Neil Findlay

24 Aug 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much the Scottish Futures Trust has paid to staff in each year since 2010, also broken down by (a) salaries, (b) bonuses, (c) pension payments and (d) other remuneration.

Answer · John Swinney: The following table provides a breakdown of the staff costs for Scottish Futures Trust since 2009-10: Year Ended 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 £ £ £ £ £ £ Salaries (note 1) 663,036 1,899,328 2,394,143 3,093,457 3,719,550…

24 Aug 2015 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average cost is to keep a patient in hospital for one week.

17 Aug 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to meet the unions representing railway staff to discuss the future of Millerhill rail depot and the impact of Network Rail’s plans for the depot on this and associated employment.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Transport Scotland officials have been in direct correspondence with ASLEF regarding the future of the Millerhill Rail Depot and the potential impact on their members.

17 Aug 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what representations it has made to Network Rail regarding the future of Millerhill rail depot and the impact of its plans for the depot on staff and associated employment, and what the outcomes have been.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The future use of the Millerhill rail depot as a distribution centre for asset renewals and maintenance is a commercial matter for Network Rail, and a process is underway to determine their long term logistics strategy. This includes an option to create a new…

17 Aug 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of what the impact would be on (a) passenger rail and freight services and (b) rail and supply-chain jobs if (i) Network Rail's proposals regarding the future of Millerhill rail depot were implemented and (ii) Millerhill rail depot was closed.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The future use of the Millerhill rail depot as a distribution centre for asset renewals and maintenance is a commercial matter for Network Rail. The existing centre, which has been in temporary use to support the construction of the Borders Railway, was acqui…

17 Aug 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how much public money was used by Network Rail to purchase Millerhill rail depot.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The site at Millerhill was acquired by Network Rail primarily for the purposes of creating a new train operator facility that is required as part of the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme. Network Rail paid £9.88 million for the purchase of site, of w…

11 Aug 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much money the Scottish Prison Service pays in recruitment and retention allowances or other market-based pay supplements.

Answer · Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: In 2014 to 2015 the Scottish Prison Service spent £777,100 on recruitment and retention allowances and other market-based pay supplements for…

11 Aug 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many posts in Scottish Enterprise are subject to a recruitment and retention allowance or other market-based pay supplement and whether it will provide a breakdown of staff in these posts by (a) age, (b) gender and (c) geographical area.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have passed your question to Dr Lena Wilson, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise. Scottish Enterprise will provide an answer to you directly.

11 Aug 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much money Scottish Enterprise pays in recruitment and retention allowances or other market-based pay supplements.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have passed your question to Dr Lena Wilson, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise. Scottish Enterprise will provide an answer to you directly.

11 Aug 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many posts in Historic Scotland are subject to a recruitment and retention allowance or other market-based pay supplement and whether it will provide a breakdown of staff in these posts by (a) age, (b) gender and (c) geographical area.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Historic Scotland currently have 19 posts that will attract a recruitment and retention allowance or other market-based pay supplement. The market-based pay supplement in this case is paid to posts which qualify for an IT allowance. (a) The age range of staf…

11 Aug 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much money Historic Scotland pays in recruitment and retention allowances or other market-based pay supplements.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Historic Scotland apply a recruitment and retention allowance to one post within the finance directorate and a market-based pay supplement to 18 staff within the information and communication technology (ICT) directorate. The application of the market-based I…

11 Aug 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many posts in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service are subject to a recruitment and retention allowance or other market-based pay supplement and whether it will provide a breakdown of staff in these posts by (a) age, (b) gender and (c) geographical area.

Answer · Frank Mulholland QC: In the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service there are 53 posts that are subject to recruitment and retention allowance or other market-based pay supplements. This is broken down as follows: (a) Age Age Split Number <30 6 30-39 15 40-49 19…

11 Aug 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much money the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service pays in recruitment and retention allowances or other market-based pay supplements.

Answer · Frank Mulholland QC: The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service pays a total of £192,060 per annum in recruitment and retention or other market-based pay supplements.

11 Aug 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many posts in the Scottish Prison Service are subject to a recruitment and retention allowance or other market-based pay supplement and whether it will provide a breakdown of staff in these posts by (a) age, (b) gender and (c) geographical area.

