- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 1 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive when it was told by the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry that there would be a further delay in reporting
Answer
Lord MacLean wrote to me on 10 December 2010 informing me that because hearings scheduled for December 2010 had to be cancelled, due to adverse weather, there would be an impact on the overall inquiry timetable and a delay in publishing the final report at the end of May 2011.
Lord MacLean also advised that, on further investigation of the commissioned witness statements and the evidence gathered, it had become apparent that for the experts to produce high quality and credible reports they would require additional time. It is extremely important that the final report and its recommendations are robust in order that the Scottish Government can consider how these recommendations can assist in continuing to raise the standard of care for patients in Scotland and that the lessons learned can be shared not just across NHS Scotland but worldwide.
However, I have not yet agreed this further extension. Discussions with Lord MacLean continue and as soon as a date for publishing the final report has been agreed, I will inform the Parliament.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S3W-27498 and S3W-27499 by Nicola Sturgeon on 28 September 2009, how many GP practices have set up premium rate telephone lines since the Cabinet Secretary announced that guidance would be issued to NHS boards that would require them to press practices using premium rate numbers to reopen negotiations with service providers.
Answer
We are not aware of any additional GP practices using premium rate telephone numbers and we want to encourage those which do so to review their current telephone provider arrangements.
We have written to chief executives of NHS boards reiterating the Scottish Government''s policy that patients should not incur charges above the normal telephone call rates. I have also requested that they encourage GP contractors to review their current telephone arrangements.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27498 by Nicola Sturgeon on 28 September 2009, how many GP practices have reopened negotiations with premium rate telephone line providers to drive down costs to callers.
Answer
We do not hold any information on how many GP practices have re-opened negotiations with premium telephone providers.
We have however written to chief executives of NHS boards on 23 February 2011 reiterating the Scottish Government''s policy that patients should not incur charges above the normal telephone call rates. We have also requested that they encourage GP contractors to review their current telephone arrangements.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27498 by Nicola Sturgeon on 28 September 2009, when the guidance to NHS boards on the use of premium rate telephone lines was issued.
Answer
We wrote to chief executives of NHS boards on 23 February 2011 reiterating the Scottish Government''s policy that patients should not incur charges above the normal telephone call rates. We have also requested that they encourage GP contractors to review their current telephone arrangements.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 24 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is legal to charge VAT on the cost of social care services
Answer
The provision of what are termed welfare services is exempt from VAT when provided by designated organisations. These include public bodies such as government departments, local authorities and NHS boards.
In most cases social care services would be classified as welfare services and as NHS boards are a designated bodies for the purposes of these rules, it is likely that any such charges would be exempt from VAT.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the number of people affected by Clostridium difficile at the Vale of Leven hospital has changed since originally reported
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-39515 on 23 February 2011. 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.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the view of the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry that 60 people were affected during the outbreak and that 38 people subsequently died
Answer
The inquiry''s investigations are ongoing and I understand that they are currently investigating the treatment of 60 patients at the Vale of Leven Hospital, including 38 deaths. That does not mean that the inquiry has concluded that the outbreak caused 38 deaths. The terms of reference provided the inquiry with a wide discretion to investigate the matter thoroughly.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 17 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the proceeds of the proposed large retail supplement will be accounted for in the local government budget line.
Answer
The Parliament voted on 2 February 2011 that nothing further be done under the regulations that would have introduced the large retail property supplement.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 17 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth will allocate Supporting People funding based on the decision reached at the COSLA leaders meeting on 19 November 2010.
Answer
With effect from 1 April 2008 the former ring-fenced Supporting People funding was rolled-up into the general local government finance settlement and distributed as part of the block grant which the Scottish Government provides to local authorities. There are, therefore, no separate Supporting People allocations of funding for the years 2008-12 although the distribution of this provision, including the updating of the indicators for 2011-12 as agreed at the Council Leaders meeting on 19 November 2010, has been retained within the needs-based formula.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 17 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what allocation of Supporting People funds it made in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09 and (c) 2009-10 and has made for (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12, broken down by local authority.
Answer
The allocation of the baselined ring-fenced Supporting People funding of £383.620 million for 2007-08, broken down by local authority, is provided in the following table. It should be noted that an additional £17.276 million in respect of Supporting People funding was also distributed in 2007-08 as one-off, non-baselined, payments.
With effect from 1 April 2008 the baselined former ring-fenced Supporting People funding was rolled-up into the general local government finance settlement and distributed as part of the block grant which the Scottish Government provides to local authorities. There are, therefore, no separate Supporting People allocations of funding for the years 2008-12, although the distribution of the baselined provision of £383.620 million has been retained within the needs-based formula.
The distribution of this provision for the years 2008-11 was based on a number of needs-based indicators agreed in 2004. These indicators were, at COSLA''s request, and as agreed at the Council Leaders'' meeting on 19 November 2010, updated for the 2011-12 distribution. The effects of using the 2004 indicators were dampened by an interim adjustment, introduced for the period 2005-08, which ensured that no local authority would lose more than 18 per cent of its funding over the period 2005-08 compared with it''s allocation in 2004-05. This adjustment was not retained in the 2011-12 calculations.
Supporting People Baselined Allocations for 2007-08
| Local Authority | 2007-08 |
| Aberdeen City | 11.370 |
| Aberdeenshire | 9.289 |
| Angus | 6.400 |
| Argyll and Bute | 11.695 |
| Clackmannanshire | 3.685 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 11.835 |
| Dundee City | 11.536 |
| East Ayrshire | 7.281 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 5.012 |
| East Lothian | 7.352 |
| East Renfrewshire | 4.913 |
| Edinburgh, City of | 35.081 |
| Eilean Siar | 0.567 |
| Falkirk | 8.716 |
| Fife | 23.503 |
| Glasgow City | 75.454 |
| Highland | 11.223 |
| Inverclyde | 7.354 |
| Midlothian | 4.766 |
| Moray | 5.432 |
| North Ayrshire | 11.546 |
| North Lanarkshire | 24.748 |
| Orkney | 0.659 |
| Perth and Kinross | 6.781 |
| Renfrewshire | 14.400 |
| Scottish Borders | 5.503 |
| Shetland | 0.886 |
| South Ayrshire | 7.631 |
| South Lanarkshire | 21.371 |
| Stirling | 4.449 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 13.736 |
| West Lothian | 9.446 |
| Scotland | 383.620 |
