Parliamentary questions
Mary Scanlon
4,514 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
1 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much in constraint payments will be given to wind turbine generators in each of the next eight years.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-10886 on 16 November 2012. 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/parliamentary…
1 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much in constraint payments will be given to coal and gas generators in each of the next eight years.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: It is not possible to predict the amount of constraint payments into the future. National Grid balances demand and supply of electricity in the GB market on a minute by minute basis in order to maintain supplies within strictly defined standards. Payments are…
1 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what is being done to better understand and treat mental health problems in conjunction with alcohol addiction issues.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government published the Mental Health Strategy for Scotland 2012-15 in August 2012. In it we recognise that there are strong links between depression and drinking above recommended guidelines, and make a commitment to work with NHS Boards and pa…
1 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people under 18 have been admitted to adult psychiatric wards in each of the last five years.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The number of people under the age of 18 admitted to adult psychiatric wards in each of the last 5 years is: 2007 - 2208 142 2008 - 2009 149 2009 – 2010 184 2010 – 2011 151 2011 – 2012 141 Data supplied by Mental Welfare Commission. There are some…
1 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people will start training in child psychotherapy in 2013.
Answer · Michael Matheson: There will be 4 places available for the child psychotherapy training starting in October 2013, with NHS Education Scotland (NES) currently out to tender to select an education provider. The child psychotherapy workforce is currently small and an integral pa…
1 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To as the Scottish Government whether public health nurses and health visitors use the 24 to 30 month review as a key point for the provision of health improvement information and support, as recommended in A New Look at Hall 4: The Early Years: Good Health for Every Child.
Answer · Michael Matheson: A short-life working group was set up to agree the core issues to be addressed and recorded at the 24-30 month review, and recommended that the review be carried out between 27 and 30 months. Guidance on the 27-30 month review will be issued shortly, requiri…
1 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether public health nurses and health visitors ensure that information, resources and support provided are accessible and tailored to meet the needs of individual families, as recommended in A New Look at Hall 4: The Early Years: Good Health for Every Child.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Public Health Nurses-Health Visitors promote a range of information and resources, for example Bookbug, and NHS Health Scotland’s publications including Ready Steady Baby! and Ready Steady Toddler!. They provide further additional information to meet the need…
1 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many children have had needs identified in the 24 to 30 month review addressed using evidence-based interventions to achieve agreed outcomes, as recommended in A New Look at Hall 4: The Early Years: Good Health for Every Child.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The review has not yet been implemented. A short-life working group was set up to determine the core issues to be addressed and recorded at the 24-30 month review, and recommended the review be carried out between 27 and 30 months. Guidance on the 27-30 month…
1 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether protocols are in place in each NHS board to deal with non-responders to the 24 to 30 month review for all children, as recommended in A New Look at Hall 4: The Early Years: Good Health for Every Child.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The review has not yet been implemented. A short-life working group was set up to determine the core issues to be addressed and recorded at the 24-30 month review, and recommended the review be carried out between 27 and 30 months. Guidance on the 27-30 month…
1 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many 24 to 30 month reviews for all children have been carried out by each NHS board, as recommended in A New Look at Hall 4: The Early Years: Good Health for Every Child.
Answer · Michael Matheson: A short-life working group was set up to determine the core issues to be addressed and recorded at the 24-30 month review, and recommended the review be carried out between 27 and 30 months. Guidance on the 27-30 month review will be issued shortly, requiring…
1 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many children have a health plan indicator in place by age six months, as recommended in A New Look at Hall 4: The Early Years: Good Health for Every Child.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Data derived from the child health pre-school information system show that there were 58,413 children born in 2011 who were registered on the system as at August 2012. A total of 55,338 of these children (95%) had a health plan indicator (HPI) recorded by six…
1 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the implementation date is for the recommendations in A New Look at Hall 4: The Early Years: Good Health for Every Child.
