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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: S5W-01014

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much the annual cost is of an electronic tag per offender and whether it anticipates an increase in this cost.

The detail of the electronic monitoring contract, including the breakdown of the pricing schedule, is 'Commercial in Confidence'. The Scottish Government publishes a unit cost for electronic monitoring which can be found at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/Publications/costcrimjustscot/costcrimjustdataset.

The resource implications of extending the current electronic monitoring service and introducing new technology, such as GPS, are currently being considered.

Question reference: S5W-00310

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 4 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of dysautonomia being placed on the prescribed list to allow National Services Scotland to commission specialist services for the condition.

Question reference: S5W-00311

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 21 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what support is provided by the NHS for people with dysautonomia.

Dysautonomia is an imprecise diagnosis that describes a long term condition that has a number of underlying conditions. It includes postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (postural tachycardia syndrome; Ehlers Dahnlos syndrome; variants of chronic pain; as well as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and other syndromes which are characterised by severe unpredictable fatigue; postural hypotension (fainting); and a general disruption to activities of daily living. There is no specific treatment but a clear diagnosis allows patients and their families to take back control and begin to self-manage their condition. Depending on the patients symptoms, there are a wide range of NHS services available to provide the necessary support. Any specialist input would be to offer a detailed assessment and diagnosis and advice on a self-care treatment plan which would be administered as locally as possible.

Question reference: S5W-00309

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 21 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been diagnosed with dysautonomia in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

As the majority of cases of dysautonomia are diagnosed in an outpatient or GP setting, the number of people diagnosed with this condition is not held centrally. However, the following table shows the number of continuous inpatient stays with a diagnosis of dysautonomia from 2010-11 to 2014-15 by NHS health board of treatment.

Health Board of Treatment	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Golden Jubilee National Hospital	-	*	-	*	*
NHS Ayrshire & Arran	39	24	26	29	30
NHS Borders	*	10	17	*	9
NHS Dumfries & Galloway	22	16	17	8	11
NHS Fife	74	34	37	27	19
NHS Forth Valley	22	11	21	21	7
NHS Grampian	58	48	46	43	42
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde	113	94	96	137	133
NHS Highland	16	30	42	25	12
NHS Lanarkshire	15	35	38	62	81
NHS Lothian	80	104	74	82	90
NHS Orkney Islands	-	-	-	*	*
NHS Shetland Islands	-	-	-	-	*
NHS Tayside	23	18	22	40	49
NHS Western Isles	-	*	*	*	-
Non-NHS Provider	-	*	*	*	*

Key:

‘*’ Indicates values that have been suppressed due to the potential risk of disclosure and to help maintain patient confidentiality.

‘-‘ Indicates that there have been no stays recorded.

Source: Information Services Division Scotland, SMR01

Extracted: 6^th June 2016

Question reference: S5W-00312

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 21 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to establish autonomic testing clinics.

Question reference: S5W-00198

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to monitor the impact of the 2016-17 National Care Home Contract settlement for any negative consequences.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the quality of care in Scotland and we work closely with COSLA, Scottish Care, Coalition of Care and support Providers in Scotland and other key stakeholders in order to do this.

As part of this partnership approach the Scottish Government is a part of the National Contingency Planning Group, which is chaired by COSLA, and works with stakeholders in identifying potential risks which could lead to the disruption of adult social care provision in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-00197

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what obligations under the 2016-17 National Care Home Contract charitable organisations have to pay the living wage to care staff, and what action it could take if they fail to do so.

The 2016-17 National Care Home Contract agreed between COSLA and providers has been amended to require any providers delivering publicly funded care under the contract to pay all care workers a minimum of £8.25 per hour from 1 October 2016.

As part of the 2016-17 budget we have taken action to protect and grow our social care services and deliver our shared priorities by investing a further £250 million in health and social care partnerships. Part of this investment is to enable local authorities to pay a living wage to care workers providing care and support to adults in care homes, care at home and housing support settings - including in the independent and third sector.

Partnership working between the Scottish Government, local government and our stakeholders, including the third and independent sectors, is key to ensuring we achieve the intended outcomes of this additional investment and it is expected that local authorities will work closely with care providers to assess the investment required to ensure payment of the living wage.

Question reference: S5F-00018

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 May 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 June 2016

To ask the First Minister what discussions the Scottish Government has had with the former Cabinet Secretary for Justice prior to and since the publication of his recent book.