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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-16158

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 10 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that, based on the NHS Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) formula, NHS Lothian is predicting a £31 million shortfall in funding; what contingency measures the board is considering to meet this, and whether ministers plan to review the NRAC formula.

NHS Lothian have clarified in a press release that they are not predicting a £31 million shortfall in funding. As with all NHS Boards, we are continuing to work with NHS Lothian to ensure public money is being used effectively to deliver better services, better care and better value. We expect NHS Lothian to continue to reform their elective services to improve waiting times and outcomes for patients.

The National Access Collaborative is supporting NHS Boards in that respect and, in 2018-19, NHS Lothian will also receive a share of £175 million to support reform, along with a resource budget uplift of 2.1% (£28.9 million) – the highest percentage uplift of any Territorial Board. This uplift includes a £8.6 million share of additional NRAC parity funding and takes the Board’s annual resource budget to £1,384 million and within 0.8% of NRAC parity.

The NRAC formula remains the most objective way to ensure funding equity and is reviewed and updated on an annual basis.

Question reference: S5O-02093

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that the planning system supports the development of infrastructure in areas with a growing population.

Question reference: S5W-16303

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of pupils with additional support needs (ASN) there were in each Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation decile in each of the last five years.

a) Number of pupils with additional support needs (ASN) by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), 2013-2017

SIMD Decile	Year
SIMD Decile	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
1 = Most Deprived	21,896	22,609	23,462	26,132	27,197
2	16,019	16,870	18,314	22,802	24,232
3	13,394	14,550	16,107	19,075	20,923
4	13,992	14,932	16,316	17,816	19,107
5	12,758	13,615	14,778	16,143	17,554
6	11,934	12,981	14,562	15,294	16,348
7	12,090	13,247	15,000	15,035	16,399
8	11,371	12,228	13,590	14,087	15,484
9	9,648	10,580	11,547	13,286	14,504
10 = Least Deprived	7,364	7,808	8,497	10,372	11,352
Unknown	895	887	808	259	256

Unknown represents pupils where postcode data was not available for assigning to a datazone

b) Percentage of pupils with additional support needs (ASN) by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), 2013-2017

SIMD Decile	Year
SIMD Decile	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
1 = Most Deprived	16.67	16.11	15.34	15.34	14.83
2	12.19	12.02	11.97	13.39	13.22
3	10.20	10.37	10.53	11.20	11.41
4	10.65	10.64	10.67	10.46	10.42
5	9.71	9.70	9.66	9.48	9.57
6	9.08	9.25	9.52	8.98	8.92
7	9.20	9.44	9.81	8.83	8.94
8	8.66	8.72	8.88	8.27	8.44
9	7.34	7.54	7.55	7.80	7.91
10 = Least Deprived	5.61	5.56	5.55	6.09	6.19
Unknown	0.68	0.63	0.53	0.15	0.14

Unknown represents pupils where postcode data was not available for assigning to a datazone

Question reference: S5W-15931

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 8 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14095 by Aileen Campbell on 8 February 2018, how much was spent in 2017-18 in smoking cessation campaigning, and how much it plans to spend in 2018-19.

The Scottish Government spends approximately £500,000 per year to reduce smoking prevalence. These funds are not static and each year we focus on different aspects to help build a collective reduction in tobacco use. Marketing activity linked to smoking cessation in 2017-18 was £552,975 which covers campaign insight, creative testing, production and implementation. A large part of the funding spent in 2017-18 relates to the media campaign now taking place.

Some £50,000 from the 2018-19 budget will pay for the continuation of the current campaign. In addition £300,000 is being invested to alert the public to a planned extension of the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces to a specific distance outside hospital buildings.

Question reference: S5W-16111

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 8 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14772 by Maree Todd on 6 March 2018, in light of (a) the reported staff shortages in adult social care and (b) its campaign to recruit more people to work in the childcare sector, whether it plans to work with (i) the Scottish Founding Council, (ii) the SQA and (iii) others to collect the information regarding the number of training places that are made available.

