Parliamentary questions

Neil Findlay

2,296 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

10 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether Edinburgh College runs at a deficit and, if so, (a) what the level of this is and (b) when it believes the college will no longer be in this position.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: (a) The college reported a deficit in its 2014-15 financial statements of £5.1m. The financial statements for 2015-16 are to be laid before Parliament in April 2017. (b) The College has projected through its Business Transformation Plan to be in a break even…

10 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that Edinburgh College adequately serves the communities that it covers.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The College works with its key stakeholders including Community Planning Partnerships to ensure that provision is aligned to regional need. The College has to evidence how it is responding to regional need including the communities it covers within its Outco…

10 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much public funding is awarded to Edinburgh College, and whether it expects to provide it with such support in 2018-19.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: For AY 16-17 Edinburgh College was awarded the following funding: £40,162,091 Grant in Aid for teaching; £10,495,590 for student support; £665,747 for European Social Funds; and £5.3 for Business Transformation Plan (£2.9M of this is a cash advance to be …

10 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the effectiveness of the (a) board and (b) management and executive team of Edinburgh College, including its handling of public funds.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The College Board operates in accordance with the Financial Memorandum between the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and the College and the Code of Good Governance for Colleges. Board structures have been reviewed and the board itself has been active in suppor…

10 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it will provide to West Lothian Council to repair any damages to minor roads arising from the closure of the A71.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 places the statutory responsibility for local roads improvement, maintenance and repair with local roads authorities. It is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to it on t…

8 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-06201 by Aileen Campbell on 7 March 2017, what account it took of the impact of the £15.3 million reduction in the drug and alcohol budget for 2016-17 when setting the budget allocation for 2017-18.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-07925 on 20 March 2017. 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/…

8 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-06201 by Aileen Campbell on 7 March 2017, what account it took of the comments by the Chief Executive of the Scottish Drugs Forum regarding the £15.3 million reduction in the drug and alcohol budget for 2016-17 in its news release, Concern over budg…

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government has engaged with ADPs and a range of partners to support and to review the effectiveness of service delivery, reflecting on this and balancing against the overall pressures on the Health budget, in setting the 2017-18 budget. In 2016-…

8 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-07499 by Roseanna Cunningham on 7 March 2017, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding whether it will publish the evidence that it has received to determine that each protection order should remain in place.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Further to the answers to questions S5W-07053 on 22 February 2017 and S5W-07499 the Scottish Government has not carried out a review of the 14 individual Protection Orders made under Schedule 3 of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidation)(Scotland) …

7 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many times since May 2007 (a) the First Minister, (b) each (i) cabinet secretary, (ii) minister and (iii) special adviser and (c) its officials (A) has been in contact or (B) have been contacted by Andrew Wilson or Charlotte Street Partners, and for what reason.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate costs.

7 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the closure of the University of Edinburgh’s undergraduate primary school teacher education course will affect teacher recruitment in (a) the central belt and (b) eastern Scotland.

Answer · John Swinney: It is not expected that the closure of Edinburgh’s undergraduate primary teacher education course will have an impact on recruitment in the central belt or Eastern Scotland as the university will still be offering primary teacher education at postgraduate lev…

7 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the University of Edinburgh’s new two-year postgraduate teacher education course will improve standards in schools.

Answer · John Swinney: The University of Edinburgh’s new two-year postgraduate teacher education course is a new form of initial teacher education that will result in the award of a full Masters degree and teachers being able to work across both the primary and secondary sectors. T…

7 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the University of Edinburgh’s new two-year postgraduate teacher education course will attract potential applicants into the teaching profession.

6 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many adverse incidents there have been involving the use of medical mesh devices to treat hernias.

Answer · Shona Robison: NHS National Services Scotland confirms that a total of six incidents involving abdominal hernia repair mesh have been reported since 1994.

6 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the recommendations of the Independent Review of Transvaginal Mesh Implants will protect women who could be invited to participate in research involving the use of medical mesh products.

