Craig Hoy

1 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many calls have been received by the long COVID support advice line, and how much funding has been allocated to the advice line through the long COVID Support Fund.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland indicate that as of the end of November 2022, a total of 3,444 referrals have been made to the charity’s long COVID Support Service since its inception in February 2021. Scottish Government funding of £156,924 has been made avai…

1 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how much funding has been awarded through the long COVID Support Fund, and to which sources.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: We have made an initial £3 million available from our £10m long COVID Support Fund over this financial year to provide NHS Boards and partners with additional resource to respond to the needs of people with long COVID in their areas. Territorial NHS Boards’ …

1 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government who produced NHS Scotland’s new National Digital Platform (NDP).

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The development of the National Digital Platform (NDP) is a core commitment from the joint SG/COSLA Digital Health and Care Strategy (2018). This strategy was refreshed in 2021. NHS Education for Scotland (NES) was commissioned as the lead delivery partner. …

1 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much NHS Scotland’s new National Digital Platform (NDP) cost to build.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12895 on 16 December 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-commit…

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what value of assets it expects to transfer from local authorities to the National Care Service, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government wants Local Government to continue in its role as a direct provider of social care services. This includes continuing to hold and invest in assets and employ staff directly. Ultimately decision on the role will be taken at a local leve…

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its preferred (a) geographical and (b) membership makeup of care boards in the National Care Service would be.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The method for the geographical and membership makeup of care boards will be considered as part of the collaborative design work with people who access and deliver health and care support, stakeholders and partners.

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to seek external legal advice on the transfer of staff to the National Care Service under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) regulations.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) / Cabinet Office Statement of Practice (COSOP) principles will apply if the delivery of services is transferred from local authorities to care boards. If that is the case, the TUPE process would be fo…

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it expects the transfer of staff to the National Care Service to cost under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) regulations.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: To support the Bill, provisions in the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill Financial Memorandum sets out an assumption of the range of required investments in pay and terms and conditions for frontline local government care staff, if all staff were to trans…

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it estimates the value of any liabilities, including pensions, to be of any staff transferred to the National Care Service.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: We are in the process of commissioning expert pensions advice in relation the National Care Service proposal. We have received bids and hope to award the contract shortly. Once the contract is in place full details will be made publicly available.

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether only local authority staff will potentially be transferred to the National Care Service, and not NHS staff, and, if so, what the reasons are for this.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The answer to this question is set out in Paragraph 48 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill Policy Memorandum. This can be accessed at: https://www.parliament.scot/bills-and-laws/bills/national-care-service-scotland-bill/introduced

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether Anne’s Law will be included in legislation related to the National Care Service.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Provisions related to Anne's Law are included within the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill.

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to repeal any elements of the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 as part of its plans to create a National Care Service.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Under the National Care Service, local care boards will replace the current integration authorities in planning and delivering integrated health and social care services at the local level. We therefore intend to bring forward an amendment to the Bill to prov…

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much the process of co-design for the National Care Service will cost.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: A Financial Memorandum was published alongside the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill which sets out a range of costs that could be incurred within the establishment and running of the NCS. This included anticipated costs for co-design. For people partici…

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will determine which local government assets to transfer to the National Care Service.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12831 on 15 December 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-commit…

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to compensate local authorities for the loss of any staff who are transferred to the National Care Service.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Paragraph 48 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill Policy Memorandum refers to this. This can be accessed at: https://www.parliament.scot/bills-and-laws/bills/national-care-service-scotland-bill/introduced Once the structure and governance of care b…

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government who will be invited to participate in the process of co-design for the National Care Service.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: To support the collaborative co-design we launched registration to Lived Experience Experts Panel and Stakeholder Register on 22 September 2022. Further information and registration details can be accessed at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/design-the-nat…

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will pay market rates to local authorities for any assets transferred to the National Care Service.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12831 on 15 December 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-commit…

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill, for what reasons it determined that the period of a strategic plan by the Scottish Ministers must not exceed three years, and how it arrived at that decision.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The National Care Service (Scotland) Bill requires Ministers to have a strategic plan if they are delivering, or arranging for the delivery of, national services. In order to ensure that national services remain aligned with changing population need it is im…

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many members of staff it expects to transfer from local authorities to the National Care Service, broken down by each local authority.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The answer to this question is set out in Paragraph 48 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill Policy Memorandum. This can be accessed at: https://www.parliament.scot/bills-and-laws/bills/national-care-service-scotland-bill/introduced

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what length of time it expects the transfer of staff to the National Care Service to take under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) regulations.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Paragraph 48 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill Policy Memorandum sets out the local decisions required. This can be accessed at: https://www.parliament.scot/bills-and-laws/bills/national-care-service-scotland-bill/introduced These local decision…

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will inherit any local authority liabilities in relation to any assets transferred to the National Care Service.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12831 on 15 December 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-commit…

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to undertake the process of co-design for the National Care Service.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: We are committed to working collaboratively to design the National Care Service with people, stakeholders and partners. We published a document on the National Care Service and the co-design process on 21 June 2022. This can be accessed at: https://www.gov.s…

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its preferred method is of making appointments to care boards in the National Care Service.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The method for appointments to care boards will be considered as part of the collaborative design work with people who access and deliver health and care support, stakeholders and partners.

22 Nov 2022 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it still plans to launch a National Care Service in the current parliamentary session.

8 Nov 2022 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to expand rail infrastructure in the South Scotland region.

12 Oct 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the Audit Scotland report, Self-directed support: 2017 progress report, which of the recommendations were (a) completed in full, (b) partly completed and (c) not completed.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Audit Scotland’s 2017 progress report made seven recommendations for the Scottish Government. Since then, two of the recommendations have been completed in full, four have been partially completed and one has not been completed. The SDS Implementation Plan 2…

5 Oct 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether its evaluation of minimum unit pricing will take into account any changes to excise duty.

Answer · Maree Todd: We are currently in the process of evaluating minimum unit pricing (MUP) as a whole over its first five years of operation. Public Health Scotland will be producing a final report on MUP in 2023, which will inform our evaluation report which will be laid in P…

28 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what legal protections are in place to ensure that disabled people are safe from any disability discrimination during the employment seeking process. 

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government has no functions concerning the legal protections in place to protect disabled people from disability discrimination during the employment-seeking process. These functions are reserved to the UK Parliament, as set out in Section 5 of t…

22 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the current dentist capacity is in the South Scotland region.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally, however each NHS Board will hold information on dental capacity for their respective areas. We remain in a position of relative strength in terms of workforce numbers and capacity in Scotland,…

22 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to support communities that are currently without a local dentist surgery to obtain one.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government is committed to improving access to NHS dental services, which is why we have included several areas in the Scottish Dental Access Initiative grant (SDAI). This financial grant enables dentists to open a new or expand an existing denta…