Mary Scanlon

29 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional staff in each clinical category the NHS will employ in order to achieve the 18-week child and adolescent mental health services waiting time target from December 2014.

Answer · Michael Matheson: It is for NHS boards to decide what level of staffing is required to meet the needs of their local population. Data contained within national publications such as the CAMHS Workforce Publication and NHS Scotland Staff Survey are used by Information Service…

29 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional staff were employed in each clinical category in order to achieve the 26-week child and adolescent mental health services waiting times target.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Building the capacity of the specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) workforce is essential to delivering faster access to services. Over a four year period we have invested £10 million to increase the number of child psychologists from…

29 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of people diagnosed with a stroke is admitted to a stroke unit within one day in accordance with the HEAT target, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Stroke Admission HEAT target began on 1 April 2011 and expired on 31 March 2013. As with all HEAT targets there was a clearly defined deadline date for delivery of 31 March 2013; after this point the target is considered to be expired. The HEAT target da…

29 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to achieve NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee target funding allocations and in what timescale.

Answer · Alex Neil: The NHS Scotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) formula was introduced in 2009-10 and 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 provisio…

29 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS boards have identified savings to break even over the next two years.

Answer · Alex Neil: NHS Scotland coards are currently working on draft financial plans that include the identification, classification and risk assessment of efficiency savings. Draft financial plans are due to be submitted on 14 February 2014 for consideration by The Scottish G…

29 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider allowing NHS boards to carry forward deficits to allow longer-term financial planning.

Answer · Alex Neil: It is a statutory requirement for NHS boards to deliver a balanced financial position at the end of the financial year in terms of both the revenue resource limit and the capital resource limit. Where an NHS board delivered a cumulative financial deficit, thi…

29 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether five NHS boards continue to receive funding below their NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee target allocation and, if so, for what reason; which boards, and what the level of underfunding has been in each of the last five years.

Answer · Alex Neil: The following table shows the NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) target and actual percentage shares for those boards below their target share for each of the last five years. Health Board 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Actual T…

29 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Scotland have been sent for medical treatment in (a) England and (b) other EU countries in each of the last 10 years, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Alex Neil: Information Scottish residents who were treated as an elective inpatient/day case or had an outpatient attendance in England for each financial year from 2003-04 to 2012-13 has been provided. This includes people whose residential address is in Scotland rathe…

28 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether Education Scotland is planning to undertake a review of the material available to schools to support pupils with ADHD.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: Education Scotland is currently reviewing its online resources including GLOW to ensure that it further improves advice, guidance and information in respect of additional support needs. The purpose of this is to identify and address barriers to learning that …

28 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information is available on pupils with ADHD (a) dropping out of and (b) being excluded from school.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: The information requested is not held centrally. However, the Scottish Government published the Included, Engaged and Involved guidance in 2007 to support education authorities and partners in promoting attendance and managing absence from school. The guidan…

28 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what is being done to measure (a) the impact of ADHD on learning, (b) the location of pupils with ADHD and (c) how pupils with ADHD are being supported in their school work.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: The impact of ADHD on the learning of individual pupils is complex and specific and varies from pupil to pupil. Therefore we do not collect that information centrally. However, as part of education authorities duties under the Additional Support for Learning …

28 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government at what (a) age and (b) stage of development children are screened for a learning difficulty or developmental disorder.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: Child development is a core issue covered in the 27-30 month health review offered to all children. The universal health contacts at 6-8 weeks, 3 months, 4 months, 13 months, 3-5 years and on entry to primary school also provide opportunities to discuss and i…

28 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it calculated the figure of £13 million to expand the provision of free school meals in 2014-15 and £42 million in 2015-16.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: The estimated cost of extending the entitlement of free school meals to children in primary 1 to 3 from January 2015 is £13 million in 2014-15 and £42 million in 2015-16. These figures were arrived at using a range of data aggregated at a national level and a…

28 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it is not expanding the provision of free school meals at the same time as the UK Government.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: Following careful consideration about the use of the consequential funding arising from the UK Government’s autumn statement on 5 December 2013, on 7 January 2014 the First Minister announced his plans to extend the entitlement of free school meals to childre…

28 Jan 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the annual running cost is of the Scottish Futures Trust and what the benefits are.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The operational cost of running the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) in 2012-13 was £5.5 million. For the same period SFT reported delivery of net benefits of £132.1 million. SFT’s annual reports and accounts, which are laid before Parliament by 31 December each…

28 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have graduated in teaching PE in each year since 2004.

