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: S4W-25562

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 26 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how changes to the welfare system are affecting people with hepatitis C.

There has been significant reform to the welfare system by the UK Government since the publication of the first Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Framework document. HIV Scotland and Hepatitis Scotland published a joint report in 2014 on the impact of welfare reform on people living with HIV and hepatitis in Scotland. The report concluded: “the welfare reforms being implemented at a UK level are not appropriate in a Scottish context, and not at all suitable for people with blood borne viruses. The reforms are causing significant uncertainty and anxiety, worsening the mental and physical health of people in grave need, and adding to the burden carried by specialist services that are already stretched and oversubscribed.”

Question reference: S4W-25557

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 26 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on screening pregnant women for hepatitis C.

The Scottish Government takes its advice on screening policy from the National Screening Committee, the body of independent experts appointed to provide advice on all screening matters to ministers and the NHS in the four UK nations. The National Screening Committee’s current advice is that screening pregnant women for hepatitis C is not currently recommended. Therefore there are currently no plans to screen pregnant women for hepatitis C.

Question reference: S4W-25559

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 26 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what information and training is provided to GPs to help identify people with undiagnosed hepatitis C.

Through the Hepatitis C Action Plan the Scottish Government invested in the training of NHS staff around hepatitis C. In response to action point 3 of the action plan, NHS Education Scotland (NES) developed Hepatitis C Workforce Education Development: An Outline of Requirements in 2010. The purpose of this document was to support NHS boards in building action plans for facilitating, delivering and evaluating workforce education development for staff. NES also published A Route to Enhanced Competence in Hepatitis C in 2010, which provided staff and their supervisor/manager with a structured approach to assessing, demonstrating and developing their ability to carry out their role in delivering hepatitis C services. NES continues to provide a range of educational materials on blood borne viruses.

In addition the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidance Network has produced clinical guidance on the management of hepatitis C, which was most recently updated in 2013, which also covers primary care.

Throughout the life of the Hepatitis C Action Plan there was a significant increase in testing for hepatitis C within primary care, reflecting an increasing knowledge and awareness of the infection by GP practices.

Question reference: S4W-25560

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 26 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on each NHS board having a champion to deal with hepatitis C.

As a result of the Hepatitis C Action Plan every NHS board was provided with funding to establish a number of leadership posts for hepatitis C. These posts still remain and every NHS board currently has a clinical lead, a prevention lead, an executive lead who is responsible for overall funding and delivery, and a Managed Care Network coordinator who is responsible for ensuring the care pathways across each NHS board are in place. All of these roles are supported by national networks which meet regularly, and the Scottish Government is directly involved, through attendance, at these meetings.

Question reference: S4W-25513

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what impact setting a cap on the Access to Work fund would have on disabled people in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has asked the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for reassurances regarding what the impact on people with disabilities in Scotland will be as a result of capping the support available through the Access to Work scheme.

Based on present delivery DWP assess that the number of individuals likely to be affected in Scotland is small.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with DWP to better understand the future impact of these changes in Scotland and to press for assurance that those affected receive the support they require.

Question reference: S4F-02801

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 May 2015

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to allow more disabled people to access modern apprenticeships.

Question reference: S4W-25213

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 28 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce legislation to ensure that proposed new developments do not hide, encroach on or have other negative impacts on buildings or sites of historic importance.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to introduce legislation in this regard. The current legislation is:

Historic Environment Scotland Act 2014

Historic Environment Amendment (Scotland) Act 2011

Planning (Historic Building and Conservation Areas)(Scotland) Act 1997

The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 (UK legislation)

Planning legislation, as set out in the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 and the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006, requires that all planning applications developments are determined in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Scottish Planning Policy sets out that the siting and design of development should take account of all aspects of the historic environment.

Question reference: S4T-01002

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 April 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what help it can give to the people of Nepal affected by the recent earthquake and what assistance it can give to the Nepalese community in Scotland.

Question reference: S4O-04246

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 April 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with the development of the new Aberdeen women’s hospital and cancer care centre.

Question reference: S4W-25211

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what role Historic Scotland plays in ensuring that proposed new developments do not hide, encroach on or have other negative impacts on buildings or sites of historic importance.

Historic Scotland has a role as statutory consultee in the planning system. It is the Scottish Government’s executive agency tasked with providing advice and guidance to planning authorities, developers and others on potential impacts of development on the historic environment. This role can include advising on new development affecting the setting of buildings or sites of historic importance.

In its role as a statutory consultee, Historic Scotland provides advice to local planning authorities on the impacts of change in the historic environment. Historic Scotland can formally object to a planning application if it considers that the new development would have a serious adverse impact on nationally important category A-listed buildings, scheduled monuments, sites on the Inventory of Historic Battlefields and Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, and the outstanding universal value of World Heritage Sites. This can either be an adverse impact directly on the building, monument or site, or on its setting, or both. An objection must be lodged at the consultation stage, prior to the planning authority determining the planning application. If the planning authority then decides to grant planning permission, while there remains an objection from Historic Scotland, the application must be notified to the Scottish Ministers (other than for inventory gardens and designed landscapes) to consider whether or not to call in the application for their own determination.