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-15791

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 24 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15090 by Shona Robison on 21 March 2018, whether, in the course of the Primary Care Workforce Survey Scotland 2017, it was provided with the information that was requested regarding what the longest period is that a current GP post has been vacant for, and in which NHS board this is and, if so, whether it will provide this information.

Question reference: S5W-15790

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15089 by Shona Robison on 21 March 2018, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding how many posts in each NHS board were vacant for (a) between (i) six and 12, (ii) 12 and 18, (iii) 18 and 24, (iv) 24 and 30 and (v) 30 and 36 and (b) over 36 months.

Question reference: S5W-14907

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS clinical staff have taken early retirement in each year since 2010-11, and what analysis it has carried out of their reasons for doing so, broken down by NHS board.

It is not possible to break down early retirals according clinical and other staff groups as SPPA pension records focus on scheme entitlements rather than staff group. However, the following table covers all staff who were directly employed and whose records indicate Voluntary Early Retirement with an Actuarial Reduction (VERA) or Preserved VERA, in addition to two further categories which do not apply to GPs - Voluntary Early Retirement with No Reduction (VER) and Premature Retirement (PREM).

Note that where data is available that identifies less than 5 in any Health Board area, the actual figures have been removed for data protection reasons to guard against the possibility of identifying the specific individuals who have retired under these terms.

Board Area	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18 1
Ayrshire & Arran	14	20	30	28	33	58	35	41
Borders	10	7	7	9	16	15	16	17
Dumfries & Galloway	13	13	14	24	15	19	24	33
Fife	17	29	20	29	31	37	34	40
Forth Valley	19	34	30	25	18	25	34	33
Grampian	25	39	22	51	49	58	40	41
Grt. Glasgow & Clyde	63	71	90	91	110	126	136	141
Highland	21	16	17	25	26	40	43	37
Lanarkshire	29	37	23	40	58	59	54	51
Lothian	36	41	42	52	49	85	71	69
Orkney	6	<5	<5	<5	6	<5	<5	<5
Shetland	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5
Tayside	24	21	32	41	34	45	41	75
Western Isles	<5	0	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5

NHS Ed. for Scotland	<5	8	<5	8	<5	7	<5	<5
NHS Health Scotland	<5	<5	5	0	<5	<5	<5	<5
Nat. Services Scotland	11	22	28	22	27	20	16	26
National Waiting Times	<5	<5	8	<5	<5	<5	6	<5
Scot. Ambulance Serv.	14	21	20	31	44	31	30	29
State Hospital	<5	<5	8	<5	0	<5	<5	<5

Small Employers 2	37	32	28	31	46	40	42	50
Dental Practitioners	8	8	10	14	20	31	23	30
Highland Council 3	0	0	0	0	<5	0	0	0

Total	358	429	446	532	597	711	659	730

1. Available figures for year so far. May be subject to revision as data is refined.

2. Small Employers – GP Practice Staff (Admin, Support and Nurses) and Small Direction Bodies.

3. Highland Council Direction Body.

Reasons for retirement are not recorded in the system but it is important to note that the fact that someone has accessed their pension does not necessarily mean that they have stopped working in the NHS. The NHS Scotland Pension Scheme allows staff to retire and return, usually on reduced hours, and this can be a good way for staff to find a manageable way to continue working as they get older, whilst the service is able to retain their skills and experience.

Question reference: S5W-15120

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 29 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of NHS Grampian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde reportedly being the only NHS boards that offer Botox treatment for migraines, what its response is to reports that they do not accept people from other board areas who require this treatment.

The role of the Scottish Government is to provide policies, frameworks and resources to NHS Boards to allow them to deliver services that meet the needs of their local populations. Where an agreed treatment is not available locally then the local board have the option to refer the patient to another board. This will be dependent on the availability of a specific service locally, and current demands.

Question reference: S5W-14906

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 28 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many GPs have taken early retirement in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board.

The following table covers practitioners whose records indicate Voluntary Early Retirement with an Actuarial Reduction (VERA) and Preserved VERA (i.e. situations where someone has left the NHS Scotland Pension Scheme with preserved benefits then decided to take these at an actuarially reduced level before what would have been their normal pension age).

