Parliamentary questions
Claire Baker
1,724 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
21 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the overall cost is of the GoodSAM system used by Scottish Ambulance Service.
Answer · Neil Gray: £25,000 per annum.
21 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what role existing first responder groups have in assisting the Scottish Ambulance Service response in rural areas of the Mid Scotland and Fife region.
Answer · Neil Gray: Community First Responders (CFRs) are highly valued by the Scottish Ambulance Service and are a dedicated and valuable asset to the communities they serve across Scotland including Mid Scotland and Fife. They form an integral part of the Service’s response, e…
21 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many community first responders have been trained by the Scottish Ambulance Service, to date, broken down by parliamentary region.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Ambulance Service currently has around 900 Community First Responders. The number of Community First Responders trained by the Scottish Ambulance Service by SAS Operational Areas between April 2021 - March 2024: Region Period North East We…
21 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to the Scottish Ambulance Service on the objectives of its community first responders programme.
Answer · Neil Gray: Scottish Ambulance Service see volunteers as a key part of its 2030 strategy, there is an emphasis on working collaboratively with communities to improve population health, enhance the resilience of communities and deliver high quality emergency care for pati…
21 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) international standards and (b) training accreditations are currently met by community first responders trained by the Scottish Ambulance Service.
Answer · Neil Gray: New volunteers must undertake a 4-day mandatory training programme and assessment, aligned to a clinically assured Scope of Practice, prior to becoming an active CFR. The course is delivered in-house by SAS that aims to equip volunteers for their role.
21 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it supports existing first responder groups and charities to assist with emergency calls received by the Scottish Ambulance Service.
Answer · Neil Gray: Co-ordination of Community First Responders (CFRs) and Wildcat Cardiac Responders sits within the Scottish Ambulance Service National Risk and Resilience Department (NRRD). The Community Resilience team within NRRD provide governance, recruitment, training, a…
21 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the Scottish Ambulance Service began using the GoodSAM system, and what assessment has been made of its effectiveness.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Ambulance Service started using the GoodSAM system in 2017 in a limited capacity – initially this was aimed at SAS clinicians to register. This was paused during the Covid-19 pandemic. Full implementation of GoodSAM, which was open to all, was la…
9 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the growth in the food delivery industry in Scotland since 2020, including the estimated number of workers in the sector.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Government is aware of the importance of understanding the food delivery industry, and the evolving challenges with measuring activity in this area. At present, there are no official estimates of revenues or employment in the food delivery indus…
9 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the study, Fair Gig Work: A review of Employment Practices in the Scottish Food Delivery Work 2024, and its findings of harassment and abuse of food delivery industry workers in cities across Scotland.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The findings from the Heriot-Watt study present a disturbing picture of racial and sexual abuse that food delivery drivers have experienced in the course of their work. The Scottish Government is clear that there is no place for harassment or abuse in the wo…
9 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is engaging with food delivery industry employers, including on matters of fair work, employment rights and safety.
Answer · Tom Arthur: While there is no specific, separate engagement with food delivery industry employers, the Scottish Government engages broadly with businesses and trade unions across the retail and hospitality sector on a range of issues, including fair work. Many of these b…
2 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the progress of the inquiry into the death of Sheku Bayoh, including the anticipated date for the publication of the final report.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Sheku Bayoh Public Inquiry commenced evidentiary hearings on 10 May 2022. As of 2 May 2024, 102 days of evidence have been heard by Lord Bracadale including detailed evidence on the events at Hayfield Road on 3 May 2015; post-incident management by Police…
10 Apr 2024 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time is for a determination on Adult and Child Disability Payments in Mid-Scotland and Fife.
27 Feb 2024 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its review of how to increase the number of co-operatives, social enterprises and employee-owned businesses, as part of the move to a wellbeing economy.
21 Feb 2024 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting events to commemorate the 750th anniversary of the birth of Robert the Bruce, which takes place on 11 July this year.
13 Feb 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government on what date it plans to publish its consultation on the minimum age of marriage, in light of the concluding observation of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child that all marriages of under-18s should be prohibited in Scotland.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: As I said in my answer to question S6W-23651 on 7 December 2023, the Scottish Government is aiming to publish a consultation on a substantial range of family and succession law matters, including the minimum age of marriage, by summer 2024. All answers to wr…
10 Jan 2024 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to make rail travel more affordable and attractive for passengers in the Mid Scotland and Fife region.