Answer · Michael Matheson: No date was set for implementation of the recommendations in A New Look at Hall 4: The Early Years: Good Health for Every Child. All NHS Boards are currently in the process of implementing the role of the Named Person. NHS Boards have introduced, or are wor…
1 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS boards have a health plan indicator in place in response to the assessed level of support required by the child and family, as recommended in A New Look at Hall 4: The Early Years: Good Health for Every Child.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Information recorded on the child health pre-school information system as at August 2012 shows that all NHS Boards use the health plan indicator. NHS Boards have introduced, or are working towards introducing, 2 categories of HPI as set out in A New Look at …
1 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether all NHS boards have in place a link between the child and family and the primary healthcare team for all children in pre-school education, as recommended in A New Look at Hall 4: The Early Years: Good Health for Every Child.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Public Health Nurse-Health Visitor provides the link between the child and family and the primary healthcare team for all children until the child reaches school entry. Ministers have recently consulted on formalising the role for health being responsible…
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what work is being done in Scotland to develop and adopt electricity storage technologies as a means of providing power system support.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Electricity storage already plays an important role in optimising Scotland’s power network system, with the pumped hydro storage facilities at Ben Cruachan and Ben Foyers. An application for a new hydro pumped storage scheme near Loch Lochy has been received …
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many additional psychologists will be employed in the NHS so that waiting time targets for psychological therapies are achieved.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Psychological therapies are delivered by a variety of professionals, including nurses, allied health professionals and voluntary sector staff, as well as psychologists. The Scottish Government has national supports in place to assist Boards in meeting the …
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many psychologists are employed in the NHS to support early interventions that promote positive mental health and wellbeing.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Information on the number of psychologists employed is held in the public domain, and can be found on the NHS Education for Scotland–Information Services Division Psychology Services Workforce data webpage at: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workfor…
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS boards employ applied psychologists to assist in changing people’s behaviour to improve health and wellbeing.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Information about the number of psychologists is held in the public domain, and can be found on the NHS Education for Scotland–Information Services Division Psychology Services Workforce data webpage at: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Psy…
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many psychologists have been employed in the NHS in each year since 2007.
Answer · Michael Matheson: This information is held in the public domain, and can be found on the NHS Education for Scotland–Information Services Division Psychology Services Workforce data webpage at: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Psychology/
22 Oct 2012 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason unemployment in Scotland rose by 0.3% in the three months to August 2012, compared with a fall of nearly 0.2% across the UK.
4 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take in response to the Scottish Snowsports Strategic Review 2011.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government recognises the valuable economic benefits and employment opportunities snowsports bring to Scotland. The Scottish Snowsports Strategic Review recommended greater collaborative working among the Scottish centres to develop the sector as…
4 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether pay gaps between its male and female employees have been eliminated.
Answer · John Swinney: Over the last five years the gender pay gap in the Scottish Government main bargaining unit and Senior Civil Service has not exceeded 3%. This is within the limits as suggested by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
4 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what is being done to improve the mental health and wellbeing of children and adolescents.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Caring for people of all ages with mental health problems is a national priority for the Scottish Government and we continue to work with our partners to advance this important agenda. This commitment to mental health has resulted in a new mental health stra…
4 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the Care Inspectorate supports, promotes and reports on good mental health and wellbeing in nursery schools.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The National Care Standards for Early Education and Child-care underpin the work undertaken by the Care Inspectorate in this sector. These standards reflect the aspiration of ensuring that all children are in receipt of a positive experience which meets their…
4 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what health and development checks are provided for children up to the age of five.
Answer · Alex Neil: The routine health and development checks which are provided for children up to the age of five are set out in the Health for All Children (Hall 4) Guidance. The guidance recommends that all children should have contact with Health professionals within the f…
20 Sep 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on efforts to increase the supply of recycled glass for use in the drinks industry.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS), the Scottish Government’s waste policy delivery programme, has been taking forward a range of work on this issue. It recently published the Glass Collection & Re-processing Options Appraisal in Scotland, available on the ZWS website…
18 Sep 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) pension contribution rate for (i) employers and (ii) employees, (b) total paid in contributions, (c) pension payments and (d) the net cash flow was for the (A) local government, (B) NHS, (C) teachers, (D) civil service, (E) police and (F) firefighters pension scheme for 2011…
Answer · John Swinney: (a) 2011-12 employee and employer contribution rates for the eight schemes referred to above (there are currently two police schemes and two fire-fighters schemes) are shown below. Pension scheme Employer Contribution Rate Employee Contribution Rate Loc…
11 Sep 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much debt is held by each public sector organisation.
Answer · John Swinney: None of the public sector organisations within the Scottish Government accounting boundary, nor any of the Scottish Government’s executive non-departmental public bodies, currently have any long-term borrowings. Details of local authority debt was provided in…
11 Sep 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what reductions in train journey times to Inverness have been achieved since 2007.
Answer · Keith Brown: Journey times for services operating between Glasgow/Edinburgh and Inverness will be reduced by up to 17 minutes. These reductions will be delivered from 9 December 2012 as part of Phase one of the Government’s Highland Main Line Improvements Project.
11 Sep 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what reductions in train journey times from Inverness to (a) Caithness and (b) Perth are planned in the next five years.
Answer · Keith Brown: We are working closely with Network Rail to deliver Phase two of the Highland Main Line Improvements Project in the next five years which aims to support an hourly service in both directions between Inverness and Perth extended to either Glasgow or Edinburgh …