Chamber and committees

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: S4W-19429

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 26 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £244 million to mitigate the impact of welfare reform is welfare funding devolved to Scotland.

<>As announced in the Budget (Scotland) (No 3) Bill Stage 3 debate in the Parliament on 5 February 2014, the Scottish Government has provided additional provision to mitigate the impact of the ‘bedroom tax’. This means that our planned spending on welfare reform mitigation will increase from £244 million to at least £258 million over the period 2013-14 to 2015-16. Further details are set out in the answer to S4W-19428 on 26 February 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.All of the £258 million funding is devolved and reflects Scottish Ministers’ decisions about allocating resources from within the total Scottish Budget to welfare, following the transfer of a number of relevant functions from the UK Government to the Scottish Government and responding to the adverse effects of the UK Government’s welfare reform on vulnerable people across Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-19774

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance GPs have been given regarding withdrawal symptoms from antidepressant medication.

General practitioners and other clinicians prescribe according to the British National Formulary and report reactions to prescribed medication (including withdrawal symptoms) through the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Clinicians can access information about reactions to prescribed medication on the MHRA website:

http://www.mhra.gov.uk/#page=DynamicListMedicines.

Training modules for clinicians can also be accessed through this website.

Question reference: S4W-19771

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many people are (a) prescribed, (b) experiencing withdrawal symptoms from and (c) being treated for withdrawal from antidepressant medication.

Information about the prescription of antidepressant medication can be found in the Medicines for Mental Health publication from September 2013: http://www.isdscotland.org/Publications/index.asp. In Scotland a total of 747,158 patients received treatment with an antidepressant in 2012-13.

Data on the total number of patients dispensed an antidepressant should be interpreted with great caution, it does not equate to people being treated for depression. This is because many drugs classified as antidepressants can also be used for conditions other than depression; including neuropathic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety disorders.

Information on numbers experiencing withdrawal symptoms and being treated for withdrawal symptoms from antidepressant medication is not held centrally.

Question reference: S4W-19775

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether any antidepressant medication may no longer be prescribed or advice has been given to GPs on limiting its usage.

The licensing, safety and efficacy of medicines is currently a reserved matter and is taken forward by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on a UK-wide basis. Decisions on whether or not to prescribe a specific medicine are for the clinician in discussion with the patient. If a medicine has a marketing authorisation (license), then it can be prescribed.

Safety advice and updates on medicines are issued by the MHRA as required and the Scottish Government ensures that, where necessary, such advice is disseminated to health professionals in Scotland. Advice on side effects, benefits and risks of treatment and how to prescribe medicines are included in patient information leaflets, which are available in each pack of medicine, and summaries of product characteristics which are published on the MHRA website and updated as new information becomes available.

Question reference: S4W-19777

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether the NHS continues to prescribe Venlafaxine and what is known about side-effects.

Venlafaxine is prescribed by the NHS. Prescribing information for Venlafaxine in Scotland is published on ISD’s website in Medicines for Mental Health 2012-13 Publication found on the page for prescribing issues http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Prescribing-and-Medicines/Community-Dispensing/Prescribing-Issues/.

The information is in the data tables for antidepressants, and can be found on tab 6 – Approved Drug (Items).

Information about known-side effects of prescribed medication can be found on the website of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency www.mrha.gov.uk, and are also listed on the British National Formulary website.

Question reference: S4W-19776

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what services are in place to assist people who are experiencing withdrawal from antidepressant medication.

Question reference: S4W-19518

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when it will allocate European funding for 2014 to 2020.

The Scottish Government has been working with partners for more than two years to develop strategic projects, schemes or programmes which could be supported from EU structural funds in 2014-20. The formal allocation of funding to these strategic interventions can begin when the programmes launch in summer 2014.

Funding for different interventions will start at different times, depending on the availability of match funding, the complexity of the proposal and the demand for a particular type of activity.

The programmes will have a mid-term review to determine whether the strategic interventions remain the best way to allocate the funding, and changes or further allocations may be made at this stage to ensure maximum uptake and impact of the funds.

Question reference: S4W-19517

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what the cause is of any delay in allocating European funding for 2014 to 2020.

There is no delay in allocating EU funding for 2014-20.

The regulations governing how these funds can be allocated and spent were laid in December 2013, and the Scottish Government expects to start structural funds programmes in early summer of 2014, with the rural development programme following in early 2015. This is in line with the other EU and UK nations, and the expectations of the commission.

Question reference: S4W-19519

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will establish a transition fund for European-funded projects to avoid redundancies or project closures due to any delay in allocating funds for 2014 to 2020.

The Scottish Government expects the 2014-20 structural funds programmes to launch in early summer 2014. The Scottish Government has extended a number of projects into 2014, in particular employability projects where the third sector has a significant delivery role, to minimise any potential funding gaps. The Scottish Government will continue to monitor the situation and timescales closely to ensure that projects which will be expected to continue into the next programmes can continue to operate until the new programmes launch.

Question reference: S4W-19427

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide transitional funding to bridge any gap in European funding from 2014 to 2020 for voluntary sector projects.

The Scottish Government expects the 2014-20 structural funds programmes to launch in summer 2014.

The Scottish Government has extended a number of projects into 2014, in particular employability projects where the third sector has a significant delivery role, in order to minimise any funding gap.

If any underspends emerge, the Scottish Government will consider additional extensions where these are required.