Alison Johnstone

15 Jul 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what environmental risk assessment Police Scotland has made of the transportation of nuclear weapons on the country's roads.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The transportation of nuclear weapons is a reserved matter. The Ministry Of Defence produces guidance entitled “Local Authority and Emergency Services Information (LAESI)” and any environmental risk assessment required in relation to these matters would be th…

15 Jul 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government who is responsible for monitoring compliance in Scotland with the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.

Answer · Annabelle Ewing: The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 places a number of duties on Responders identified in the legislation. It is the responsibility of the individual responder agencies to ensure compliance with the legal duties placed upon them by the Act. Structures which supp…

14 Jul 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has asked the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland to investigate the causes of the reported 8.5% increase in mortality in 2015 and whether it will publish the results of any such investigation.

Answer · Shona Robison: Official statistics show that there was a 6.2% increase in deaths in 2015. The reason for the increase in the number of deaths is not entirely clear but the winter of 2014-15 saw a high number of deaths from a variety of conditions including respiratory and c…

12 Jul 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the reasons for the reported increase in the prescribing of omeprazole.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-01436 on 9 August 2016. All answers to Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.as…

12 Jul 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what conditions omeprazole is prescribed by the NHS.

Answer · Shona Robison: Omeprazole is a drug prescribed for reducing stomach acid in the treatment of gastric and duodenal ulcers, dyspepsia and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. In addition, omeprazole is increasingly recommended to prevent the side-effects from treatments for pat…

12 Jul 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the devolution of some social security benefits, what analysis it is carrying out or plans on the (a) operation and (b) impact on claimants of the system of mandatory reconsideration of appeals.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Scottish Government officials are assessing the available evidence, including the Social Security Advisory Committee’s July 2016 report, to understand whether the recent decline in the number of social security appeals in Scotland that followed the introducti…

30 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date its review of student support available to nursing and midwifery students will (a) conclude and (b) report to ministers.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has committed to retain the non-means tested, non-repayable nursing and midwifery student bursary at least at its current level. The review will now focus on what additional support students might need to enable wider participation and…

21 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report in the Sunday Herald on 13 March 2015 regarding a mountain hare cull, and whether it considers that the reported incident is consistent with (a) its obligations under the habitats directive and (b) Scottish Natural Heritage's commitment to having a volu…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Hare management requires to be undertaken in accordance with obligations under the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 (as amended in Scotland) which implements the EU Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natura…

21 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, pending research on the health of mountain hare populations, what its position is on introducing a moratorium on the shooting of mountain hares.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government recognises the concerns that have been expressed about the level of exploitation of mountain hares in some areas and has put in place research to gather data on population levels. In the meantime, proportionate management of mountain h…

21 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its requirements under the habitats directive, what action it will take to estimate the size of the mountain hare population.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: A review of moorland management was undertaken by independent experts from the Scottish Natural Heritage Scientific Advisory Committee. This review was published in October 2015, and identified the need for improved monitoring and data to assess national tren…

17 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide data showing the net income position of different families as recommended by the Commission for Childcare Reform in its June 2015 report, Meeting Scotland's Childcare Challenge.

Answer · Mark McDonald: The Scottish Government published its response to the Commission for Childcare Reform's report on 23 December 2015, available on the Scottish Government website at:http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/12/4286/0. Additionally, the Scottish Government publi…

17 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to place a duty on strategic partners to act as planning authorities for childcare availability, as recommended by the Commission for Childcare Reform in its June 2015 report, Meeting Scotland's Childcare Challenge.

Answer · Mark McDonald: The Scottish Government published its response to the Commission for Childcare Reform's report on 23 December 2015, available on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/12/4286/0. The Commission for Childcare Reform report…

16 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what is it doing to reduce any disparities between NHS boards in waiting times for child and adolescent mental health services.

Answer · Maureen Watt: To improve services across the whole of Scotland, we’re investing an additional £150 million for mental health over five years. From this, we announced a £54 million package in January 2016, of which £4.8 million will be awarded to healthcare improvement S…

16 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on its commitment in the Mental Health Strategy for Scotland: 2012-2015 to (a) make basic infant mental health training more widely available to professionals in the children's services workforce and (b) improve child psychotherapy by investing in a new cohort o…

Answer · Maureen Watt: We have made significant progress on commitment eight of the Mental Health Strategy: 2012 to 2015. Some examples are as follows. NHS Education for Scotland (NES) has rolled out the Solihull approach across Scotland. This two-day training is designed to help …

16 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to reduce the number of children and young people requiring mental health inpatient treatment being treated in non-specialist wards.

