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-28567

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that the Staff Governance Standard Framework is being fully implemented by all NHS boards.

Staff governance is one of the strands of the NHSScotland Governance Framework for which all boards are held accountable. Boards are therefore responsible for implementation of the Staff Governance Standard at a local level, and are accountable for local performance against the standard.

Following an internal local review of performance and progress towards the Staff Governance Standard all boards are required to complete a National Annual Monitoring Return and send to the Scottish Government annually.

The returns are then analysed by the Scottish Government under each strand of the Staff Governance Standard looking at points requiring further clarification, any areas of concern, as well as strengths and areas of good practice that can be spread across boards.

The outcomes of the 2015 staff governance monitoring process have been fed back to health board chief executives and HR directors.

Question reference: S4W-28491

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 26 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to extend free music tuition to secondary schools across the country as recommended by the Scottish Youth Parliament.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting and promoting the value of instrumental music tuition and our work has led to an enhanced understanding of how and why instrumental music contributes to a young person’s learning, as well as better support for provision of instrumental learning, widening opportunity and building capacity.

The Scottish Government’s Instrumental Implementation Music Group report of June 2013 (http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Education/Schools/curriculum/InstrumentalMusic/InstrumentalMusicImplementationGroup), recommendation 5, noted that “decisions on charging for services sit with local authorities”. The Scottish Government has no plans to intervene in the long standing arrangements whereby decisions around the provision of instrumental music tuition, including policies for access, concessions and charging, are for each local authority to decide on as they see fit and according to local demands and circumstances.

In December 2012, £1 million of funding was announced by the Scottish Government for the purchase of musical instruments for Scottish schools. This helped authorities tackle the issue of children being put off taking up learning an instrument because of the costs involved. The government’s work on instrumental music has now moved into a new phase through the creation of a Music Education Partnership Group, bringing together a wide range of organisations involved in music education to further promote and sustain excellent and exciting music education in Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-28581

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what the uptake is of the bowel cancer screening programme.

Question reference: S4W-28582

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the evidence of the improved health outcomes for people who take part in bowel cancer screening.

Question reference: S4W-28583

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the uptake of bowel cancer screening.

Responsibility for publicising screening and improving uptake within the bowel screening programme rests with individual NHS boards. GPs also play a pivotal role in highlighting bowel screening to their patients.

As part of our Detect Cancer Early programme we aim to raise public awareness of the national cancer screening programmes through social marketing campaigns. Furthermore, the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport announced earlier in 2015 that a new type of test would be introduced to the programme over the next two years. The quantitative faecal immunochemical test (QFIT) will replace the current faecal occult blood test (FOBT). The new test is deemed to be more user friendly than the current test and is expected to help increase participation in the programme.

Question reference: S4O-04897

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 November 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how the reduction in its overall funding over the last seven years compares with that for local government.

Question reference: S4W-28308

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported health risks from problem gambling, what action it is taking to address the issue (a) generally and (b) in connection with fixed-odds betting terminals.

Question reference: S4W-28311

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on (a) limiting the number of and (b) setting the maximum stake to £10 for fixed-odds betting terminals when the power to do so is devolved.

As currently drafted in the Scotland Bill, the power to limit the number of fixed odds betting terminals will relate only to new applications for betting premises. The large number of machines already in existence will not be affected nor will those machines in gambling premises other than betting shops. Clause 45 of the Scotland Bill does not devolve the power to set a maximum stake.

Once the power has been devolved then the Scottish Government will consider how best to use it and will consult before doing so.

Question reference: S4W-28324

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 17 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether problem gamblers in Scotland can access specialist treatment from the Responsible Gambling Trust.

Question reference: S4W-28310

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 17 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the third sector regarding problem gambling and risks to health.