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-25523

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 1 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in each local authority area have received Partnership Action for Continuing Employment support in each month since April 2014.

Question reference: S4T-01013

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 May 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what the implications for Scotland would be of the abolition of the Human Rights Act by the UK Government.

Question reference: S4W-25157

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 22 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has issued to NHS boards on how to respond to parental refusal to have a child vaccinated.

Staff involved in vaccination programmes are trained to answer any questions that parents may have. The Scottish Immunisation Programme also provides a range of materials and information sources which can enable informed discussion/decisions about whether or not to vaccinate. Ultimately however the decision whether or not to vaccinate is for the parent and the NHS will respect the right not to vaccinate.

Data in Scotland shows very high levels of uptake of childhood vaccines - > 95%.

Question reference: S4W-25156

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 22 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has issued to NHS boards on promoting the importance of childhood vaccinations.

The Scottish Immunisation Programme is supported by a range of materials and literature (leaflets, posters, educational packs), resources (DVDs, stickers for children), marketing campaigns (eg TV and radio adverts) which highlight the seriousness of the various diseases that the vaccines protect against. This includes the Immunisation Scotland website which provides information for the public.

This public information is supplemented by professional advice and guidance to NHS boards, including regular letters from the Chief Medical Officer and health protection Scotland vaccination updates.

Question reference: S4W-25155

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 22 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what the uptake of the MMR vaccination has been in each NHS board area in each of last 10 years, expressed as a percentage.

The first dose of MMR vaccine is routinely given at 12 to 13 months of age and the second dose at around three years four months to five years of age. Uptake rates of one dose of MMR vaccine by 24 months of age and five years of age are shown in Table 1 and Table 2 respectively.

Table 3 shows uptake of two doses of MMR vaccine by six years of age. The national target is 95% uptake of one dose of MMR vaccine by five years of age, with a supplementary measure at 24 months.

Table 1: Percentage uptake of one dose of MMR vaccine by 24 months of age by calendar year:

NHS Board of residence	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Scotland	89.9	92.1	92.1	92.0	93.6	93.2	94.0	95.0	95.4	95.6
Ayrshire and Arran	89.7	93.2	92.7	92.9	93.7	93.8	94.9	96.4	96.9	96.8
Borders	90.6	91.6	93.1	92.4	94.3	94.4	94.7	96.3	97.2	96.4
Dumfries and Galloway	94.2	94.8	95.4	95.6	96.5	94.1	96.3	96.0	96.6	97.7
Fife	89.6	92.1	92.2	91.7	93.4	91.2	92.5	93.6	95.2	95.4
Forth Valley	90.7	92.7	93.4	91.9	93.6	93.1	94.9	95.8	96.1	96.1
Grampian	90.5	92.8	93.3	93.3	94.9	94.9	94.9	95.1	94.9	94.5
Greater Glasgow and Clyde¹	89.5	92.2	91.7	91.7	93.0	93.3	93.5	94.8	95.3	95.7
Highland²	83.3	87.1	88.8	88.8	91.1	90.2	92.0	93.3	94.1	93.7
Lanarkshire	89.2	90.8	91.3	91.9	94.3	93.5	94.9	95.6	96.2	96.5
Lothian	91.4	93.1	92.3	92.6	94.1	93.6	93.7	95.0	95.3	95.1
Orkney³	84.2	84.4	84.8	84.6	90.5	94.2	91.6	93.0	93.3	92.5
Shetland³	78.1	84.6	84.7	84.5	86.6	86.1	88.9	89.8	92.0	89.5
Tayside	91.3	93.2	92.4	91.6	92.6	93.2	93.7	95.4	94.8	95.8
Western Isles³	86.8	88.9	94.6	91.2	94.2	94.1	97.0	94.8	95.4	97.2

Source: Scottish Immunisation and Recall System, February 2015, ISD Scotland

Greater Glasgow and Clyde data for 2005 relate to the former NHS Greater Glasgow health board boundary prior to 1 April 2006 and therefore do not include the area inherited from the former NHS Argyll and Clyde on 1 April 2006.
Highland data for 2005 relate to the NHS Highland boundary prior to 1 April 2006 and therefore do not include the area inherited from the former NHS Argyll and Clyde on 1 April 2006.
The rates for Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles are based on small populations and therefore may fluctuate from year to year.

Table 2: Percentage uptake of one dose of MMR vaccine by five years of age by calendar year^1:

NHS Board of residence	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Scotland	93.8	94.4	94.9	96.1	96.0	96.4	96.9	97.1	97.3
Ayrshire and Arran	93.9	94.9	95.9	96.8	96.9	97.2	97.6	98.2	98.2
Borders	94.6	94.2	95.5	96.3	96.4	97.3	97.4	97.4	97.4
Dumfries and Galloway	95.5	97.2	96.9	98.1	97.3	97.6	98.1	97.8	98.0
Fife	94.4	95.1	95.2	96.6	96.2	96.4	96.7	97.1	97.5
Forth Valley	94.4	95.4	95.6	96.7	97.0	96.8	96.7	97.7	98.3
Grampian	94.4	95.0	95.3	95.7	96.0	96.4	97.1	96.6	97.1
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	94.1	94.0	95.2	96.3	95.9	96.2	96.7	97.0	97.0
Highland	90.6	92.8	93.1	94.0	94.2	95.6	96.5	96.0	96.2
Lanarkshire	93.2	93.9	94.4	95.6	95.9	96.5	96.8	96.8	97.4
Lothian	93.9	94.3	94.8	96.3	96.2	96.3	96.9	97.1	97.1
Orkney²	91.9	93.3	86.6	96.0	96.1	95.7	95.9	96.4	94.6
Shetland²	86.2	91.9	92.7	95.5	91.7	93.3	95.6	93.2	95.8
Tayside	94.3	94.0	94.6	96.2	96.0	96.0	96.7	97.1	97.3
Western Isles²	94.0	96.4	91.7	94.6	96.1	95.9	96.5	97.8	98.3

Source: Scottish Immunisation and Recall System, February 2015, ISD Scotland

Vaccine uptake rates by five years of age have been monitored since 2006 and therefore figures are not available for 2005.
The rates for Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles are based on small populations and therefore may fluctuate from year to year.