Information on the provision of training places for the social services workforce is published in the Workforce Skills Report, published biennially by the Scottish Social Services Council. The data is collected from a number of sources including the Scottish Qualifications Agency, Scottish Funding Council and Higher Education Institutes. The latest report was published in October 2017 and can be accessed at http://www.sssc.uk.com/about-the-sssc/multimedia-library/publications?task=document.viewdoc&id=4743

Question reference: S5W-16383

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 8 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the return rate has been for bowel cancer screening tests in each year since the programme was established, also broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S5W-15690

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 4 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that delays in renewed treatment for chronic pain due to staff shortages have led to suicide attempts by some return patients, including the testimony given to the Cross Party Group on Chronic Pain by a patient from the NHS Lanarkshire area in March 2018.

The Scottish Government places a high priority on mental health and the prevention of suicide. That is why we have a range of support on offer. In the first instance if anyone is being treated for chronic pain, and there is a change in their circumstances, they should contact the health professional or clinician handling their care to make them aware and to discuss this as soon as possible. GPs are also well placed to advise and guide people regarding appropriate treatment or management of symptoms. If people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair wish to talk to someone out of hours, they can call NHS24 on shortcode 111 or Samaritans, who provide confidential non-judgemental emotional support, on 116 123. Both these services are available 24 hours per day. Breathing Space, a telephone and web service, also offers free and confidential advice for people experiencing low mood, depression or anxiety, whatever the cause. This service can be contacted on 0800 83 85 87, 6pm to 2am Monday to Thursday, and 6pm Friday through the weekend to 6am Monday.

In terms of waiting times, an additional £50 million has been made available to NHS Boards to improve waiting times for all stages of a person’s journey through the NHS – the outpatient consultation, any tests required and treatment. £6.2 million has been provided to NHS Lanarkshire as part of this initiative. Each Board makes the decision on where this funding is invested within their area, based on local service needs and priorities for investment.

Further to NHS Scotland's Information Services Division's consultation last year into the publication of chronic pain waiting times, it is carrying out further work over the next six months to explore the collection of waiting times data for return patients and will report on its findings later in 2018.

With regard to the reported shortage of chronic pain staff in Scotland, I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-15247 on 22 March 2018. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Question reference: S5W-15972

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when (a) ministers and (b) its officials first became aware of NHS Tayside's use of endowment funds for board spending, including IT spend, and whether it will provide information on the designations of those officials.

On 3 April, I became aware that, in financial year 2013-14, Trustees of NHS Tayside’s Endowment Fund had suspended their rules to allow for the retrospective approval of funding for projects. The Chief Executive of NHS Scotland and the Director of Health Finance were made aware on the same day. Immediate action was taken to independently verify the claims. On 5 April, ministerial powers were used to strengthen the Board’s leadership and the Chief Executive of NHS Scotland wrote to all NHS Board chairs to seek their explicit assurance that all charitable funds have been used appropriately.

Question reference: S5W-15973

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on which executives and other officials at NHS Tayside were involved in the decision to use endowment funds for board spending, including IT spend, and which executives and other officials were subsequently informed of this decision and when.

Question reference: S5W-16168

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 2 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 2015 has led to a reduction in the forced treatment of patients detained under mental health law.

The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland has a statutory responsibility to monitor the use of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003. As part of meeting that responsibility, it publishes an annual overview of the use of the 2003 Act. These annual reports include statistics on the use of compulsory treatment for mental disorder in Scotland. The most recently published report is for the period 2016-2017.

The majority of provisions of the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 2015 came into force in June 2017. The 2015 Act made changes to the 2003 Act, including the strengthening of measures which promote support for decision making.

Statistical information for 2017-2018 will be provided in the Commission’s next annual monitoring report due for publication later this year.

Our mental health legislation promotes patients’ rights and provides safeguards. We will continue to work with the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland and stakeholders to promote patients’ rights more generally. Patients’ rights are a key part of our legislation and the Mental Health Strategy.