Chamber and committees

Sentencing in criminal cases including for housebreaking is a matter for the court. The Scottish Government does not comment on nor intervene in any specific cases.

Housebreaking is generally prosecuted under the common law with maximum penalties up to life imprisonment available depending on the level of court in which a case is prosecuted.

The independent Scottish Sentencing Council has recently published its first Business Plan for the period up to September 2018. Included within this Plan is a future commitment to consider preparing sentencing guidelines in the area of property theft during the Council's next business planning period.

This information is not held centrally. Individual NHS Boards may record this information locally at their own discretion.

Details of the remuneration of the Director of the Scottish Health Council are available publically on page 33 of Health Improvement Scotland’s Annual Accounts 2015-2016 Report at:

http://www.healthcareimprovementscotland.org/previous_resources/policy_and_strategy/annual_accounts_2015-16.aspx

An updated report for 2016-2017 will be produced after the conclusion of this financial year.

The salary range for managers within the Scottish Health Council goes from Area Managers (Agenda for Change Band 6 £26,565-£35,577), of which there are currently four posts in operation, to heads of function (Agenda for Change Band 8b £47,092-£58,217), of which there is currently one post in operation.

There are 51 whole time equivalent (full-time) and 15 part-time (10.75 whole time equivalent) staff currently employed within the Scottish Health Council.

The safety of expectant mothers and their babies is of paramount importance. We want to ensure that Scotland is as safe a place as possible for mothers to give birth.

The temporary divert from the maternity unit at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital was in place for a few hours on 12 January and was caused by a combination of high levels of admissions and a number of women and babies developing complications. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde took the rights steps to protect patient safety, ensuring the highest standards of care for women and babies in Glasgow.

We expect Health Boards to have robust contingency measures in place such as these to ensure the safety and quality of patient care. The Health Board has, nonetheless, rightly apologised to the very small number of expectant mothers who were sent to other maternity facilities in the board area.

This Government had already instructed a review of all maternity and neonatal services across the country, which was published on 20 January. This review, based on clinical and expert evidence, made 76 recommendations for a new model of maternity and neonatal care for delivery of the best and safest possible maternity and neonatal services, in the face of changing demographics and birth rates. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde will take full account of this review before progressing any proposals for maternity services in Inverclyde and the Vale of Leven. However, no decisions have been made and these proposals must still be subject to formal public consultation and, ultimately, Ministerial approval.

The Chair of the Scottish Health Council and the members of the Scottish Health Council committee receive a daily rate of £157.09. The Chair of the Scottish Health Council has a basic requirement of two days (15 hours) per month. Members of the Scottish Health Council committee have a basic requirement of one day (7.5 hours) per month.

The Scottish Government is committed to providing person centred care ensuring access to the best possible care and support, and from healthcare services that are safe and effective. The person centred approach covers all aspects of how NHS Boards should inform, engage, and consult with their local communities to allow them to deliver services that meet the needs of their local populations.

The Scottish Health Council has a role in improving patient and public participation across NHSScotland. This includes supporting NHS Boards to adopt new methods of involving people. e-Participation refers to the ability to engage with patients using a wide variety of methods including social media and web-based tools to share information, promote discussion and build relationships. The tools can provide access to information, promote peer support for self-management of long term conditions, influence local service development and take part in a dialogue with local NHS Boards.

The e-Participation Toolkit provides examples of how online technology is being used to involve people both in their own care and when designing and delivering local health and care services. This Toolkit is designed to complement rather than replace more traditional methods of engaging.

Police Scotland is responsible for investigating incidences of laser pens being shone at transport operators. We have not received representations from transport operators or Police Scotland about laser pens and would encourage any transport operator to report incidences to Police Scotland for investigation.

The Scottish Government is aware of local concerns about the length of time the crossing barriers are down during normal operation and that the barrier down time has increased recently due to a period of unreliability with the barrier mechanisms. Network Rail is working on some modifications to the barrier equipment to improve the reliability.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-06779 on 22 February 2017. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx