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-06880

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 April 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 8 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it (a) has provided and (b) can provide to assist private sector creditors of the Gathering 2009 to recover any money due to them.

The Gathering 2009 Ltd was a private company that was neither established nor contracted by the government. The Scottish Government has every sympathy for the plight of the creditors affected by the liquidation of the Gathering 2009 Ltd. This was one of the principal reasons why the Scottish Government worked so hard to find a solution, once it became aware of the financial difficulties the company was facing. The Scottish Government’s Principal Accounting Officer has judged that it would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to assume responsibility for the company’s debts.

Question reference: S4W-06878

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 April 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 8 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on implementing the recommendations in the Public Audit Committee's report, The Gathering 2009, in relation to the organisation of Clans 2014.

Question reference: S4O-00975

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 May 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received the report into the management culture at NHS Lothian and, if so, what lessons can be drawn from it.

Question reference: S4W-06862

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 April 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has met representatives of NHS Lothian to discuss reported unscheduled power cuts on 29 March 2012.

Question reference: S4W-06866

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 April 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what safeguards are in place to ensure that NHS emergency power systems are operational at all times.

In accordance with current guidance, NHS boards are required to have the following safeguards in place to ensure that NHS emergency power systems are operational at all times:

All fixed theatre operating lamps, including the main unit and any satellite units, should be connected to a battery inverter unit providing three-hour autonomy.

All standby generator plant should be tested on line with the building load every month. The duration of the test should be at least one hour.

Full services tests should demonstrate that batteries can hold their charge state while the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is on bypass. Batteries and UPS should be tested on line with mains disconnected.

Question reference: S4W-06867

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 April 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it provides to NHS boards regarding the maintenance of emergency power systems.

Guidance provided to NHS boards regarding the maintenance of emergency power systems is set out in the Scottish Health Technical Memorandum (SHTM) 06-01 – Electrical services supply and distribution which is published in two parts:

Part A: Design considerations

Part B: Operational management.

Section 6 within Part B is devoted to testing and maintenance procedures required for emergency power systems.

Question reference: S4W-06868

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 April 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what requirements it places on NHS boards when they contract out facilities management responsibilities to third party providers.

The responsibility for contracting out facilities management responsibilities to third party providers is an issue for NHS boards to manage. The Scottish Government has no contractual powers to intervene. In developing specifications NHS boards are required to ensure compliance with extant technical guidance.

NHS boards are expected to monitor contract performance, applying the performance management arrangements contained in the contract and where appropriate applying financial penalties for poor performance.

Question reference: S4W-06864

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 April 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what contingency plans are in place to protect patients in NHS facilities affected by power cuts.

NHS boards are required to have contingency plans in place as per the current guidance, Scottish Health Technical Memorandum (SHTM) 06-01, which states that resilience should be provided according to clinical risk assessments comprising:

(a) - Secondary sources of supply, for example:

Standby generators

Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant.

(b) - Tertiary sources of supply, such as:

Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS)

Battery backup.

Question reference: S4W-06865

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 April 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what requirement it places on NHS boards to have emergency power systems at clinical sites.

Where a clinical risk assessment dictates, the following requirements to have emergency power systems at clinical sites are placed on NHS boards:

For clinical areas in general there should be 100% load provision from standby generators.

Supporting engineering services connected to standby generator supplies should have power restored within 15 seconds.

Lighting and life-support equipment should be connected to uninterruptible power supplies or battery packs to restore power within 0.5 seconds of any interruptions.

Question reference: S4W-06869

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 April 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether third parties responsible for the management of NHS facilities have the same obligations regarding patient safety as the NHS.