Answer · Maureen Watt: We are working closely with NHS boards to ensure that the number of specialist beds matches the need and demand of children and adolescents. We are also encouraging NHS boards to develop their community based intensive outreach services in order to enable chi…

15 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to increase benefit take-up and how it will measure success.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government is committed to encouraging the take-up of benefits to ensure that people who are eligible, but who are not currently making claims, receive the benefits to which they are entitled; both UK Government benefits and those that will trans…

15 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has access to Scottish and sub-Scotland level data on current benefit take-up.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government has access to information on benefit take-up published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HMRC. Estimated take-up rates for pension credit, income support and employment support allowance, jobseekers allowance and housi…

13 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comment by Michael Matheson on 10 June 2016 in the news release, Tackling hate crime, that "I have asked Scottish football to take further steps to address this long-standing issue and I expect to see progress on this imminently”, whether it will provide a breakdown of th…

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has made it clear that unacceptable conduct and the disorder that marred the 2016 Scottish Cup Final has no place in football. We expect our football authorities and clubs to proactively take action to swiftly develop and deliver th…

8 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made and whether it has established timescales in its consideration of the availability of pre-exposure prophylaxis, as pledged in the 2016 SNP manifesto.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00536 on 16 June 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/2…

30 May 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many orthopaedic consultants have been appointed in each of the last five years, and what analysis it has carried out of the trend.

Answer · Shona Robison: The number of consultant appointments each year is not held centrally. The following table shows the number of whole time equivalent (WTE) consultants in post at the end of each of the last five financial years. The information shown is for trauma and orthop…

30 May 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-28251 by Shona Robison on 16 November 2015, whether the final range of services to be provided by each centre has been agreed and, if so, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding how the £200 million will be allocated.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is currently in detailed discussions with the relevant NHS boards on the range of services each of the centres will provide. The allocation of the £200 million will be made once the range of services has been agreed for each facility. …

30 May 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to (a) increase the recruitment of and (b) retain orthopaedic consultants.

Answer · Shona Robison: It is for health boards to plan and deliver clinical services and ensure that they have the correct staff in place to meet the needs of their services and ensure high quality patient care. The Scottish Government works closely with all boards to support thei…

25 May 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when Scottish Natural Heritage plans to require formal mountain hare cull returns from estates in order to inform future sustainable management practice for this species.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: There are no current plans to require mountain hare bag returns.

25 May 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what level of estate compliance Scottish Natural Heritage has recorded in relation to its 2014 position statement, SNH-GWCT-SL&E position on large-scale culls of mountain hares to reduce louping ill.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The position statement issued by Scottish Natural Heritage, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, and Scottish Land and Estates sets out a number of different recommendations relating to the management of mountain hares in Scotland. There are no formal ar…

25 May 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to establish a working group to help plan the future arrangements for sustainable management of mountain hares.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Under the auspices of Scotland's Moorland Forum (which represents a range of stakeholders involved in moorland management, including the Scottish Government and Scottish Natural Heritage), it has been agreed that guidance on the management of mountain hare be…

18 May 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the introduction of transitional state pension arrangements for women in Scotland who were born in the 1950s.

Answer · Angela Constance: I have raised these issues with Stephen Crabb, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in writing and urged him to reconsider transitional arrangements for the women affected.

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s intention to relocate the Museum of Fire in Edinburgh is in line with the Scottish Government's policies on the historic environment.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The decision to relocate the Edinburgh Museum of Fire is a matter for the Board of the Scottish fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) The museum is currently housed within the SFRS property at Lauriston Place, Edinburgh. This building is listed at category A, and …

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to (a) ensure that public procurement of IT does not enable abusive labour practices and (b) affiliate with Electronics Watch.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government’s standard terms and conditions of contract include clauses on corruption, equality, black-listing, payment of subcontractors and protection of the environment. We recognise that abusive labour practices are a concern in IT procurement…

2 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to match in its own estate the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body's reported 84% recycling rate and 67% reduction in landfill waste in 2014-15 and, if so, whether it will require additional recycling measures in order to do so.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government achieves 99% landfill avoidance. On average, 57% of the waste produced in our buildings is segregated for recycling on-site, further sorting then takes place off-site all of which helps us to achieve the 99%. We are working closely wit…

2 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, at the current rate of progress, when it expects to meet Scotland's Zero Waste Plan targets of 70% recycling and 5% maximum to landfill.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The targets set in the Zero Waste Plan of 70% recycling and 5% maximum of all waste to landfill by 2025 remain in place. I am confident that the measures we already have in place and those we are in the process of implementing will allow us to meet those targ…