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-23582

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to NHS boards that have a budget deficit.

All NHS boards have a statutory requirement to deliver a balanced financial outturn and have an agreed financial plan with the Scottish Government to deliver this.

Where an NHS board is experiencing financial challenges the Scottish Government has a well establish cycle of performance management and will, if necessary agree a package of tailored support. The format of that support is dependent upon the particular circumstances behind the challenges the board faces.

Question reference: S4W-21912

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 18 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when the peer approved clinical system will replace the individual patient treatment request system.

Changes to access to medicines policy have already been introduced and hundreds more patients throughout Scotland are already accessing new treatments.

The interim individual patient treatment request system was introduced in 2013-14, and brought greater flexibility which has seen a significant increase in the number of applications and approvals to the new system.

Due to this substantial increase in patients accessing new treatments, and ahead of a body of Scottish Medicines Consortium decisions which will reduce reliance on individual requests, we are planning to carefully pilot the rollout of the Peer Approved Clinical System early in 2015 to ensure that it does not reduce this increase in access to treatments through changes already made.

Question reference: S4O-03848

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how local government services impact on various social groups.

Question reference: S4W-23328

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 3 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what the average rate of pay is for ratings employed on ferries chartered from Seatruck on the (a) Northern Isles and (b) Clyde and Hebrides ferry route and what (i) employment and (ii) pension rights they have.

Question reference: S4W-23339

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 3 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the seafarers employed on the ferry services chartered from Seatruck are Scottish.

Question reference: S4W-23324

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 3 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that seafarers on vessels contracted by Transport Scotland receive the (a) rate of pay, (b) pension rights and (c) terms and conditions of employment agreed through the ferry industry's collective bargaining process.

The Scottish Government has public service contracts with operating companies to provide ferry services in the, Clyde, Hebrides and Northern Isles. The operating companies are responsible under the contracts for providing the vessel crew and for setting the rates of pay, pension rights and terms of conditions of employment for the seafarers they employ. However, the Scottish Government is currently exploring to what extent it can legitimately, in compliance with EU law, include matters relating to seafarers’ rates of pay, pension rights and terms and conditions of employment in the public service contracts.

Question reference: S4W-23327

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 3 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) ratings and (b) officers are employed on ferries chartered on the (i) Northern Isles and (ii) Clyde and Hebrides ferry route.

Operators of the Northern Isles and Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services (CHFS) sub-contract with Seatruck on a time charter basis to provide freight services on these networks. As the Scottish Government does not contract with Seatruck to provide ferry services on the Northern Isles or the CHFS ferry routes, this information is not held.

The Scottish Government has public service contracts with operating companies to provide ferry services in the Northern Isles and Clyde and Hebrides Islands. The number of crew required to man each vessel is a matter for the operating company, therefore this information is not held by Scottish Government.

Question reference: S4W-23325

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 3 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that contracts for ferry services chartered by Transport Scotland stipulate that the owners of the vessels must abide by the (a) rates of pay, (b) pension rights and (c) terms and conditions of employment agreed through the ferry industry's collective bargaining process.

The Scottish Government has public service contracts with operating companies to provide ferry services in the Northern Isles and Clyde and Hebrides Islands. The owners of the vessels operating on these routes, Royal Bank of Scotland and Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd respectively, lease these vessels to the operating companies. Under these arrangements, it is the operating companies who are the employers of the crew.

Operators of the Northern Isles and Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services may also sub-contract with other operators for vessels on a time charter basis to provide freight services. Under these arrangements, it is the sub-contracted operating companies who are responsible for the crewing of the vessels. The Scottish Government ensures that its contracts with the operators for the Northern Isles and Clyde and Hebrides ferry services comply with relevant EU, UK and Scots law and regulations, including those relating to rates of pay, pension rights and terms of conditions. The Scottish Government is currently exploring to what extent it can legitimately, in compliance with EU law, include matters relating to seafarers’ rates of pay, pension rights and terms and conditions of employment in the public service contracts.

Question reference: S4W-23326

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 3 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has cost to charter ferries on the (a) Northern Isles and (b) Clyde and Hebrides ferry route in each year since 1993-94.

Question reference: S4W-23331

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 3 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what the total value is of the contract for each ferry service chartered from Seatruck, also broken down by how much has been spent on each to date.