Chamber and committees

The role of Healthcare Improvement Scotland Chief Executive is being filled on an interim basis through a secondment of the former Medical Director of NHS Fife.

As the number of patients who fall into this category are small, there are no plans to recover costs from private healthcare providers at present. This will, however, be kept under review and recovery of costs considered if required.

That is a matter for the private healthcare provider and patient to agree.

No information is held on the number of patients resident in Scotland whose PIP silicone breast implants were implanted in either England or abroad.

As stated in my answer to question S4W-05591 the Scottish Government has held back around £20 million of Resource DEL consequentials available in 2012-13 in view of risks presented by the current economic and financial climate including, in particular, those presented by UK welfare reform and the unpredictability surrounding the eurozone.

As the full extent of the implications of the UK Welfare Reform Bill is still unknown I cannot confirm, at this stage, how much of the available consequentials will be allocated in response to the impact of the bill.

The total amount spent by NHSScotland on clinical negligence claims since 2007-08 is detailed in the following table:

Fluctuations in the sums paid from year to year are due to the number of high value settlements occurring in any one year. These tend to relate to birth cases where the sums paid can be substantial. In 2010-11 there were 25 claims paid that were in excess of £1m compared to 16 in 2009-10.

The amount spent for 2011-12 as at 31 January totalled £22.5 million.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-05774 on 5 March 2012. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-05774 on 5 March 2012. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Council tax benefit payments for 2010-11 in Scotland totalled £387.4 million with entitlement depending on a variety of circumstances, including unemployment. Council tax benefit is also paid to pensioners, those on low pay and those unable to work because of disability or caring commitments.

The UK Government’s Welfare Reform Bill will, if enacted, abolish council tax benefit from April 2013, removing this support from the social security system altogether. Responsibility for helping people meet their council tax liabilities will then fall to the Scottish Government, although UK Government has confirmed the budget transferred to Scotland will be reduced by 10%.

Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans for living expenses will also be abolished in April 2013 and the Scottish Government will receive the amount spent in Scotland at this point. While DWP anticipate this will be lower than spend in 2010-11, spend on Community Care Grants in Scotland in 2010-11 was £20,813,600 and on Crisis Loans for living expenses £8,597,800. The Scottish Government is considering successor arrangements in discussion with stakeholders.