- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 28 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether ScotRail requires line managers to support workers with mental health conditions.
Answer
ScotRail is committed to supporting its staff and this is evidenced by its well-established Mental Health Support Policy, which covers all employees. ScotRail’s Line Managers have an important responsibility for the policy and have an extensive Mental Health Toolkit they can refer to for guidance.
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 20 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19318 by Siobhian Brown on 5 July 2023, whether it will provide an update on what the total spend by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) was on the contract with Systel for a new national command and control mobilising system, broken down by (a) in-house costs to the SFRS, (b) all costs to Systel or associated companies for (i) design, (ii) installation and (iii) trialling, (c) legal and other costs associated with the cancellation of the contract and (d) legal costs incurred to date since the cancellation of the contract.
Answer
The costs and implementation of the SFRS Command and Control Mobilising System are operational matters for the Service, who would be the appropriate source for this information. SFRS has provided assurances that it has had appropriate governance arrangements in place throughout the project. Throughout implementation, SFRS has worked within budgets with key targets built in and milestone payments only paid if satisfactorily reached. All public sector bodies in Scotland are expected to adhere to the public sector finance manual to ensure that value for money is applied to each spending decision. Public safety is paramount and SFRS has existing software and back-up systems in place at all times to ensure an effective service.
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 19 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the contract awarded to Systel for a new national command and control mobilising system for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, what the (a) total value was of the contract awarded, (b) date was on which the contract was awarded, (c) start date was for the development of the system and (d) the anticipated go-live date was for the system.
Answer
The costs and associated contractual matters related to the SFRS Command and Control Mobilising System are operational matters for the Service, who would be the appropriate source for this information. SFRS has provided assurances that it has had appropriate governance arrangements in place throughout the project. Throughout implementation, SFRS has worked within budgets with key targets built in and milestone payments only paid if satisfactorily reached. All public sector bodies in Scotland are expected to adhere to the public sector finance manual to ensure that value for money is applied to each spending decision. Public safety is paramount and SFRS has existing software and back-up systems in place at all times to ensure an effective service.
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 19 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the contract for a new national command and control mobilising system for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to be awarded, and what the expected go-live date is for the new system.
Answer
The procurement, associated contractual matters, and expected go-live date for the SFRS New Mobilising System are operational matters for the Service, who would be the appropriate source for this information. SFRS has provided assurances that it has had appropriate governance arrangements in place throughout the project. Throughout implementation, SFRS has worked within budgets with key targets built in and milestone payments only paid if satisfactorily reached. All public sector bodies in Scotland are expected to adhere to the public sector finance manual to ensure that value for money is applied to each spending decision. Public safety is paramount and SFRS has existing software and back-up systems in place at all times to ensure an effective service.
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 19 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the total (a) number and (b) value of contracts awarded by local authorities to consulting companies in each of the last five fiscal years.
Answer
Local Authorities may occasionally commission external consulting support where this provides value for money and there is a requirement for a specific skill or service that cannot be delivered within existing capacity.
As Local Authorities make their own independent arrangements with external contractors, the information requested is not routinely gathered or held centrally by the Scottish Government. Information of this nature can be attained by approaching individual Local Authorities accordingly.
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 19 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government for what amount the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is pursuing Systel, following the cancellation of the contract for a new national command and control mobilising system.
Answer
The progression of any legal claim following cancelation of any contract is an operational matter for the Service, who would be the appropriate source for this information. SFRS has provided assurances that it has had appropriate governance arrangements in place throughout the project. Throughout implementation, SFRS has worked within budgets with key targets built in and milestone payments only paid if satisfactorily reached. All public sector bodies in Scotland are expected to adhere to the public sector finance manual to ensure that value for money is applied to each spending decision. Public safety is paramount and SFRS has existing software and back-up systems in place at all times to ensure an effective service.
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 19 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what the total (a) number and (b) value is of contracts awarded by public sector organisations to consulting companies in each of the last five fiscal years.
Answer
Public sector organisations may occasionally commission external consulting support where this provides value for money and there is a requirement for a specific skill or service that cannot be delivered within existing capacity.
As public bodies make their own independent arrangements with external contractors, the information requested is not routinely gathered or held centrally by the Scottish Government. Information of this nature can be attained by approaching individual public sector organisations accordingly.
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 15 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the total (a) number and (b) value of contracts awarded by NHS boards to consulting companies in each of the last five fiscal years.
Answer
NHS Boards make arrangements for external consultancy support; where this provides value for money and where there is a requirement for specific skills or services that cannot be delivered within existing capacity.
The information requested is not collected or held centrally by the Scottish Government, as Health Boards undertake their own independent arrangements with external contractors. This information would therefore need to be obtained from Health Boards.
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 25 August 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 14 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many consultations with nurse practitioners that are based in GP surgeries took place (a) face-to-face, in the GP surgery, (b) by telephone, (c) during a home visit, (d) in a clinic, (e) by eConsult and (f) by video consultation between (i) March 2018 and February 2019, (ii) March 2019 and February 2020, (iii) March 2021 and February 2022 and (iv) March 2022 and February 2023, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer
The available information is published on a monthly basis, as experimental statistics, by Public Health Scotland: Primary Care in-hours General Practice activity visualisation - as at 30 June 2023
This exploratory work aims to illustrate the type of activity information captured within General Practice clinical systems. Not all activity is currently recorded on the clinical systems and therefore the activity reported here does not represent all the work happening within a general practice setting. Work is ongoing to enhance this data. This collaborative effort between ourselves, the profession, National Services Scotland and Public Health Scotland, is a significant step on our journey to improving access to General Practice data.
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 25 August 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 14 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many consultations with GPs took place (a) face-to-face, in the GP surgery, (b) by telephone, (c) during a home visit, (d) in a clinic, (e) by eConsult and (f) by video consultation between (i) March 2018 and February 2019, (ii) March 2019 and February 2020, (iii) March 2021 and February 2022 and (iv) March 2022 and February 2023, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer
The available information is published on a monthly basis, as experimental statistics, by Public Health Scotland: Primary Care in-hours General Practice activity visualisation - as at 30 June 2023
This exploratory work aims to illustrate the type of activity information captured within General Practice clinical systems. Not all activity is currently recorded on the clinical systems and therefore the activity reported here does not represent all the work happening within a general practice setting. Work is ongoing to enhance this data. This collaborative effort between ourselves, the profession, National Services Scotland and Public Health Scotland, is a significant step on our journey to improving access to General Practice data.