Table 3: Percentage uptake of two doses of MMR vaccine by six years of age by calendar year

NHS Board of residence	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Scotland	88.2	88.4	88.9	89.7	91.1	92.7	92.8	93.0	94.0	94.3
Ayrshire and Arran	89.1	90.3	89.6	90.5	91.7	93.5	93.9	94.3	95.2	95.8
Borders	90.6	89.2	90.1	91.9	92.6	94.6	93.5	94.7	94.8	95.8
Dumfries and Galloway	92.0	92.2	91.1	93.9	94.2	95.9	95.8	95.5	96.4	96.0
Fife	88.9	88.2	89.0	89.7	90.4	92.7	92.5	91.9	94.0	94.1
Forth Valley	88.9	90.4	90.8	91.7	92.2	93.5	93.7	94.1	94.2	95.7
Grampian	86.6	89.3	89.1	90.5	91.8	91.8	92.6	92.7	93.4	93.5
Greater Glasgow and Clyde¹	88.1	89.4	89.2	89.1	91.3	93.0	92.7	92.5	93.7	94.4
Highland²	82.3	84.5	85.8	87.7	89.3	89.9	90.1	91.4	93.0	92.7
Lanarkshire	89.3	88.2	88.7	89.5	91.2	92.7	93.1	93.3	94.8	94.9
Lothian	88.5	85.4	88.6	89.2	90.8	92.8	92.7	93.0	93.6	93.8
Orkney³	74.8	84.8	71.1	79.2	82.7	92.3	92.4	88.2	92.3	90.0
Shetland³	69.5	71.6	67.7	80.2	82.0	86.0	84.0	83.3	89.0	87.0
Tayside	90.0	90.3	89.6	89.3	90.4	92.8	93.0	93.6	94.0	94.4
Western Isles³	87.7	86.0	88.2	91.5	90.8	93.1	95.7	92.1	94.5	95.6

Source: Scottish Immunisation and Recall System, February 2015, ISD Scotland

Greater Glasgow and Clyde data for 2005 relate to the former NHS Greater Glasgow health board boundary prior to 1 April 2006 and therefore do not include the area inherited from the former NHS Argyll and Clyde on 1 April 2006.
Highland data for 2005 relate to the NHS Highland boundary prior to 1 April 2006 and therefore do not include the area inherited from the former NHS Argyll and Clyde on 1 April 2006.
The rates for Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles are based on small populations and therefore may fluctuate from year to year.

Question reference: S4O-04242

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 April 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact on the lowest-income households in Scotland of the spending reductions required to achieve the targets laid out in the Charter for Budget Responsibility.

Question reference: S4W-25094

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 March 2015
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by John Swinney on 26 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to consult on legislation to put the Scottish Fiscal Commission on a statutory footing.

Question reference: S4O-04166

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has issued to planning authorities regarding the provision or expansion of primary healthcare facilities as a consequence of residential development.

Question reference: S4W-24707

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much public money would be available for (a) Scotland and (b) the rest of the UK from 2015 to 2020 if UK departmental spending was increased by 0.5% each year, and what information it has regarding how this compares with the spending plans (i) announced by the UK Government and (ii) proposed by the UK Labour Party.

The Scottish Government proposed that UK public spending on day-to-day public services is increased in real terms by 0.5% from 2016-17 to 2019-20.

Using Office for Budgetary Responsibility forecasts of the UK economy, it was estimated that this would provide the following total department expenditure funds for the UK and Scotland over the period 2015-16 to 2019-20:

All figures in real terms (2014-15)	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20
UK Spending on Public Services (Departmental Expenditure Limit) (assumes increase spending by 0.5% per annum from 2016-17)	382	384	385	387	389
Scottish Spending on Total Departmental Expenditure Limit (assumes increase spending by 0.5% per annum from 2016-17)	32	32	32	32	32

Over the whole period 2015-16 to 2019-20, it was estimated this represents:

i) £179 billion of extra resources for the UK and around £14 billion extra for Scotland, compared to plans announced and implied by the UK Government at Autumn Statement 2014.

ii) £79 billion of extra resources for the UK and around £6 billion extra for Scotland, compared to plans announced and implied by the Labour Party.

Question reference: S4W-24703

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 March 2015
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by John Swinney on 3 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when it will update the Government Economic Strategy.

Scotland’s Economic Strategy was published today and is available at www.gov.scot/economicstrategy.

The strategy sets out how the Scottish Government and its partners will deliver on its vision to make Scotland a more successful country, with opportunities for all, through increasing sustainable economic growth. It brings increased focus to the dual objectives of boosting competitiveness and tackling inequality, and sets out the priorities that the Scottish Government will target to achieve these mutually reinforcing goals.