Parliamentary questions
Daniel Johnson
1,103 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
15 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many cells there are in Scotland's prisons, broken down by prison.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows: The following table provides a breakdown of cells in each Scottish prison. Prison Total Number of Cells Addiewell 702 Barlinnie …
9 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been convicted of causing death by careless driving involving drink or drugs in each year since 2007-08, broken down by how many received a (a) (i) custodial, (ii) community, (iii) financial and (iv) other penalty and (b) (v) no, (vi) an under-two year, (vii) a three…
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Number of persons convicted for Causing death by dangerous driving, careless driving and careless driving when under influence of drink/drugs, broken down by main penalty can be found here - https://gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/Datasets/Dat…
9 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been convicted of causing death by dangerous driving in each year since 2007-08, broken down by how many received a (a) (i) custodial, (ii) community, (iii) financial and (iv) other penalty and (b) (v) no, (vi) an under-two year, (vii) a three to four-year, (viii) a …
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Number of persons convicted for Causing death by dangerous driving, careless driving and careless driving when under influence of drink/drugs, broken down by main penalty can be found here - https://gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/Datasets/Dat…
9 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been convicted of causing death by careless driving not involving drink or drugs in each year since 2007-08, broken down by how many received a (a) (i) custodial, (ii) community, (iii) financial and (iv) other penalty and (b) (v) no, (vi) an under-two year, (vii) a t…
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Number of persons convicted for Causing death by dangerous driving, careless driving and careless driving when under influence of drink/drugs, broken down by main penalty can be found here - https://gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/Datasets/Dat…
1 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported recent calls by the industry, what plans it has to upgrade the electricity distribution infrastructure to deal with the growth in electric vehicles.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Electricity network policy and regulation are reserved matters, and the responsibility of the UK Government and Ofgem respectively. However, the Scottish Government works closely with each of these to ensure that Scottish policies, priorities and circumstance…
3 Sep 2018 · Topical Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the integration of British Transport Police and Police Scotland.
29 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any Barnett consequentials from the Institute of Coding's recently announced £2.3 million fund for computing education and training research.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The £2.3 million Future Projects Fund at the Institute of Coding is for the enhancement of higher-level digital skills provision in England, so it is expected to generate Barnett consequentials. As you will be aware, any Barnett consequentials accrued to the …
29 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will contribute to the funding for researchers in Scotland who choose to join the research consortium at the Institute of Coding.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The £2.3 million Future Projects Fund at the Institute of Coding is for the enhancement of higher-level digital skills provision in England. The Fund is understood not to be for research projects and the Scottish Government will therefore not be providing add…
29 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to review the rules regarding blood donation for men who have sex with men.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-18492 on 24 September 2018. 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/parliamentarybusin…
29 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, (b) LGBTI+ campaigners and (c) the UK Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs regarding discrimination in blood donation.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-18492 on 24 September 2018. 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/parliamentarybusin…
29 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the changes in 2017 to rules regarding blood donation for men who have sex with men.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The expert advisory committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs ( SaBTO ) recommended that the deferral period for blood donors (and tissue donors) could safely be reduced for a number of groups from twelve months to three months. The Scottish Natio…
29 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many warrants are currently outstanding and in which year they were issued, also broken down by (a) type of warrant and (b) police division.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. These are operational matters for Police Scotland.
29 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of changes to legal aid on the number of entrants to the criminal legal aid sector.
Answer · Ash Denham: Any changes made to the legal aid system via primary or secondary legislation are subject to a Business Regulatory Impact Assessment. There is no requirement to assess impact of regulations on the number of new entrants to the criminal legal aid sector as par…
29 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure access to justice in light of comments by the Law Society of Scotland that the “level of new entrants to the sector is below that required to sustain the network of criminal firms providing access to justice across Scotland”.
Answer · Ash Denham: Scottish Government's analysis of the current position is that while crime is reducing and the number of criminal court actions is reducing, the number of practitioners on the criminal legal assistance register is still high in comparison to the work availabl…
29 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) the Law Society of Scotland, (b) the Scottish Court and Tribunal Service, (c) the Faculty of Advocates, (d) the Lord President of the Court of Session and (e) other stakeholders regarding the proposal to allow first-year trainee lawyers to appear in c…
Answer · Ash Denham: This has not been discussed with the Scottish Government. It is entirely a matter for the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service.
