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-01984

Asked by: Aileen McLeod, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 March 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2014

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will continue to provide free prescriptions.

Question reference: S4W-19644

Asked by: Aileen McLeod, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2014
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Alex Neil on 7 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what funds it is making available to NHS boards for 2014-15.

Territorial boards have been given a general allocation increase of £248 million for 2014-15, an overall average increase over the equivalent 2013-14 allocation of 3.1 per cent.

Special boards allocations have increased by 1.0 per cent. In addition, differential efficiency savings have been allocated to the elements of special boards budgets not providing direct patient care which results in an overall net increase of 0.2 per cent.

Details of boards revenue resource and capital allocations for 2014-15 are provided.

Revenue Resource:

	2014-15 Initial Allocation	2014-15 Uplift
Territorial Boards	£million	%
Ayrshire and Arran	618.9	2.6%
Borders	179.8	2.5%
Dumfries and Galloway	259.7	2.5%
Fife	557.3	3.3%
Forth Valley	449.6	3.6%
Grampian	773.3	4.0%
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	2,047.2	2.6%
Highland	525.2	3.0%
Lanarkshire	890.3	2.9%
Lothian	1,188.0	4.1%
Orkney	35.8	4.5%
Shetland	39.6	2.6%
Tayside	645.0	2.5%
Western Isles	62.2	2.6%
	8,271.9	3.1%

	2014-15 Initial Allocation	2014-15 Uplift
Special Boards	£million	%
National Waiting Times Centre	45.5	1.0%
Scottish Ambulance Service	210.0	1.0%
National Services Scotland	282.0	-0.4%
Healthcare Improvement Scotland	15.5	-4.4%
The State Hospital	33.9	1.0%
NHS 24	62.1	1.0%
NHS Education for Scotland	390.2	0.4%
NHS Health Scotland	18.9	-4.2%
	1,058.1	0.2%

Capital Resource:

	2014-15 Initial Allocation
Territorial Boards	£million
Ayrshire and Arran	18.7
Borders	4.0
Dumfries and Galloway	9.5
Fife	13.8
Forth Valley	8.3
Grampian	17.1
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	169.4
Highland	14.4
Lanarkshire	21.6
Lothian	45.7
Orkney	1.3
Shetland	1.1
Tayside	18.5
Western Isles	4.4
	347.8

	2014-15 Initial Allocation
Special Boards	£million
National Waiting Times Centre	3.8
Scottish Ambulance Service	14.0
National Services Scotland	3.7
Healthcare Improvement Scotland	0.2
The State Hospital	0.3
NHS 24	0.3
NHS Health Scotland	0.7
	23.0

Question reference: S4O-02772

Asked by: Aileen McLeod, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the agreed common agricultural policy budget 2014 to 2020 will have on South Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-18693

Asked by: Aileen McLeod, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 12 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) consultants specialising in emergency care, (b) emergency services technicians and (c) paramedics the NHS employed in September (i) 2006, (ii) 2007, (iii) 2008, (iv) 2009, (v) 2010, (vi) 2011, (vii) 2012 and (viii) 2013 and what the percentage change was over the period.

Information detailing how many(a) consultants specialising in emergency care, (b) emergency services technicians and (c) paramedics in the NHS, employed in September (i) 2006, (ii) 2007, (iii) 2008, (iv) 2009, (v) 2010. (vi) 2011, (vii) 2012 and (viii) 2013, and what percentage change was over the period can be found in the following tables.

Table 1 shows the headcount of (a) consultants specialising in emergency care, (b) emergency services technicians and (c) paramedics the NHS employed over the period 2006 to 2013.

Headcount	Consultants specialising in emergency care	Emergency service technicians	Paramedics
Sep-06	76	x	x
Sep-07	82	1,010	1,247
Sep-08	113	989	1,269
Sep-09	101	1,051	1,323
Sep-10	136	1,009	1,391
Sep-11	141	1,001	1,382
Sep-12	151	1,023	1,393
Sep-13	162	1,098	1,393
Overall change	113.16%	8.71%	11.71%

Overall change for consultants specialising in emergency care is from 2006 to 2013.

Overall change for emergency service technicians and paramedics is from 2007 to 2013.

Table 2 shows the whole time equivalent of (a) consultants specialising in emergency care, (b) emergency services technicians and (c) paramedics the NHS employed over the period 2006 to 2013.

