- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 29 November 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how it will attract new maths teachers, given reports from the Scottish Funding Council that only 47% of student maths teacher positions were filled in 2017.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-12808 on 23 November 2017. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 28 November 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect NHS staff, in light of reported figures showing a 46% increase in incidents of verbal or physical aggression against NHS Tayside staff.
Answer
Any violence or aggression against NHSScotland staff is unacceptable and we have policies in place to provide a continuously improving and safe working environment. We encourage NHSScotland Boards to commit to supporting appropriate action, including pursuing criminal prosecution where appropriate, against anyone who assaults a staff member.
Specific legislation is in place to protect clinical staff working both in our hospitals and in the community from harm. Additionally, the Staff Governance Standard for NHS Scotland commits all Boards to promoting the health and wellbeing of staff, patients and the wider community.
NHS Tayside have advised that they have locally implemented policies in place dealing with Aggression and Violence Management, and Lone Working. The Board also has plans to launch a public awareness campaign ‘Respect us’ in January 2018 reaffirming that acts of violence or aggression towards staff members will not be tolerated.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 November 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take regarding the anticipated increase in rail traffic around the Christmas holiday periodto ensure that there is minimal inconvenience for passengers.
Answer
ScotRail is required through the Franchise Agreement to manage the delivery of rail services, to accommodate the anticipated increase in rail traffic around the Christmas holiday period.
Over this period, ScotRail will be providing four additional services on the Edinburgh to Glasgow route on Friday evenings/early Saturday mornings, each with six carriages, commencing 25 November. ScotRail will also be providing more carriages on rail services across Scotland on Friday evenings and across the day on Saturday and Sunday. This is equivalent to nearly 100,000 additional seats.
ScotRail will communicate the above to customers through the normal channels – website, press release, social media platforms etc.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 27 November 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take regarding reports that over a quarter of patients awaiting cataract surgery are not seenwithin the waiting time target.
Answer
We are taking significant action to reduce waits for all patients including those waiting for cataract surgery. I recognise that some patients are experiencing long waits, which is why the Scottish Government announced at the end of August £150 million funding over the next 3 years to support reduction on hospital waiting times of which £50 million has been allocated to NHS Boards in the current year. I expect to see improvement in waiting time improvement for all parts of the patient journey including for cataract surgery between now and end of March next year.
I launched last week the new Access Collaborative Programme which is a different way to bring patients, clinicians, and other NHS staff together to look at ways patients can receive timely accessible care. The programme will reduce planned waiting times by improving communications between staff working in the community and in hospitals to identify the right clinician and treatment, and streamline patient care to minimise or eliminate unnecessary processes.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 24 November 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how it will respond to reports that schools in rural areasare far less likely than urban schools to receive aid from the Pupil Equity Fund due toits definition of poverty.
Answer
Through the Scottish Attainment Challenge we have committed £750 million over the course of this parliament to close the poverty related attainment gap for our pupils from the most deprived areas. This funding includes £120m of Pupil Equity funding in 2017-18 which has extended the reach of the Scottish Attainment Challenge to every local authority in Scotland and provides additional resources to the majority of schools in rural communities. The funding has been allocated on the basis of pupils in P1-S3 known to be eligible for free school meals, a recognised proxy for families affected by poverty. There is a higher proportion of smaller schools in rural areas and this may impact on the amount of Pupil Equity Funding a schools receives. We would encourage local authorities and schools to ensure all those families eligible for free school meals are registered.
We are committed to developing national programmes to further extend the reach of the Scottish Attainment Challenge and are engaging with stakeholders to consider the impact of rural deprivation on attainment.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Derek Mackay on 24 November 2017
To ask the Scottish Government, in light ofScotland’s shop vacancy rates reportedly being higher than the rest of the UK, and average household spending reportedlydecreasing,what its position is on raising taxes, and what impact raising taxes would have on (a) household spending and (b) economic and business growth.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to competitive business rates and took action to reduce bills in light of the 2017 revaluation. The Scottish Government published the 'The Role of Income Tax in Scotland's Budget' report and it makes clear that any new income tax policy must support the economy. The impact of any tax change will depend on the scale of the tax change and the economic circumstances at the time.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2017
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 29 November 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to
recruit and retain GPs in NHS Ayrshire and Arran.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 29 November 2017
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 November 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how many ferries were delayed due to (a) fog and (b) wind in winter 2016-17, and how the number of delays due to technical issues in that period comparedwith those arising from the weather conditions.
Answer
Our ferry Public Service Contracts recognise that there are certain events which are not within the control of the operator, where it would be unreasonable to apply performance deductions to the operator. This is termed a “Relief Event”, and includes sailings cancelled or delayed due to bad weather in line with safety procedures, delays due to unavailability or operational restrictions of harbour facilities. It is recorded where a sailing has been delayed due to inclement weather but the specific element(s), for example a) fog or b) wind, of inclement weather involved are not detailed.
Total weather related delays for winter 2016-17 (24 October 2016 to 30 March 2017 inclusive) are detailed below;
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CalMac Ferries Ltd – 450 or 0.94% of scheduled sailings.
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Serco NorthLink Ferries – 99 or 11.20% of scheduled sailings.
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Argyll Ferries Ltd – 7 or 0.08% of scheduled sailings.*
Total technical delays for winter 2016/17 (24 October 2016 to 30 March 2017 inclusive) are as follows;
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Calmac Ferries Ltd – 72 or 0.15% of scheduled sailings.
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Serco NorthLink Ferries – 2 or 0.23% of scheduled sailings.
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Argyll Ferries Ltd – 20 or 0.24% of scheduled sailings.*
*The low percentage of weather and technical delays can be attributed to the Scottish Ministers decision to deploy the MV Coruisk on the route over the winter period.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 November 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 November 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has allocated to (a) increasing the number of and (b) maintaining electric vehicle charging points.
Answer
Since 2011 the Scottish Government has allocated over £15 million for the provision of electric vehicle charge points. Part of this funding includes provision of warranties to cover the maintenance and repair of these charge points.
Future spend on charging points will be determined in the budget.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 November 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 November 2017
To ask the Scottish Government, in light ofthefindings of the Audit Scotland report, Transport Scotland’s ferry services, whether itwill provide a breakdown ofthe difference between the original contracted non-fuel subsidy payments and the actual non-fuel subsidy payments for each contract year.
Answer
The following table details both the original contracted non-fuel subsidy payment and the actual non-fuel subsidy payments from Contract Year 1 to Contract Year 6 of the Public Service Contract between the Scottish Ministers and Argyll Ferries Ltd.
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Original Contracted Non-fuel Subsidy
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Actual Non-fuel Subsidy
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Contract Year 1
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£1,358,199
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£1,307,617
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Contract Year 2
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£1,215,330
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£1,289,846
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Contract Year 3
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£1,417,344
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£2,858,961
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Contract Year 4
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£1,427,512
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£3,145,458
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Contract Year 5
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£1,428,332
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£2,907,842
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Contract Year 6
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£1,473,386
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Not received
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There are a variety of reasons that contribute to differences between the initial contracted subsidy amount and the actual subsidy amount. One reason arising is that during the lifetime of the contract, maintenance and fuel costs have increased. Another reason being contract variations implemented, such as the charter of the MV Coruisk to improve winter reliability and the related replacement bus service. The details of these costs and their variances from original contracted subsidy are commercially sensitive to the operator.
