Douglas Lumsden

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the project to reduce average rail journey times between Aberdeen and the central belt by 20 minutes by 2026, by how many minutes it now anticipates that journey times will be reduced in the timeframe allocated.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: There has been no change to the scope of the Aberdeen Central Belt Service Improvements Project.As regards project timelines, in January 2024, Ms McAllan, then Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Just Transition informed the Net Zero, Energy and Transport comm…

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recently declared critical incident at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, and the chief executive of NHS Grampian's reported comment that the factors causing a trigger point to declare a critical incident are becoming more common, whether it plans to allocate additional resources…

Answer · Neil Gray: We are working closely with NHS Grampian on the development of a sustainable plan to support improvements in capacity.We know that system wide capacity challenges are driving pressure on our Emergency Departments. To address this we have a clear plan to reduc…

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it will provide to NHS Grampian during the review of the recently declared critical incident.

Answer · Neil Gray: We continue to support and monitor all Health Boards to ensure all possible actions are being taken to support services and safeguard patient safety during the winter period. Planning for this winter builds on the effective measures which have supported our h…

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care last met the (a) chair, (b) chief executive and (c) board of NHS Grampian.

Answer · Neil Gray: Both Ministers and Scottish Government officials are in regular contact with senior representatives of all NHS Boards, including NHS Grampian.The Scottish Government has been working very closely with NHS Grampian in relation to the recent pressures on local …

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review its Health and Social Care Winter Preparedness Plan 2024-25, in light of the recently declared critical incident at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

Answer · Neil Gray: We know that this winter is one challenge for our health and social care system and recognise the impact of sustained pressure across our services during this time. We remain committed to supporting local systems to meet demand and deliver high quality servic…

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Foundation Year 2 doctors have (a) moved directly into and (b) been refused a place on speciality training, in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Neil Gray: While specialty training is required to qualify as a consultant on GP, not all doctors complete or immediately proceed to specialty training following Foundation training for a variety of reasons. General Medical Council data shows that on a UK-wide basis tak…

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is encouraging Foundation Year 2 doctors to (a) apply for and (b) start specialty training.

Answer · Neil Gray: Foundation Year 2 (FY2) doctors are encouraged to apply for and start specialty training through a range of initiatives that increase awareness and exposure to specific specialties, including educational and career events and targeted Foundation placements/pr…

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many hospitals still use a paper patient note system.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government does not request this information from hospitals regarding their individual systems and therefore does not hold it.Although the Scottish Government sets the regulatory guidelines as to how long health records should be retained, and wh…

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on what the impact of using paper patient notes in hospitals is on (a) patient outcomes and (b) mortality.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. This is a matter for individual NHS Boards. However, the digitisation of records remains a strategic priority and the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring all healthcare staff have access to the …

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Foundation Year 2 doctors are currently working in each NHS board.

Answer · Neil Gray: There are a total of 940 Foundation year 2 doctors working across all Health Boards as of 17 December 2024. This number will fluctuate daily due to trainees going out of programme or completing training. Please see the following table for further information.…

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many medical specialty training places, including core surgical training places, have been available across Scotland in each of the last five years.

Answer · Neil Gray: We have recruited to the following number of training posts each year for the past 5 years. Core Surgical TrainingAll specialties Posts AdvertisedPosts filledPosts advertisedPosts filled2019-204645113110422020-215454108810432021-224543111810492022-2…

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many medical specialty training places have been available in each NHS board in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Neil Gray: NHS Education for Scotland (NES) recruit to specialty training posts in Scotland as a whole, rather than recruiting to posts in individual Health Boards. Therefore, this data is not available from our recruitment reporting system.

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many medical specialty training places it anticipates will be available in each of the next five years.

Answer · Neil Gray: The allocation of medical specialty training places is made annually to ensure it meets the needs of the healthcare workforce, recognising that completion of specialty training can take a minimum of 3 to 8 years depending on the specialty. This process is ove…

12 Dec 2024 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the cost is of replacing a light (a) bulb and (b) fixture in the Parliament canteen.

Answer · Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB): The general maintenance of lighting is included within the building maintenance contract and only additional maintenance spends are on parts or replacements if they fail. The cost of bulb varies from fitting to fitting and is sourced through a wholesaler by t…

12 Dec 2024 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how much (a) honey and (b) wax was harvested from the Parliament's bees in each year of the last five years.