Whole Time Equivalent	Consultants specialising in emergency care	Emergency service technicians	Paramedics
Sep-06	75.8	x	x
Sep-07	81.0	999.7	1,233.9
Sep-08	107.2	980.1	1,255.0
Sep-09	94.8	1,041.9	1,309.2
Sep-10	128.4	997.4	1,376.3
Sep-11	133.8	986.4	1,367.4
Sep-12	144.4	1,010.4	1,376.7
Sep-13	154.5	1,084.5	1,369.9
Overall change	103.83%	8.48%	11.02%

Notes:

(a) (i) Information on headcount and whole time equivalent of consultants specialising in emergency care for 2013 can be found on the workforce statistics web site at:

https://isdscotland.scot.nhs.uk/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2013-11-26/Consultant_Staff_In_Post_S2013.xls?17378742.

(ii) Information on headcount and whole time equivalent of consultants specialising in emergency care for 2006 to 2012 can be found on the workforce statistics web site at http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2012-11-27/Consultant_Staff_In_Post_S2012.xls?66090757.

(b) (i) Information on headcount and whole time equivalent of emergency services technicians for 2013 can be found on the workforce statistics web site at https://isdscotland.scot.nhs.uk/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2013-11-26/All_Other_Staff_S2013.xls?17378742.

(ii) Information on headcount and whole time equivalent of emergency services technicians for 2007 to 2012 can be found on the workforce statistics web site at

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2012-11-27/All_Other_Staff_S2012.xls?66090757.

(c) (i) Information on headcount and whole time equivalent of paramedics for 2013 can be found on the workforce statistics web site at

https://isdscotland.scot.nhs.uk/Health-Topics/Workforce/publications/2013-11-26/AHP_Staff_S2013.xls?17378742.

(ii) Information on headcount and whole time equivalent of paramedics for 2007 to 2012 can be found on the workforce statistics web site at

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2012-11-27/All_Other_Staff_S2012.xls?66090757.

During the release of national statistics in 2006, Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS 24 identified a discrepancy with the 2006 data, therefore 2006 figures for paramedics are not included.

Question reference: S4O-02617

Asked by: Aileen McLeod, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on improving children’s dental health.

Question reference: S4O-02561

Asked by: Aileen McLeod, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 7 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle the effects of larch tree disease in Dumfries and Galloway.

The Scottish Government is providing guidance and financial support to those woodland businesses affected by Phytophthora ramorum. This includes the provision of agents’ services and the clearing of uneconomic infected larch woodlands, as set out in the Action Plan for Ramorum on larch in Scotland. In addition we also intend to provide supplementary support for the appropriate replanting of larch sites cleared due to Phytophthora ramorum. The additional £1 million recently announced for Forestry Commission Scotland’s budget in 2014-15 will help meet the costs resulting from tree health issues and will support increased surveillance and support for rapid response measures. This is in addition to resources already been deployed, including a dedicated post to increase the response.

We should also remember that other plants and trees are affected by Phytophthora. The Scottish Government will therefore continue with mandatory inspections of the horticulture nursery businesses that trade in host plants of Phytophthora ramorum to check for symptoms. We will also continue surveillance of parks and gardens and to work with SNH and SEPA to monitor high risk heathland sites.

Question reference: S4O-02581

Asked by: Aileen McLeod, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the creative arts in Dumfries and Galloway.

Question reference: S4O-02377

Asked by: Aileen McLeod, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it is giving to methods of providing broadband access to the hardest to reach remote rural communities in South Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-16412

Asked by: Aileen McLeod, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 July 2013
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Michael Matheson on 11 July 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it will increase organ donation and transplantation rates.

Question reference: S4W-15441

Asked by: Aileen McLeod, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 June 2013
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Alex Neil on 4 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it will address the concerns raised regarding boundary discrepancies in relation to the requirement for integrated arrangements for NHS boards and local authorities in the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Bill.

The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Bill will bring forward legislation to remove Community Health Partnerships from statute. Instead, the Bill will create local integrated arrangements, which will be the joint and equal responsibility of health boards and local authorities. It will require local systems to remove constraints to providing integrated health and social care to communities so public bodies can focus on delivering better outcomes for their communities.

Any mismatch of health board and local authority boundaries presents an administrative barrier to closer integrated working, complicating the planning and delivery of health and social care services. The Scottish Government will bring forward a Scottish Statutory Instrument to ensure that health board boundaries match the geographical boundaries of their local authority partners, further strengthening integrated arrangements and the relationship between health and social care service provision.