Neil Findlay

1 Feb 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-06212 by John Swinney on 30 January 2017, in light of the cabinet secretary's comments, whether it, as an employer, will refuse to comply with all of the provisions of the Trade Union Act 2016.

Answer · Keith Brown: The UK Government’s Trade Union Act 2016 received Royal Assent on 4 May 2016. While we have consistently made the case to the UK Government about the lack of evidence to support the need for this legislation, the Scottish Government, as a public services empl…

26 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what health and safety standards child contact centres are required to meet.

Answer · Mark McDonald: The vast majority of child contact centres in Scotland operate as part of the Relationships Scotland network. All child contact centres in the Relationships Scotland network are expected to comply with the relevant Health and Safety legislation that applies i…

26 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how often sheriffs are required to update their training in relation to domestic abuse.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Under provisions within the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008, the Lord President, as Head of the Scottish Judiciary, has statutory responsible for making and maintaining arrangements for the training and guidance of judicial office holders. A range …

26 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many child contact centres are fitted with (a) CCTV, (b) panic alarms and (c) safe rooms.

Answer · Mark McDonald: The vast majority of child contact centres in Scotland operate as part of the Relationships Scotland network. Relationships Scotland requires all the child contact centres in its network to meet standards set out in its internal guidance relating to safety an…

26 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the minimum qualification is for staff and volunteers working in child contact centres.

Answer · Mark McDonald: The vast majority of child contact centres in Scotland operate as part of the Relationships Scotland network. Qualifications for the wide range of staff and volunteer roles in contact centres in its network is a matter for the organisation. Officials have lia…

26 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many child contact centre staff and volunteers are trained in child protection.

Answer · Mark McDonald: The vast majority of child contact centres in Scotland operate as part of the Relationships Scotland network. Training of staff and volunteers in the contact centres in its network is a matter for the organisation. Officials have liaised with Relationships Sc…

26 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the requirements are for a property to be deemed appropriate as a child contact centre.

Answer · Mark McDonald: The vast majority of child contact centres in Scotland operate as part of the Relationships Scotland network. Relationships Scotland requires all the child contact centres in its network to meet standards set out in its internal guidance relating to safety an…

26 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce regulation of child contact centres.

Answer · Mark McDonald: The vast majority of child contact centres in Scotland operate as part of the Relationships Scotland network. All Relationships Scotland child contact centres operate under Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator requirements and undergo an internal quality…

25 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has clawed back from local government education departments that have not met pupil:teacher ratios.

Answer · John Swinney: The national agreement of maintaining the pupil teacher ratio at 13.7 was met in 2016 and therefore there was no clawback of funding from any local authority.

23 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the UK Government regarding the impact of HMRC tax office closures/mergers in Scotland; what was discussed, and what plans it has to meet again.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: When HMRC announced the next stage of their Building our Future transformation programme on 12 November 2015, the First Minister personally spoke to the second Permanent Secretary at HMRC to relay her grave concerns over job losses. Keith Brown, Cabinet Secre…

18 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether existing specialist units that are integral to the trauma network will be left in place or centralised in each of the new major trauma centres.

Answer · Shona Robison: The implementation of the Scottish Trauma Network is not about centralising A&E Departments in the four new major trauma centres. It is about joining up existing A&E departments across Scotland with the major trauma centres, to provide co-ordinated care acros…

17 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Office for National Statistics' (ONS) assessment of ESA10 infrastructure projects, and further to the comment by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy on 18 June 2015 (Official Report, c. 53) that "my officials have engaged substantively with the ON…

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government engages routinely with the Office of National Statistics (ONS) on a large number of issues of shared interest, supported by officials from across government. Over the period from 2013, engagement with the ONS on issues related to ESA10…

17 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what involvement it had with the visit to the UK by Eurostat officials in January 2013 regarding the Maastricht Excessive Deficit Procedure, and whether it will publish details of the (a) communications and (b) correspondence with (i) Eurostat, (ii) the Office for National Statistics and…

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government had no involvement in the January 2013 visit of Eurostat officials to the UK, and there is no correspondence we have had on this specific issue.

17 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-05864 by Shona Robison on 17 January 2017, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding how often the words or phrases, “inequality” and “inverse care law”, appear in its new Health and Social Care Delivery Plan.

