- Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 July 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 5 August 2015
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-02674 by Keith Brown on 13 July 2015, whether any contractor, sub-contractor or employment agency working for any contractor or sub-contractor or agency on the Forth Replacement Crossing project employs workers via a payroll or umbrella company arrangement.
Answer
The contractor, Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors, has confirmed that it does not use umbrella companies in the recruitment or employment of workers on the Forth Replacement Crossing project.
Recruitment and conditions of employment are an operational matter for the individual contractor, sub-contractor or employment agency on the Forth Replacement Crossing project. The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government.
- Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 August 2015
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-26038 by Shona Robison on 23 June 2015, whether (a) it and (b) NHS boards are legally bound to notify women who have been fitted with models of mesh devices that have been found to be defective.
Answer
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring that all medical devices placed on the UK market are compliant with the relevant legislation and has a duty to enforce this legislation. When a quality or safety concern with a device is identified MHRA may issue a medical device alert to healthcare professionals outlining the problem and appropriate action(s) to take, including identifying and contacting all patients who have been implanted with the product.
It is a requirement of the Medical Devices Regulations that manufacturers have to inform MHRA of any Field Safety Corrective Action taken in the UK for their devices; this includes any device recalls from the market. MHRA has reported that Boston Scientific has not informed them that they have taken any kind of Field Safety Correction Action for these devices including any removal of devices from the market for safety reasons or non-conformity with the Regulations. MHRA has stated that it has not had a robust body of evidence indicating that any vaginal mesh implants are unsafe requiring MHRA to initiate any enforcement action against any manufacturers in the UK under the European Medical Device Directive and, to the best of their knowledge, neither has any other EU country.
The Scottish Government advises any woman who is worried, or is experiencing complications, to contact their surgeon or GP for advice. The surgeon will have access to her records and should be able to confirm what device has been implanted and discuss any concerns that she may have. This is the quickest and most effective route for any woman who is experiencing complications.
- Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 July 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 28 July 2015
To ask the Scottish Government how many of its posts offer recruitment and retention allowances or similar market-based pay supplements, also broken down by the (a) geographical area of the post and (b) (i) age and (ii) gender of the postholders.
Answer
In the 2014-15 financial year 1,009 employees received payment for a recruitment, retention or similar market based pay supplement. The breakdowns requested are provided in the following tables:
(a) Geographical area (broken down by local authority area)
Aberdeen City | 53 |
City of Edinburgh | 692 |
Dundee City | 15 |
Glasgow City | 200 |
Highland | 7 |
Scottish Borders | 10 |
West Lothian | 23 |
Other* | 9 |
Total | 1,009 |
Note: As the number of staff in receipt of payment in some areas is below five per area, they have been grouped together for data protection reasons to protect the identity of individuals. Other areas include Fife, North Ayrshire, Perth and Kinross and South Lanarkshire.
(b) Age breakdown
20-29 | 45 |
30-39 | 274 |
40-49 | 317 |
50-54 | 167 |
55-59 | 126 |
60-65 | 59 |
65+ | 21 |
Total | 1,009 |
(c) Gender breakdown
Female | 311 |
Male | 698 |
Total | 1,009 |
Note: The Scottish Government systems record people rather than posts. Therefore the number of employees receiving a payment at any point during the 2014-15 financial year has been given. The number of employees could be higher than the number of posts. For example, where an employee has left and another taken their place this would represent two employees in one post.
- Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 July 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 28 July 2015
To ask the Scottish Government how much it pays in recruitment and retention allowances or similar market-based pay supplements.
Answer
In the financial year 2014-15 the Scottish Government paid £3,040,000 in recruitment, retention or similar market based pay supplements for jobs where it is challenging to recruit and retain staff. This figure excludes associated employer on-costs.
- Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 July 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 28 July 2015
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S4W-25737 and S4W-25738 by John Swinney on 3 June 2015, for what reason the information requested is not held centrally.
Answer
It is the responsibility of each public body to determine their own terms and conditions, ensuring that these are appropriate both for their staff and for their business needs.
Under the Public Sector Pay Policy, Scottish Government approval is only required where an organisation proposes to make changes to an existing allowance or introduce a new one.
- Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 June 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 13 July 2015
To ask the Scottish Government whether umbrella companies are involved in recruiting and employing workers engaged on the Forth Replacement Crossing project and, if so, how many.
Answer
The contractor, Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors, has confirmed that it does not use umbrella companies in the recruitment or employment of workers on the Forth Replacement Crossing project.
No umbrella companies are employed by Transport Scotland or their representatives on site.
- Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 June 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 13 July 2015
To ask the Scottish Government whether and, if so, how it monitors the employment practices of (a) contractors, (b) agencies and (c) sub-contractors engaged on the Forth Replacement Crossing project.
Answer
<>Transport Scotland monitors all aspects of the delivery of the Forth Replacement Crossing project on behalf of Scottish Ministers. The contractor (Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors) is obliged to comply with relevant Scottish law. This includes those laws in relation to its personnel, wages and conditions of labour.
The contractor is also required to ensure that all site-based employment opportunities (including those with subcontractors and suppliers) are notified to job centres (including local job centres) at the time they become available.
- Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 June 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 25 June 2015
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has estimated the potential compensation bill for women in Scotland injured by mesh implants.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware of the number of legal claims being lodged with the courts and the sums being sought in relation to mesh implants.
- Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 June 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 25 June 2015
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on the NHS in Scotland of the US court case in which Boston Scientific was ordered to pay $100 million to a woman who had been fitted with a vaginal mesh implant manufactured by the company.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware of this court case in the USA.
The former Cabinet Secretary asked that an independent review of transvaginal mesh implants carries out an assessment of the evidence. The report is due in summer 2015 and thereafter the Scottish Government will decide on appropriate steps following an assessment of the independent review’s findings.
- Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 June 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 23 June 2015
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to make women fitted with Boston Scientific Advantage Fit and Pinnacle implants aware that they have been fitted with these products.
Answer
Any woman who is worried, or is experiencing complications, should contact their surgeon or GP for advice.