Neil Findlay

19 Dec 2016 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many women have had transvaginal mesh implants since it requested NHS boards to suspend their use in June 2014.

15 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what independent assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the small business bonus in creating jobs.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government has not commissioned independent assessment. Policy-making in respect of the Small Business Bonus Scheme is informed by objective internal analysis and wide-ranging stakeholder engagement. For example, the Federation of Small Business …

15 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government who was responsible for the error in interpreting EU rules relating to the accounting procedures for the non-profit distribution model of financing public projects; when it was alerted about this error and by whom, and what the implications of the error are for (a) investment in public s…

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government has always been very clear about the impact of classification on the NPD programme, which arose as a result of changes that were made in September 2014 to relevant Eurostat guidance, 18 months after the contract for the Aberdeen Wester…

15 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what rate of interest is charged by the Public Works Loan Board.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The interest rates charged by the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) vary depending on the type and length of the loan and are reviewed on a daily basis. Information on current and historical interest rates can be found on the UK Debt Management Office website a…

15 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what hourly rate of pay will be charged by the contractor that will run maintenance services at the new Royal Edinburgh Hospital for a (a) joiner and (b) electrician.

Answer · Shona Robison: This would be a matter for NHS Lothian to address as part of their delegated responsibility for the provision of NHS services in the region.

15 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the private consortium building the new Dumfries hospital is charging an interest rate of 11.3%, and what its position is on whether this represents value for money.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The interest rate that applies to subordinated debt for Non Profit Distribution (NPD) projects is commercially sensitive and covered by a confidentiality agreement until 2 years after construction handover, however all NPD contracts were competitively tendere…

15 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list all of the investors in the (a) Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, (b) new Dumfries hospital, (c) new Royal Edinburgh Hospital and (d) new Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service headquarters project, also broken down by the level of investment.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Information on the investors and their share of the debt share in the (a) Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, (b) Dumfries and Galloway Royal Hospital, (c) Royal Edinburgh Hospital and (d) Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service headquarters project is ava…

15 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the hourly rate of pay is for an NHS (a) joiner and (b) electrician.

Answer · Shona Robison: There is no specific hourly rate for joiners or electricians in NHSScotland. Their rate would depend on the pay band a particular post had been placed on under the Agenda for Change job evaluation system and on the increment the individual is on within that b…

15 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the value is of all non-profit distribution model-funded projects, also broken down by the cumulative (a) capital cost of these and (b) amount to be paid in interest over their lifetime.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Information on the non-profit distributing projects, including the capital value, is available from the following link: www.gov.scot/Topics/Government/Finance/18232/12308/NPDhubPipelinepayments A breakdown of the amount of interest to be paid by each projec…

15 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent incidents that have been reported involving construction workers on the Forth Replacement Crossing, including the arrest of workers brought to Scotland illegally and the underpayment of migrant workers by a subcontractor on the project.

Answer · Keith Brown: The individuals referred to were not employed directly by Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors (FCBC) but through a second tier labour only sub-contractor. The Home Office confirmed that the investigation was not directed at FCBC but related to a specific named…

15 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will immediately implement the pay audit called for by the UCATT trade union in relation to the Forth Replacement Crossing, in light of the reports concerning a subcontractor engaging migrant workers.

Answer · Keith Brown: There is no evidence to support the UCATT allegations regarding low pay. However, I have offered to ask ACAS to undertake further work in conjunction with Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors (FCBC), Transport Scotland and UCATT to examine this and related issu…

15 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, what actions it has taken to investigate concerns raised by the UCATT trade union relating to reports of wage exploitation of migrant construction workers on the Forth Replacement Crossing project.

Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-05593 on 22 December 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/parliamentarybusines…

15 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of information provided by the UCATT trade union concerning the actions of employers on flagship public infrastructure projects, including denial of trade union access to speak freely to workers and wage exploitation of migrant workers, what its position is on the effectiveness…

Answer · Keith Brown: We share the vision of the Fair Work Convention that 'by 2025, people in Scotland will have a world-leading working life where fair work drives success, wellbeing and prosperity for individuals, businesses, organisations and society.’ We would undoubtedly be …

15 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what mechanisms are in place to monitor the actions of construction employment supply chains on major public sector infrastructure projects and to ensure that fair work practices are implemented, in light of problems reported in this regard relating to the Forth Replacement Crossing proj…

Answer · Derek Mackay: Each public body is responsible for putting in place effective contract management and monitoring arrangements for its construction projects to ensure that contract terms continue to be applied through the duration of a contract. This is reflected in the Stat…

14 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the next cancer patient experience survey will be carried out.

Answer · Shona Robison: Our cancer strategy, Beating Cancer: Ambition and Action, contains a commitment to support and fund a National Cancer Patient Experience Survey, keeping under review how best to measure what matters to people with cancer and ensuring appropriate action is tak…

14 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how often the cancer patient experience survey is carried out and what plans it has to increase the frequency of this.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-05568 on 22 December 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/parliamentarybusines…

14 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is carrying out with the Brain Tumour Charity with regard to developing new assessments for the benefits system after social security is devolved.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: We have carried out an extensive consultation exercise to which the Brain tumour Charity responded to help inform our approach to social security in Scotland and we will be publishing a report on the consultation responses early in 2017. This will help to inf…

14 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average time in Scotland is for diagnosis of a brain tumour, and how this compares with the rest of the UK.

Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally.

14 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Quintiles regarding the possible relocation of jobs from Livingston.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government’s economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise (SE), has an account management relationship with Quintiles. As part of that engagement process, SE is aware that the company is currently in consultation with staff on potential chang…

12 Dec 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether Scotland has good bus services.

12 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the possible impact on jobs in Scotland, what its position is on the proposed takeover of Sky by Fox News and whether it considers that there should be an inquiry into the proposal by OFCOM and the competition authorities.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government is committed to media plurality. A flourishing democracy needs diverse and independent voices across all media and a wide range of media outlets is vital to this. Processes that could have an impact on the diversity of voices in our me…

1 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its role with the National Advisory and Advocacy Group for the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives, what discussions it has had with (a) the Health and Safety Executive and (b) other stakeholders regarding (i) the effectiveness of and (ii) improving the Primary Authori…

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Regulation of occupational health and safety is an issue reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government has not had any discussions in relation to Primary Authority Schemes in regard to occupational health and safety.

1 Dec 2016 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many staff it has employed on agency contracts in each of the last five years.

Answer · David Stewart: The SPCB does not contract directly with agency workers, but goes through employment agencies, who then place workers on assignment with the SPCB.  IT and non-IT agency staffing arrangements are managed separately, and the information is therefore split in to…

1 Dec 2016 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how much it has paid to employment agencies to provide staff in each of the last five years.

Answer · David Stewart: 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 projected outturn Not-IT staff: charges excluding VAT 1,002,428 886,377 895,122 1,109,348 1,217,312 414,635 Non-IT staff: non-recoverable VAT - - - 214,410 229,429 78,607 IT staff: char…

1 Dec 2016 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many contracts for agency staff that it employed in the last five years were for (a) less than one month, (b) one to six months, (c) between six months and two years and (d) over two years.

Answer · David Stewart: Non-IT Agency Staff Information about non-IT agency assignments is only held for current and previous calendar years, and therefore no detailed data on agency staffing prior to 2015 is available.  Since the beginning of 2015, the lengths of assignment undert…

1 Dec 2016 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body under what circumstances it employs staff on agency contracts rather than fixed-term or permanent contracts.

Answer · David Stewart: Permanent or fixed term contract opportunities with the SPCB are, with very limited exceptions, advertised through fair and open competition, either internally or externally.  Subject to the SPCB’s normal approval process for filling vacancies, the majority o…

18 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has made or is giving to allowing schools to opt-out of local authority control.

Answer · John Swinney: The Government remains committed to publicly funded comprehensive school education that delivers excellence and equity for all children and young people. The current Governance Review, which commenced on 13 September 2016, seeks views on how best to achieve t…

10 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the details of any discussions that it has had with the Qatari Government.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government is keen to strengthen diplomatic, economic, educational and cultural ties with other countries including Qatar. Disclosing the details of discussions with the Qatari Government, particularly without their consent, is likely to undermin…

10 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish details of any business deals that it has with Qatari companies.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government has no business deals with Qatari companies.

10 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which projects that seek to address food poverty it supports.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government’s main response to food poverty is through the £1 million per annum Fair Food Fund. The Fund is intended to reduce reliance on emergency food provision by supporting projects that give people opportunities to access fresh and healthy f…