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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5W-00077

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made an assessment of how many Scottish citizens were monitored by the (a) Special Demonstrations Squad and (b) National Public Order Intelligence Unit.

Question reference: S5W-00078

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what lessons it has learned from the outcome of the Hillsborough inquests.

Question reference: S5W-00074

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had a response from the Home Secretary regarding its request for the Pitchford Inquiry into undercover policing to be extended to cover Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-00076

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made an assessment of how many Scottish police officers were members of the (a) Special Demonstrations Squad and (b) National Public Order Intelligence Unit.

Question reference: S5W-00079

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether, in light of the outcome of the Hillsborough inquests, it will reconsider the call for a review of the policing and convictions of miners arrested in Scotland during the 1984-85 miners' strike.

I refer the member to my answer to the question S4O-04044 on 25 February 2015.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government has no plans to hold an inquiry, either into the conduct of the police or individual criminal convictions. That does not prevent an individual from contacting the Chief Constable of Police Scotland or contacting the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission to ask them to consider complaints.

Question reference: S5W-00081

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many GP surgeries are holding telephone consultations as a result of a shortage of GPs.

Access to GP services is an important issue for the Scottish Government and I’m aware that many of general practices have, for many years, adjusted appointment arrangements in order to try to prioritise urgency, and support quality and continuity of patient care.

We recognise that local situations vary and so practice partners are responsible for designing their own patient appointment and consultation arrangements. We expect them to use their professional judgement to make decisions which enable them to run the best possible service and deliver for their patient needs. GPs are encouraged to develop technology and deploy the talents of their staff appropriately to introduce new, innovative ways of working to benefit their patients by prioritising urgency, and supporting quality and continuity of patient care.

Adopting a telephone consultation model, that has been used successfully elsewhere could enable them to run the best possible service and deliver for their patient needs. As with any new system, it is a learning process and the model may be adapted over time depending on performance. Telephone appointments, in the right circumstances, can increase efficiency, improve access and boost patient satisfaction.

Question reference: S5W-00083

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 26 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many local authority jobs have been lost over the last 10 years, not including NHS staff transferred to joint boards.

Information on local government job losses is not held centrally.

Information on local government employment over the last 10 years is published in tables as part of the National Statistics Publication Public Sector Employment in Scotland. The most recent information is for Q4 2015. The tables can be found at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Labour-Market/PublicSectorEmployment/PSEwebtables

The information for local government employment can be found in Table 8: Local Government Employment by Staffing Group.

Question reference: S5W-00075

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether there should be a Scottish inquiry into undercover policing.

Question reference: S5W-00111

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with NHS Lothian regarding the end of waiting times guarantees.

Question reference: S5W-00110

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the report in the Edinburgh Evening News on 16 May 2016 that NHS Lothian is to end its commitment to meeting treatment times guarantees.

The Scottish Government has made clear to all NHS boards, including Lothian that we expect them to deliver waiting time standards and the legal treatment time guarantee for the people of Scotland. All boards have consistently had above inflation increases in front line spending and boards need to use the increase in resources to deliver waiting times. NHS Lothian has received a 6.3% increase in their budget this year taking the total budget to £1.3 billion. We will continue to work closely with NHS Lothian to support the delivery of waiting times.

To meet the future need of hospital care over the next 10 to 15 years and ensure sustainable delivery of waiting times, the Scottish Government will invest £200 million in expanding the Golden Jubilee National Hospital and establish a network of five new elective and diagnostic treatment centres in Aberdeen, Inverness, Dundee, Livingston and Edinburgh.