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-22545

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2014
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 9 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many trained fire and rescue personnel have been available to be called out in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S4W-22543

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2014
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 9 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether every firefighter is trained in the use of breathing apparatus.

Question reference: S4W-22591

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional staff are being recruited to meet the (a) current waiting time target for child and adult mental health services and (b) proposed target of 26 weeks for adult mental health patients from December 2014.

Funding is provided for NHS boards to increase the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) clinical workforce. Significant investment (£13.5 million from 2009-2014) was provided to deliver faster access to specialist child and adolescent mental health services in the community; and in the CAMHS workforce which has seen the overall clinical workforce increase by 43% since 2008.

Information Services Division (ISD) publish data on a quarterly basis detailing the size of the CAMHS workforce across NHS boards. As at 30 June 2014, the total number of clinical staff in post in NHS Scotland CAMHS was 1080 (headcount) with a whole time equivalent (WTE) of 925.4.Previous figures in 2014 are as follows:

As at 31 March 2014, the total number of clinical staff in post in NHS Scotland CAMHS was 1075 (headcount) with a WTE of 917.5.

As at 31 December 2013, the total number of clinical staff in post in NHS Scotland CAMHS was 1065 (headcount) with a whole time equivalent of 909.9

NHS boards have delivered the CAMHS HEAT target commitment that by March 2013 no one will wait longer than 26 weeks from referral to treatment for specialist CAMHS.

NHS boards are now working towards the target of 18 weeks by December 2014. We continue to monitor their progress through monthly management information data and through the quarterly published ISD data. The latest published data indicates that nationally the 18 week target is being met within the 10% tolerance and the average wait is 7 weeks.

ISD publish quarterly data on the psychology workforce in NHS Scotland. The total number of clinical staff employed in NHS Scotland Psychology Services continues to rise, with 1184 staff (1001.2 WTE) including 861 (724.2 WTE) clinical and other applied psychologists in post at 30 June 2014. There has been a significant increase over time in the number of clinical and other applied psychologists employed in NHSScotland from 426 (371.0 WTE) in 2003 to the current level of 861 (724.2 WTE).

The data from this publication is used by NHS Education for Scotland (NES), the Scottish Government and NHS boards to support local, regional and national workforce planning, and to support educational training and planning.

As staff required to deliver the psychological therapies access target will be wider than those working in psychology services alone, we are, through NES, working to assess and develop workforce capacity to ensure that a range of staff are equipped to deliver therapies. Staffing levels are however, a matter for each individual board to determine, according to local need.

Question reference: S4W-22592

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 3 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-22510 by Alex Neil on 22 September 2014, what is being done to fill the 50.2 whole time equivalent consultant psychiatrist vacancies.

Question reference: S4W-22462

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 August 2014
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 25 September 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what is being done to ensure sufficient numbers of wild host fish stocks in rivers (a) that currently host freshwater pearl mussel populations and (b) where freshwater pearl mussel populations are in decline.

The range of actions (under initiatives such as the Pearls in Peril EC LIFE Project, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Environment Fund and Scottish Natural Heritage’s (SNH) Species Action Framework) at selected locations include the removal of barriers to fish migration, removal of bank protection and other features to restore mussel and fish habitat, installation of buffer strips to reduce diffuse pollution, planting riparian woodlands to improve habitat and artificial assistance for the colonisation of host fish by pearl mussel larvae.

Research has also been conducted, notably by the Integrated Aquatic Resources Management between Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland (IBIS) project and under contract for SNH, to identify the specific host species of freshwater pearl mussel in particular rivers. Once this information is available it will further inform and guide future restoration actions.

Question reference: S4W-22510

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 August 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 22 September 2014

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the vacancy rate for consultant psychiatrists in the NHS increased from 218 to 324 between December 2013 and March 2014, according to ISD Scotland workforce statistics.

It may be helpful to note that the vacancy rate for consultant psychiatrists quoted in the question “from 218 to 324 between December 2013 and March 2014” is, in fact, an approximation of vacancy data for all consultant posts in all specialties for that period. The correct information is supplied in the following table:

	Dec-13	Mar-14
Total Consultant Vacancies	218.1 wte	324.8 wte
Total Consultant Psychiatric Vacancies	21.5 wte	55.8 wte

Source: ISD

The total funded establishment for consultants, which includes consultant psychiatrists, has increased during this period and it would be expected for vacancies to rise while health boards recruit to these posts. It should be noted that vacancy numbers for this specialism have reduced by 5.6 wte during the last quarter and stand at 50.2 wte as at June 2014.

We expect NHS boards to plan their facilities and workforce to deliver this service and to have robust processes in place to ensure the provision of safe, effective and high quality patient care. The Scottish Government is working with NHS Education for Scotland and the Royal College of Psychiatrists to ensure this patient care is delivered by the right professional at the right time.

Question reference: S4W-22513

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 August 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 22 September 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many educational psychologists are in training at university and what the estimated need is for educational psychologists in training from 2014, given the estimated increase in additional support needs.

The Scottish Government recognises and values the role that educational psychologists play in supporting learners. We are working in partnership with the National Scottish Steering Group for Educational Psychologists to ensure a sustainable supply of educational psychologists to meet potential future needs. This includes work to improve the data available to inform future workforce planning decisions, including decisions around numbers of educational psychologists to train.

24 students have started the first year of the Master of Science degree in educational psychology at Dundee University this month, and 19 students have started the second year of the course at Strathclyde University. 21 students completed the course in September 2014.

There has been a significant increase in the number of pupils recorded in national statistics as having additional support needs since 2010. This is a direct consequence of an extension in the way in which we collect information. Prior to 2010, only pupils with co-ordinated support plans, individualised educational programmes or who were attending a special school were recorded as having additional support needs. However, in 2010 this was extended to include anyone receiving additional support, including all the pupils identified and receiving support in mainstream schools. This has led to a large increase in the number of pupils recorded with additional support needs since 2010.

Question reference: S4W-22512

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 August 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 22 September 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many educational psychologists there have been in the NHS in each year for the last ten years.

Question reference: S4W-22511

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 August 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 22 September 2014

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason training grants have been withdrawn for educational psychology training in relation to the MSc in Educational Psychology course.

The decision to change the funding arrangements for the training of educational psychologists was taken in the light of challenging financial circumstances as part of the Spending Review 2011. This aligned financial support for postgraduate training for educational psychologists with financial support for many other postgraduate training schemes.

The Scottish Government recognises and values the role that educational psychologists play in additional support for learning. We are working in partnership with the National Scottish Steering Group for Educational Psychologists around workforce planning at a national level to ensure a sustainable supply of educational psychologists to meet potential future needs.

Question reference: S4O-03520

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 September 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what issues it discussed when it last met NHS boards.