Questions and answers

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 ��˿�� 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-10632

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government��how much it has cost each local authority to��means test social care services for people over 65 in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S5W-10640

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government��what plans it has to��publish a new respiratory prescribing strategy.

Question reference: S5W-10631

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much each hospital charges patients to access television.

Question reference: S5W-10735

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to research by the group, Equality Here, Now, which suggests that 0.85% of the NHS workforce identifies as being disabled.

Question reference: S5W-10736

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support more people who identify as being disabled to work in the health service, and what guidance it provides to NHS boards on employing more disabled people.

Question reference: S5W-10702

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the opening of the new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh has been delayed; what the reasons are for this, and what action it is taking to ensure that further delays will be avoided.

The Scottish Government having discussed the situation with NHS Lothian understand the Board's decision to delay opening of the new hospital.

Their decision has been made in order to protect the commissioning period to ensure that the new facility is fully safe and ready to accept patients and staff. This follows their recent review of construction progress and quality. During any commissioning period there are significant works to carry out such as fully equipping the hospital, staff recruitment familiarisation and induction, snagging where required, testing of equipment and facilities and adequately stocking of the hospital. The Board wish to ensure a smooth transition of their clinical teams to the new facility reducing any risk to patient and staff safety.

The Scottish Government will be working closely with the Board to ensure that no further delays arise and agree with the Board's decision at this point in time not to set a definite specific revised date for opening. NHS Lothian will be closely monitoring the situation over the next few weeks and once they have certainty, will release a new opening date.

Question reference: S5W-10636

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 31 August 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many attacks on NHS staff have been reported to the police in each year since 1999.

The information requested is not held centrally, as police crime statistics do not in general refer to the complainer’s employer.

Depending on the nature of any attack, Police Scotland will record the appropriate crime or offence. For NHS staff this could include common assault of an emergency worker, however this measure will also include assaults against those working in Police and Fire services.

The 2015 NHS Scotland staff survey found a reduction in the number of staff who had experienced a physical attack since 2008. However any violence or aggression against NHSScotland staff is unacceptable and we have policies in place to provide and continuously improve a safe working environment. Details can be found at the following link:-

Question reference: S5O-01217

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to expand GP services in Lothian.

Question reference: S5W-10644

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 24 August 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many foreign language assistants there have been in the Lothian parliamentary region in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

The Scottish Government supports the work of the British Council in Scotland and values the contribution Modern Language Assistants, as native speakers, make to the language learning experience of our pupils.

The figures available, and supplied by British Council Scotland, include independent schools and cover the period 2002-2017. Those prior to 2002 are not available. Numbers for the 2017-18 school year are not yet available.

Authority

Year

��	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-6	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
��	��	��	��	��	��	��	��	��
East Lothian	3	5	5	7	6	7	3	1
Edinburgh	17	41	44	41	41	41	41	39
Midlothian	5	8	8	5	5	3	3	0
West Lothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	25	54	57	53	52	51	47	40
��	��	��	��	��	��	��	��	��

Authority

Year

��	2010-2011	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18
��	��	��	��	��	��	��	��	��
East Lothian	0	0	1	0	1	9	3	TBC
Edinburgh	27	26	28	32	28	24	24	TBC
Midlothian	0	0	0	0	1	6	5	TBC
West Lothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	TBC
TOTAL	27	26	29	32	30	39	32	TBC

Question reference: S5W-10625

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 24 August 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of babies have been��fully immunised in each year since 1999.

Immunisation uptake rates are routinely published by age 12 months and 24 months for the full course of each individual primary and booster vaccine. Calendar year data since 1995 are available on the ISD website at: (Trends in immunisation uptake by quarter, calendar and financial year - Scotland - tables 5 and 6).

The convention for reporting childhood immunisation uptake rates in Scotland and the rest of the UK is by measuring uptake of the full course of each vaccine individually. The information is collated in this way to assess levels of protection against the spread of specific infectious diseases through the routine immunisation programme.