- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report, Understanding the Drivers Behind the Accrual of Council Tax Arrears, published by Citizens Advice Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government welcomes this report and would encourage local authorities, who are responsible for the collection and enforcement of Council Tax arrears, to consider its findings.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to raise awareness that, according to Citizens Advice Scotland, "Council Tax debt collection is much harsher and faster compared to commercial debt collection".
Answer
Council tax is a local tax, set and collected by each local authority, with every council financially and administratively accountable to their electorate. Council Tax Debt was discussed at the last meeting of the Joint Working Group on Sources of Local Government Funding and Council Tax Reform on 22 March 2023. It is important that local authorities retain the tools to enforce the payment of council tax by those who have the means to pay but choose not to do so, whilst the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, promoted as part of the Scottish Government funded Citizens Advice Scotland's Money Talk Team, as well as by local authorities and the DWP, means nobody should have to meet a council tax liability they cannot be expected to afford.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it met its target of 27,500 additional inpatient and day case activity in 2022-23, as outlined in its NHS Recovery Plan.
Answer
Our £1 Billion backed NHS Recovery Plan aims to continually increase capacity for inpatient and day case procedures.
We have seen an increase in the level of activity for inpatient / day-cases in the latest quarter (May 2023), which was the highest level of activity in any quarter since the start of the pandemic.
Last year, over 217,000 patients were seen as an inpatient or day case. This reflects a 15.3% increase from the previous year.
Further statistics on additional inpatient and day case activity in 2022-2023 will be released alongside the NHS Recovery Plan update this autumn.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of junior doctors in Scotland, on completion of their foundation programme, have (i) remained in UK-based specialty training and (ii) left to pursue other careers or overseas opportunities, in each of the last 10 years.
Answer
We are unable to provide the information requested as we do not have access to data on doctors entering training in parts of the UK other than Scotland, or who have left to pursue other careers or overseas opportunities.
From 2010 to 2019 the UK Foundation programme carried out a career destination survey of all F2 doctors. The UK F2 Career Destinations Reports used data collated from an annual UK-wide survey of outgoing F2 doctors. These reports helped to understand career aspirations and career destinations if known. This report was discontinued in 2020 due to Covid-19.
- Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to fund the cumulative pay uplift offered to junior doctors, and how much the proposed uplift will cost in total.
Answer
The Scottish Government has made a 14.5% pay offer to Junior Doctors covering the period of 2022-24. This represents a £61.3 million investment in junior doctor pay - the largest in the last 20 years and the best offer in the UK. This will be funded from within the Health and Social Care budget.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Christina McKelvie on 13 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated to the maintenance of Scotland's UNESCO World Heritage Sites in each year since 2007, broken down by site.
Answer
Scotland’s six UNESCO World Heritage Sites are highly varied in their composition and management. As Historic Environment Scotland is a partner for all six sites, I have asked it to write to the member with the information on Historic Scotland funding from 2007-15, and Historic Environment Scotland funding since 2015 when it was formed.
Exceptionally, there has been some direct funding from the Scottish Government, for example in the light of lost income during the COVID-19 pandemic. The amounts provided from 2015 onwards can be found in the following table.
| World Heritage Site | Year | Maintenance Funding |
| New Lanark | 2020-21 | £2,439,000 |
| 2021-22 | £327,000 |
| 2022-23 | £435,000 |
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it met its target of 78,000 additional diagnostic procedures in 2022-23, as outlined in its NHS Recovery Plan.
Answer
Our £1 Billion backed NHS Recovery Plan aims to continually increase capacity for outpatients.
We are seeing improvements in diagnostic waiting times, and we continue to prioritise those referred with an urgent suspicion of cancer for scope-based diagnostic tests.
Further statistics on additional inpatient and day case activity in 2022-2023 will be released alongside the NHS Recovery Plan update this autumn.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 13 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with financial institutions across the UK to ensure that they recognise powers of attorney arranged in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government is working closely with the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) (OPG) who have responsibility for registering powers of attorney in Scotland to highlight the concerns about recognition of these with UK financial institutions.
OPG have engaged directly with UK financial organisations when they have been made aware of common or recurring issues that require attention and on a case by case basis when needed.
OPG are planning a series of information based events later in 2023, aimed specifically at staff in UK financial organisations, with the aim of raising awareness of OPG’s role and of the financial provisions of the Adults with Incapacity legislation. The feedback will be raised at a meeting OPG is attending with Scottish banking representatives in August 2023.
OPG is also currently working in collaboration with colleagues from OPG England and similar departments in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, with the intention of delivering or preparing cross border training to highlight key differences in process and terminology across the jurisdictions as well as raising awareness of recognition issues. The aim of these efforts is to lead to a more cohesive and collaborative approach with the banks.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) domestic and (b) third country vessels have been boarded in Scottish waters by Marine Scotland in each year since 2009.
Answer
The following table illustrates the number of boarding's in Scottish waters by Marine Scotland Vessels each year since 2009.
Year | Domestic (a) | Third Country 1 ( b) | Total |
2009 | 446 | 122 | 568 |
2010 | 379 | 100 | 479 |
2011 | 264 | 54 | 318 |
2012 | 237 | 92 | 329 |
2013 | 187 | 99 | 288 |
2014 | 264 | 71 | 335 |
2015 | 216 | 95 | 311 |
2016 | 217 | 112 | 329 |
2017 | 302 | 122 | 424 |
2018 | 335 | 88 | 423 |
2019 | 377 | 156 | 533 |
2020 | 104 | 39 | 143 |
2021 | 302 | 116 | 418 |
2022 | 352 | 76 | 428 |
2023 2 | 198 | 33 | 231 |
1 For the response, Third Country Vessels are all non UK vessels.
2 As at 6 June 2023
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 13 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what support and remedies are available in Scotland for people who cannot get their powers of attorneys, that have been arranged in Scotland, recognised in other parts of the UK, and what additional steps the Scottish Government is taking to address this.
Answer
In Scotland the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) Scotland is responsible for registering all power of attorney documents. If an individual has experienced any issues involving the recognition of a Scottish power of attorney in other parts of the UK they can contact the OPG for assistance.
There is already legislation in place that provides recognition of Scottish powers of attorney in England and Wales. This is about ensuring that the institutions and organisations have awareness and are educated on the legal status of Scottish powers of attorney.
The Scottish Government will be working with third party organisations to raise awareness and publicity about the validity of Scottish powers of attorney in England and Wales.