29 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to alter legal aid in light of comments by the Law Society of Scotland that the “level of new entrants to the sector is below that required to sustain the network of criminal firms providing access to justice across Scotland”.
Answer · Ash Denham: Mr Johnson is referred to the answers previously provided at S5W-18485 and S5W-18489 on 27 September 2018 . The Scottish Government has been analysing the recommendations contained in the review “Rethinking Legal Aid” and as set out in the Programme for Gover…
24 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-17620 by Jeane Freeman on 23 August 2018, how many calls coded as (a) life-threatening, (b) serious and (c) neither life-threatening or serious were responded to within (i) under 10, (ii) 10 to 29, (iii) 30 to 59, (iv) 60 to 120 and (v) over 120 min…
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Until the 23 November 2016, in Scotland 999 calls were triaged into three categories:- • Categories A, potentially immediately life threatening • Category B, serious but not life threatening • Category C, not serious but may require an ambulance The Scott…
24 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-17620 by Jeane Freeman on 23 August 2018, how calls are coded for the purposes of prioritisation.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Ambulance Service launched its New Clinical Response Model (NCRM) in November 2016, based on a detailed clinical analysis of around half a million 999 calls. Since then, following triage, 999 calls are coded to one of five categories based on the…
17 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much was spent in GP prescribing on homeopathy in each of the last five years, also broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Figures in the requested format are not held centrally. NHS Information Services Division publishes monthly figures on dispensed prescription items in their community open data files. These files show number of paid items, paid quantity and gross ingredient …
17 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether it considers that there is robust evidence to support the use of homeopathy in the NHS.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to questions S5W-10593 on 29 August 2017 and S5W-11037 on 19 September 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.par…
17 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many patients were referred for homeopathic treatments in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Homeopathic Outpatient appointments are not covered by Waiting Time Standards and Boards are not therefore required to provide this information to Information Services Division (ISD) for publication. The information requested is not therefore held centrally. …
17 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any NHS training posts that include placements in homeopathy.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: None of the GMC approved medical training programmes require placements in homeopathy, and there are currently no training rotations in any medical placements which include homeopathy attachments. There are no homeopathy nurses or allied health professions (…
17 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on NHS boards using homeopathic treatments.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government position remains unchanged. We recognise that some Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM), including homeopathy, may offer relief to some people suffering from a wide variety of conditions. It is for individual NHS Boards to dec…
17 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much each NHS board spent on homeopathy and alternative medicine in each of the last five years.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: This is a matter for individual Health Boards. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.
17 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation by NHS England that GPs and other prescribers should stop providing homeopathic treatments after finding "no clear or robust evidence to support" its use, what its position is on NHS Scotland continuing to fund homeopathic treatments.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government position remains unchanged. We recognise that some Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM), including homeopathy, may offer relief to some people suffering from a wide variety of conditions. It is for individual NHS Boards to dec…
16 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what work is being done by Historic Environment Scotland to reduce the risk of fires in Holyrood Park.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Historic Environment Scotland Act 2014 created a new public body, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to carry out the regulatory and other functions which were formerly delivered by or on behalf of Scottish Ministers. HES acts as the lead public body on…
15 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to spending the Barnett consequential of £11.6 million that arose from the UK Government’s announcement of £100 million to support computer science education development, which is assigned to Industry Strategy Skills in the Autumn Budget, specifically on computer s…
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-18228 on 30 August 2018. 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 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how it will spend the Barnett consequential of £11.6 million that arose from the UK Government’s announcement of £100 million to support computer science education development, which is assigned to Industry Strategy Skills in the Autumn Budget.
Answer · John Swinney: The UK Government Block Grant Transparency Document confirms that the Scottish Government received Barnett consequentials of £4.3 million this financial year and £7.3 million in 2019-20 as a result of Autumn Budget announcements made by the UK Government for …
3 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-17535 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 12 July 2018, when it will complete its consideration of the recent UK Supreme Court judgement.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government expects to announce next steps in this area in the autumn of 2018.
5 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many emergency calls were made and responded to by the Scottish Ambulance Service within (a) 10 mins, (b) 30 mins, (c) 1 hour and (d) 2 hours, in each of the last five years.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Please find the requested information set out in the following table: Minutes 2013 - 2014 2014 - 2015 2015 - 2016 2016 - 2017 2017 - 2018 Under 10 326865 311421 281426 257652 206745 10-30 141875 167555 185601 202110 229813 30-60 8998 1361…