Chamber and committees

The information requested is detailed in the following two tables.

Table 1 November 2013 – April 2014

Table 2 November 2014 – 19 March 2015

Please note that the statistics for Uig-Tarbert-Lochmaddy service are collated for the combined Uig-Tarbert-Lochmaddy services.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-25050 on 2 April 2015. 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.

All applicants to the (a) Equality, (b) Violence Against Women and Girls, (c) Children’s Services and (d) Rape Crisis Specific Fund were informed of the outcome of their applications on the 18 and 19 March 2015.

A full breakdown of all of the funded projects is available on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/People/Equality/Funding/funding.

I refer the member to the answer to parliamentary question S4O-04076 to Jamie McGrigor on 4 March 2015. The answer to the oral parliamentary question is available on the Parliaments website, the official report can be viewed at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28862.aspx?r=9813&mode=pdf.

The Scottish Government has welcomed NHS Highland’s plan to fund a proposal to develop scanning services locally in Argyll and Bute.

NHS Highland anticipates that the local service will be fully implemented from the autumn of 2016.

The Voluntary Action Fund does not have a role in making recommendations to, or advising Scottish Ministers.

Last month the Scottish Government announced a review of maternity and neonatal services, to ensure every mother and baby continues to get the best possible care from Scotland’s health service. Scanning services will be part of this review.

The Violence Against Women Joint Strategic Board will be co-chaired by the Scottish Government and COSLA with membership drawn from key statutory and third sector partners. We will make the membership of the new board and four expert working groups available as soon as it is possible to do so.

Since Equally Safe was published on 25 June 2014 positive progress has been made in a number of key areas. Building on the strategy, the Scottish Government committed in the Programme for Government to consult in 2015 on the potential to introduce a specific ‘domestic abuse’ offence and an offence against the sharing of intimate images – so-called ‘revenge porn’. The courts and Crown office have put in place additional resources to speed up the processing of cases, including cases involving domestic abuse and sexual offences, through the courts, and Police Scotland is currently piloting a disclosure scheme for domestic abuse in two locations – Aberdeen and Ayrshire.

In addition, the Scottish Government announced on 20 March 2015 that it will be investing £11.8 million from its equality budget (total £20.3 million) in a range of projects and services to tackle, raise awareness of, and support those affected by violence and abuse during 2015-16. This funding includes: £60,000 for a Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference development officer Scotland in connection with the commitment made by the Scottish Government in Equally Safe to ‘‘roll-out a National Framework for Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences’’, and £220,000 of funding to support work to tackle female genital mutilation in 2015-16.

As stated in the answer to S4W-24905 on 25 March 2015, positive progress is being made in a number of key areas and to take forward the early commitments made in Equally Safe. Unfortunately it has not been possible to move forward as quickly as originally envisaged in establishing the four expert working groups proposed in Equally Safe to inform the development of longer term action plans in the areas of: primary prevention; capacity and capability; justice, and accountability. We are currently looking at the timing and development of this longer term work.

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

The following table shows average monthly occupancy rate (%) for Uist and Barra Hospital, NHS Highland between January and September 2014.

Occupancy rate (%) for Uist and Barra Hospital, by month.

Source: Information Services Division Scotland, ISD(S)1

Official statistics on the number of hospital beds relating to the quarters ending December 2014 and March 2015 will be will be published by ISD on 31 March 2015 and in June 2015, respectively.