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-17513

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 27 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Lesley Thomson on 11 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions for cruelty have been made under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 for forcible removal of a dog’s microchip.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has prosecuted 1879 charges under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 in Courts across Scotland of which 1381 charges have been for causing unnecessary suffering to animals under section 19 of that Act.

The information requested as to whether any of those charges related to the forcible removal of a dog’s microchip is not centrally held on the COPFS database and is therefore not available without a manual extraction of each case record. The costs involved in doing so would be disproportionate.

Question reference: S4W-17328

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 7 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been allocated to (a) NHS Fife and (b) the Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, in each of the last 10 years and how the figure for NHS Fife compares with the national average.

The baseline funding allocations for NHS Fife (also shown as a percentage share of the total allocation for NHSScotland territorial health boards) and the revenue expenditure at the Victoria Hospital Kirkcaldy for the last 10 years are provided in the following table:

NHS Fife	Baseline Allocation	Share of NHS Scotland Territorial Baseline	Expenditure at Victoria Hospital
Year	£m	Percentage	£m
2004-05	356.2	6.59%	58.2
2005-06	399.6	6.65%	67.4
2006-07	430.9	6.70%	73.6
2007-08	462.4	6.73%	84.7
2008-09	479.7	6.76%	86.3
2009-10	490.3	6.77%	85.2
2010-11	502.9	6.76%	80.9
2011-12	507.1	6.71%	101.1
2012-13	520.8	6.71%	Available Nov-13
2013-14	539.5	6.72%	Not Applicable

NHS Fife is funded according to the same formula as all other NHS boards, NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC). This ensures that funds are distributed fairly, on the basis of the relative healthcare needs of each Board area, and fully recognises the influences of remoteness and deprivation. All Boards are expected to manage within these resources, and must prioritise in order to provide high quality services for patients.

The NRAC formula has been phased in from 2009-10. The NRAC formula was introduced to ensure that NHS board funding was better aligned to local characteristics such as deprivation, population age profile and rurality. It is right that this was phased in gradually to minimise disruption to board finances. As a result of this phased process we have ensured that no board has lost out financially and have “levelled up” funding to support this.

NHS Fife has had an above real terms increase in resource funding. In 2013-14 NHS Fife received £539.5 million resource funding, a 3.6% or £18.7 million increase.

Information on individual hospital expenditure across NHS Scotland is available on the NHS National Services Scotland Information Services Division (ISD) website. The most up to date figures available are for the financial year 2011-12.

Question reference: S4W-17330

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 7 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many hospital beds have been available at (a) NHS Fife and b) the Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy in each of the last 10 years and how the figure for NHS Fife compares with the national average.

Table 1 presents the number of average available staffed beds for acute specialties in Victoria Hospital, NHS Fife and NHS Scotland for 2003-04 to 2012-13 and those in Victoria Hospital and NHS Fife as a percentage of NHS Scotland.

Table 1 – Average available staffed bedsfor acute specialties in Victoria Hospital, NHS Fife and NHS Scotland; 2003-04 to 2012-13

Year

NHS Scotland

NHS Fife

Victoria Hospital

Acute beds

Percentage of NHS Scotland

Acute beds

Percentage of NHS Scotland

2003-04	17,710	834	4.7	308	1.7
2004-05	17,559	869	4.9	311	1.8
2005-06	17,537	832	4.7	297	1.7
2006-07	17,505	842	4.8	301	1.7
2007-08	17,344	845	4.9	301	1.7
2008-09	17,374	828	4.8	292	1.7
2009-10	17,078	797	4.7	280	1.6
2010-11	16,673	778	4.7	247	1.5
2011-12	16,470	783	4.8	301	1.8
2012-13	16,230	745	4.6	543	3.3

Source: ISD(S)1, ISD Scotland.

In 2012, NHS Fife General Hospitals and Maternity services (GH&MS) Project saw a transfer of services between the Victoria Hospital and Queen Margaret Hospital.

Question reference: S4W-17332

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 7 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of referrals for cancer was treated within the 62-day cancer waiting time target for the Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, in each of the last 10 years and how this compares with the national average.

Question reference: S4W-17329

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 7 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many nurses have been employed at (a) NHS Fife and (b) the Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, in each of the last 10 years and how the figure for NHS Fife compares with the national average.

Question reference: S4W-17331

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 7 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints have been made regarding the Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy in each of the last 10 years and how this compares with the national average.

National annual statistics for NHS complaints are published by the Information Services Division (ISD) of NHS National Services Scotland.

The 2012-13 statistics were published on 24 September 2013 and are available at: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Quality-indicators/Publications/index.asp#1143. This publication includes details of complaints since 2007-08.

NHS Fife will be able to provide additional local information in relation to complaints received.

Question reference: S4W-17335

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 3 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will include guidance on the appropriate use of low emissions zones in reducing air quality issues in the final Scottish Planning Policy.

Question reference: S4W-17334

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 3 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what research it will undertake on best practice when using the planning system to address air quality issues before finalising the Scottish Planning Policy and the National Planning Framework 3.

The Scottish Government works closely with local authorities, Transport Scotland, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and other partners to ensure that air quality objectives are achieved. We have no plans at present to commission new research into air quality issues, but we will take into account available evidence before finalising the Scottish Planning Policy and the National Planning Framework 3, due to be published in June 2014.

Question reference: S4O-02481

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports Fife's economy.

Question reference: S4W-17172

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 2 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how much livestock born and reared in Scotland has been slaughtered in England in each of the last five years.

Livestock movements from Scotland to England is complex because most animals move several times in their lifetime prior to slaughter, in addition production and movements are driven by market conditions, furthermore not all of the data requested is held by the Scottish Government.

The following table shows the data we have available for moves from Scotland direct to English abattoirs:

Species	Year	Number of animals
Cattle	2008	56,239
	2009	60,957
	2010	66,491
	2011	79,333
	2012	77,303
Sheep and goats	2008	716,973
	2009	666,230
	2010	405,198
	2011	435,636
	2012	575,300
Pigs	2008	96,457
	2009	100,954
	2010	102,883
	2011	72,745
	2012	113,921