Chamber and committees

An individual declared insolvent is required to meet their on-going liabilities for child maintenance payments. Arrears of child maintenance existing at the commencement of insolvency proceedings will rank with other equivalent debts and will be repaid from any available estate recovered by the trustee. Any balance remaining following the completion of the trustee’s administration is written off. This does not apply where child maintenance arrears are payable by virtue of a court order and in these circumstances the debt will survive the bankruptcy.

Powers relating to ship to ship transfers of crude oil are wholly reserved to the UK Government. Given our devolved responsibilities for the environment, including protection of Scotland’s world-renowned marine environment, the Scottish Government takes great interest in any matter which may pose an unacceptable risk to marine biodiversity or ecosystems. Despite having no formal role in the process, despite requests to UK Ministers to be added as a formal ‘consultation body’, or to have the role of consenting authority devolved to Scottish Ministers no progress has been made. The Scottish Government will make the UK Government aware of its own assessment of the risks associated with ship-to-ship transfers in this specific context and will relay any environmental concerns raised by communities for any future ship to ship applications in Scottish waters should a new licence application be submitted.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-11703 on 29 November 2017. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

All NHSScotland Boards are required to undertake workforce planning to ensure we have the correct staff in place to meet the needs of the service. The Scottish Government works closely with Boards and has invested record levels of funding, underpinned by a significant increase in staffing levels of nearly 12, 000 in the last decade.

I met with staff on Monday at Dr Gray’s, where I had the opportunity to hear first-hand about the challenges and opportunities moving forward. I am aware that a number of local initiatives are being tested across the hospital, such as the reinstatement of a 24/7 paediatric service and the introduction of financial incentives offering of full bursaries to General Practitioner Speciality Training Posts. We have also ensured that the annual International Medical Training Fellowship (IMTF) scheme encompasses paediatric posts. Dr Gray’s participates in the scheme as part of the North of Scotland region and has access to IMTF applicants. These initiatives not only address issues of recruitment and retention, but also to promote the longer-term sustainability of services at Dr Gray’s, including a new model of delivering Ophthalmology services.

An integral part of the Scottish Government’s Mobile Action Plan is our collaborative work with the UK Government to facilitate wider coverage benefits for Scotland arising from the Emergency Services Network (ESN) rollout which will provide a GB-wide 4G service for the ‘blue light” services.

In delivering ESN, EE is building new sites and upgrading its entire existing network, including more than 300 sites across Scotland. Subject to a site’s location being suitable for a transmission technology capable of supporting acceptable levels of traffic, EE will provide its commercial service on these new sites, which will also be shareable by other mobile network operators.

Both the A96 and A9 are within EE’s ESN coverage footprint and Ofcom has stated that its data indicates that there is now continuous outdoor coverage from EE along these routes. Whilst there are gaps in other operators’ coverage, their 4G deployments are still ongoing and their final coverage footprints along these routes will become apparent in 2018.

The Scottish Government does not have a view on whether cost is an obstacle to encouraging people to arrange a will. The fee charged is a matter for the legal profession or other organisations offering a will making service.

It should be noted that a number of trade unions offer free or heavily discounted will writing services to their members and some home or car insurance legal cover includes a will service.

Will Aid is a UK wide scheme which runs every November in which participating solicitors provide basic wills in exchange for a donation to charity - https://www.willaid.org.uk/. It is a matter for legal professionals whether or not they participate in the scheme.

Will Relief Scotland operates every September - https://www.willreliefscotland.co.uk/. Participating solicitors in Scotland waive their fee for writing a basic will. Instead, they invite the client to make a donation to the Will Relief Scotland charities. Again it is a matter for legal professionals whether or not they participate in the scheme.

In addition, a number of charities operate free will drafting services in the hope of receiving a bequest.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the estimated percentage of people who have had a will in place in each of the last five years.

In terms of available data, Scottish Consumer Council, Wills and Awareness of Inheritance Rights in Scotland (Scottish Consumer Council, 2006), - http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090724135150/http:/scotcons.demonweb.co.uk/publications/reports/reports06/rp10wrep.pdf. – identified that 67% of Scots had not made a will and that those over 65 who owned their home and had substantial means were most likely to have done so.

There is no requirement to register a will in Scotland although it is possible to do so in the Books of Council and Session which is held by Registers of Scotland. Wills offer flexibility and can be changed or revoked at any point that the writer wishes.

The Scottish Government provides information on line and in hard copy in ‘What to do after a death in Scotland’ http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/11/6948/0 on how an individual’s estate will be a distributed if they do not make a will. Those rules on distribution may in fact reflect what an individual wishes to happen to their estate and so they may take the view that they have no need to make a will.

It should be noted that wills are not the only vehicle for transferring a property on death, for example, a title to property can be drafted in such a way that an individual’s share will pass to another on death. Insurance policies and death in service pension nominations are also ways of making provision for family or friends.

The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) is progressing work to register community based defibrillators onto their call handling system. The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) has 1,553 public access defibrillators registered and live on the command and control system used by call handlers and dispatchers in the SAS's three ambulance control centres. This should not be considered to represent the total number of defibrillators in the country. The figures represent only a snapshot as of 16 November 2017. This number changes daily due to owners/custodians of public access defibrillators registering devices on the Service’s dedicated website.

The Service’s corporate affairs and engagement department and community resilience department have been working together to promote the registration website. Both departments work closely with ambulance control centres to maintain the register. There is currently no legal obligation for defibrillator owners/custodians to register their devices with the Service.

We would strongly encourage any member of the public, community group or business to register their Public Access Defibrillator (PAD) with the SAS. Further details can be found at the SAS's dedicated 'Registering your Public Access Defibrillator' page; http://www.scottishambulance.com/YourCommunity/pad.aspx.