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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5W-04143

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many native Gaelic speakers there are in (a) Ayrshire and Arran, (b) the Scottish Borders, (c) Dumfries and Galloway and (d) the rest of Scotland.

Question reference: S5O-00316

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that Scottish Water maintains the highest standards of water quality.

Question reference: S5W-03351

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 6 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the target timescale is for power of attorney to be issued after submission of the completed application to the Office of the Public Guardian.

Question reference: S5O-00187

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the provision of physical education and extra-curricular activity in schools is encouraging children to lead active and healthy lifestyles.

Question reference: S5W-02399

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-00878 by Shona Robison on 19 July 2016, how many midwifery vacancies are currently advertised by each NHS board at the band that is open to new graduates, band 5.

The number of vacant Midwifery posts per NHS Board is published by ISD Scotland at quarterly intervals. The most recent available Midwifery vacancy data is published as at 30 June 2016.

A vacancy is defined as a post which has been cleared for advertisement after going through the redeployment process (internal or external advertisement) and remains a vacancy until an individual starts in post.

ISD Scotland do not hold information on the number of Midwifery posts currently being advertised by NHS Boards.

Further information on the latest published Midwifery Vacancy figures can be found in the data tables of the Workforce Statistics website at:

https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2016-09-06/Nursing_and_Midwifery_Vacancies_J2016.xls.

Question reference: S5W-02475

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to ensure the repair of 21 street lights on a two-mile stretch of the A77 at Symington.

Question reference: S5W-02398

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-00878 by Shona Robison on 19 July 2016, in light of the number of vacancies, what its response is to midwifery graduates from Scotland taking up offers of full-time places in England.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring a sustainable supply of midwives and providing attractive employment opportunities for newly qualified midwives in Scotland. In addition to the One Year Job Guarantee Scheme for newly registered midwives and better pay for Agenda for Change staff in Scotland compared to anywhere else in the UK, Scottish Government reintroduced a national Return to Practice scheme from April 2015 to attract former nurses and midwives back into the profession, enabling them to retrain and re-enter employment. There were 111.6 WTE Band 5 midwives employed in NHS Scotland at 30 June 2016, compared to 71.9 WTE employed at 30 June 2014 (Source: ISD Scotland National Statistics release, 6 September 2016: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/data-tables.asp)

Question reference: S5W-00878

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are expected to graduate in midwifery courses in 2016; how many midwifery vacancies there are in each NHS board, and what action it will take to ensure that all graduates trained in Scotland are given the opportunity of full-time work in Scotland.

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) collates data on midwifery graduates each year in its Nursing and Midwifery Annual Statistical Supplement report, which is available on request from NES. The report outlines that there were 87 midwifery graduates in 2014 and 96 in 2015.

The number of midwifery vacancies as at 31 March 2016 is shown in the following table.

NHS board	March 2016
Scotland	88.4
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	-
NHS Borders	0.8
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	5.2
NHS Fife	2.8
NHS Forth Valley	3.4
NHS Grampian	25.6
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	17.1
NHS Highland	16.4
NHS Lanarkshire	1.0
NHS Lothian	10.0
NHS Orkney	1.8
NHS Shetland	-
NHS Tayside	4.3
NHS Western Isles	-

Information Services Division

Uniquely in the UK, the Scottish Government has been actively engaging with Higher Education Institutions, NHS employers, trade unions and professional organisations to maximise job opportunities for newly registered midwives under the one year job guarantee scheme. The Scottish Government is committed to providing an offer of employment to all registered midwives if they have been unable to find a post. NES administers the scheme in partnership with NHS boards through a nationally co-ordinated 'internship' programme, more information on which can be found on the NES website at http://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/recruitment/nursing-and-midwifery-one-year-job-guarantee-(oyjg)-scheme.aspx.

Question reference: S5W-00422

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 16 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it makes available to community-based sports clubs that are run by volunteers, and whether it plans to increase this.

The Scottish Government is committed to continue to support sport at grassroots level, and provides funding and support for community based sports clubs through our national agency for sport, sportscotland.

sportscotland has a portfolio of programmes within their 2015-19 corporate plan which aim to increase the number and quality of opportunities to participate, develop and progress in sport. This portfolio provides leadership for club development and, where possible, support clubs to continue being or become a self-sustaining part of the sporting system. For 2016-17, sportscotland has allocated £10.8 million to the clubs and communities portfolio.

sportscotland also remains committed to supporting sports clubs by creating community sports hubs which focus on sustainable, community-led approaches that get clubs working together to develop welcoming, safe and fun environments for sport. There are currently 155 community sports hubs operational across Scotland, with a new target of 200 by 2020, supported by further sportscotland investment of £6 million. Other funding strands which are open to sporting clubs via sportscotland are Awards for All, Direct Club Investment and Sports Facilities Fund. Future Scottish Government funding will be determined by future spending reviews.