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: S5W-27125

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe QC on 6 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason lawyers employed by it and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service are not subject to the same pay scales.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and the Scottish Government have, for over two decades, had separate delegated authority to negotiate staff terms and conditions, including pay, subject to their organisational resources and to public sector pay policy. In recognition of issues which have been raised about comparative rates of pay, the Scottish Government has agreed to actively engage the Service in the Government’s ongoing work, involving the recognised trade unions, to develop in early course proposals to address pay coherence.

Question reference: S5W-27126

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe QC on 6 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent in total on staff costs by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in each financial year since 2014-15.

The total amount spent on staff costs by COPFS for each financial year since 2014-15 is shown in the following table:

Financial Year	£000s
2014-15	69,255
2015-16	70,293
2016-17	71,746
2017-18	73,673
2018-19	79,312

Source: COPFS published Annual Report and Accounts (which can be accessed via the following link: COPFS Annual Accounts or by copying/entering the following into your web browser: https://www.copfs.gov.uk/publications/finance.

Question reference: S5W-27127

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe QC on 6 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the current pay scales are for lawyers employed by (a) it and (b) the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

With effect from 1 April 2019, salary scales for Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service lawyers below the Senior Civil Service are:

	PFD	SPFD	PD	G	H
Depute Accreditation Year 1	32,573	-	-	-	-
Depute Accreditation Year 2	36,833	-	-	-	-
Max-3	39,780	50,037	55,767	60,986	69,790
Max-2	42,261	52,132	58,793	63,216	70,815
Max-1	44,741	54,227	61,818	66,304	71,840
Max	50,958	57,743	66,479	71,145	74,702

With effect from 1 April 2019, salary scales for Scottish Government lawyers on Scottish Government Main terms and conditions below the Senior Civil Service are:

	C1	C2	C3
Max-3	47,504	62,191	71,881
Max-2	50,949	64,354	72,702
Max-1	54,487	67,148	73,522
Max	59,229	71,781	74,343

With effect from 1 April 2018 the SCS pay ranges are:

Pay Band	Minimum £	Maximum £
1	£68,000	£117,800
1A	£68,000	£128,900
2	£90,500	£162,500
3	£111,500	£208,100

Question reference: S5W-26896

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 23 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area have been recorded as having alcohol-related brain damage in each of the last 10 years.

The number of people resident in Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board who were recorded as being admitted to a general acute or psychiatric hospital with a diagnosis of alcohol-related brain damage. This is provided in the table that follows.

Number of people admitted to hospital with Alcohol Related Brain Damage: NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Financial years 2009-10 to 2018-19

Financial year	Number of people
2009-10	257
2010-11	295
2011-12	270
2012-13	242
2013-14	244
2014-15	264
2015-16	255
2016-17	252
2017-18	258
2018-19	234

Source - NHS ISD Scotland

Question reference: S5W-26892

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 23 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recently reported alcohol-related brain damage statistics, which suggest that the number of people with this condition is at a 10-year high.

The number of people who were recorded as being admitted to a general acute or psychiatric hospital with a diagnosis of alcohol-related brain damage was published on 19 November 2019 and is available here on the ISD website:

https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/
Drugs-and-Alcohol-Misuse/Publications/

The table below, shows the most recent data from these statistics. Last year,
‎ 2018-19 shows a drop in the number of patients with ARBD, a decline of 3% from the previous year.

Alcohol Related Brain Disorder (ARBD) - patients admitted to 'general acute' and 'psychiatric' hospitals.

2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-2018	2018-19
705	771	738	717	717	756	759	762	810	786

Source: NHS Information Services Division (ISD)

Decisions on the configuration of local services are made by each local area and it is for individual NHS Boards, Integrated Authorities and Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) to provide services which meet the needs of their resident population.

Our Rights, Respect and Recovery strategy, published in November 2018, sets out our national strategy for tackling alcohol and drug harm. This includes an 8 point treatment plan for treatment and recovery which will improve access to effective services and interventions to support individuals to achieve their recovery.

Question reference: S5O-04057

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce delays at A&E departments.

Question reference: S5W-26666

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government on what dates the Cabinet Secretary for Justice has met the Chair of the Scottish Police Authority since December 2017, and whether it will publish the minutes.

Question reference: S5W-26893

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 20 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what alcohol-related brain damage treatment services there are in the (a) NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area and (b) rest of Scotland, and what action it plans to improve the level of services available.

While the responsibility of Integration Authority’s working with Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) to make decisions on the configuration of local services which meet the needs of their resident population.

There are a range of alcohol-related brain damage treatment and support services across Scotland and Greater Glasgow and Clyde which includes:

- Community multi-disciplinary teams who typically asses the rehabilitation potential for people diagnosed or likely to have alcohol related brain damage and support interventions and care planning. These teams typically include consultant psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, social care staff, nursing staff and occupational therapist.

- Community ARBD provision to support independent living.

- Residential options, including rehabilitations beds and specific ARBD care home placements,

- National Rehabilitation Centres.

Question reference: S5O-04022

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to local authorities in preparation for Brexit.

Question reference: S5F-03853

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 January 2020

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reports that Police Scotland has spent £11.6 million in compensation over the last five years.