Answer · Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: In the 2014 to 2015 financial year, 302 employees received payment of a recruitment and retention allowance or similar market-based payment. …

4 Aug 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on (a) whether Police Scotland or its predecessor forces carried out surveillance on trade union, environmental or political activists, (b) who authorised any such surveillance, (c) whether there was collaboration between the police and the (i) Economic League and…

Answer · Michael Matheson: The authorisation of police surveillance is an operational matter for the Police Service of Scotland. Scottish Ministers have no role. Surveillance activity is overseen by the independent, judicially-led Office of Surveillance Commissioners (OSC). The OSC car…

22 Jul 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what redundancy, severance or early retirement packages have been offered to staff at each police control room since April 2013, also broken down by how many staff at each control room have (i) expressed an interest in and (ii) taken a package.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The management of voluntary redundancy and voluntary early retirement (VR/VER) is a matter for Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority (SPA). The SPA VR/VER scheme for staff was approved by Scottish Ministers who along with Police Scotland and the S…

22 Jul 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether overseas military aircraft used Glasgow Prestwick Airport in 2014-15 and, if so, from what countries.

Answer · Keith Brown: Military aircraft from the United States, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Kuwait have used Glasgow Prestwick Airport in 2014-15.

22 Jul 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether there was increased military activity at Glasgow Prestwick Airport over 2014-15 and, if so, whether it will provide details of that activity.

Answer · Keith Brown: Over 2014-15 the Glasgow Prestwick Airport management team worked to increase income across all of the airport’s revenue streams. This included actively pursuing commercial opportunities connected with military aircraft. Business from this sector increased ov…

20 Jul 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which foreign governments or government agencies have invested in Scottish infrastructure projects via the Scottish Futures Trust.

Answer · John Swinney: There has been no direct investment from foreign governments or their agencies in infrastructure projects managed by the Scottish Futures Trust which comes from private sector sources, including the European Investment Bank.

14 Jul 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the diary engagements for the Minister for External Affairs and International Development for 6 December 2012.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: All ministerial engagements are proactively published and updated on the Scottish Government website. Engagements for the Minister for External Affairs and International Development for the period including 6 December 2012 can be found at http://www.gov.scot/…

13 Jul 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-02674 by Keith Brown on 13 July 2015, whether any contractor, sub-contractor or employment agency working for any contractor or sub-contractor or agency on the Forth Replacement Crossing project employs workers via a payroll or umbrella company arra…

Answer · Keith Brown: The contractor, Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors, has confirmed that it does not use umbrella companies in the recruitment or employment of workers on the Forth Replacement Crossing project. Recruitment and conditions of employment are an operational matte…

9 Jul 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many of its posts offer recruitment and retention allowances or similar market-based pay supplements, also broken down by the (a) geographical area of the post and (b) (i) age and (ii) gender of the postholders.

Answer · John Swinney: In the 2014-15 financial year 1,009 employees received payment for a recruitment, retention or similar market based pay supplement. The breakdowns requested are provided in the following tables: (a) Geographical area (broken down by local authority area) …

9 Jul 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it pays in recruitment and retention allowances or similar market-based pay supplements.

Answer · John Swinney: In the financial year 2014-15 the Scottish Government paid £3,040,000 in recruitment, retention or similar market based pay supplements for jobs where it is challenging to recruit and retain staff. This figure excludes associated employer on-costs.

9 Jul 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S4W-25737 and S4W-25738 by John Swinney on 3 June 2015, for what reason the information requested is not held centrally.

Answer · John Swinney: It is the responsibility of each public body to determine their own terms and conditions, ensuring that these are appropriate both for their staff and for their business needs. Under the Public Sector Pay Policy, Scottish Government approval is only requi…

7 Jul 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-26038 by Shona Robison on 23 June 2015, whether (a) it and (b) NHS boards are legally bound to notify women who have been fitted with models of mesh devices that have been found to be defective.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring that all medical devices placed on the UK market are compliant with the relevant legislation and has a duty to enforce this legislation. When a quality or safety concer…

24 Jun 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether and, if so, how it monitors the employment practices of (a) contractors, (b) agencies and (c) sub-contractors engaged on the Forth Replacement Crossing project.

Answer · Keith Brown: Transport Scotland monitors all aspects of the delivery of the Forth Replacement Crossing project on behalf of Scottish Ministers. The contractor (Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors) is obliged to comply with relevant Scottish law. This includes those laws in…

24 Jun 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether umbrella companies are involved in recruiting and employing workers engaged on the Forth Replacement Crossing project and, if so, how many.

Answer · Keith Brown: The contractor, Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors, has confirmed that it does not use umbrella companies in the recruitment or employment of workers on the Forth Replacement Crossing project. No umbrella companies are employed by Transport Scotland or the…

22 Jun 2015 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on the concerns expressed by trade unions and others regarding the budget reductions that local authorities are facing.

9 Jun 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has estimated the potential compensation bill for women in Scotland injured by mesh implants.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is aware of the number of legal claims being lodged with the courts and the sums being sought in relation to mesh implants.

9 Jun 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many women in Scotland have been fitted with Boston Scientific Advantage Fit and Pinnacle implants.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.