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-24488

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 25 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many eye examinations were carried out by NHS Grampian in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14.

Question reference: S4W-24153

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 5 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications for support under the Help to Buy (Scotland) Scheme were (a) made and (b) granted in (i) Aberdeen and (ii) Aberdeenshire in (A) 2013-14 and (B) 2014-15.

Question reference: S4W-24151

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 4 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many inpatient beds there were in NHS Grampian in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

The latest published official statistics show that on average there were 2,108 available beds in NHS Grampian across all specialities during the quarter of July 2014 to September 2014.

NHS Grampian has introduced a new patient administration system and is working with Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland to produce statistics on inpatient beds for the full financial year of 2013-14.

Official statistics on inpatient beds for the full financial year of 2014-15 are due to be published by ISD Scotland in September 2015.

Question reference: S4W-24152

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of GP provision in NHS Grampian, broken down by local authority area.

Statutory responsibility for the provision of primary medical services rests with health boards and it is for each board to put in place those services that best meet the reasonable needs of their patient populations.

NHS Grampian have undertaken a workforce survey, jointly organised with the Local Medical Committee. The survey was circulated to all NHS Grampian GP surgeries and attracted a 100% response. NHS Grampian now have an action plan regards workforce and retention issues.

Question reference: S4W-24154

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what funding per capita it provided to NHS Grampian in 2013-14 and how this compares with other NHS boards.

This information is publically available on the Information Services Division Scotland website in the ‘NHS Costs’ section. The most up to date figures relate to the financial period 2013-14 and are provided in the following table:

NHS Board	Net Operating Expenditure per Head (£)	Net Capital Expenditure per Head (£)
Ayrshire and Arran	1,953	25
Borders	1,884	34
Dumfries and Galloway	1,976	38
Fife	1,769	51
Forth Valley	1,674	13
Grampian	1,596	94
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	2,033	230
Highland	2,005	51
Lanarkshire	1,816	29
Lothian	1,674	32
Orkney	2,371	36
Shetland	2,377	60
Tayside	1,943	34
Western Isles	2,859	58
NHS Scotland	2,089	90

It should be noted that spend per capita does not take into account variation in relative need which is what the NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) formula does. The primary reason for the difference between the per capita expenditure and the weighted per capita expenditure is relative need.

The NRAC formula is a funding approach agreed by all boards and the Technical Advisory Group on Resource Allocation (TAGRA) that oversees the formula is a group made up of representatives from across the NHS. It is accepted that the NRAC formula will always be subject to refinement and development.

The NRAC formula has been phased in since 2009-10. It has been made clear that any adjustments made to the 14 territorial health boards’ funding would be phased in over a number of years by way of ‘differential growth’ as has been the practice under both the previous SHARE and Arbuthnott formulae, and that no board would receive a cut in funding.

The additional parity funding planned to be provided in 2015-16 to NHS boards currently below their target share is shown in the following table:

NHS Board	Additional NRAC Parity Funding 2015-16 (£ million)
Ayrshire and Arran	1
Fife	3.5
Forth Valley	0.5
Grampian	29
Highland	11.5
Lanarkshire	13.5
Lothian	7
Orkney	4.5
Shetland	0.1
NHS Scotland	70.6

It is expected that no NHS board will be below 1% from funding parity by 2015-16.

Question reference: S4O-03955

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how it is engaging with schools to encourage pupils to consider careers in the oil and gas industry.

Question reference: S4W-23934

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it is providing to NHS Grampian and (a) Aberdeen City and (b) Aberdeenshire Council to meet increased demand due to winter pressures.

Question reference: S4W-23935

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it is providing to NHS Grampian and (a) Aberdeen City and (b) Aberdeenshire Council to assist with tackling delayed discharge and what the criteria were for determining this.

Addressing delayed discharges is a top priority for this government. We have invested £10 million this year to support improvements in relation to delayed discharges, whilst minimising potential disruption to services, patients and carers over the winter period. Some of this funding was allocated to boards by using the NHS Scotland Resource Allocation Committee formula and the remainder was determined by assessing the level of delayed discharge.

NHS Grampian was allocated £1 million in August 2014 and a further £456,000 in November 2014 to ensure delivery of improvements. The August allocation was allocated to NHS Grampian to alleviate pressures on the hospital system by creating additional capacity in the hospital and the community. This funding was allocated to those boards facing the greatest challenge, based on the scale of the challenge.

The November allocation was split by local authorities – Aberdeen City’s share was £187,500 and Aberdeenshire’s £189,000.

On 20 January 2015 the Health Secretary announced £100 million funding for delayed discharge over the next three years. Funding will go to help develop services aimed at reducing unnecessary hospital admissions and ensuring timely discharge. Aberdeen City will receive £3.75 million and Aberdeenshire will receive £3.78 million over the three year period.

Question reference: S4O-03936

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on the introduction of its revised business rates incentivisation scheme.

Question reference: S4O-03871

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support public sector recruitment in the north east.

	Year	Aberdeen City	Aberdeenshire
Applications	2013-14	96	234
Approved applications	2013-14	75	205
Applications	2014-15	99	210
Approved Applications	2014-15	83	193