Richard Baker

24 Sep 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to Albyn House, Aberdeen’s designated place of safety, if Police Scotland withdraws its share of the funding for the service in April 2015.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The funding of local initiatives is a matter for Police Scotland, and it is appropriate that they review their commitments regularly alongside all priority and partnership activities. Police Scotland have made no announcement about cutting their funding of t…

28 Jul 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the skills gaps in the north east.

Answer · Angela Constance: Through Skills Development Scotland (SDS), we have committed to establishing a robust, evidence based understanding of Scotland’s strategic workforce skills requirements. SDS has achieved this by developing sectoral Skills Investment Plans and Regional Skills…

23 Jul 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to ensure that there is adequate shift cover in each Scottish Ambulance Service regional operational division during the Commonwealth Games.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Ambulance Service’s (SAS) resilience planning for the Commonwealth Games was based on the principle of business as usual and its resource modelling ensured that normal levels of services across the country were maintained. These measures include…

23 Jul 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Scottish Ambulance Service staff will be on duty at the Commonwealth Games, broken down by regional operational division.

Answer · Alex Neil: This information is set out in the following table: Division North East Central South East West Central South West No. of Staff* 21 27 15 46 33 *This denotes operational staff only and does not include commanders and support services.

21 Jul 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to ensure that there is adequate cover in each police division during the Commonwealth Games.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: A safe, secure and peaceful Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games was delivered through a mixed workforce of Police Scotland police officers, mutual aid police officers from elsewhere in the UK, military personnel, private safety stewards and private security guard…

21 Jul 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers will police the Commonwealth Games, broken down by division.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This is an operational matter for Police Scotland.

18 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many GP appointments in NHS Grampian were cancelled in each of the last three years.

Answer · Alex Neil: Information on the number of cancelled GP appointments in NHS Grampian is not available centrally.

18 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with NHS Grampian regarding the standard of patient care.

Answer · Alex Neil: Ministers and senior officials regularly discuss a range of issues concerning the standard of patient care with representatives of NHS Grampian. This includes discussions with policy leads on key areas of performance.

18 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle fuel poverty in North East Scotland.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: In the four year period between 2009-10 and 2012-13 we invested £220 million on fuel poverty and energy efficiency programmes across Scotland, with an estimated net gain in household income of over £1 billion across the lifetime of the measures. This include…

11 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the report of the Independent Expert Commission on Oil and Gas will be published.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The date for the publication of the Oil and Gas Expert Commission report will be agreed between the commission and ministers.

11 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Connect Roads on (a) whether, (b) which and (c) when sections of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route will open before the 2018 project completion date.

Answer · Keith Brown: The programme for delivery of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and Balmedie to Tipperty was discussed at regular meetings with all bidders, including Connect Roads, as part of the procurement process. Sections discussed for potential early delivery, with…

3 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS Grampian regarding its approach to managing surgical patients nearing the time limit for their treatment, particularly in relation to performing surgery at weekends.

Answer · Alex Neil: I am aware the board has been experiencing capacity difficulties in delivering the waiting time guarantee and standards. The board are now undertaking weekend working to improve their performance. They are also investing £7 million in the current year in a nu…

3 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it took to ensure that suitable provision was made for the pupils of Hamilton School in Aberdeen following the school’s closure.

Answer · Michael Russell: The responsibility for the provision of education rests with individual local authorities. Aberdeen City Council in discharging its duties arranged for Braeside Primary School to be available for pupils who attended Hamilton School. The Scottish Government w…

3 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Aberdeen City Council regarding the impact of the closure of Hamilton School.

Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Government has been in regular contact with Aberdeen City Council following the closure of Hamilton School. The council are confident that there are sufficient primary school places in the city to accommodate the former pupils from Hamilton Schoo…

3 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has provided toward the (a) set up and (b) running costs of Braeside Primary School following the closure of Hamilton School, and what discussions it has had with Aberdeen City Council regarding this assistance.

Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Government and Education Scotland worked very closely with Aberdeen City Council following the closure of Hamilton School in providing support and advice in the interests of the pupils and parents. The responsibility for the provision of educati…

27 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many households were considered to be in fuel poverty in (a) Aberdeen and (b) Aberdeenshire in the most recent year for which information is available.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: Figures on the number of people affected by fuel poverty are collected in the Scottish House Condition Survey. The most recent official statistics, including local authority analysis for 2010-2012, were published at the end of 2013: http://www.scotland.gov.uk…

27 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many first-time buyers purchased property in (a) Aberdeen and (b) Aberdeenshire in the last five years.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: This information is not collected centrally by the Scottish Government.

