5
Performance capacity and quality	31.5
Sub total	129.1
Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates supplementary contribution	(1.7)
Total	127.4

Question reference: S4W-24193

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish NHS board responses to the Vale of Leven Hospital inquiry report without redaction and, if so, when.

Question reference: S4W-24194

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it will publish its full response to the Vale of Leven Hospital inquiry report.

Question reference: S4W-24192

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish any template that it has sent to NHS boards to use for their response to the Vale of Leven Hospital inquiry report.

Yes. Officials are continuing to analyse the responses from NHS boards but will publish both the template and responses once this is completed. It is important that time is taken to ensure the NHS boards’ responses are used to develop a robust, quality response to the Vale of Leven Hospital inquiry report.

As I stated in Parliament on 25 November 2014, I am establishing an implementation group to consider how to take forward the recommendations from Lord Maclean’s report. The NHS boards’ responses will be used as a baseline for their work going forward.

Question reference: S4W-23881

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-23581 by Shona Robison on 19 December 2014, what savings have been made or are planned by each NHS board to help achieve the projected financial balance.

Efficiency savings do not reduce the overall budget of NHS boards and are necessary to continuously improve NHS services. All savings are retained locally by territorial boards to allow them to reinvest in front-line services which directly benefit patients. Boards must maintain the highest standards of financial management and ensure public funds are used in a way that delivers best value for taxpayers.

For the current financial year (2014-15) NHS boards plan to achieve total efficiency savings of £285.4 million, equivalent to 3.1 per cent of baseline funding.

Total forecast savings for each NHS board in 2014-15:

NHS board	Forecast saving (£)
Ayrshire and Arran	18,567
Borders	5,404
Dumfries and Galloway	7,790
Fife	16,719
Forth Valley	13,675
Grampian	23,198
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	61,400
Highland	21,915
Lanarkshire	26,710
Lothian	30,105
Orkney	1,567
Shetland	2,499
Tayside	22,000
Western Isles	2,064
Territorial board total	253,613
National Services Scotland	12,593
Scottish Ambulance Service	8,701
Education for Scotland	2,500
NHS 24	1,918
National Waiting Times Centre Board	3,148
The State Hospital	1,081
NHS Health Scotland	1,009
Healthcare Improvement Scotland	8,66
Special health board total	31,816
Grand total	285,429

Source: NHS board financial performance reports November 2014

Question reference: S4W-24047

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comments at paragraph 60 of Audit Scotland's report, NHS financial performance 2012/13, regarding the maintenance backlog of £948 million in 2012, how much of the backlog was classified as (a) significant and (b) high risk and how much of it was tackled in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014.

Of the £948 million backlog maintenance referenced in The State of the Estate in 2012, 17% was classified as high risk (£159 million) and 28% as significant risk (£265 million).

The State of the Estate in 2013 (published in February 2014) identified backlog maintenance of £858 million of which 11% was classified as high risk (£96 million) and 32% as significant risk (£275 million).

The State of the Estate in 2014 report will be published in February 2015.

Question reference: S4W-24046

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether the £159 million maintenance backlog referred to at paragraph 61 of Audit Scotland's report, NHS financial performance 2012/13, has been dealt with.

High risk backlog maintenance reduced from £159 million to £96 million as reported in the Annual State of NHSScotland Assets and Facilities Report for 2013 published on 14 February 2014.

Whilst it is essential that high and significant risk backlog is addressed as a matter of priority, it is not practical or affordable to address all backlog over the short term (five years), hence the need for longer term planning. This will be achieved through a combination of:

Estate replacement through capital and revenue funded schemes.

Estate rationalisation and disposal of older properties brought about by estate replacement, thus avoiding the need for expenditure on backlog.

Estate modernisation through refurbishment/upgrading schemes.

Targeted expenditure of circa £46 million per annum on backlog maintenance, particularly focussing on high and significant risk backlog.

NHSScotland managers are focussed on mitigation strategies for the significant backlog maintenance requirement to ensure that high and significant risk backlog is prioritised, based on the risk it poses, for investment within the finite resources made available to them.

The two key strategies for reducing backlog maintenance are either to invest directly in the rectification of backlog or to rationalise the estate to remove those properties with high levels of backlog maintenance. Investment in reducing backlog has been focussed on the most important higher risk backlog maintenance items. This is shown by the annual reduction in significant and high risk backlog since 2011.

Percentage of High and Significant Risk Backlog

Year	%
2011	53
2012	45
2013	43