Answer · Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB): In the last 5 years, from January 2020 – January 2025, 144 jars of honey have been received and sold in the Parliament shop, each weighing 227g. The shop was completely closed from March 2020 – April 2022 and no honey was received or sold in that …

12 Dec 2024 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the total repair and maintenance cost for the Parliament building was in (a) 2024 and (b) each of the last five years.

Answer · Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB): Building maintenance of the site is carried out through two separate contracts. Noted below is both the planned and reactive/repair maintenance costs for the last 5 years for each contract. Overall total for both contracts being £8,117,010.95 excluding …

12 Dec 2024 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the total cost was of the recent replacement of the heating and window control systems in MSP offices in the Parliament building.

Answer · Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB): The works referred to in your question is part of an existing project to upgrade the Parliament’s Building and Energy Management System (BEMS). The BEMS is a business-critical tool which provides visibility and control of building services, principally …

12 Dec 2024 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the cost of maintaining the Parliament's bees has been in each of the last five years.

Answer · Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB): The total cost of maintaining the Parliament’s bees on-site for the last five years in total is £20,219.68. This includes the installation and maintenance of 15 beehives since March 2020.  The costs per year are given in the table below:&nbsp…

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of criminal cases in each of last five years have resulted in a plea agreement prior to trial.

Answer · Dorothy Bain: COPFS uses a live, operational database to manage the processing of reports submitted to Procurators Fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies throughout Scotland. It is designed to meet business needs in the processing of criminal cases, rather than …

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many criminal prosecutions the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has handled in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Dorothy Bain: The following table shows the number of criminal cases reported to COPFS with a first substantive marking for court proceedings.Number of accused in criminal cases reported to COPFS with aFirst Substantive Marking for court proceedings    …

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of cases have been referred to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) by Police Scotland in each of the last five years.

Answer · Dorothy Bain: The following table shows the percentage of criminal cases reported to COPFS by Police Scotland.Criminal cases reported to COPFS     - grouped by financial year reported       Financial year reported…

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many homicide cases are currently being prosecuted.

Answer · Dorothy Bain: As at 1 November 2024, there were 100 homicide cases being investigated, which includes cases which have been indicted and are awaiting trial. This figure does not include the number of cases with ongoing trials as this figure changes on a daily basis.

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the current average time is to prosecute a criminal case, broken down by court type.

Answer · Angela Constance: Since April 2023, the Scottish Government has published the median time from offence date to verdict date by court type. The most recent data covering 2023-24 reported in the Journey times in the Scottish Criminal Justice System: 2023-24 bulletin, shows the m…

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many extradition cases have been handled by the Lord Advocate in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Dorothy Bain: The following table details the extradition cases for the last 10 years in which COPFS have been involved. Extradition InExtradition OutTotal20141513618720151844122520161314417520171773621320181464719320191076417120201075215920218226108202294491432023967…

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many appeals against convictions have been handled by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in each year of the last five years. 

Answer · Dorothy Bain: All appeals against conviction, either in summary or solemn procedure, require to be lodged with court and intimated to COPFS. Not all appeals lodged pass sift and therefore not all progress to a hearing. Equally, not all appeals lodged are insisted upon. The…

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many corporate crime cases have been prosecuted by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in  each of the last five years.

Answer · Dorothy Bain: The following table details the charges reported to COPFS for the period 1 April 2019-31 March 2024 subsequently marked for court proceedings (prosecuted) – in cases where accused is recorded as a company. These figures are correct as at 17 December 202…

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has spent on expert witnesses in each of the last five years.

Answer · Dorothy Bain: The following table shows the costs incurred for expert witnesses in each of the last 5 years.2019-20£264,2252020-21£139,5402021-22£606,6512022-23£1,434,2272023-24£496,683

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the current average time taken to complete a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) is.

Answer · Dorothy Bain: The following table details the average times taken to complete a FAI, up to the conclusion of evidence. This does not include the average time of issue by the court of any determination, following an inquiry, the issue of which is the statutory definition of…

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions there have been for suspected environmental crime in each of the last five years.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database only contains information for offences that have records of at least one prosecution under which that offence was the main crime.The Environmental Regulation (Enforcement Measures) (Scotland) Order 2015 pr…

12 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases referred to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in the last five years have resulted in no further action being taken.

Answer · Dorothy Bain: The following table shows the number of criminal cases reported to COPFS that were marked for no further action in the period 1 April 2019 - 31 March 2024. The count is by case.Financial year marking appliedNo Further Action cases2019-202017,7342020-202116,43…