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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 8823 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S4W-12474

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 31 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how the implementation of self-directed support by local authorities is being monitored.

The Scottish Government is working with stakeholders, including the Care Inspectorate, to develop an outcomes-based framework for the monitoring and evaluation of self-directed support implementation.

Currently only data on the numbers of people taking direct payments is collected centrally. However from April 2013 the Scottish Government's new Social Care Survey will begin collecting data on the number of people choosing different self-directed support options.

Question reference: S4W-12473

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 31 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether there is an implementation plan for self-directed support.

Question reference: S4W-12470

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 31 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost will be of the residential pain service referred to by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing in a report in the Daily Express on 21 January 2013.

Question reference: S4W-12477

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 31 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when it will consult on the regulations regarding the removal of charges for carers for support services.

Question reference: S4W-12459

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 31 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the turnout was for the NHS board elections in (a) Dumfries and Galloway and (b) Fife.

Question reference: S4W-12461

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 31 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when it will respond to Health Board Elections and Alternative Pilots: Final Report of the Statutory Evaluation.

Question reference: S4W-12460

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 31 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost will be of rolling out elections to every NHS board.

The Independent Evaluation of the Health Board Elections carried out by the London School of Economics reported that the costs associated with introducing elections to all Scottish health boards would be in the region of £12 million, dependent upon the model used.

The Scottish Government will take this information in to account as it considers the independent evaluation on health board elections and alternative pilots.

Question reference: S4W-12458

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 31 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost was of the NHS board elections in (a) Dumfries and Galloway and (b) Fife.

Question reference: S4W-12037

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 30 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to ask the University of Sheffield to provide an update of its alcohol minimum price modelling research to take into account the most recent data included in Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland's Alcohol Strategy: Second Annual Report.

Question reference: S4W-12025

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 30 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage reduction in alcohol consumption it expects to achieve from the introduction of a 50 pence per unit minimum price of alcohol and how this compares with the reduction in alcohol consumption between 2009 and 2011 recorded in Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland's Alcohol Strategy: Second Annual Report.

In the Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland’s Alcohol Strategy: 2^nd Annual Report, analysis of the most recent data shows that per adult sales decreased by 5% between 2009 and 2011 (two year time period). This is a total reduction across adult sales and is not broken down by drinker type. The report does not estimate what impact the reduction in sales has had on harm. Caution is required when considering changes in alcohol sales over such short time periods; it is generally considered good practice to assess trends over as long a time series as the data allows. On this basis, alcohol sales have increased by 10% since 1994.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing minimum unit pricing in order to help tackle alcohol misuse in Scotland. A key component of minimum unit pricing is that it targets a reduction in consumption of alcohol which is cheap relative to its strength. This is significant because it is these alcoholic products which are favoured and consumed by hazardous and harmful drinkers. Minimum unit pricing would, therefore, affect hazardous and harmful drinkers more than moderate drinkers, in terms of the amount they drink, how much they spend and how much they benefit from reductions in harm.

The University of Sheffield modelling estimates that a 50p minimum unit price will result in a reduction in overall alcohol consumption of 5.7% per annum. This is allocated differentially over drinker type with moderate drinkers estimated to reduce alcohol consumption by 2.8%, hazardous drinkers by 4.8%, and harmful drinkers by 10.7%.