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: S4O-04620

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2015
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland’s reported concerns regarding the capacity of the environmental health workforce in local authorities.

Question reference: S4W-26707

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fiona McLeod on 10 August 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in early years (a) projects and (b) services since 2011 through the (i) Early Years Change Fund and (ii) public-social partnerships.

Question reference: S4W-26719

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fiona McLeod on 10 August 2015

To ask the Scottish Government which early years (a) projects and (b) services have received support since 2011 through the (i) Early Years Change Fund and (ii) public-social partnerships, also broken down by the (A) amount received, (B) local authority area in which they are based and (C) number of families that have received support.

i) The Scottish Government's commitment to the £274.25 million Early Years Change Fund is £52.25 million. Since the Early Years Change Fund began in 2012-13, the Scottish Government has invested in the following projects and services:

Scottish Government Early Years Change Fund

Programme	2012-13 to 2014-15	2015-16*	Project or service?
Bookbug	£4,500,000		Service
Communities and Families Fund	£4,500,000		Projects
Compassionate Connections Training Roll Out		£135,000	Project
Connecting with Parents Training		£112,358	Project
Early Learning and Childcare (Looked after 2 year olds and Vulnerable 2’s)	£4,500,000		Service
Early Years Collaborative	£3,973,701	£1,910,448	Project
Early Years Collaborative Key Change Activities		£294,000	Project
Family Friendly and Flexible Working support		£320,000	Project
Family Friendly Play Campaign		£350,000	Project
Family Support and information sources for families and parents	£12,000,000	£1,156,000	Service
Fathers and Male Carers and the ‘Year of the Dad’		£394,000	Project
Multi-professional Practice Simulation	£110,000		Project
Open School Places Training	£6,000		Project
Parenting Strategy	£150,000		Project
People First (Scotland) support for parents with learning disabilities		£150,000	Project
Play - increasing the quality and availability of Play (Go 2 Play and Grounds for Learning)	£3,000,000		Project
PlayTalkRead (PTR)	£3,000,000		Service
Public Social Partnerships (see further detail below)	£6,000,000	£2,678,633	Projects
Roots of Empathy	£964,179	£347,299	Project
Scotland’s Home Safety Equipment Scheme	£265,120		Project
Scottish Business in the Community engagement		£67,500	Project
Separated and ‘blended’ families support		£500,000	Service
The Psychology of Parenting Project	£672,000		Service
The Solihull Approach Cascade in Scotland	£109,000	£84,762	Project
Total	£43,750,000	£8,500,000

*The figures for 2015-16 are estimates at this stage. The funding in 2015-16 is supporting the transition year away from the Early Years Change Fund.

ii) Since the Change Fund began, the Scottish Government has supported the following Public Social Partnerships (PSPs), broken down by the amount received, local authority area and the number of referrals:

Current PSPs:

Local Authority	2013-14 to 2014-15	2015-16*	Total Award	Referrals**	Project or Service
Aberdeen City	£450,000	£225,000	£675,000	42	Project
Aberdeenshire	£250,000	£154,704	£395,704	45	Project
Argyll and Bute	£150,000	£49,540	£199,540	75	Project
Clackmannanshire	£275,000	£166,958	£441,958	88	Project
East Ayrshire	£250,000	£187,098	£437,098	53	Project
East Lothian	£250,000	£220,448	£470,448	50	Project
Glasgow City Council	£1,165,000	£764,165	£1,929,165	451	Project
Highland	£250,000	£220,620	£470,620	44	Project
Inverclyde	£250,000	£194,800	£444,800	89	Project
North Ayrshire	£250,000	£119,282	£369,282	68	Project
Perth and Kinross/Angus	£420,000	£280,018	£700,018	67	Project
West Lothian	£200,000	£96,000	£269,000	49	Project

*The figures for 2015-16 are estimates at this stage. The funding in 2015-16 is supporting the transition year away from the Early Years Change Fund.

**Referral numbers correct to March 2015 and include both individual and wider family referrals.

Closed PSPs:

Lead Partner and Public Body	2013-14 to 2014-15*	Referrals**	Project or Service
Dumfries and Galloway	£200,000	94	Project
Dundee City	£440,000	75	Project
Falkirk	£225,000	44	Project
Moray Council	£150,000	95	Project
Polmont (Scottish Prison Service)	£250,000	273	Project
Renfrewshire and Engage	£300,000	24	Project

*Funding for these projects ended in March 2015

**Referral numbers correct to March 2015 and include both individual and wider family referrals.

Question reference: S4W-26735

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 4 August 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on establishing the new national Scottish chronic pain management service and how this will benefit people with fibromyalgia.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with both NHS National Services Scotland’s National Services Division and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde on the two development strands (the interim and permanent facilities) of the Scottish National Chronic Pain Management Programme (SNCPMP).

Building work in the interim location (Allander House on the Gartnavel campus) was completed on 13 March 2015. All key service staff have been recruited and are in various stages of appointment, with the service lead taking up post in mid-September 2015.

Patient assessment clinics have so far been held in January, April and July 2015, with a further clinic scheduled for August 2015. Two additional patients were also independently referred at the end of May 2015. It is anticipated that the first cohort of patients will begin the programme at the interim facility on 26 October 2015. All local and regional pain centres are welcome, and indeed are encouraged, to discuss the management of individual cases with the SNCPMP team until that time.

In parallel to this, work continues on the development of the bespoke build for the permanent facility on the Gartnavel site.

It is the aim of the SNCPMP to help patients manage their chronic pain, irrespective of the underlying condition. A patient with fibromyalgia, therefore, would be eligible for referral to the programme (subject to their acceptance following an assessment clinic). Participation in the programme will help the patients maximize their independence and improve their ability to manage their chronic pain.

Question reference: S4F-02776

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 May 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 May 2015

To ask the First Minister what progress the Scottish Government is making on widening access to university for young people from the most deprived communities.

Question reference: S4O-04293

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 April 2015
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Scottish Commemorations Programme’s First World War commemorations for 2015.

Question reference: S4O-04267

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 April 2015
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government what the findings were from its pilot project to monitor assault injury surveillance in NHS Lanarkshire.

Question reference: S4W-25066

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Maureen Watt on 25 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will bring forward legislation on smoking in cars containing children as part of its public health bill.

The Scottish Government recently consulted on a variety of measures in its recent consultation, A Consultation on Electronic Cigarettes and Strengthening Tobacco Control in Scotland. This included a measure to ban smoking in cars with children under 18. Having considered the results of this consultation, the Scottish Government has now decided that we will support, in principle, the Member’s Bill lodged by Jim Hume MSP on 15 December 2014. The Scottish Government will therefore not be taking these proposals forward as part of our Public Health Bill. We look forward to working with Mr Hume in developing his Smoking Prohibition (Children in Motor Vehicles) (Scotland) Bill.

Question reference: S4O-04165

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with representatives of religious organisations who are denied pension credit as they are fully maintained by their order.

Question reference: S4O-04110

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2015
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with local authorities regarding the Glasgow and Clyde Valley City Deal.