Parliamentary questions
Jackie Baillie
9,397 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
25 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it last carried out a national audit of heart failure services and whether it will publish the findings.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Healthcare Improvement Scotland published the Heart Disease Services: Take Heart – A National Overview in September 2011. This publication covers heart failure and the development and subsequent implementation of a Heart Failure Care Bundle. This is an integr…
25 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it costs to administer (a) a brain natriuretic peptide test, (b) an ultrasound scan and (c) a chest x-ray.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government does not centrally hold the cost of a brain natriuretic peptide test. The 2012-13 Scottish Health Service Costs (Costs Book) publication provides a cost per examination for ultrasonics (£42.87) and for ‘other radiology’ (£54.79), whic…
25 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many heart failure specialist nurses should be, based on the formula of 1 per 100,000 of the population.
Answer · Alex Neil: Information on the number of qualified nurses can be found through Information Services Division. Due to the multidisciplinary nature of the role, a qualified nurse may work in more than on specific speciality, however only one specialist area is recorded fo…
25 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent heart failure specialist nurses there have been in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Information on numbers of qualified nurses, which increased in this government by 4%, or by 1654.4 whole-time equivalent (WTE) to 42,680.6 WTE, is available via ISD Scotland. Due to the multidisciplinary nature of the role, a qualified nurse may work in more…
25 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the mortality rate is for (a) heart failure, (b) cancer and (c) stroke.
Answer · Alex Neil: Table 1 shows European age-sex standardised mortality rates for heart failure, cancer and stroke from 2008 to 2012, as published by Information Services Division Scotland. Further information is available on the ISD website at the following web addresses: Ca…
23 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported rise in the number of Scots who are homeless and sleeping rough in London, whether it will reinstate funding to the homeless charity, Borderline, to its 2009-10 level.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: Since 1999-2000 Borderline has received more than £1.4 million from the Scottish Government to provide assistance to Scottish people in London who find themselves homeless. Funding has been provided through the Scottish Government’s Housing Voluntary Grant S…
23 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support Scots who are (a) homeless and (b) sleeping rough in London.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: Since 1999-2000 the Scottish Government has provided £1.4 million to Borderline in 2014-15 to assist homeless Scots in London. Borderline is a charity that provides support and assistance to homeless Scots in London. If someone is homeless and approaches a S…
19 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether tenants are receiving a full discretionary housing payment to mitigate the so-called bedroom tax.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The administration of discretionary housing payments (DHPs) is the responsibility of individual local authorities. The Scottish Government expects everyone who is affected by the bedroom tax and who applies for a DHP, to receive one. Local authorities have be…
19 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) COSLA and (b) the UK Government about the power to vary the cap on discretionary housing payments.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Deputy First Minister met with the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland on 8 May 2014 to agree the plan for the Section 63 order that will transfer the power to vary the cap on Discretionary Housing Payments. They have subsequently discusse…
19 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to have the power to vary the cap for discretionary housing payments.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The draft timetable for the Section 63 order which will transfer the cap-setting power to Scottish Ministers has been shared with the Welfare Reform Committee, and is available on the Scottish Parliament website at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliame…
19 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether letters of comfort have been provided to local authorities regarding discretionary housing payments to fully mitigate the so-called bedroom tax.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: A letter to all local authorities was issued jointly from the UK and Scottish Governments on 25 June 2014. A copy of that letter was shared with the Welfare Reform Committee and can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/Current…
5 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-21159 by Alex Neil on 28 May 2014, what the reason is for the increase of over 100% in non-pay costs for the Person-Centred Health and Care Collaborative from 2012-13 to 2013-14.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Person-Centred Health and Care Collaborative was launched in November 2012. The first national learning session took place in that year. Costs for 2013-14 cover the whole year. Two national learning sessions took place in that year.
5 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-21159 by Alex Neil on 28 May 2014, how much of the money allocated to Healthcare Improvement Scotland used for non-pay costs was spent on (a) the Development of the Care Experience survey tool, (b) National Learning Sessions 1, 2 and 3 and (c) trave…
Answer · Alex Neil: Details of non-pay costs in 2012-2013 are as follows: Development of the Care Experience survey tool – £10,853 (1) National learning session 1 costs and additional meeting costs – £135,779 (2) Travel and subsistence including island NHS board travel costs …
2 Jun 2014 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister when the Vale of Leven Hospital inquiry will be published.
27 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-19438 by John Swinney on 20 February 2014, when the training will be delivered; for how many people; when will it be completed, and when it will be available across the public sector.
Answer · John Swinney: Both diversity and unconscious bias training is available online to all Scottish Government employees through the Civil Service Learning portal. Although no diversity training for external selection panel members specific to this workstream has been delivered…
27 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-19438 by John Swinney on 20 February 2014, whether any training has been delivered to date.