27 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many attendances there were at each accident and emergency department in NHS Grampian in (a) 2012 and (b) 2013.

Answer · Alex Neil: The following table shows information on emergency departments and minor injuries units in NHS Grampian. New and unplanned attendances at accident and emergency departments in NHS Grampian for 2012 and 2013 2012 2013 NHS Grampian 146,476 147,367 Emer…

27 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many alcohol-related deaths there have been in NHS Grampian hospitals in each of the last three years and how many of these were of people aged (a) under 18, (b) 18 to 29, (c) 30 to 55 and (d) over 55.

Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested is given in the following table. These figures are provided on the same basis as the statistics of alcohol-related deaths published annually by the National Records of Scotland. The figures for 2013 are provisional; final statistics …

20 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the governor and other management at HMP Grampian regarding the recently-reported security breaches at the prison and, in light of these incidents, whether it will provide the prison with additional support.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows: Grampian prison was brought into operation on 3 March 2014 following a well-tested preparation approach. During both the pre-opening p…

16 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in the NHS Grampian area were (a) diagnosed with and (b) discharged from hospital after treatment for malnutrition in 2013.

Answer · Alex Neil: (a) The term ‘malnutrition’ can be used to mean a range of different conditions. The definition used here comprises a specific group of diagnoses which would be used to identify cases of protein/energy malnutrition (ICD-10 codes E40-E46 only). Therefore, th…

16 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) academic and (b) non-academic (i) managerial and (ii) other staff are employed at North East Scotland College.

Answer · Michael Russell: Information on the number of staff employed in colleges and Universities is held by the Scottish Funding Council. The latest information available is for 2012-13. It is not possible to provide the staff breakdown requested. Tables 1 and 2 contain headcount a…

16 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much Housing Association Grant was awarded to each registered social landlord in (a) Aberdeenshire and (b) Aberdeen City in (i) 2012-13 and (ii) 2013-14.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The amount of Affordable Housing Supply Programme funding paid to individual registered social landlords was: Housing Association Grant (£ millions) – Aberdeenshire Grant Recipient 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15* Aberdeenshire Council 2.105 0 1.392 Castl…

16 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average cost is of private rented accommodation, broken down by city.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: Rent Service Scotland collects market information on a representative sample of private sector rents by Broad Rental Market Areas, to meet the UK Government requirements related to Local Housing Allowance. This sample has not been designed to produce reliable…

8 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-15721 by Keith Brown on 28 June 2013, how many training roles Serco NorthLink offered to new ratings in 2013-14 as a result of its work with Orkney College and how many new ratings the company plans to train in 2014-15.

Answer · Keith Brown: In the summer season 2013, Serco NorthLink recruited six new entrant ratings into the industry. Five were from Orkney and one from Aberdeen. In 2014 Serco Northlink recruited 14 new entrant ratings from the North-East: 11 from Orkney, one from Shetland and tw…

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in the NHS Grampian area were screened for bowel cancer in (a) 2012 and (b) 2013.

Answer · Alex Neil: The number of eligible people in the NHS Grampian area who have taken part in the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme in the latest three years available (up to 31 October 2012) is provided in the table. Data up to 31 October 2013 will be available when the an…

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of the cost of private-rented accommodation in Aberdeen.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: Rent Service Scotland collects market information on a representative sample of private sector rents by Broad Rental Market Areas. Information on the 30th percentile of private sector rents, by bedroom size, is published on the Scottish Government website, al…

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many new business start-ups there were in (a) Aberdeen and (b) Aberdeenshire in (i) 2012 and (ii) 2013.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: New business start-ups are measured using new business VAT/PAYE registration figures. In 2012, there were 1,285 new business start-ups in the Aberdeen City local authority area and 1,205 new business start-ups in the Aberdeenshire local authority area. Estima…

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) fatal and (b) serious road accidents involving heavy goods vehicles there were in North East Scotland in (i) 2012 and (ii) 2013.

Answer · Keith Brown: The following table shows the number of fatal and serious road traffic accidents involving heavy goods vehicles in the legacy Grampian police force area. The figures for 2013 are still being processed and those in the table are only for the period from Januar…

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many road traffic collisions there were in (a) Aberdeen and (b) Aberdeenshire in (i) 2012 and (ii) 2013.

Answer · Keith Brown: The following table shows the number of injury road traffic accidents in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. The figures for 2013 are still being processed and those in the table are only for the period from January to September 2013. Provisional figures for the whol…