Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not pay salaries via a private company.

The Scottish Government is totally opposed to blacklisting or the compiling of a blacklist on such a basis. Matters of employment law are reserved to the UK Government and we are aware of legal action being pursued in the UK and European Courts by some of the construction workers affected. The Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010 provide rights for anyone affected by such behaviour.

An upgrade to the Scotland.gov.uk website led to a temporary problem when searching publications by topic. During this time the topic search function was the only one affected. All official publication material remained available and accessible via alternative search and listing options on Scotland.gov.uk. This temporary problem has now been resolved.

Barnett consequentials accrue to Scotland as a whole and it is for Scottish ministers to decide collectively how they should be deployed in light of the overall financial position and strategic priorities.

Whilst funding for local advice services in Scotland comes predominantly from local government, which is best placed to assess and meet local requirements, there are instances where the Scottish Government allocates grant funding directly for particular initiatives which support the government’s priority outcomes. This was the case on 29 February 2012, where funding of £4.8 million from the Scottish Government and £2.2 million from the Money Advice Service was committed to fund a programme to be managed by the Scottish Legal Aid Board to help Scots resolve their legal and financial problems, as part of the Government’s Making Justice Work initiative.

The number of average available staffed beds at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill) for the financial years ending 31 March 2008 to 31 March 2011 are shown in the following table.

Figures for the financial year ending 31 March 2012 will be available in September 2012.

Average available staffed beds at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill) for all specialties; financial years ending 31 March 2008 to 31 March 2011:

Source: ISD Scotland, ISD(S)1.

The third sector is key to Scotland having a successful and fairer future and has a major role to play in supporting Scotland’s communities; in addressing issues of inequality and social injustice. This role is of increased importance in a period of economic austerity. Over the next three years the Scottish Government will provide £73.5 million to the Third Sector to enhance the capability and sustainability of the sector. Despite the difficult financial pressures faced by the Scottish Government, this represents an increase of funding for the third sector of 18.3%. The resource is targeted at ensuring that third sector organisations have the support they need to develop, that the sector is effectively represented and engaging at local and national level and that it is able to pay a full role in the design and delivery of public services.

The third sector is often at the forefront of innovation and keen to explore new ways of doing business and this includes the use of social media.

The specific information is not available centrally.

Information, although limited is available on the number of hospital stays where operations/procedures where not carried out following admission to hospital as an inpatient/day case. Information for the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill) for the financial year 2010-11 shows that the total number of stays was 23,358 and the number of stays where operations/procedures where not carried out following admission was 510.

Operations may be cancelled due to a number of reasons such as a particularly high level of emergency admissions, staff sickness or the patient being unfit for treatment on admission.

The First Minister confirmed on 19 April that the Scottish Government and COSLA have agreed to commit a total of £40 million to ensure the 560,000 vulnerable people in Scotland receiving council tax benefit are protected from the UK Government’s 10% cut in funding in 2013-14.

This £40 million comprises £23 million from the Scottish Budget, reflecting the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth’s announcement at the Budget Stage 3 debate in February this year, and £17 million from local government. There will not be a new benefit, but rather individuals’ council tax liabilities will be reduced in a way that reflects existing entitlement to council tax benefit.

The £40 million, when added to the budget received from the UK Government, representing the existing level of council tax benefit spending minus 10%, will maintain the local government budget to allow these new arrangements to operate.

The Scottish Public Sector Pay Policy, in both 2011-12 and 2012-13, did not permit the payment of one-off non-consolidated non-pensionable taxable payments. No such payments have therefore been made to Scottish Government staff in 2012.

(a) There is a longstanding commitment to explore plain packaging as set out in the 2008 Smoking Prevention Action Plan, Scotland's Future is Smoke-Free. In this the Scottish Government indicated a commitment to consider with the UK Government and other devolved administrations whether it would be desirable to move towards plain packaging.

The current UK wide consultation will explore whether there is evidence to demonstrate that the standardised packaging of tobacco products would have an additional public health benefit, over and above existing tobacco control initiatives. We will consider all responses and available information before agreeing the way ahead.

(b). In September 2010 Lord Bracadale dismissed Imperial Tobacco Limited's legal challenge against the ban on tobacco displays set out in the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010. This judgement was upheld by the Inner House of the Court of Session earlier this year. Imperial Tobacco Limited have decided to appeal the Inner House's decision to the Supreme Court. Due to the ongoing legal challenge we have delayed implementation of the ban in large shops until a date to be announced in due course. The implementation date of April 2015 still stands for small shops. We are committed to defending the legislation and aim to implement across large shops at the earliest opportunity.