Answer · Shona Robison: In the original response to question S5W-05864 asked by Neil Findlay MSP, it was stated: 'the word "inequalities" occurs three times in the Health and Social Care Delivery Plan'. There is no mention of the phrase "inverse care law" in the Health and Social Ca…

16 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce a trade union bill during the current parliamentary session.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government is strongly opposed to the UK Government’s Trade Union Act and sought an exemption from the UK Government during the passage of the Bill. The Act is a threat to the fundamental rights of workers and seeks to undermine Scotland’s approa…

16 Jan 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce its wild fisheries bill and what it will contain.

16 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government where it expects integrated joint boards and NHS boards to find the £15.3 million required each year to maintain drug and alcohol services at 2015-16 levels.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: I refer the member to the answer to question S5O-00592 on 25 January 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…

16 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the £15.3 million reduction in its drug and alcohol budget in 2016-17 has been replaced in the 2017-18 draft budget.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: I refer the member to the answer to question S5O-00592 on 25 January 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…

13 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how responsibility and accountability for health and safety is divided for employers that have multiple sites across Scotland and the UK.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government does not hold information on how responsibility and accountability for health and safety is divided for employers that have multiple sites across Scotland and the UK. Regulation of occupational health and safety is reserved to the UK G…

12 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commission an independent economic analysis of the impact of the small business bonus scheme.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government has no plans to commission independent economic analysis of the impact of the Small Business Bonus Scheme. Policy-making in respect of the Small Business Bonus Scheme is informed by objective internal analysis and wide-ranging stakeho…

11 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many offences of fishing without permission have resulted in a (a) prosecution and (b) conviction in each of the last five years.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The available information is provided in the following table. Total offences prosecuted for fishing without permission, 2011-12 to 2015-16 Charge Main Result of Proceedings 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 Total prosecuted 20 26 46 2…

11 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been (a) arrested, (b) prosecuted and (c) convicted for fishing for (i) migratory and (ii) non-migratory fish without permission in each of the last five years.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The available information is provided in the following table which includes the legislation the charges relate to as a way to identify whether migratory or non-migratory fish. The Scottish Government does not hold data on arrests. People proceeded against i…

9 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether social care providers will be expected to contribute to the cost of providing at least the living wage to employees in 2017-18 and what contribution it will make towards this.

Answer · Shona Robison: In developing our position on the Living Wage for 2017-18 we have presumed no provider contribution for 2017–18.

5 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many times in each of the last five years people have been treated in hospital wards that have not met a safe nurse-to-patient ratio.

Answer · Shona Robison: The link between safe and sustainable staffing levels and high quality care is well established. It is vital we have the right number of staff in place, with the right skills. Scotland has led the UK in the development of nursing and midwifery workload and w…

21 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the words or phrases, “inequality”, “inequalities” and “inverse care law”, appear in its new Health and Social Care Delivery Plan.

Answer · Shona Robison: Of the three words and phrases, the word "inequalities" occurs three times in the Health and Social Care Delivery Plan. For example, in paragraph six of the Delivery Plan, one of the aims of the Delivery Plan is to "improve everyone’s health and wellbeing by …

21 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report by the University of Aberdeen on the outcome of pelvic organ prolapse repairs reinforced by non-absorbable synthetic mesh or biological grafts compared with standard native tissue repairs, and what action it will take in light of these findings.

Answer · Shona Robison: This report helps to highlight the wealth of research expertise in Scotland, and is welcomed by the Scottish Government. The report will be carefully considered by the Independent Review of Transvaginal Mesh, which will publish its final report early in 2017.

19 Dec 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that victims in Scotland of unethical undercover policing have access to justice.

19 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the review by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland, what it can do to ensure that all core participants in the Pitchford inquiry have full access to justice, irrespective of where they live now or have lived at the time of undercover police operations again…

Answer · Michael Matheson: As stated in my previous answer to S4W-29540 on 10 February 2016, the options available to any individual will depend on the facts and circumstances of their case. Depending on the particular circumstances, individuals may seek redress via the Investigatory P…

19 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the core participants in the Pitchford inquiry were targeted in Scotland by UK undercover police or by undercover Scottish police officers.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

19 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether, in the interest of transparency, it will ensure that all core participants in the Pitchford inquiry have complete access to their police files held in Scotland.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Access to police files is a matter for the Police Service of Scotland.