Bruce Crawford

9 May 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme.

28 Apr 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to improve mental health services in the NHS Forth Valley area.

25 Apr 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of invoices, including those paid by electronic purchasing card, (a) it and (b) its agencies paid within 10 working days in 2016-17.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The percentage of invoices, including those paid by electronic purchasing card in ten working days by the Scottish Government during 2016-17 was 99%. The percentage of invoices paid within ten working days by its Agencies was 97.4%, this does not include tho…

11 Apr 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many local authorities have frozen council tax levels for 2017-18.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Eight local authorities - Aberdeen City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian - have decided to freeze council tax for this year.

6 Mar 2017 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the UK Budget.

1 Mar 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much local authorities spent on education in 2015-16.

Answer · John Swinney: Official statistics published last week show that local authority gross revenue expenditure on education in 2015-16 was £4.95 billion - 1.9% higher in real terms than in 2014-15.

9 Feb 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on neonatal hospital transport with twin cot capacity across the country.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: All 3 neonatal transport teams across Scotland have ambulances that are configured to carry 2 transport incubators allowing the simultaneous transport of twins, providing their clinical status means that it is safe to do so.

19 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has allocated to the Stirling Care Village project.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Stirling Care Village is a £35 million development built on the grounds of the Stirling Community Hospital which will transform the way services are delivered by bringing a wide range of health, social care, training and GP services together in one locati…

9 Jan 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it provided toward the building of the new St Margaret's Primary School in Cowie.

5 Dec 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with UK Treasury ministers regarding the Autumn Statement prior to the statement being made.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government and other devolved administrations met the Chief Secretary to the Treasury at a Quadrilateral on 24 October 2016. At that meeting the Devolved Administrations sought insights from the Chief Secretary on the prospects for the Autumn Sta…

21 Nov 2016 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the Autumn Statement.

10 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to encourage the provision of more (a) private and (b) public sector housing for older people.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government is working with the many organisations involved in the provision of housing for older people. These include local authorities who have strategic responsibility for identifying local housing need and demand, housing associations, as wel…

10 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how its forthcoming white paper on planning will take account of the housing needs of older people.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Our forthcoming consultation on proposals for planning reform will set out improvements that aim to deliver more high quality homes that meet the needs of all of Scotland's people. We will consider the interface between planning and our commitment to the refr…

10 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of the (a) housing needs of older people and (b) demand for retirement housing.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 places a responsibility on Local Authorities to prepare a Local Housing Strategy (LHS) supported by an assessment of housing need and demand and the provision of related services. Housing Need and Demand Assessments (HNDA) incl…

10 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the (a) personal, (b) social and (c) economic impact of helping older people to move into accommodation that is better suited to their needs.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Having an appropriately adapted home in the right place, with the right support enables older people to live independently in their own homes for as long as possible. We will publish a refresh of Age, Home and Community our older people’s housing strategy in …

7 Nov 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how important tourism is to the economy.

19 Oct 2016 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish a draft Referendum Bill for consultation, as set out in the Programme for Government.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The current Scottish Government was elected with a clear mandate that the Scottish Parliament should have the right to hold an independence referendum if there was clear and sustained evidence that independence had become the preferred option of a majority of…

17 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what revenue expenditure was allocated to the (a) NHS and (b) Scottish Ambulance Service in (i) this and (ii) each of the previous four financial years.

Answer · Shona Robison: Revenue spending allocations to the Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS Boards in total are provided in the following table. 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 £m £m £m £m £m Scottish Ambulance Service 203.8 207.6 210.0 212.1 223.5 Al…

8 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-29246 by Fergus Ewing on 27 January 2016, in light of the information not being provided by the chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding whether it will provide a breakdown of the (…

Answer · Keith Brown: This remains an operational issue for Scottish Enterprise. I understand that Jim Reid, Senior Director of International Stakeholder Communications and Networks from Scottish Enterprise has now been in touch with Mr Crawford.

7 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff NHS Forth Valley employs and how this compares with September 2006.

Answer · Shona Robison: Under this government, the number of staff working in Scotland’s NHS has risen to a record high. As at March 2016, 5,389.0 Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) staff were employed in NHS Forth Valley, compared with 5,388.7 WTE staff in September 2006.* *Source: Info…

26 May 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve public transport in rural areas.

17 May 2016 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government what legislative consent motions it will lodge in connection with the legislative programme of the UK Government to be announced in the Queen’s Speech on 18 May 2016.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: In accordance with the Sewel Convention and Scotland Act 2016, the UK Parliament does not legislate with regard to devolved matters in Scotland without the consent of the Scottish Parliament. This is an important part of the devolution settlement, which ackn…

7 Mar 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to recruit more teachers.

29 Feb 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what improvements have been made at Stirling railway station to improve the experience for passengers.

11 Jan 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-28871 by Fergus Ewing on 7 January 2016, whether it will provide a breakdown of the (a) methods and (b) categories used by Scottish Enterprise to record data with regard to the businesses that it provides grant support to.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: This is an operational issue for Scottish Enterprise. I have passed your query to Lena Wilson, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, who will provide you with a response directly.

7 Jan 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much regeneration funding has been made available to local authorities in each year since 1999 and what the projected spend for each local authority is for (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.

Answer · Alex Neil: It is the responsibility of councils and their respective community planning partnerships (CPPs) to support local regeneration activity, based on their understanding of local needs and circumstances, from their local government settlement. The Scottish Gover…

17 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the incorporation of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance on multiple pregnancies into everyday practice on maternity units.

Answer · Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government would expect NHS boards to ensure that relevant national pathways, guidelines and models are implemented and that advice and guidance from professional bodies and statutory organisations is followed. The maternal, newborn and infant c…

17 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to reduce the proportion of multiple pregnancies that result in a stillbirth or neonatal death.

Answer · Maureen Watt: There is a lot of work underway to reduce stillbirth and neonatal deaths, although this work does not look at multiple pregnancies separately. The Scottish Government’s stillbirth group, established in 2011, is considering all issues pertinent to stillbirth, …

17 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) stillbirths and (b) neonatal deaths resulted from a multiple pregnancy in 2014.

Answer · Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

17 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how its maternity policy framework addresses the needs of high-risk multiple pregnancies.

Answer · Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all children in Scotland get the best start in life. The best quality maternity care and the best quality neonatal care are therefore crucial, and to achieve this we published A Refreshed Framework for Mat…