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: S5W-01655

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 23 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many prescriptions for (a) paracetamol, (b) ibuprofen, (c) aspirin, (d) sun cream and (e) eye drops have been issued in each year since 1999, and what the average cost was to the NHS to issue these.

The information requested for the years 2000-01 to 2015-16 is available in the annual Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) Reports. The annual PCA report, published by National Services Scotland Information Services Division, can be found on their website at www.isdscotland.org/.

The PCA report was first published for the year 2000-01.The information requested for the year 1999-2000 is not readily available.

Question reference: S5W-01773

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 22 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) goods and (b) information will be included in the baby box.

The Scottish Government is working with a variety of stakeholders, including parents’ groups, to agree which items will be included in the boxes. The Scottish baby boxes will be based on the model first developed in Finland, and will provide a range of baby clothing, equipment and simple, consistent information for new parents. The box will also double as a cot for new born babies, should parents wish to use it in this way.

Question reference: S5W-01764

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 18 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have not been registered with a GP in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S5W-01660

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 18 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been raised from hospital car parking charges in each year since 1999.

At the point when car parking charges were abolished from December 2008, NHS Scotland hospitals (with the exception of three private finance initiative (PFI) run car parks) were estimated to collect £3.6 million of income each year from car parking charges. From 2009 onwards, NHS Boards have not received any income from car parking charges and it is estimated that this policy has saved patients and staff over £27 million.

Prior to 2008, the Scottish Government did not collect details on how much income was raised through car parking charges.

Question reference: S5W-01659

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 18 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many recorded cases there have been of property being stolen at NHS sites in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S5W-01657

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 18 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) people have been arrested on and (b) times the police have been called to NHS sites in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S5W-01661

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 18 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much each NHS board has raised from the sale of (a) land and (b) property in each year since 1999.

The net book value of properties and land disposed of by NHS Boards since 2004-05 is detailed in the following table:

	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
NHS Board	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s
NHS Argyll and Clyde	407	818	-	-	-	-
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	117	83	0	4	45	8
NHS Borders	13	0	752	22	0	0
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	325	451	1,567	367	6	67
NHS Fife	414	50	23	35	15	127
NHS Forth Valley	0	214	4,366	2,266	1,799	222
NHS Grampian	1,702	6,042	2,353	306	513	2,350
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	278	3,606	15,420	185	4,623	1,599
NHS Highland	1,718	2,573	3,562	1,703	618	139
NHS Lanarkshire	222	50	12,294	673	2,076	374
NHS Lothian	148	322	5,639	0	1,237	4
NHS Orkney	47	8	1,004	58	40	28
NHS Shetland	38	0	0	98	37	62
NHS Tayside	169	3,865	2,539	288	0	529
NHS Western Isles	0	123	251	180	180	0
Special Health Boards	371	380	946	3,069	1,818	189
Total	5,969	18,585	50,716	9,254	13,007	5,698

	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
NHS Board	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s
NHS Argyll and Clyde	-	-	-	-	-	-
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	0	0	0	0	0	0
NHS Borders	3	0	0	43	0	0
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	16	50	70	30	14	53
NHS Fife	10	18	26	12	55	96
NHS Forth Valley	1,088	728	1,445	1,833	3,205	1,516
NHS Grampian	173	432	682	2,513	94	34
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	9,375	2,251	517	4,210	4,521	242
NHS Highland	203	154	231	634	63	336
NHS Lanarkshire	159	10	0	771	0	0
NHS Lothian	22	175	465	149	250	8
NHS Orkney	3	19	13	0	17	19
NHS Shetland	0	23	0	0	45	1
NHS Tayside	41	51	22	318	78	10
NHS Western Isles	200	199	0	0	0	0
Special Health Boards	224	876	149	213	1,251	298
Total	11,517	4,986	3,620	10,726	9,593	2,613

Prior to 2004-05, disposals of NHS land and property were disclosed in NHS Trust accounts.

Question reference: S5W-01582

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) NHS Lothian and (b) the Royal College of General Practitioners following reports that GP practices in Edinburgh are unable to recruit the GPs that they require.

NHS boards have various means of supporting independently contracted practices which request assistance. We expect health boards to work with practices as constructively and as flexibly as is appropriate to ensure that all patients have access to GP services.

NHS Lothian has made the Scottish Government aware of concerns around particular recruitment issues in Lothian which will be taken into account as the 2017 General Medical Services contract negotiations go forward.

The Scottish Government has had no discussions with the Royal College of General Practitioners following the recent reports, however the Scottish Government has ensured opportunities for engagement, particularly as part of a wider debate on the future of general practice, and are grateful for the contribution that the Royal College of General Practitioners has already made and look forward to continuing to engage with them, as well as with other stakeholders who share our common desire to further improve the quality of primary care services for the benefit of patients.

Over three years, the Scottish Government is investing £85 million, as part of the Primary Care Fund. As part of this, £2.5 million will be invested in work to explore with key stakeholders the issues surrounding GP recruitment and retention which can be particularly challenging in remote and rural areas. This will support a range of initiatives over the next two years including the development of a locum pool of retired GPs in Lothian.

Question reference: S5W-01663

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how much it costs Edinburgh City Council to host events linked to its capital city status.

The costs associated with hosting events is a matter for Edinburgh City Council, however, I can confirm that the Scottish Government is providing Edinburgh City Council with total funding in 2016-17 amounting to £786.3 million, which includes £11 million additional funding that Edinburgh receives through the new funding floor mechanism and £3.9 million in recognition of its position as capital city.

Question reference: S5W-01769

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 15 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its consultation, Mental Health in Scotland – a 10 year vision.

The Scottish Government is currently seeking views on the new Mental Health Strategy.

We published a paper on Friday 29 July 2016 which summarises our proposed priorities for the new Mental Health Strategy which will cover a 10 year period.

The paper can be viewed and downloaded at the Scottish Government’s Citizen Space website via the link below.

https://consult.scotland.gov.uk/mental-health-unit/mental-health-in-scotland-a-10-year-vision