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: S4W-02677

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation was carried out by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde prior to deciding to withdraw its major event medicine service from 31 October 2011.

Question reference: S4W-02679

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde took of possible increased attendance at accident and emergency units that could arise prior to deciding to withdraw its major event medicine service from 31 October 2011.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde considered this issue in the context of the arrangements that exist in other parts of the country and has drawn up a clear specification and standards for event organisers to use in commissioning medical services providers. The services provided will be monitored by the NHS board and the local authority licensing departments through local multi-agency arrangements.

Question reference: S4W-02497

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many improvement notices have been issued by Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland or the Care Commission in each year since 2007.

The Care Inspectorate now has responsibility, as of 1 April 2011, for inspecting, regulating and supporting improvement of care and social work and child protection services across Scotland. The Care Inspectorate has powers under section 62 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 to serve an improvement notice on a care service, specifying the improvements required to bring a care service up to the standards required and the timescale for meeting these standards.

The Care Commission, as the Care Inspectorate’s predecessor, had similar powers to issue improvement notices under section 10 of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001.

The total number of improvement notices issued by the Care Commission and/or the Care Inspectorate between 1 April 2007 to 31 July 2011 is 365, broken down on an annual basis as shown in the following table:

Improvement Notices Issued

Year
2007-08	95
2008-09	60
2009-10	90
2010-11	101
2011-12 up to 31 July 11	19
Total	365

Question reference: S4W-02499

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the (a) Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland and (b) Scottish Social Services Council inspect and report on (i) the level of qualifications and training of social care staff and (ii) social care employers' staff development and training strategy.

As part of their inspection process The Care Inspectorate review both the qualifications and the continuing professional development training plans of care home provider staff. Inspectors take account of this information and use it as a factor to determine if there should be further scrutiny when planning an inspection.

Where The Care Inspectorate has concerns regarding qualifications or levels of training in a service they would include this as part of their inspection process and include this in their inspection reports. SSSC has a duty to publish workforce intelligence. The Care Inspectorate also shares anonymised workforce data with SSSC to enable them to report publicly on the workforce and their qualifications.

The SSSC does not have an inspection function. In the course of undertaking their workforce development, registration and regulation functions they do collect and make available to others, including The Care Inspectorate, information related to the qualifications and training of social care staff. SSSC does not have enforcement powers over employers and does not routinely collect information on the staff development and training strategies produced by employers.

Question reference: S4W-02680

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual cost is of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's major event medicine service.

Question reference: S4O-00253

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 October 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive when it last wrote to NHS boards about their budget allocations for 2012-13.

Question reference: S4W-02547

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the establishment numbers were for (a) the Care Commission, (b) Social Work Inspection Agency and (c) HM Inspectorate of Education on 1 April 2010.

Question reference: S4W-02395

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what role it has in monitoring the practices of local authorities on the procurement of social care.

The Scottish Government has established a Development Group with responsibility for supporting implementation of its 2010 guidance on the Procurement of Care and Support Services. The Development Group, which is chaired by the Scottish Government, has agreed a work programme which includes activity to identify and disseminate good practice. It involves all key stakeholder interests, including service user and carer representative organisations, service providers, local authorities, COSLA, Scotland Excel and the Care Inspectorate.

As part of its wider powers to scrutinise social work services, the Care Inspectorate is able to consider local authorities' commissioning practices and make recommendations in its reports.

Question reference: S4W-02688

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 26 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the qualification level required by the Scottish Social Services Council for support workers in adult care homes is set at SVQ Level 2.

I refer the member to my response to question S4W-02683 on 26 September 2011 which concerns the process by which decisions on required qualification levels are reached.

Responses to the consultation about type of work and responsibilities of workers in care homes for adults indicated that there were four levels of workers which should be registered and that different levels of qualification requirement should be set for them to reflect the different roles and responsibilities they hold.

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/Apps2/MAQASearch/QAndMSearch.aspx.

Question reference: S4W-02683

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 26 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the qualification level required for residential childcare workers to register with the Scottish Social Services Council differs from those for support workers in adult care homes.

Differences in the qualification levels required for registration reflect the differences in the type of work and responsibilities held by workers. Before setting the qualification levels for each part of the register the SSSC consulted with a full range of stakeholders, including relevant workers, their employers and service user and carer groups, on the type and level of qualifications that should be set for each group of workers. Feedback from these consultations informed the setting of the qualification criteria for registration.

All the qualifications specified for registration are derived from the National Occupational Standards for the sector. These standards represent the skills, knowledge and competence that employers define as necessary for the workforce and they are reviewed and revised regularly to ensure continued relevance.