Alexander Stewart

4 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce smoking rates in Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) decile 1 areas.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government has recently been commended by Cancer Research UK for our action in setting annual smoking cessation targets for Health Boards which focusses efforts in deprived areas. In addition a targeted approach is taken by directing both local i…

4 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with third sector organisations regarding its plans for No Smoking Day 2020.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government worked with ASH Scotland to promote No Smoking Day on 11 March. A social media campaign – highlighted the positive outcomes people have achieved through quitting tobacco products and raised awareness of the free NHS Quit Your Way appro…

4 Mar 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its Cleaner Air for Scotland strategy.

25 Feb 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to protect local authority services, in light of the claim by COSLA that the proposals in its draft Budget "will hit vulnerable communities the hardest".

18 Feb 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the number of teachers in post.

29 Jan 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much revenue has been raised by the Large Business Supplement since 2016.

8 Jan 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the development and delivery of planned and ongoing road infrastructure projects take environmental issues into account.

6 Jan 2020 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that local authorities are having to spend millions of pounds from cash reserves in order to balance their budgets.

20 Dec 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what long-term forecasts it uses for predicting the incidence of stroke, and what plans it has to manage stroke care services against these predictions.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: In 2019 the National Planning Board, which provides oversight , governance and decision making in relation to national planning of NHSS services , carried out a joint “Horizon Scan” with the National Advisory Committee for Stroke and other stakeholders in rel…

20 Dec 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what tools and methodologies it uses to understand best practice in stroke care; how this knowledge and best practice is embedded into the care that patients receive when recovering, and how stroke patients and their families are made aware of how this knowledge has informed the care tha…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Over the past 10 years, the number of people in Scotland dying from stroke has decreased by 42%. This is significant progress but we want to strive for even better outcomes. That is why the Programme for Government 2019-20 commits to developing a programme to…

20 Dec 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason SIGN guideline 108 has been withdrawn; how this decision was made; what the impact of its withdrawal is on (a) health professionals providing care and (b) patients being treated for stroke, and what plans it has to update stroke guidelines.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Clinical guidelines such as NICE and SIGN are recommendations to aid healthcare and other professionals in caring for people with specific conditions. There are various sets of guidelines that clinicians can consider for the management, treatment and care of …

20 Dec 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which guidelines it uses to underpin stroke care, and to what degree these guidelines have been embedded into the care that patients receive in each NHS board.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Clinical guidelines such as NICE and SIGN are recommendations to aid healthcare and other professionals in caring for people with specific conditions. The guidelines are based on the best available evidence. The implementation of these guidelines are the res…

20 Dec 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle bogus callers who pretend to be meter readers in (a) the Mid Scotland and Fife region and (b) Scotland.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the work of its partners – including Police Scotland. Trading Standards, Neighbourhood Watch Scotland and Crimestoppers Scotland – to raise awareness of doorstep crime and provide practical advice in terms of…

17 Dec 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has provided in loans through its Digital Growth Fund.

11 Dec 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the question being asked as part of the Scottish Health Survey 2018 but the findings not being made public, whether it will confirm how many people taking part in the survey said that they would like to give up smoking, broken down by (a) age group and (b) Scottish Index of …

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The information requested will be published on 21 January 2020 as part of the Scottish Health Survey 2018 supplementary tables.

5 Dec 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to an audit report by Food Standards Scotland, which found that the Fife Council environmental health team is facing staff shortages that have led to it being unable to perform proactive visits, and instead it is focusing on responding to complaints or business queri…

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: I am informed by Food Standards Scotland that it has carried out a number of Capacity and Capability Audits of Local Authorities over the past three years. Audits of Local Authorities’ food law enforcement services are part of Food Standards Scotland’s arrang…

4 Dec 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent making preparations for independence in the last 12 years.

27 Nov 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how Scotland contributes to the European Stroke Organisation strategy 2018-2030, including the target to reduce incidence across Europe by 10%.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The European Stroke Action Plan 2018-2030 is a collaborative document resulting from efforts from the European Stroke Association, Stroke Alliance for Europe and many other stakeholders, including a number of stroke professionals based in Scotland. We work wi…

27 Nov 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many strokes have been recorded in each of the last 10 years, broken down by NHS board, and what targets it has set to reduce incidence.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The information is already available in the public domain and can be found at https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Stroke/Topic-Areas/Incidence/ . The Scottish Stroke Care Standards, in the Scottish Stroke Care Audit (SSCA) are used to assess the perf…

27 Nov 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what collaboration there is between stroke professionals in Scotland and their international partners, and how this has been used to (a) improve the design and work of NHS stroke units and (b) help ensure that patients receive evidenced-based care of a world class standard.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Stroke professionals in Scotland have a strong history of being involved, and taking the lead, in international collaborations. For example, Professor Martin Dennis, Chair of Stroke Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and Chair of the National Advisory Co…

27 Nov 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what stroke guidelines are followed by NHS boards, including which boards follow the latest Royal College of Physicians (RCP) guidelines, and what its position is on rolling out the RCP guidelines to all boards.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Royal College of Physicians (RCP) guidelines are recommended to NHS Scotland and should be taken into account when services are being developed. As such, implementation of guidelines is the responsibility of NHS Boards and their operating divisions, reinforc…

19 Nov 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle fly-tipping.

7 Nov 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to protect firefighters from attack.

Answer · Ash Denham: Our firefighters do a remarkable job in very challenging circumstances, often putting themselves in danger to protect the public and we will therefore not tolerate attacks against them or any other public sector workers. Scotland's justice system provides fo…

1 Nov 2019 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what urgent action it plans in response to recent reports of a rise in stress-related sickness absences among prison officers.

30 Oct 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the second supplementary to question S5O-03677 by Aileen Campbell on 30 October 2019 (Official Report, c. 28), whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding what role it expects procurement plans to have in helping councils that are strugg…

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Local authorities are independent corporate bodies and, like other public bodies, are largely responsible for their own procurement processes and decisions. Under our national public procurement legislation, they need to prepare and publish a procurement str…

29 Oct 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on improving farm-level emissions and carbon sequestration data.

22 Oct 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what formal assessment Social Security Scotland made over the summer of the implementation of Wave One and Two devolved benefits.

2 Oct 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on Brexit preparations, and what it expects the final amount will be.

Answer · Derek Mackay: On 1 August UKG announced further funding of £2.1 billion to ‘turbo-charge’ no deal exit preparations for 2019-20. The Scottish Government will receive £40.7 million in consequentials from the circa £900 million already allocated to individual UK departments.…

2 Oct 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has allocated to each local authority to assist with Brexit preparations; what criteria it has set for the councils to receive this funding, and what the timescale is between these criteria being met and the money being allocated.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government has met COSLA's request to allocate £50,000 to each council to coordinate EU exit preparedness. This is a total of £1.6 million. The additional £50,000 will be paid to each local authority as part of the redetermination of the 2019-20 …

2 Oct 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it expects to receive in additional Barnet consequentials arising from the UK Government's expected further expenditure on Brexit preparations, and how it expects to allocate this.

Answer · Derek Mackay: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-25629 on 22 October 2019. 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…