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: S5W-02613

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 27 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many requests it has received each year under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 that have been subject to an appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner, broken down by how many times the commissioner ruled in favour of (a) it and (b) the applicant.

Question reference: S5W-02617

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 27 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to extend the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to include all (a) private and (b) public contractors that have been contracted by public bodies.

Question reference: S5W-02612

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 27 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many requests it has received each year under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 have been subject to a review.

Question reference: S5W-02609

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 27 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many requests under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 have been received each year by (a) it and (b) all public authorities, also broken down by how many were answered within 20 days.

Information about the number of requests made to the Scottish Government, and how many were answered within 20 working days, is available from the FOI Annual Reports which are published on our website at: http://www.gov.scot/About/Information/FOI/Reporting.

Similar information about requests made to other public authorities is published on the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website at: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/ScottishPublicAuthorities/StatisticsCollection.aspx

Question reference: S5W-02761

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 26 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities have implemented the Unison Ethical Care Charter.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on which local authorities have implemented the Unison Ethical Care Charter.

We are providing significant investment to enable local authorities to commission care services that pay care workers, including in the independent and third sector, the full Living Wage of £8.25 per hour from 1 October 2016, along with other fair work practices, as called for in the Unison Ethical Care Charter.

We are working with local authorities, providers and other partners to deliver a major programme of reform to adult social care. This will enable progress towards our aim to end "time and task" based care and shift to care that focuses on outcomes.

Question reference: S5W-02200

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are employed (a) full-time and (b) part-time by NHS as (i) audiologists, (ii) cardiac physiologists, (iii) gastro-intestinal physiologists, (iv) neurophysiologists, (v) respiratory physiologists and (vi) sleep physiologists.

Information on the Healthcare Science clinical group, which these staff work within, is not held by ISD Scotland at this level of detail. However, the latest published ISD Scotland statistics show that the total number of full-time Healthcare Science staff has increased by 3.6 per cent under this Government, to 4,428.0 Whole Time Equivalent (WTE). The total number of part-time Healthcare Science staff has increased by 16.3 per cent under this Government, to 1,019.5 WTE.

Further information on the latest published Healthcare Science staff in post figures can be found in the data tables of the Workforce Statistics website at:- https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2016-09-06/HCS_Staff_J2016.xls

Question reference: S5W-02626

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 23 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what contact it received from Charlotte Street Partners in the last year, and about what matters.

Question reference: S5W-02625

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 21 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when the register of lobbyists will go live.

Development and implementation of the register of lobbyists is being led by the Scottish Parliament. During the parliamentary passage of the Lobbying (Scotland) Act 2016 the Government undertook to agree with the Parliament the timing of the relevant Commencement Orders to ensure that the necessary planning and infrastructure for the lobbying register are in place. Further information on the Parliament’s planning can be obtained from the Clerk to the Parliament.

Question reference: S5W-01925

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS whistleblowers have had disciplinary action taken against them or have experienced detriment to their career since the Whistleblower Champions scheme was introduced.

Disciplinary action against any member of staff is a contractual issue between an employee and their employer and we do not hold information centrally.

The Management of Employee Conduct and Implementing and Reviewing Whistleblowing Arrangements in NHS Scotland PIN policies set out the rights and responsibilities of boards, managers, employees and trade unions/professional organisations in respect of both employees who are subject to any disciplinary action and the procedures and legal protections covering staff who wish to raise concerns.

The whistleblowing policy makes clear that if a member of staff raises a genuine concern, they will not be at risk of losing their job or suffering any detriment.

We have also worked closely with the UK Government to ensure that NHS Scotland employers are included within new legislation to protect whistleblowers applying for jobs within NHS Scotland from discrimination from prospective employers.

Question reference: S5W-01823

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will hold an inquiry into alleged unethical and illegal undercover police operations since 1968.

The Scottish Government is extremely disappointed that the UK Government has indicated it will not extend the remit of the Pitchford Inquiry to consider the activities of undercover Metropolitan Police units in Scotland. We continue to believe that a single inquiry across the UK is the most effective approach to provide a comprehensive and coherent investigation into these matters. We are considering how best to take this matter forward.