Board Area	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
A&A	0	<5	<5	0	<5
Borders	0	0	<5	<5	<5
D&G	0	0	<5	<5	<5
Fife	<5	<5	0	5	6
Forth Valley	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5
Grampian	<5	<5	<5	5	<5
GG&C	5	5	<5	<5	7
Highland	0	<5	<5	<5	5
Lanarkshire	<5	<5	<5	<5	6
Lothian	<5	6	<5	<5	6
Orkney	<5	<5	0	<5	0
Tayside	<5	7	<5	<5	<5
Shetland	0	0	<5	<5	0
Western Isl.	0	<5	0	0	<5
Not Traced ²	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5
Total	22	34	27	33	52

Board Area	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17
A&A	<5	9	<5	<5	8
Borders	<5	5	0	<5	<5
D&G	0	5	0	<5	<5
Fife	7	5	<5	<5	6
Forth Valley	5	8	<5	<5	<5
Grampian	<5	8	<5	7	6
GG&C	13	14	16	10	21
Highland	<5	<5	<5	6	7
Lanarkshire	11	11	15	7	6
Lothian	9	13	9	9	10
Orkney	0	0	<5	0	0
Tayside	<5	5	5	8	<5
Shetland	<5	0	0	0	0
Western Isl.	<5	0	<5	<5	0
Not Traced ²	<5	<5	7	<5	0
Total	63	91	70	67	74

1. Figures cover the year so far.

2. Cases where no Board area could be identified.

Question reference: S5O-01964

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 March 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the prescription of cannabis-derived therapies on the NHS.

Question reference: S5W-15136

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the effectiveness of the legislation that deals with stalking offences, and whether it plans to review this.

Question reference: S5W-15138

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether the legislation that deals with stalking offences sets a threshold for the number of unsolicited texts that can be sent before it can be considered that an offence might have occurred and, if so, (a) what this is and (b) whether it plans to review this.

The offence of stalking at section 39 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 provides that a person (A) stalks another person (B) where A engages in a course of conduct (involving conduct on at least two separate occasions) which causes B to feel fear or alarm, where A either acts with the intention of causing B to feel fear or alarm or where A knew or ought to have known that engaging in the course of conduct would be likely to cause B to feel fear or alarm.

As such, the offence is capable of being committed by someone who sends unsolicited text messages on two or more occasions, if their course of behaviour was such that the victim suffered fear and alarm as a result of that conduct and the accused either intended to cause such fear and alarm or knew or ought to have known that the course of conduct in which they engaged would be likely to cause such fear or alarm.

Decisions concerning the investigation and prosecution of individual cases is a matter for the police and COPFS respectively, taking account of the particular facts and circumstances of the case.

Question reference: S5W-15137

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases under the legislation that deals with stalking offences have been (a) reported to and (b) and investigated by the police each year, also broken down by how many people were consequently (i) arrested, (ii) charged, (iii) prosecuted and (iv) convicted.

The number of crimes of stalking at section 39 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 recorded and cleared up by the police in each year since the offence came into force in December 2010 is set out in the following table:

Year	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17
Recorded	122	495	605	875	1,251	1,435	1,372
Cleared up	82	392	509	730	1,047	1,186	1,132

A crime or offence is regarded as cleared up where there exists a sufficiency of evidence under Scots law to justify consideration of criminal proceedings, notwithstanding that a report is not submitted to the procurator fiscal because either: (i) by standing agreement with the procurator fiscal the police warn the accused due to the minor nature of the offence or (ii) reporting is inappropriate due to the non-age of the accused, death of the accused, or other similar circumstances.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of people arrested or the number of stalking cases investigated by the police.

The number of people prosecuted and convicted for the offence of stalking is set out in the following table:

Year	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17
Guilty	3	52	125	210	401	638	679
Not Guilty	0	15	41	55	120	158	151
Total prosecuted	3	67	166	265	521	796	830

(Where main charge)

There is no direct relationship between the number of crimes recorded by the police and the number of follow-up actions taken by other agencies within the criminal justice system and therefore care should be taken when comparing different data sources relating to the criminal justice system. For example, recorded crime statistics count crimes and offences at the time that they came to the attention of Police Scotland, while criminal proceedings statistics report on cases which have concluded in court. This means that a crime may be recorded by the police in one year and court proceedings concluded in a subsequent year. In addition, a person may be proceeded against for more than one crime involving more than one victim and there is the possibility that the crime recorded by the police may be altered in the course of judicial proceedings.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of people charged, as distinct from the number of people prosecuted, for stalking offences.

Question reference: S5W-15227

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 12 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 21 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) support and (b) resources it provides to the parents or carers of children receiving mental health treatment on the child's discharge from hospital, and whether it plans to extend this.