Jackie Baillie

21 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action the National Steering Group on Chronic Pain will take to address (a) increased waiting lists, (b) staff shortages and (c) an underfunding of the services provided at chronic pain clinics, as identified in the Healthcare Improvement Scotland report on Chronic Pain Services in …

Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to the question S4W-21297 on 4 June 2014, which sets out the position regarding the role of NHS boards and that of the National Chronic Pain Steering Group in providing support to local Service Improvement Groups and Managed C…

21 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what priority local service improvement groups for chronic pain give to raising with their local NHS boards staff shortages and significant waiting lists for chronic pain services, which were identified in the Healthcare Improvement Scotland Report, Chronic Pain Services in Scotland: Whe…

Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to the question S4W-21297 on 4 June 2014, which sets out the position regarding the role of NHS boards and that of the National Chronic Pain Steering Group in providing support to local Service Improvement Groups and Managed C…

21 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the National Steering Group on Chronic Pain will, as a matter of urgency, raise with NHS boards the staff shortages and significant waiting lists at chronic pain clinics that were identified in the Healthcare Improvement Scotland Report, Chronic Pain Services in Scotland: Where a…

Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to the question S4W-21177 on 28 May 2014, which advises that it is for each NHS board to decide how best to deliver those services to meet the needs of their population. This includes how to utilise funding and staff, taking a…

20 May 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what priority it places on tackling racism and sectarianism, in light of the reduction in Show Racism the Red Card’s budget.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is committed to tackling all forms of discrimination and promoting a multi-faith and multi-cultural society. That is why we are providing £60 million of funding for a range of equality projects between 2012 and 2015, which is more tha…

15 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 Public Boards and Corporate Diversity Programme Board will ensure that the views of disabled people and staff are considered.

Answer · John Swinney: The scope of the Public Boards and Corporate Diversity Programme Board encompasses diversity in its wider sense, and this includes disabled people. However, the primary focus will be on women in the early part of the programme, with the learning from improvin…

15 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20957 by Michael Matheson on 12 May 2014, whether all NHS boards have submitted plans to deal with the staff and resource shortages, beyond vacancies, in chronic pain clinics as identified in the Healthcare Improvement Scotland report, Chronic Pain …

Answer · Michael Matheson: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-21177 on 28 May 2014 which sets out the Scottish Government position on staffing for chronic pain services. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search f…

15 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the finding in the Healthcare Improvement Scotland report, Chronic Pain Services in Scotland: Where are we now?, that shortages in staffing complements in chronic pain clinics are not caused by vacancies but by understaffing and under resourcing by NHS boards.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Service Model for Chronic Pain recommends a multidisciplinary approach to the delivery of care and treatment for people with chronic pain. As part of the data collection exercise carried out by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS), boards were a…

15 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which of its directorates contribute to the answers by the Minister for Public Health to parliamentary questions on chronic pain.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Dependent on the issues raised as parliamentary questions arise, the policy directorate(s) contribution is determined on a case by case basis.

15 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20958 by Michael Matheson on 12 May 2014, whether it considers the requirement for a member’s login to be a barrier to public and patient access.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The only incidence where a member login is required is for those who have permission to update the website, which is otherwise fully accessible to all.

15 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20958 by Michael Matheson on 12 May 2014, whether any plans were available from April 2014.

Answer · Michael Matheson: All NHS boards are required to include chronic pain in their Local Delivery Plans for 2014-15 and should ensure that these are published on their local websites by the end of June 2014. The NHSScotland 2020 Local Delivery Plan guidance is available at: http:/…

15 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the Ministerial Strategic Group on Women and Work was formed; when it has met, and what its remit is.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Strategic Group on Women and Work was formed following the Women’s Employment Summit in September 2012. The first meeting was on 27 March 2013 with subsequent meetings held on 26 June 2013, 30 October 2013, 26 February 2014, and 7 May 2014. The remit of …

15 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the money allocated to the Person-Centred Health and Care Collaborative has been spent.

Answer · Alex Neil: In 2012-13, the money allocated to Healthcare Improvement Scotland to implement the Collaborative was split between pay costs of £128,555, providing four whole-time members of staff, and non-pay costs of £161,254, which provided for: Development of the Care…

15 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the aims are of the Person-Centred Health and Care Collaborative and how its success will be measured.

Answer · Alex Neil: The aims of the Person-Centred Health and Care Collaborative are as follows: Raise the profile of person-centred approaches to care across Scotland including staff health and wellbeing. Develop and test a range of evidence-based interventions and approache…

15 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated each year to the Person-Centred Health and Care Collaborative.

