Parliamentary questions

Jackie Baillie

9,397 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

9 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many planning (a) practitioners have been employed and (b) applications have been decided by each local planning authority in each year since 2012-13.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The number of planning practitioners employed in planning departments in local authorities is not held centrally. The member may be interested to know that the RTPI has published research which states that the number of staff members in planning authorities h…

8 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it provides to local authorities about the assessment of affordability in the application of fees for social care services.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Charging for Residential Accommodation Guidance (“CRAG”) provides advice to local authorities relating to assessing the ability to pay for residential care home charges. The National Assistance (Assessment of Resources) Amendment Regulations place a du…

8 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether social care charges for (a) people with learning disabilities, (b) people with physical disabilities and (c) elderly care have increased in the last three years, and, if so, by what percentage.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Information relating to residential accommodation care and support charges for older people are available in the Care Home Census for Adults in Scotland , Figures for 2007 – 2017, which was published on the 11 September 2018. Under Section 87 of the Social…

8 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to local authorities about charging for social care services.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government updates and issues the Charging for Residential Accommodation Guidance (“CRAG”) each year. This guidance provides information in relation to charging for care and support in residential care settings. The guidance is provided to Hea…

17 Dec 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the current average and longest waiting time is for paediatric ear, nose and throat treatment in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and what action is being taken to reduce these waiting times.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The latest ISD statistics for quarter ending September 2019, show the median wait for ongoing ENT outpatient appointments for patients aged 16 and under is 27 days and for inpatient/daycase treatment is 159 days.

9 Dec 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23182 by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 May 2019, in light of the cabinet secretary's comment that the Water Industry Commission's updated decision paper was due to be published in the summer, whether it will confirm what the reason has been for the dela…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Commission published an updated Decision Paper on Asset Replacement in summer 2019 which highlighted the need for increased investment in the 2021-27, and subsequent regulatory periods, to renew Scottish Water’s assets in order to maintain current levels …

25 Nov 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it will provide to food banks in each local authority in 2019-20; how much has been allocated in the financial year so far, and how much it plans to provide in 2020-21, also broken down by the amount for each food bank receiving direct assistance.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government is supporting communities to respond to food insecurity in a way that promotes dignity and helps to move away from emergency food aid as a primary response. Our Fair Food Fund has been increased to £3.5 million in 2019-20 to underpin …

25 Nov 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it will provide to Fareshare in 2019-20; how much has been allocated in the financial year so far, and how this money has been or will be used.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The amount of grant funding allocated to FareShare in the ? 2019-20 financial year is: EU Exit funding – to support community organisations to respond to food insecurity following the UK’s proposed EU Exit £1,000,000.00 Fair Food Fund - redistribution o…

25 Nov 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has purchased £0.5 million of food from Asda for Fareshare to distribute.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government has not purchased any food from Asda on behalf of FareShare. Due to the uncertainty around the UK’s proposed EU Exit, The Scottish Government has provided FareShare with funding to purchase additional food to supplement the quality an…

25 Nov 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to concerns that the out-of-hours services at the Vale of Leven, Inverclyde Royal and Royal Alexandra hospitals are not functioning effectively.

18 Nov 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25962 by Michael Matheson on 13 November 2019, what the additional capital was in each year since 2012-13.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Details of the information requested are given in the following table: 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Additional capital 1,330 4,250 1,000 0 0 1,295 6,975 The additional fund…

18 Nov 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-24508 by Derek Mackay on 16 August 2019, whether it has now published the consolidated account for the public sector.

Answer · Derek Mackay: As explained in the response to question S5W-24508, a draft account for 2017-18 was shared for internal consultation in summer 2019. As per the Public Finance and Accountability Act, any account produced has to be audited and laid in Parliament before it can …

13 Nov 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government to what extent its attempts to widen access to university have been effective.

11 Nov 2019 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with craft brewers about the deposit return scheme.

5 Nov 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been provided to Citizens Advice Scotland as a core grant, not including levy funding, in each year since 2014-15.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government does not provide a core grant to Citizen Advice Scotland.

5 Nov 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much will be provided to Citizens Advice Scotland in core grant for each year from 2019-20 to 2021-22.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-26215 on 19 November 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusine…

5 Nov 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been provided to Citizens Advice Scotland from levy funding in each year that the levy has been in place.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Levy funding for Consumer Advocacy was devolved to Scottish Government 23 May 2016. Debt advice levy funding was devolved to the Scottish Government on 1 January 2019 . The following table sets out annual funding provided by Scottish Government. April 2…

30 Oct 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25552 by Derek Mackay on 8 October 2019, how this approach represents additionality over the current arrangements, and what its position regarding whether this could have been achieved by using the Scottish Investment Bank.

Answer · Derek Mackay: I refer the Member to the answer to question S5W-26077 on 13 November 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusin…

30 Oct 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25553 by Derek Mackay on 8 October 2019, in the absence of any further financial transaction funding, how the Scottish National Investment Bank will be capitalised after March 2021.

Answer · Derek Mackay: If financial transactions were to be discontinued after March 2021, other sources of capital would need to deployed in order to capitalise the Scottish National Investment Bank. This could include channelling the returns to the Scottish Government from existi…

30 Oct 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25551 by Derek Mackay on 8 October 2019, in light of the cabinet secretary's comments regarding the experience, efficacy and impact of the existing financial transaction funding arrangements, for what reason the Scottish National Investment Bank (SN…

Answer · Derek Mackay: I wrote to the Convener of the Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee [recently]. Included below is text from that letter. The Council of Economic Advisors (discussed at the Committee’s January 2017 meeting), drawing on work by the New Economics Foundation …

30 Oct 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25553 by Derek Mackay on 8 October 2019, what (a) capital and (b) resource profile is anticipated for the Scottish National Investment Bank from March 2021 onwards, and what the source will be of this funding.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The capital to be provided to the Scottish National Investment Bank from March 2021 to March 2028 is £1.5 billion, as projected in the Financial Memorandum. The Financial Memorandum also explained that the presumption was that around £200 million a year would…

25 Oct 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding has been allocated to the implementation of health screening services for people with learning disabilities, in light of the publication of its 2019-20 Programme for Government, and what the timetable is for implementation.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government is committed to the implementation of health screening services for people with learning disabilities and the funding to be allocated is subject to the 2020-21 spending review.