Chamber and committees

The Scottish National Investment Bank will have a pay and terms and conditions framework that takes into account its business needs for recruitment and retention.

In line with other UK development banks and financial services institutions the Scottish National Investment Bank will enrol all new hires in a Defined Contribution pension scheme. Any staff who transfer to the Bank, as part of a TUPE or Cabinet Office Statement of Practice (COSoP) transfer will have their pension rights protected under the “Fair Deal” for Pensions provisions.

The Bank Programme Team have been working with the Scottish Government Remuneration Group to agree specific exceptions and adaptations that will allow the Bank to operate within the overall Public Sector Pay Policy envelope, while ensuring it can attract and retain staff with the skills, attributes and experience required to deliver on the Bank’s missions.

The new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh is estimated to cost £414.6 million for the design, build and operation over the 25 year lifetime of the contract.

In September, I published the review of governance by KPMG which found that the main issue with ventilation in critical care stemmed from an error in a document produced by NHS Lothian at the tender stage in 2012. It also concludes that opportunities to spot and rectify the error were missed.

I have announced a public inquiry which will be held to examine issues at both the RHCYP and QEUH. The inquiry will determine how vital issues relating to ventilation and other key building systems occurred, and what steps can be taken to prevent this being repeated in future NHS infrastructure projects.

Charities play a key role in civil society and we welcome the insight and challenge they bring to public policy. The Scottish Government welcomes this debate and challenge, and see it as an essential part of the democratic process.

Charities can campaign on political issues to advance their charitable purposes, including during electoral periods, as long as the requirements of charity law, and where necessary electoral law, are met.

However, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 makes clear that a body will not meet the charity test if it is, or one of its purposes is to advance, a political party.

Decisions on working hours are set by individual employers within the public sector.

Our Fair Work Action Plan sets out the range of action we will take to embed fair working practices in Scottish workplaces including flexibility of working hours. While employment law remains reserved to the UK Government, our approach is built on collaboration, engagement, and using our wider powers and policies to exert strategic influence.

We expect public bodies, along with the Scottish Government, to lead the way on Fair Work. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work wrote to public bodies in August, encouraging them to work with their trade union partners to adopt fair working practices.

We will continue to call for the devolution of employment law. This is the best way to achieve our vision of Scotland being a fair work nation by 2025.

The table containing the answer to this question has placed in The Parliament’s Information Centre (bib number 61177).

The Public Sector Pay Policy is continuing the journey since the 1 per cent cap was lifted, through its progressive focus on fairness, sustainability and value for money.

The Scottish Government’s approach diverges positively from that of the UK Government, ensuring that over 70 per cent of staff covered directly by our Public Sector Pay Policy received an increase of at least three per cent this year, with targeted measures like the £750 cash underpin further narrowing the restoration gap for the very lowest paid.

Looking to next year we are trying to plan the Scottish Budget and Public Sector Pay Policy amidst the uncertainty of Brexit and the cancelled UK Budget, and welcome the close, on-going engagement we have with trade unions to inform our approach.

As indicated in response to S5O-03674, it is important that we give further consideration to those reports. This is a serious issue and the proper process requires careful review of selected patient cases. We therefore need to establish which cases require review and, importantly, to identify individuals with the required knowledge, authority, standing and independence to carry that out. Health Board accountable officers discussed the matter at their October meeting. I have asked NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to propose a means, scope and timeline for that review to be conducted, with assurance from the Accountable Officers group and the Chief Medical Officer that that is the required level of response to determine the basis of the reports.

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

Earlier this year I asked that a short-life working group be set up to examine the present course of care for women who experience mesh complications. The group agreed a remit to consider what additional steps could be taken to offer choice to women who want – and are clinically suitable for – removal of mesh. The group further agreed to review and identify areas of best practice in the United Kingdom and beyond, and if not already available, consider how these can be provided in Scotland. The group's remit is set out in more detail in response to S5W-23623 on 6 June 2019.

Given the action already taken by the Scottish Government, it is not clear what a public inquiry would achieve.

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 .