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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-25012

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 27 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many public access defibrillators are available in each NHS board area.

There are no centrally collected figures on the number of public access defibrillators available in each NHS board area.

The Scottish Government will launch the Scottish Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy on 27 March 2015 which aims to improve all the key elements of the chain of survival, including defibrillation. This will include implementing effective arrangements to ensure that public access defibrillators are mapped to Ambulance Control Centres, maintained and accessible to the public.

Question reference: S4O-04206

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 March 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects minimum unit pricing of alcohol to be implemented.

Question reference: S4O-03993

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve survival rates from brain cancers.

Question reference: S4W-24027

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 23 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of funding for Action on Hearing Loss Scotland’s Hear to Help service being withdrawn from March 2015, what contingencies it has introduced to deal with any (a) increase in demand and (b) impact on waiting times at audiology departments in NHS (i) Greater Glasgow and Clyde, (ii) Ayrshire and Arran, (iii) Tayside and (iv) Borders.

Funding for the Hear to Help service has not been withdrawn. The Scottish Government provided funding for the Borders project over the financial years 2007-10 with further funding made available to seven pilot projects in 2011-12.

The services provided by the Hear to Help initiative are complementary to those provided by NHS boards, and indeed other third sector organisations, and do not substitute or replace the services already provided by local NHS audiology departments. Individual boards determine what action is required to meet demand for services in their area.

Question reference: S4W-24026

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 23 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that people who have been provided with NHS hearing aids with the assistance of Action on Hearing Loss Scotland’s Hear to Help service will have their devices maintained or replaced after funding for the scheme is withdrawn in March 2015.

The services provided by the Hear to Help initiative are complementary to those provided by NHS boards, and indeed other third sector organisations, and do not substitute or replace the services already provided by the NHS. People provided with NHS hearing aids will continue to be able to access maintenance and replacement services provided by their local NHS audiology department and from other third sector organisations where they provide a service.

Question reference: S4W-17054

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 16 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what the hospitality bill was for events held in (a) Bute House and (b) Edinburgh Castle in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13.

The costs for Scottish Government hosted events at: a) Bute House; and b) Edinburgh Castle for: i) 2010-11; ii) 2011-12; and iii) 2012-13 are detailed in the following tables.

Bute House

Financial Year	Total Cost
2010-11	£28,581.82
2011-12	£23,322.50
2012-13	£9,308.42

Edinburgh Castle

Financial Year	Total Cost
2010-11	£200,999.97
2011-12	£71,335.17
2012-13	£142,794.67

The Scottish Government use Bute House and Edinburgh Castle, which incur no facility fee, as a resource to host a range of meetings, dinners and receptions to conduct official business, showcase Scotland and to celebrate and recognise worthy causes.

For example, some events included in these costs are: a reception to recognise the work of Breast Cancer Care, as part of the charity’s 40th Anniversary celebrations during Breast Cancer Awareness Month; a dinner to celebrate the visit of Joyce Banda, the President of Malawi, during the bi-centenary celebrations of David Livingstone; a reception to celebrate the visit of the US Fulbright Scholars to Scotland; and the Brave@Heart Awards, recognising and celebrating extreme acts of bravery by the people of Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-23589

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it will allocate to the New Medicines Fund in each of its first five years, and for how long the fund will operate.

For planning purposes, the 2015-16 draft budget currently includes £40 million to be utilised for the New Medicines Fund for both 2014-15 and 2015-16. We anticipate that there will be an ongoing need for mechanisms such as the New Medicines Fund beyond April 2016. The Scottish Government is closely monitoring the impact of the New Medicines Fund and the associated changes to access to medicines policies and will review the impact of the fund to inform future budgetary decisions.

Question reference: S4W-23588

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS boards can use the New Medicines Fund to meet the costs of products that have been rejected by the Scottish Medicines Consortium but for which funding requests have been or will be made using the (a) individual patient treatment request and (b) peer approved clinical system process.

Question reference: S4W-22757

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what safeguards (a) are and (b) will be put in place to ensure that the SNP representatives on The Smith Commission and their advisers cannot use the services of Scottish Government (i) staff and (ii) resources.

It is Scottish Government policy to engage with The Smith Commission’s consideration of proposals for the devolution of further powers to the Scottish Parliament. Ministers, including the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth in his role as a participant in The Smith Commission discussions, may therefore draw upon the resources of the Scottish Government in the usual way.

Question reference: S4O-03656

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what safeguards are in place to ensure that sex offenders are appropriately rehoused.