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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-18409

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2018
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 24 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many places were available in the New Entrants Capital Grants scheme in each year since its introduction, also broken down by local authority.

NECG Scheme did not operate on the basis of a limited/specified number of places being available to prospective applicants in each calendar year. The scheme was instead open all year round and applications could be made at any time. This was specifically intended to reflect and accommodate the demand led nature of the scheme ensuring applicants could submit their proposal when they needed to as opposed to being restricted to defined ‘application windows’.

Question reference: S5W-18411

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2018
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 24 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many successful applicants there were under the New Entrants Capital Grants scheme in each year since its introduction, also broken down by local authority area.

Please see the following table with the requested information. Note these details are

held by Area Office, not by Local Authority, and
held by financial year, not by calendar year.

	Year
Area Office	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018 to July ‘18
Ayr	3	40	0	8
Benbecula	0	1	34	0
Dumfries	11	30	4	11
Elgin	0	5	17	4
Galashiels	0	28	2	16
Golspie	2	0	14	2
Hamilton	5	22	25	4
Inverness	1	20	14	11
Inverurie	3	21	19	7
Kirkwall	2	26	35	23
Lerwick	0	1	1	1
Oban	0	9	11	2
Perth	0	27	9	6
Portree	0	1	0	6
Stornoway	0	0	0	0
Thurso	4	17	21	11

Question reference: S5W-18413

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2018
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 24 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the average cost was for a successful application to the New Entrants Capital Grants scheme in each year since its introduction, also broken down by local authority.

Please see the following table with the requested information. Note these details are

held by Area Office, not by Local Authority, and
held by financial year, not by calendar year.

	Year
Area Office	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018 to July ‘18
Ayr	21,254.93	21,601.83	0	19,369.96
Benbecula	0	25,000.00	12,700.60	0
Dumfries	23,367.30	17,944.57	6,888.25	17,501.19
Elgin	0	17,973.80	16,715.03	4,246.20
Galashiels	0	15,281.79	27,692.40	12,534.34
Golspie	17,015.94	0	13,662.82	4,107.24
Hamilton	23,106.59	17,624.55	19,801.07	19,003.60
Inverness	3,076.80	12,043.95	14,966.51	11,819.96
Inverurie	25,000.00	20,258.10	18,004.38	21,799.75
Kirkwall	12,241.84	18,862.85	14,380.70	14,616.65
Lerwick	0	1,697.00	25,000.00	25,000.00
Oban	0	11,316.44	3,854.36	24,801.00
Perth	0	16,130.33	14,044.06	18,603.14
Portree	0	6,708.00	0	6,944.86
Stornoway	0	0	0	0
Thurso	20,817.31	16,056.94	9,518.09	6,814.26

Question reference: S5W-18407

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 19 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what forecasts have been made for expenditure on reducing ferry fares on each of the Northern Isles ferry routes, excluding those administered by local authorities.

Question reference: S5W-18408

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what actual expenditure has been made on reducing ferry fares on each Northern Isles route since their roll-out in July 2018, excluding those administered by local authorities.

Question reference: S5O-02373

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 September 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the reported increase in incidents of antisocial behaviour.

Question reference: S5W-17994

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 11 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of waiting times in NHS Grampian.

Waiting times in NHS Grampian are very much below the level I require, with patients experiencing exceptionally long waits to be seen and treated in a number of specialties. The Board have experienced a number of issues, particulaly around staffing of theatre nursing posts. The Board are taking a number of actions to improve this situation including discussing with other Boards their methodology regarding training programmes and utilising these to reduce the Board's current timeline of 2 years to around 6 months which would ensure optimum utilisation of available capacity.

2. NHS Grampian will receive £4,963,000 from their NRAC share of the £50m provided to Boards in 2018-19. 50% of this funding has been released in June to Boards with the remaining 50% going out in October. This funding will support the delivery of additional Outpatients, Diagnostics and Treatment activity. For example this includes additional activity in

pain management and neurosurgery service
cardiology OP clinics undertaken by the Independent Sector
weekend workforce through the Aberdeen Clinic at Dr Grays Hospital
Uurology weekend operating
see and Treat in Oral Maxi-facia services
Fernbrae Hospital - Hire of Theatre and associated costs
use of Independent Medical Theatre Staff to support theatre capacity at ARI, Woodend and Dr Grays Hospital
additional Medical Consultants in General Surgery, Rheumatology, Gynaecology and Anaesthetics

I will be raising the issue of performance with the Chairs of all Boards at their next meeting.

Question reference: S5W-17998

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 30 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what communications it has had with NHS Grampian regarding the downgrading of maternity services at Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin.

There has been on-going engagement, including meetings with NHS Grampian regarding the delivery of maternity services at Dr Gray’s. We have been clear with NHS Grampian that all possible options must be explored to continue to provide a safe, sustainable service for mothers and babies in Dr Gray’s.

I visited the hospital on 3 August, meeting with staff from Dr Gray’s Hospital, NHS Grampian, Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) and the Keep MUM group to discuss the changes to maternity and paediatric services. Following those meetings I have written to the acting Chief Executive of NHS Grampian formally requesting submission of a detailed plan of how NHS Grampian intends to restore a full obstetric service to Dr Gray’s Hospital, with paediatric services in support. I have asked for this plan by 17 August. The plan should include a detailed timeline and milestones and be co-produced with relevant staff at Dr Gray’s, the Scottish Ambulance Service and members of the public, including KeepMUM. I have published my letter to NHS Grampian in SPICe [Ref. is BIB 59956]. The plan has now been received but requires further improvement. My officials are working with NHS Grampian on this and a revised plan is expected shortly.

Question reference: S5W-17993

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 27 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that (a) current and (b) future vacancies for chief executives in NHS boards are filled in a reasonable timeframe.

The Scottish Government supports NHS Scotland health boards in their efforts to ensure that they have the right staff in place to meet the healthcare needs of the local population. Nevertheless, it remains the responsibility of individual health board to carry out recruitment to their executive cohort in their role as employer. In doing so, boards will determine timeframes for appointment; we expect all boards to recruit timeously.

NHS Scotland health boards are presently planning recruitment to chief executive posts in NHS Highland, NHS Tayside and NHS Orkney. The Scottish Government is aware that indicative interview dates for the NHS Highland and NHS Tayside posts have been set for 17 and 18 October, and interviews are also planned for 24 October for the NHS Orkney post. The Golden Jubilee Foundation, has already commenced advertising for a new chief executive, following the decision of the incumbent to retire later this year. Finally, NHS Grampian are expected to begin recruitment for a new chief executive in the new year, with Prof. Amanda Croft currently filling the role on an interim basis.

Question reference: S5W-17995

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 21 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the additional cost has been for the Scottish Ambulance Service to cover any recent increases in inter-hospital transfers from Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin.