Elaine Smith

18 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will establish the consultative forums for ferry service stakeholders on the Clyde and Hebrides network and whether these will (a) include (i) passenger groups, (ii) trade unions, (iii) ferry service operators, (iv) local politicians and (v) Transport Scotland and (b) discuss the…

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There are currently four Ferry User Groups in place across the Clyde and Hebrides network. These are the Clyde Ferry User Group, Argyll Ferry User Group, Lochaber, Small Isles and Skye Ferry User Group and the Hebrides Ferry User Group. Discussions between Tr…

18 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has cost to maintain the MV (a) Helliar and (b) Hildasay in each year since 2002.

Answer · Keith Brown: The MV Helliar and the MV Hildesay have only operated on the Northern Isles ferry service since February 2010 and January 2011. Under the current public service contract in respect of the Northern Isles ferry services, the operator time charters the MV Helli…

18 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has cost to maintain the MV (a) Hrossey, (b) Hjaltland and (c) Hamnavoe in each year since 2011.

Answer · Keith Brown: The annual grant figure paid in respect of the Northern Isles Ferry Service covers a range of items including vessel maintenance and is available in the Scottish Transport Statistics and be found by following the link below http://www.transportscotland.gov.u…

11 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to schools that are taking part in the Pathways process for looked after children.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Support for schools taking part in the Pathways process comes from local authorities and local authorities will have their own guidelines on inter-agency working in order to achieve the best outcomes for looked after children. Currently the Supporting Young …

11 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which schools in North Lanarkshire are involved in the Pathways process for looked after children.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government does not keep statistics on the number of schools in North Lanarkshire involved in the Pathways process for looked after children. The Supporting Young People Leaving Care in Scotland Regulations and Guidance 2003 sets out local autho…

11 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many schools are involved in the Pathways process for looked after children.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government does not keep statistics on how many schools are involved in the Pathways process for looked after children. The Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill defines who will be corporate parents, including schools and their duties in re…

11 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities have received funding in support of the Pathways process for looked after children.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-20097 on 26 March 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentaryb…

11 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding is available to local authorities in support of the Pathways process for looked after children.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government is fully committed to an approach which focusses public service attention on prevention rather than cure. Our approach encourages greater use of evidence to prioritise and deliver performance improvements, and empowers and develops peo…

11 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the fairness of allowing police misconduct hearings to be carried out in-house without the scrutiny of an independent court and whether it considers that this is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Police Service of Scotland (Conduct) Regulations 2013 are only one part of a broader system for the determination of cases of alleged misconduct by constables. This includes access to independent police appeals tribunals and the ordinary courts in appropr…

11 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether police officers charged with alleged misconduct under the Police Service of Scotland (Conduct) Regulations 2013 have the right to a fair hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal as per Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Police Service of Scotland (Conduct) Regulations 2013 are only one part of a broader system for the determination of cases of alleged misconduct by constables. This includes access to independent police appeals tribunals and the ordinary courts in appropr…

11 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that any public sector worker's correct reporting of inappropriate conduct by their employer should be protected in the same way that NHS whistleblowers are to be protected.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 amended the Employment Rights Act 1996 and gives all workers who raise genuine whistleblowing concerns protection from detriment by any act or any deliberate failure to act by their employer. There are robust protectio…

11 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) other public sector workers and (b) Police Scotland employees will be afforded the same protections in relation to whistleblowing as NHS staff.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) 1998 amended the Employment Rights Act 1996 and gives all workers who raise genuine whistleblowing concerns protection from detriment by any act or any deliberate failure to act by their employer. There are robust pr…

11 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when protections will be put in place to protect NHS whistleblowers.

Answer · Alex Neil: Robust protections for NHSScotland whistleblowers are already in place. Each health board has a whistleblowing policy based on the national model Implementing and Reviewing Whistleblowing Arrangements in NHSScotland PIN Policy, published in December 2011. Th…

11 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish Police Federation is legally bound to (a) act in the public interest and (b) not carry out professional misconduct and, if not, whether it is considering introducing such legislation.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The statutory remit of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), as set out in the Police Act 1996, is the welfare and efficiency of police officers and the Scottish Government has no plans to change this. Any SPF member who is a constable is subject to the Polic…

11 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the possible impact on police services, whether it has discussed with the Scottish Police Federation (a) what the federation's views are on the findings of and (b) whether the federation plans to set up an inquiry similar to the independent review of the Police Federation of…

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government has not discussed the Police Federation independent review with the Scottish Police Federation. The operation and structure of the Scottish Police Federation, beyond what is laid out in the Police Federation (Scotland) Regulations 2013…

10 Feb 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the Scottish Crime Campus at Gartcosh in Coatbridge and Chryston will be operational.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Crime Campus will be operational at the end of March 2014. The construction project, which started in 2009 with the purchase of the land from Scottish Enterprise, has been delivered on time and under budget.

6 Jan 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what importance it places on the provision of low vision aids.

15 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reports that it has not considered over 4,000 responses to the consultation on the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill and whether it will provide an analysis of these responses to the Equal Opportunities Committee prior to it completing its stage 1 rep…

Answer · Alex Neil: We have written to the Equal Opportunities Committee about this matter. Our letter is available on the Parliament’s website at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/S4_EqualOpportunitiesCommittee/General%20Documents/13-10-11_SG__MCPBill.pdf We have advised …

20 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the £9.9 million reduction in the Clean Hospitals/MRSA Screening Programme budget in the 2014–15 draft budget will affect NHS patients; what the reason is for the reduction, and how it will affect hospitals in Lanarkshire.

Answer · Alex Neil: This budget reflects a rolling programme, where a number of major investments have already been made to embed good practice across NHS boards, as demonstrated by the very significant reductions in cases of healthcare associated infection (HAI) that have been …

13 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is giving to Lanarkshire hospitals following recent reports of increased mortality rates.

Answer · Alex Neil: As announced on 27 August Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) has been commissioned by the Scottish Government to lead a review to look at the reasons and causes behind NHS Lanarkshire’s pattern of Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios. The Scottish Gover…

13 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the NHS budget it has allocated to NHS Lanarkshire in 2013-14.

Answer · Alex Neil: In 2013-14, NHS Lanarkshire’s initial resource allocation was £865.1 million which was 10.78% of the total baseline budget allocated to NHS territorial boards.

13 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has allocated to each NHS board in each of the last three financial years.

Answer · Alex Neil: Over the last three years, the baseline allocation of NHS boards has been: NHS Board Baseline Allocations 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 £ms £ms £ms NHS Ayrshire and Arran 574.7 586.9 603.4 NHS Borders 167.3 170.7 175.4 NHS Dumfries and Galloway …

13 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it calculates budget allocations for NHS boards.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Resource Allocation formula is used in the allocation of around 70% of the total NHS budget between the 14 territorial NHS boards in Scotland. This provides funding to NHS boards for the provision of hospital and community health services and GP …

26 Jun 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government under what circumstances Transport Scotland can terminate the 2012-18 contract with Serco for Northern Isles ferry services before the contract ends.

Answer · Keith Brown: Section 52 of the Northern Isles ferry services contract sets out the provisions whereby the contract may be terminated. The Northern Isle Ferry Services Contract is available on the Transport Scotland website.

26 Jun 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what correspondence it has received from (a) students and (b) the National Union of Students regarding Serco’s decision to increase fares for students on Northern Isles ferry services.

Answer · Keith Brown: None.

26 Jun 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what correspondence it has received from pensioner groups regarding Serco’s decision to increase fares for pensioners on Northern Isles ferry services.

Answer · Keith Brown: None.

26 Jun 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what correspondence it has received from schools regarding Serco’s decision to increase fares for school pupils on Northern Isles ferry services.

Answer · Keith Brown: None.

26 Jun 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on companies contracted to provide public services using the public subsidy to fund redundancy payments to employees.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Payments under public contracts should relate directly to the goods, works and services that the contractor provides and should not constitute a subsidy.

20 Jun 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-14388 by Keith Brown on 8 May 2013, what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the training of (a) rating and (b) officer seafarers as a result of Serco NorthLink’s election to the tonnage tax scheme.

Answer · Keith Brown: SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT WRITTEN ANSWER 15 July 2013 Index Heading: Transport Scotland Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-14388 by Keith Brown on 8 May 2013, what di…

20 Jun 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many seafarer (a) ratings and (b) officers are being (i) trained and (ii) sponsored by CalMac Ferries Ltd, and how many (A) were in 2011-12 and (B) will be in 2013-14.

Answer · Keith Brown: The information on seafarers trained and sponsored by CalMac Ferries Limited is as follows: 2011-12 2012-13 2013–14 Employees Trained - Officers 9 10 Total number still to be finalised Employees Trained – Ratings 2 10 Total number still to be fi…