Answer · Shona Robison: Until the Independent Review’s recommendations are published it is not possible to comment on them. In general terms, clinical research in Scotland is governed by the Scottish Executive Health Department Research Governance Framework for Health and Community …

6 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will allow mesh procedures (a) that have no proven benefit and (b) where the risks are believed to outweigh the benefits to be carried out after the Independent Review of Transvaginal Mesh Implants reports.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-07727 on 20 March 2017. 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/…

6 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will allow (a) transobturator mesh tape and (b) prolapse mesh procedures to be used after the Independent Review of Transvaginal Mesh Implants reports.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Independent Review is expected to publish its final report during the spring. Health boards will then be expected to take appropriate action, and an Expert Group will work with them to identify and enact the measures necessary to ensure that the Review's …

6 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the average cost of (a) mesh and (b) non-mesh treatments for stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has not made an assessment of these costs.

6 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government under what circumstances it considers that the use of medical mesh would be unavoidable, and whether the report of the Independent Review of Transvaginal Mesh Implants will confirm and describe these situations.

Answer · Shona Robison: Decisions around the circumstances in which the use of mesh in any individual patient’s treatment is appropriate are a matter between the patient and the clinicians involved in her case. The Independent Review is expected to publish its final report during th…

6 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact it considers the resignation of two medical mesh-injured members of the Independent Review of Transvaginal Mesh Implants has had on the balance of the group.

Answer · Shona Robison: The resignation of the two members was unfortunate, has caused me concern, and I plan to meet with Ms McIlroy and Ms Holmes shortly in order to properly understand their reasons for resigning. I am, however, aware that Ms McIlroy and Ms Holmes have contribute…

6 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) transobturator mesh tape and (b) prolapse mesh procedures have been carried out by each NHS board in each month since June 2014.

Answer · Shona Robison: The number of transobturator mesh tape and prolapse mesh procedures carried out by the NHS between June 2014 to Sep 2016 are set out in the following tables. The numbers of procedures carried out by each Health Board are not broken down by month due to the sm…

6 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether there is mandatory reporting of adverse incidents that are a result of using medical mesh devices to treat hernias.

Answer · Shona Robison: Adverse incidents involving any medical device must be reported as per General Medical Practice guidance.

6 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many legal cases have been lodged in relation to non-mesh treatments for stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse in Scotland.

Answer · Shona Robison: Records suggest that there are no active cases or claims relating to non-mesh treatments for stress urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse.

6 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is content that all available evidence will be included in the final report published by the Independent Review of Transvaginal Mesh Implants.

Answer · Shona Robison: I understand that all relevant evidence available has been considered by the Review. The passage of time between the publication of the Interim Report and the forthcoming Final Report is due to the Review awaiting the publication of several key studies.

6 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what alternative non-mesh procedures are available to treat stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.

Answer · Shona Robison: Options for the treatment of both stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse are discussed in the Independent Review’s interim report. http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/10/8485/4.

6 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will reclassify all medical mesh implant products as high risk, in light of the EU's recent decison to do so.

Answer · Shona Robison: It is the responsibility of the MHRA to regulate medical devices in the UK, and the Scottish Government will act as necessary, according to its advice.

6 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the Independent Review of Transvaginal Mesh Implants has conducted itself in an impartial manner, and what its reasons are for its position on this.

Answer · Shona Robison: Ministers and government officials have taken great care to allow the Review to take an independent view on the matter, and the members’ range of experiences and expertise was intended to ensure that a comprehensive examination of the situation was possible. …

6 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it has (a) met and (b) been in contact with any medical mesh device manufacturer since the publication of the interim report from the Independent Review of Transvaginal Mesh Implants in October 2015.

Answer · Shona Robison: Neither Scottish Government Ministers nor officials have met with, or contacted, manufacturers in relation to mesh devices.

6 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether informed consent is always required from patients being treated for hernias with medical mesh devices.

Answer · Shona Robison: Informed consent and shared decision making are expected prior to any procedure being carried out. The Chief Medical Officer goes into this in more detail in her Realistic Medicine report. http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0051/00514513.pdf.

6 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether, compared to standard non-mesh treatments, medical mesh devices increase the risk of complications that can have an irreversible and detrimental impact on the lives of people who experience them.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-07740 on 17 March 2017. 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…

6 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the report of the Independent Review of Transvaginal Mesh Implants will publish all of the evidence and findings regarding patient choice in a manner that will be understandable to non-experts.

Answer · Shona Robison: I understand that attempts have been made to make the Review’s final report as accessible as possible. However, as with any report of this kind, it will contain necessarily detailed, in-depth analysis of medical evidence that is, by its very nature, complex. …