20 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its assessment is of (a) any financial impact of NHS Scotland’s individual NHS boards referring patients to NHS England for magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) treatment, (b) whether individual NHS England trusts have the adequate resources to allow proper access b…
Answer · Jenni Minto: A small service offering MRgFUS for benign Essential Tremor is available in NHS Tayside, to which people who live within the catchment area of other Scottish health boards can be referred for assessment and potential treatment. While the service in Dundee rem…
1 Nov 2023 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it supports small businesses in the Mid Scotland and Fife region.
25 Oct 2023 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve rail services for passengers in the Mid Scotland and Fife region.
18 Oct 2023 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met COSLA to discuss pay awards in schools.
28 Sep 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which local authority areas have appointed a women's champion or advocate, as recommended by the Drug Deaths Taskforce in its report, Women and Drug Related Deaths – Working Group Report and Recommendations.
Answer · Elena Whitham: The decision on whether to appoint a local women’s champion or advocate sits with local authority areas. As such, the government does not hold a list of champions or advocates. The government is, however, fully committed to working with local authority areas …
27 Sep 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support Heart Research UK in its aim to prevent, treat and cure heart disease cases in Scotland.
Answer · Jenni Minto: We are grateful to Heart Research UK for their continued work to prevent, treat and cure heart disease in Scotland. We recognise the scale and impact of heart disease in Scotland and have set out our strategic direction to address this in our Heart Disease …
27 Sep 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to encourage more young people to receive heart screenings and to make this service more widely available.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises ministers and the NHS in the 4 UK Nations, including Scotland, about all aspects of population screening. The UK NSC does not currently recommend screening for cardiac conditions associated with sudden card…
27 Sep 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much the NHS has spent on tackling heart disease in each of the last five financial years, also broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Jenni Minto: This is a matter for NHS Scotland and individual Health Boards. The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government. You may wish to refer to the Public Health Scotland Scottish Health Service Costs reports .
27 Sep 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how much funding it has provided to the NHS for tackling heart disease in each of the last five financial years.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Diagnosis, treatment and care for people with heart disease is being provided across a range of services delivered by our NHS, supported by record funding of more than £19 billion for the health portfolio. While the Scottish Government provides core funding …
27 Sep 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve school meals for children and increase their intake of fruits and vegetables.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring our children and young people have access to healthy and nutritious food when at school. The Scottish Government ensure that all food and drink served in education authority and grant aided schools, including f…
27 Sep 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to educate people about the different heart disease symptoms that are suffered by men and women.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Our Women’s Health Plan includes a commitment to improve information and public awareness of heart disease symptoms and risks for women. Throughout February 2023 we delivered an awareness campaign related to this action. Outreach posters were placed in 1,…
27 Sep 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comments by the then Cabinet Secretary for Justice, during the stage 1 debate on the Culpable Homicide (Scotland) Bill on 21 January 2021, that the Scottish Government wants to work with bereaved families to produce a bill that could help to address the issues raised, but…
Answer · Angela Constance: The Health and Safety Executive (the HSE) operates across the UK including in Scotland under governance from the Department of Work and Pensions within the UK Government. The HSE is responsible for helping people be safer at work. As part of their responsibi…
27 Sep 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates it will receive the Scottish Law Commission’s findings and recommendations from its review of homicide law, which is due to report in 2023.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Law Commission's homicide law project has been continued into their 11th Programme of Law Reform. In 2021, the Commission published their discussion paper on this subject. Scottish Government officials have engaged with the Scottish Law Commiss…
27 Sep 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, as part of its regular discussions with the Scottish Law Commission on its work programme, whether it can confirm if the commission is looking specifically at work-related involuntary act culpable homicide as part of its review of homicide law.
Answer · Angela Constance: Paragraph 1.27 of the Scottish Law Commission's Homicide Project Discussion paper indicates corporate homicide is one of a number of topics that the Commission will not be considering as part of their project. As paragraph 1.27 and associated footnotes indic…