Answer · Michael Russell: The following table shows the total number of students who have graduated from a Scottish Higher Education Institution whose first, second or third teaching qualification gained subject was Physical Education. The total number includes students who completed …

22 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether Scottish country dancing is taught in all schools.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: This information is not held centrally. However, dance, including Scottish Country Dance, can be a key context for learning in core Physical Education (PE). PE provides learners with a platform from which they can build the movement skills and competencies, …

22 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance is available to children who cannot afford to learn traditional musical instruments.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-19346 on 5 February 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/parliamentar…

22 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is assisting pupils in (a) accessing traditional music in schools and (b) learning to play the bagpipes.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-19346 on 5 February 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/parliamentar…

22 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether schools offer bagpipe tuition on a par with tuition in other instruments.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: Some schools offer bagpipe tuition along with other instruments. As with Curriculum for Excellence, the detail of how this is delivered in schools is decided by local authorities and schools. This includes the choice of instrument and how instrumental music t…

16 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the second supplementary to question S4O-02756 by Michael Russell on 8 January 2014 (Official Report, c. 26224), whether it will publish details of the "range of very special circumstances that would make the defence of objective justification entirely legitimat…

Answer · Michael Russell: As is set out on page 200 of Scotland’s Future, our policy is based on the unique and exceptional position of Scotland in relation to other parts of the UK, on the fee differential, on our shared land border, and common language, on the qualification structur…

14 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support and assistance it is giving to the Morayvia project at Kinloss Barracks.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government provides support for non-national museums through Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS). I would advise Morayvia to contact MGS for advice on setting up a new museum. MGS can be contacted at:http://www.museumsgalleriesscotland.org.uk/  The…

7 Jan 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional miles of the A9 between Perth and Inverness are on course to be dualled by December 2016.

7 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-18805 by Michael Russell on 7 January 2014, whether it will address the issue raised in the question.

Answer · Michael Russell: The answer to S4W-18805 addressed the member’s question about ‘regional college boards’, which she repeats in this question. It may be that the member has in mind safeguarding against profligacy on the part of regional strategic bodies, in which case, the fol…

7 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the Announced Inspection Report - care for older people in acute hospitals: Balfour Hospital, NHS Orkney.

Answer · Alex Neil: We expect NHS Orkney to work with the management and staff of Balfour Hospital to address the issues identified as requiring improvement and to ensure the action plan is fully implemented.

19 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase capacity and resources in the NHS in order to deliver the treatment time guarantee.

Answer · Alex Neil: Health’s budget in 2013-14 is £11.6 billion of which Territorial and Special Boards have received a core allocation of £8.8 billion. Health’s resource funding has increased by £249 million, delivering on the Scottish Government’s commitment to pass on the res…

19 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients in each NHS board stated that they wished to be treated (a) by a named doctor and (b) at a specific hospital in 2011-12.

Answer · Alex Neil: The specific information requested is not available centrally. Under New Ways, patients wishing to be treated by a named consultant or wishing to be treated at a specific location would have been recorded under social unavailability. However, the reasons for …

19 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action patients can take if their legal right to treatment within 12 weeks has not been met.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government expects health boards to take all appropriate action to comply with their legal obligation to ensure patients are treated in accordance with the treatment time guarantee. If a patient has not received their treatment within the 12 week…

19 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason (a) the treatment time guarantee is not being met and (b) performance against the standard that outpatients should be seen within 12 weeks has been deteriorating, as stated in the Audit Scotland report, Management of patients on NHS waiting lists.

Answer · Alex Neil: There will be various reasons why the treatment time guarantee and first outpatient waiting time standard are not being met and the reasons will vary across boards in Scotland. Some will be down to increased demand, specific issues locally including staffing …

17 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-18165 by Michael Russell on 20 November 2013, how much it has paid each college to help mitigate the costs of the reclassification.

Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Funding Council is leading work to support the sector in mitigating the impacts of reclassification, and the funding of individual colleges is a matter for that body. I have therefore asked its interim chief executive to respond directly to you.