Jeremy Balfour

27 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) process and (b) timetable is for revising the licensing of misoprostol to allow it to be taken outside of a hospital or clinic, and in the absence of medical staff, for the purpose of carrying out an abortion, and which stakeholders it has consulted or plans to consult regar…

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Regulation for the licensing and safety of medicines is currently a reserved area for the UK Government. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for regulating medicines and medical devices in the UK. The Scottish Govern…

15 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many doctors from across the UK have applied to become GPs in Scotland in each of the last five years.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the numbers of applicants by qualified GPs for established GP posts in Scotland. Where GP Practices advertise posts, established /qualified GPs apply directly to the GP Practice. The following table shows …

30 Oct 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on equality and human rights for older people.

9 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken in response to the findings of the its reports, Evidence Assessment of the Impacts of the Criminalisation of the Purchase of Sex: A Review and Exploring available knowledge and evidence on prostitution in Scotland via practitioner-based interviews, and what plans…

Answer · Annabelle Ewing: 19 responses were received which are currently being considered. The Scottish Government believes it is important and necessary to listen to the views and understand the experiences of those with direct experience. We have engaged with a number of individua…

2 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS Lothian receives less funding than it should expect under the NRAC allocation formula and, if so, for what reason.

Answer · Shona Robison: As part of the Scottish Government’s 2017-18 Budget, NHS Territorial Boards have received inflationary uplifts of £136 million (1.5%) and NRAC parity funding of £50 million. This delivers increased funding of 2.1% and takes all Boards to within 1% of NRAC par…

18 Sep 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will review its guidance on mobile phone use in primary schools.

6 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many press releases it has issued since 1 June 2016 on the nine protected characteristics outlined in the Equality Act 2010, broken down by characteristic.

Answer · Angela Constance: This information is not held centrally. You can find the information you require by entering date and search parameters based on each of the nine protected characteristics in the following link: https://beta.gov.scot/news/

25 Aug 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-10389 by Kevin Stewart on 9 August 2017, what action it is taking to tackle anti-Catholic prejudice specifically.

Answer · Angela Constance: Our Tackling Prejudice and Building Connected Communities action plan contains a number of actions around tackling hate crime, including the establishment of a multi-agency delivery group and expert advisory panel to progress the recommendations of the Indepe…

16 Aug 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the bioresource mapping work conducted by Zero Waste Scotland will be published.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The draft report has been submitted to the Scottish Government and will be published in due course.

23 May 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce A&E waiting times.

16 May 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings it has had with production companies since January 2017 regarding locating a new film studio in the Lothian region.

9 May 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much will be generated by the large business rates supplement in the (a) East Lothian, (b) Edinburgh, (c) Midlothian and (d) West Lothian local authority areas in 2017-18.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The latest estimates of non-domestic rates revenue generated in each local authority area in respect of the large business supplement for 2017-18 are £1.1 million for East Lothian Council, £16.8 million for City of Edinburgh Council, £1.3 million for Midlothi…

30 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the implementation group will be appointed to oversee the recommendations in The Best Start: A Five Year Forward Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Care in Scotland, and which individuals and organisations have been invited to join it.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-08515 on 18 April 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.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/…

30 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether representation from charities and parents will be included on the implementation group to oversee the uptake of the recommendations in The Best Start: A Five Year Forward Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Care in Scotland.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Best Start Implementation Group will be chaired by Jane Grant, who chaired the review. The Chair will appoint an implementation group, comprising representatives from NHS organisations who will be delivering the change, professional bodies and service us…

13 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for public consultations on (a) animal breeding and (b) the sale of pets.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The possible changes to legislation regarding animal breeding and sale of pets are being considered as part of an ongoing review of pet welfare. The Scottish Government has already held a number of meetings with stakeholders around that ongoing review; and wi…

13 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what changes it is considering to legislation regarding (a) animal breeding and (b) the sale of pets.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The possible changes to legislation regarding animal breeding and sale of pets are being considered as part of an ongoing review of pet welfare. The Scottish Government has already held a number of meetings with stakeholders around that ongoing review; and wi…

7 Mar 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to encourage more women to regularly participate in sport.

7 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many accidental house fires there were in each of the last five years in Lothian; how many of these fires were caused by electricity, and what steps it is taking to reduce the number of such fires.

Answer · Annabelle Ewing: This information is not held centrally. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) publishes statistics on accidental dwelling fires, broken down by local authority, however this data is not broken down into specific causes. These statistics are available …

27 Feb 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the findings in the NHS Information Services Division report, Child Health 27-30 Month Review Statistics Scotland 2015/16, which suggest that children from the most deprived areas were more than twice as likely to have at least one developmental concern, what (a) action it i…

Answer · Mark McDonald: To improve young children's early development, in October 2015 the Scottish Government published a Universal Health Visiting Pathway which is being rolled out across Scotland. The programme consists of contacts with health visitors comprising 11 home visits t…

22 Feb 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to maintain specialist railway policing expertise within Police Scotland.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government's Railway Policing (Scotland) Bill was published on 8th December, with the objective of paving the way for the integration of the British Transport Police in Scotland into Police Scotland. Police Scotland has confirmed to the Scottish…

17 Feb 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how and (b) when it plans to evaluate the success of the baby box in tackling deprivation, improving health and supporting parents, following the full rollout in Summer 2017.

Answer · Mark McDonald: We are still analysing the findings from the pilot research which is due to finish at the end of this month. This research will provide initial insights into the benefits of the Baby Box and has been designed to inform main delivery. It will also provide inf…

17 Feb 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it initially committed toward the development of the Royal Hospital for Children in Edinburgh and how much it expects to spend; what the total capital spend was initially expected to be and how much it expects this spend to be, and how much the hospital will cost over it…

Answer · Shona Robison: It was announced as part of the Scottish Government’s budget for 2011-12 that the re-provision of Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department of Clinical Neurosciences would be delivered using the Non-Profit Distributing (NPD) Model. The NPD programme was…

15 Feb 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support children with additional support needs when they leave school.

Answer · John Swinney: Under the Additional Support for Learning Act, education authorities have duties to work with relevant agencies to plan for the post-school transitions of young people with additional support needs. The Scottish Government has provided statutory guidance on…

8 Feb 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, what steps it will take to (a) implement the family-centred neonatal care units and (b) ensure that neonatal services meet the standards for quality of care set out in the report, The Best Start: A Five-Year Forward Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Care in Scotland.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: In my statement to Parliament on 21 February 2017 I outlined the next steps in implementation of the recommendations in The Best Start report. I announced the priorities for implementation, including the recommendations on family centred care and the new mode…

16 Jan 2017 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government considers that appropriate resources are in place to support teachers of children with additional support needs.

10 Jan 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how physical education is helping to narrow the attainment gap.

13 Dec 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to implement the recommendations of the ENABLE Scotland report, #IncludED in the Main?!.

7 Dec 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it assesses Scotland’s economic performance in comparison with other countries.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government uses the National Performance Framework and Scotland Performs to help monitor and assess Scotland’s overall economic performance. These contain indicators that assess Scotland’s performance across a number of dimensions of economic pe…

29 Nov 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to support a national campaign to raise awareness of disability and reduce stigma, in light of the recent report by Disability Agenda Scotland.

16 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it (a) has had and (b) plans to have with (i) Heriot-Watt University and (ii) other third parties regarding (A) the creation of and (B) providing finance and support for a national film studio.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has regular meetings, as a member of the Film Studio Delivery Group, to discuss how to support and finance enhanced film studio infrastructure for Scotland. As representatives of the Film Studio Delivery Group, Scottish Enterprise ar…