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-05379

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 29 February 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has met the 2007 concordat commitment to kinship carers of looked-after children that, by 2011, they will be provided with an allowance on a par with foster carers.

Question reference: S4W-05380

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 29 February 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason kinship carer allowances are not on a par with foster carer allowances in the majority of local authority areas.

The Scottish Government does not set rates for minimum allowances to kinship carers or foster carers but guidance issued in 2010 to support these regulations recommends using The Fostering Network’s recommended minimum allowances as a guide. Local authorities are best placed to make decisions about what is needed to support a particular child with a particular carer.

We remain committed to providing meaningful and sustainable financial support to kinship carers and we have achieved worthwhile progress with all local authorities now financially supporting kinship carers. We will continue to work with local authorities to ensure that kinship carers receive the support they need.

Question reference: S4W-05591

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 28 February 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how the £20 million contingency fund for welfare reform will be allocated across the spending review period.

The Scottish Government has held back the allocation of around £20 million of Resource DEL consequentials available in 2012-13 because of a number 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. The government will announce decisions on the allocation of remaining consequentials in due course.

Question reference: S4W-05399

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 28 February 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what access doctors on night shift have to rest facilities in each (a) hospital and (b) NHS board, broken down by type of rest facility.

Detailed information on rest facilities is not held centrally, but minimum standards on such facilities are detailed in HDL 2001-50, Living and Working Conditions for Doctors in Training.

All doctors have access to either dedicated mess facilities or staff rooms where they can take breaks during and after their shifts.

The majority of doctors in training now work on a shift system, similar to nursing and other staff. Rotas are constructed to meet the relevant contractual and legal requirements to ensure staff are well rested before, during and after periods of work.

No dedicated rest facilities are provided for any group of staff coming off night shift within the NHS but, if any member of staff has any concern about their fitness to travel home after a shift, this can be raised locally with their manager.

For those who still work on a traditional on-call rota, the majority of these are on call from home, with support in place to gain a minimum amount of rest time while on call which ensures that staff are well rested. Where on call from home is not possible, NHS boards provide dedicated on call rooms which must meet minimum standards as detailed in HDL 2001-50.

Any areas of concern can be raised with our new deal manager, who can arrange to inspect facilities to ensure that they meet the required minimum standards.

Question reference: S4W-05375

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 28 February 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-03688 by Nicola Sturgeon on 18 November 2011, how many Care Inspectorate inspectors (a) are studying for the Regulation of Care Award and (b) have completed the course.

As previously indicated in the answer to S4W-03688 on 18 November 2011, all Care Inspectorate Inspectors have completed the Regulation of Care Award or are currently undertaking it. Currently, 12 Inspectors are studying for the Regulation of Care Award with expected completion dates between April and December 2012. A further 10 have completed the required study and are awaiting results in March 2012.

Three hundred inspectors have completed the Regulation of Care Award. Of these 300, 44 have since left the Care Inspectorate.

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.

Question reference: S4W-05381

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 February 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-03666 by Michael Matheson on 11 November 2011, when it will carry out a review of the provision relating to people with learning difficulties and autism in the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003.

Question reference: S4O-00740

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the latest statistical bulletin shows that the Scottish Government is meeting its 2012 homelessness target.

Question reference: S4W-05620

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 22 February 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual salary is of an NHS employee in the lowest pay band.

Question reference: S4W-05621

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 22 February 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any NHS employee is exempt from a pay freeze.

The policy adopted in NHSScotland for 2011-12, which mirrored the Scottish Government’s public sector pay policy, saw pay frozen for all staff earning over £21,000 per annum. Staff earning below £21,000 received a £250 flat rate uplift, and those on point 1 of the Agenda for Change pay matrix benefitted from the introduction of the Scottish Living Wage. Staff not yet at the top of their pay scales, however, were still able to benefit from incremental progression. The plan is to adopt the same policy in 2012-13, although the pay review body process (through which recommendations on pay for staff working in the NHS are made each year) is not yet complete.

Question reference: S4W-05590

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 17 February 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide funding from the Bellwin scheme to West Dunbartonshire Council to help pay for recent storm damage and, if so, how much.

Following the severe storm on 3 January, and as a result of representations from West Dunbartonshire and South Lanarkshire Councils, I confirmed that the Bellwin scheme had been triggered on 16 January. Now that the Scheme has been triggered all local authorities have four months from the date of the incident to submit a formal claim. On receipt of any claims, I will give careful consideration to all eligible expenditure under the terms of the scheme.