Answer · Alex Neil: £289,809 was allocated to Healthcare Improvement Scotland to implement the Collaborative in 2012-13, with £175,000 allocated by the Scottish Government and £114,809 by Healthcare Improvement Scotland. £518,082 was allocated to Healthcare Improvement Scotland…

13 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-19746 by Alex Neil on 3 March 2014, whether it has completed its collation of the information that it holds on the costs of the inquiry and, if so, when it will publish this.

Answer · Alex Neil: The information held on costs to date by the Scottish Government will be published shortly. I will write to the member as soon as the information is available and a copy will be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib number 55691).

13 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S4W-19746 and S4W-19663 by Alex Neil on 3 and 4 March 2014 respectively, what recent discussions it has had with Lord Maclean regarding when the report of the inquiry will be published.

Answer · Alex Neil: The inquiry has now received the last of the responses to warning letters, however, the report will not be finalised until the inquiry Chairman has considered each of the responses and made any necessary amendments to the report. As it is for the inquiry Cha…

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide funding to cancel debt that has arisen because of the so-called bedroom tax.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government has no capacity to provide funding over and above the £55 million provided in the years 2013-15. The lifting of the cap on funding for discretionary housing payments (DHPs) will create additional flexibility for local authorities to su…

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much will be allocated to mitigate the so-called bedroom tax, broken down by local authority, and what formula will be used to calculate this.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government is allocating £35 million in 2014-15 to mitigate the impact of the bedroom tax in Scotland. This is in addition to the £15 million funding for discretionary housing payments made available by the Department for Work and Pensions. The b…

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements are in place for local authorities to contact people affected by the so-called bedroom tax in order to make discretionary housing payments.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: Communication with social tenants about their rent or housing benefit is the responsibility of local authorities and housing associations.

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that local authorities should now be making full discretionary housing payments to people affected by the so-called bedroom tax.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: Yes, the Scottish Government expects everyone affected by the bedroom tax who applies for a discretionary housing payment to be awarded one.

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to be given the authority to lift the cap on discretionary housing payments.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland wrote to the Deputy First Minister on 2 May 2014 to offer to provide Scottish Ministers with a power to set the statutory cap on discretionary housing payments in Scotland using section 63 of the Scotlan…

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is doing to improve the experience of public services by LGBT people.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has provided funding of almost £300,000 to Stonewall Scotland between 2012-15 to work with public bodies who request support to improve the services they deliver to LGBT people. The Scottish Government is currently engaging with natio…

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will encourage the implementation of recommendations made by Stonewall Scotland in its report, Your Services Your Say. LGB&T People's Experiences of Public Services in Scotland.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is currently engaging with national LGBT organisations, including Stonewall Scotland, to develop a strategic action plan for LGBT equality with targeted actions for specific areas of the Scottish Government to address issues of inequal…

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the expected demand is for support from the Scottish Welfare Fund in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16, and how this has been calculated.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: Funding levels for the Scottish Welfare Fund are based on historical spend by the Department for Work and Pensions. The budget for 2014-15 is detailed in the Supporting Document to the Budget (Scotland) Bill 2014-15 which was approved by Parliament on 5 Febru…

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications to the Scottish Welfare Fund there have been because of benefit sanctions and how many have been (a) approved and (b) rejected.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Welfare Fund comprises of Community Care Grants and Crisis Grants. The table below shows how many applications contained someone on a sanctioned benefit during the period 1 April to 31 December 2013. For Community Care Grants, 31 applications i…

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on advertising the Scottish Welfare Fund; what methods of advertising have been used, and with what frequency.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-20200 on 31 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…

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications to the Scottish Welfare Fund have been (a) approved and (b) rejected, broken down by (i) gender of the applicant and (ii) local authority area.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Welfare Fund comprises of Community Care Grants and Crisis Grants. The number of applications that were accepted and rejected by gender was previously answered in S4W-20605 on 2 May 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availa…

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been distributed by the Scottish Welfare Fund, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Welfare Fund comprises of Community Care Grants and Crisis Grants. For Community Care Grants, £14.3 million was distributed between 1 April 2013 and 31 December 2013. Information on the distribution by local authority is published in Table 15 at…

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the funding that it has allocated for advice services set up following recent welfare changes will support (a) existing services and (b) the development of new projects.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: As set out in the Scottish Budget 2013-14, the Scottish Government will invest £7 million in each of the three years from 2013-14 to 2015-16 in a range of welfare reform mitigation measures such as for advice and support services. The most recent announcement…

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people receive support from the Independent Living Fund, broken down by local authority, and how many new applicants can be accommodated when responsibility transfers to the Scottish Government.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Independent Living Fund (ILF) is administered through the Independent Living Fund, a non-departmental public body of the Department for Work and Pensions. Therefore the Scottish Government does not hold the figures requested. However the information can b…