Answer · John Swinney: Both diversity and unconscious bias training is available online to all Scottish Government employees through the Civil Service Learning portal. Although no diversity training for external selection panel members specific to this workstream has been delivered…
27 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-19435 by John Swinney on 20 February 2014, how the Public Appointments Centre of Expertise measures the impact of its events and whether evaluations are carried out with attendees to assess that impact.
Answer · John Swinney: The Public Appointments Centre of Expertise uses a range of different evaluation methods to measure the impact of events. This is tailored to the type of event and its audience. This has included an increase in applications received following a particular eve…
27 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20607 by John Swinney on 30 April 2014, for what reason it has selected 2025 as the year by which it should be broadly reflective of the Scottish population.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government’s view was that 2025 was a reasonable target. It aims to balance being attainable and stretching, given the significant resource constraints on the organisation, such as a general presumption against external recruitment. These resourc…
27 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20607 by John Swinney on 30 April 2014, for what reason diversity data has not been captured for members of the Public Boards and Corporate Diversity Programme Board.
Answer · John Swinney: Diversity data for those programme board members who are Scottish Government employees is captured on our electronic HR system. We are currently exploring methods of capturing this information for our non-Scottish Government employees on our electronic HR sys…
27 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20607 by John Swinney on 30 April 2014, how confident it is in the (a) robustness of the data-gathering process and (b) accuracy of the statistics mentioned in relation to the Practical Change strand.
Answer · John Swinney: (a) Diversity data for new appointments to regulated public boards have been collected at the application stage of the process for the last three years. Applicants are invited to complete a diversity monitoring form which contains ten questions. Each question…
27 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20607 by John Swinney on 30 April 2014, what powers the commissioner for ethical standards will have at the decision making stage.
Answer · John Swinney: Appointments to the boards of public bodies are the responsibility of Scottish Ministers and each minister will appoint the person he or she considers to be best qualified for the position, based on specific, published criteria. In making this decision, the m…
27 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20607 by John Swinney on 30 April 2014, how it will ensure that there is no bias at the decision making stage.
Answer · John Swinney: Appointments to the boards of public bodies are the responsibility of Scottish Ministers and each minister will appoint the person he or she considers to be best qualified for the position, based on specific published criteria. In making this decision, the mi…
27 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20607 by John Swinney on 30 April 2014, what equality impact assessment was conducted to determine that the systems and processes are (a) appropriate and (b) likely to bring about change.
Answer · John Swinney: The Public Boards and Corporate Diversity Programme have the core aim of improving the diversity of public and private boards in Scotland. Activities undertaken to date have been informed by an analysis of the evidence relating to women and people from other …
27 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20607 by John Swinney on 30 April 2014, how the proposals differ from the steps taken by it following publication of Diversity Delivers.
Answer · John Swinney: Following Diversity Delivers it was felt appropriate to establish a Public Bodies and Corporate Diversity Programme Board, to give a renewed focus to the diversity agenda and to build on the work done to date. This work is centred around providing strong lead…
27 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20607 by John Swinney on 30 April 2014, whether it will provide a breakdown of the "specific practical changes to systems and processes”.
Answer · John Swinney: Practical changes undertaken to date include improvements to the online application system for applicants; the production of a public appointments toolkit for Scottish Government staff and selection panel members; the launch of a Twitter account to raise awar…
27 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20607 by John Swinney on 30 April 2014, how the board will influence the private sector.
Answer · John Swinney: As previously answered in S4W-20607, a programme of activity is currently being developed by the Scottish Government, in conjunction with the programme board and stakeholders. Action plans and targets are still in the developmental phase. Connecting with user…
27 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20607 by John Swinney on 30 April 2014, for what reason it is not providing an equal focus on all under-represented groups.
Answer · John Swinney: The scope of the Public Boards and Corporate Diversity Programme Board encompasses diversity in its wider sense, including all under-represented groups. However, in the early part of the programme, the primary focus will be on women (as the largest under-repr…
27 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-21041 by Shona Robison on 15 May 2014, what areas will be targeted by the strategic action plan for LGBT equality, and how much funding it will provide toward its implementation.
Answer · Shona Robison: Areas for action regarding LGBT equality will focus on policy issues identified as a priority by the LGBT community in Scotland. In 2012-15, Scottish LGBT organisations were awarded over £2.3 million of funding for LGBT equality work by the Scottish Governme…
27 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-21041 by Shona Robison on 15 May 2014, who is involved with the development of the strategic action plan for LGBT equality, and when it will be launched.
Answer · Shona Robison: The four national LGBT organisations, Equality Network, LGBT Youth Scotland, Stonewall Scotland and the Scottish Transgender Alliance have participated in an initial scoping meeting to develop a strategic approach to LGBT equality work in Scotland. This work …
25 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what increase in immigration it estimates would be necessary to ensure that pensions would be affordable in an independent Scotland.
Answer · John Swinney: Pensions are already affordable for Scotland. Total expenditure on social protection, which covers pensions and broader welfare spending has been lower in Scotland than the UK over the past five years. As set out in Scotland’s Future, this government would p…