Questions and answers

Question reference: S5O-01506

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 22 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the Pupil Equity Fund is having on educational attainment in North Ayrshire.

Schools in North Ayrshire have received almost £4.4m of Pupil Equity Funding in 2017-18 to be spent at the discretion of Headteachers.

Locally, we expect schools and authorities to make the best use of data they have and to incorporate details for evaluating the impact of Pupil Equity Funding into their existing planning and reporting processes.

Nationally, we are currently consulting on the criteria that we will use to measure progress towards closing the gap and will confirm our approach within the 2018 National Improvement Plan, which will be published in December.

Question reference: S5O-01392

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to grow the economy of North Ayrshire.

Question reference: S5O-01299

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how the number of Higher exam passes in North Ayrshire in 2017 compared with 2016.

The Scottish Government does not hold the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) 2017 data set. As a national awarding body SQA only publishes data at a national level. Data is, however, provided annually to local authorities relating to the schools in their region, and I would encourage you to contact North Ayrshire Council for the information you require.

Since the start of the Scottish Attainment Challenge in 2015, North Ayrshire has been allocated over £14.8m in funding. £4.8m of this year's funding is being provided through the Challenge Authority programme to implement an authority wide improvement plan. Schools in North Ayrshire have also received a further £4.3m of Pupil Equity Funding this year to be spent at the discretion of Headteachers.

Question reference: S5W-11059

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 21 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment by the Minister for Public Health and Sport on 28 February 2017 (Official Report, c. 80), that, subject to the business case being approved in April, implementation of the accredited endometriosis unit in the west of Scotland would follow "without further delay", whether it will provide an update on the progress that has been made.

I met with representatives from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to discuss progress and next steps. The board have confirmed that they will recruit initially a locum obstetrics & gynaecology consultant with a special interest in advanced laparoscopic surgery and endometriosis treatment prior to the appointment of a substantive post as an important first step in the process for developing pathways for the endometriosis specialist service.

Question reference: S5W-11036

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how (a) much has been spent on and (b) many people have been treated with homeopathic treatments by each NHS board in each of the last three years.

Question reference: S5W-11038

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on people being given homeopathic treatments who may suffer harm by not being given non-homeopathic medicine that has a proven efficacy.

The prescribing of any medicines/treatments, including Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) such as homeopathy, is a clinical decision taken in consultation with patients based on clinicians’ competencies and awareness of the medicines/treatments concerned. This includes evidence based advice and guidance.

The Scottish Government expects any treatment to be appropriate, person-centred, safe and effective and that clinical and care professionals review the effectiveness of any treatment with their patients.

Question reference: S5W-11037

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-10593 by Shona Robison on 29 August 2017, what assessment it has made of the effectiveness and suitability of homeopathic treatments.

The Scottish Government holds no record of having funded any research into the efficacy of homeopathic treatments and has never received any applications for any funding on the subject.

It is for individual NHS Boards to decide which complementary and alternative medicines or therapies they make available based on national and local priorities and the needs of their resident populations, in line with national guidance: http://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/dl/DL(2016)06.pdf

Question reference: S5W-10593

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 August 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on clinical evidence for the efficacy of homeopathic treatments compared to a placebo.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government.

The prescribing of any medicines/treatments, including Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) such as homeopathy, is a clinical decision taken in consultation with patients based on clinicians’ competencies and awareness of the medicines/treatments concerned. This includes evidence based advice and guidance. The Scottish Government expects any treatment to be appropriate, person-centred, safe and effective and that clinical and care professionals review the effectiveness of any treatment with their patients.

It is for individual NHS Boards to decide which CAM therapies they make available based on national and local priorities and the needs of their resident populations, in line with national guidance: http://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/dl/DL(2016)06.pdf

Question reference: S5W-09740

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 27 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the impact of alcohol use.

The Scottish Government’s alcohol strategy, Changing Scotland's Relationship with Alcohol: A Framework for Action, is well regarded internationally and contains over 40 measures to tackle alcohol misuse. The Framework has been shown to have a positive impact including 2.6 per cent reduction in consumption due to the multi-buy discount ban; increased delivery of Alcohol Brief Interventions; legislation to ban irresponsible promotions and the introduction of a lower drink drive limit. Given the link between affordability and harm, we remain committed to minimum unit pricing which is the most effective pricing measure to tackle the high strength, low cost alcohol that causes so much damage to our communities. We are in the process of refreshing our Framework and will consider what further action to take to reduce alcohol-related harm.

Question reference: S5O-01127

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what improvements have been made to the rail infrastructure in, and rail services to, North Ayrshire since 2007.

North Ayrshire has benefited from significant Scottish Government investment which has delivered new and additional train services, new rolling stock and investment in its stations. These include, amongst other things:

A 50% increase in services which provided increased journey opportunities and greater connectivity for the towns of North Ayrshire

New Class 380 Rolling stock which provided improved levels of passenger comfort with spacious seating, wide aisles, air conditioning, power sockets for laptops, luggage provision, space for cycles and wheelchairs, plus CCTV.

New car parking opportunities including a new car park at Platform 1 in Irvine and station improvements including better waiting facilities, additional and upgrades to CCTV, new customer information screens, new ticket vending machines, platform validators for SMART cards and cycle parking, all of which will improve the overall passenger experience

Chamber and committees