Parliamentary questions
Jamie Halcro Johnston
536 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
1 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that (a) current and (b) future vacancies for chief executives in NHS boards are filled in a reasonable timeframe.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government supports NHS Scotland health boards in their efforts to ensure that they have the right staff in place to meet the healthcare needs of the local population. Nevertheless, it remains the responsibility of individual health board to carr…
1 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on private sector services to increase capacity in each NHS board in the last five years, in line with the methodology used in the Auditor General for Scotland’s report, NHS in Scotland 2015.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: NHS Boards report private sector spending in their annual accounts and figures for the five years to 2016-17 are set out in the following table. Figures for 2017-18 will be available after the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts for 2017-18 have been si…
1 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish an assessment of graduate apprenticeships.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: A report containing a complete data set on all Phase 1 Graduate Apprenticeship starts in 2017-2018, will be published by Skills Development Scotland towards the end of this year.
1 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of waiting times in NHS Grampian.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Waiting times in NHS Grampian are very much below the level I require, with patients experiencing exceptionally long waits to be seen and treated in a number of specialties. The Board have experienced a number of issues, particulaly around staffing of theatre…
1 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS Orkney and NHS Shetland would be consulted regarding potential mergers of any of the NHS boards for Grampian, Highland and Tayside.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-17987 on 9 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/parliamentarybusiness/…
1 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what communications it has had with NHS (a) Orkney and (B) Shetland regarding potential mergers of any of the NHS boards for Grampian, Highland and Tayside.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-17987 on 9 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/parliamentarybusiness/…
1 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what communications it has had with the NHS boards, Grampian, Highland and Tayside, regarding any proposals to merge them.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: There has been no communication between Scottish Government and NHS Grampian, Highland or Tayside on proposals to merge their Boards. We have no intention to reduce the number of Health Boards. Our focus is on strengthening collaborative working between NHS …
13 Jun 2018 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of Northern Isles transport connectivity.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Transport Scotland commissioned a comprehensive transport appraisal, in line with the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance, which involved exploring and assessing the specification of the next Northern Isles Ferry Services contract. The report was published …
23 May 2018 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessments it has conducted of passenger air links to Scotland’s island communities.
9 May 2018 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it supports older people in remote and rural areas.
2 May 2018 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the effectiveness of the Flexible Workforce Development Fund.
11 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage more people (a) under 24, (b) between 24 and 30 and (c) over 30 into modern apprenticeships.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government and its partners undertake a wide range of activity to encourage the uptake of our apprenticeship offer, with a focus on young people. Through our Developing the Young Workforce activity we promote apprenticeship opportunities to scho…
11 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the effectiveness of the careers guidance that is provided by (a) schools and (b) colleges.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Education Scotland (ES) monitors the effectiveness of careers guidance provided by SDS, schools and colleges on behalf of Scottish Government. The monitoring takes the form of external reviews based on the Framework for External Quality Review of Skills Devel…
11 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to (a) schools and (b) local authorities regarding providing access to information about technical (i) education and (ii) qualifications in the further education sector.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: As part of the Developing the Young Workforce programme, Education Scotland has introduced the Careers Education Standard (3-18). This is a new set of guidance for schools, designed to better assist young people to make informed learning and career choices as…
11 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comment in its paper, Developing the Young Workforce, that "during 2017-18, we will see school-industry partnerships operating in most secondary schools", whether it will confirm what proportion of schools in each local authority area operate these.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Review of the implementation of the Career Education Standard (3-18), the Work Placement Standard and Guidance on School/Employer Partnerships (May 2017) by Education Scotland found that most schools they visited had developed their links with local and n…
11 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how careers guidance in schools encourages young people to consider jobs in the STEM sector.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Career Education Standard 3-18 supports children and young people to identify their own strengths and consider their aspirations earlier. It also supports them to become aware of the areas they may need to develop to pursue the careers of their choice and…
11 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many foundation apprenticeship frameworks will be made available in the academic year 2018-19, broken down by local authority, and how this compares with 2017-18.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Information relating to academic year 2018-2019 will become available following its commencement. Skills Development Scotland aim to publish an updated Foundation Apprenticeships report at the end of this year. At that stage a comparison with 2017-2018 will b…
11 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) modern, (b) foundation and (c) graduate apprenticeship places will be made available in each of the next three years.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government remains committed to growing Modern Apprenticeships to 30,000 new starts by 2020. On 11 January 2018, I announced that going forward Graduate Apprenticeships will be included as part of this number following successful piloting. In ad…
11 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to encourage more young people into modern apprenticeships in STEM subjects.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Through implementation of Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce, the Scottish Government’s national skills agency, Skills Development Scotland continue to prioritise STEM apprenticeships as part of Apprenticeship contracting arrangements. Our ambition was fu…
11 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many employers NHS Health Scotland has engaged directly with in each of the last three years regarding mental health issues.
Answer · Maureen Watt: There are a number of ways in which employers can engage with NHS Health Scotland’s services that provide support on mental health in the workplace. These services sit within the employer focussed Healthy Working Lives Programme. The following information is…
11 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many young people receive mentoring support, and how this compares with each of the last two years.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Last year the pilot of the Discovering Your Potential (DYP) employability programme, led by a consortium of Barnardo's, Action for Children and the Princes Trust, was launched with the aim of supporting 270 young care experienced people. The programme actuall…
11 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comment in its paper, Developing the Young Workforce, that "in year four [2017-18], colleges, secondary schools and local authorities will be working more effectively in partnership…with all colleges offering vocational options to the majority of secondary schools in the…
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: According to Scottish Funding Council (SFC) figures, there has been an increase of around 30% in the number of senior phase enrolments on vocational courses since DYW was introduced. All colleges (with the exception of specialist colleges Newbattle Abbey Col…
11 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what work Skills Development Scotland carries out with all state secondary schools.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Skills Development Scotland (SDS) deliver our Career Information, Advice and Guidance services in all state secondary schools, including additional support needs schools, throughout Scotland. The majority of SDS’s in-school services are delivered face-to-face…
28 Feb 2018 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the action it is taking to tackle waiting times issues in NHS Grampian and their impact on other NHS boards with which it holds service-level agreements.
22 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on legislating for the protection of title for qualified electricians.
Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-14856 on March 2018. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s web site, the search facility for which can be found at ttp://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusin…
22 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on making it a criminal offence to install electrical work when unqualified to do so.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government has established an Electricians Working Group to explore how best to respond to the challenge of ensuring the safety of electrical installations in Scotland. The membership reflects industry, safety and consumer interests. The first me…
26 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much financial assistance it has provided in each year under the Scottish Growth Scheme.
Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Growth Scheme became operational in 2017 with the introduction of the Scottish European Growth Co-investment Programme and the new and additional funding for the SME Holding Fund. In 2017 just over £23m had been dispersed to 25 companies. Up to…
26 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what forms of financial assistance it offers to businesses under the Scottish Growth Scheme, and who determines the eligibility for, and terms of, this.
Answer · Derek Mackay: There are currently two distinct products available under the Scottish Growth Scheme: the Scottish European Growth Co-Investment Programme (SEGCP); and the new and additional funding for the SME Holding Fund. Under the SEGCP, Scottish Enterprise is providing…
10 Jan 2018 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress towards meeting waiting times targets in NHS Grampian.
12 Dec 2017 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work to reduce waiting times in NHS Grampian.