Tom Mason

10 Mar 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how much compensation ScotRail awarded to passengers and (b) how much estimated unclaimed compensation there was in each four-week period in (i) 2019-20 and (ii) 2020-21.

Answer · Michael Matheson: ScotRail is required through the Franchise Agreement to provide a delay-repay scheme to passengers, which offers compensation when their journey is delayed by more than 30 minutes. The Delay Repay scheme operates on a railway period reporting basis from Apri…

10 Mar 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many unfilled teaching posts there are in (a) Aberdeen, (b) Aberdeenshire, (c) Angus and (d) Dundee, and what action it is taking to reduce the number of these posts.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government does not hold this information as the recruitment and deployment of all staff in local authority schools is a matter for individual Councils. We are firmly of the view that we will need all possible teaching resources at our disposal …

10 Mar 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of people in the NHS Grampian area who were referred for cancer treatment in (i) 2020 and (ii) 2021 received this within the 62-day target.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Data published by Public Health Scotland covering the period 1 January 2020 to 30 September 2020 shows that in NHS Grampian 83.7% of eligible referrals started treatment within the 62 day standard, representing 1082 of 1292 eligible referrals. Further break…

10 Mar 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average annual local authority (a) block grant and (b) total funding is, broken down by per head of population, and how this compares with how much each local authority receives.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The information requested is set out in the following table. Revenue Only   Local Authority Block Grant Block Grant (per head)  Total Settlement Total Settlement (per head)  £m £  £m £ Aberdeen City 343.729 1,510  395.485 1,738 Aberdeenshire …

10 Mar 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided for research on (a) strokes, (b) heart disease, (c) cancer, (d) hearing loss and (e) sight loss in each year since 2016.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Funding provided by the Scottish Government (Chief Scientist Office) for research falls into three broad areas of activity, i.e. research studies, capacity building and supporting infrastructure. The specific amounts provided by condition are set out below al…

10 Mar 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of pupils meet the national satisfactory standards in (a) reading, (b) writing, (c) listening and talking and (d) numeracy, also broken down by the percentage in the (i) Aberdeen City. (ii) Aberdeenshire. (iii) best performing and (iv) worst performing council area.

Answer · John Swinney: The Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels publication provides information on the number of publicly funded school children in Primary 1, Primary 4, Primary 7 and Secondary 3 who have achieved the expected Curriculum for Excellence level in the lite…

10 Mar 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of children in the NHS Grampian area who were referred for mental health treatment in 2020 received this within the 18-week target.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The latest published data for CAMHS waiting times was released on 2 March 2021 by Public Health Scotland and contains data up to 31 December 2020. For ease of reference NHS Grampian CAMHS waiting times data is detailed below. a) Between 1 January 2020 and 31…

3 Mar 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Nestrans and Transport Scotland regarding road infrastructure improvements in the North East Scotland region.

23 Feb 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to meet its target of building 50,000 affordable homes.

17 Feb 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reduce the backlog of elective surgical procedures that have arisen in the NHS Grampian area due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

10 Feb 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the future use of hydrogen-powered trains on the Edinburgh–Dundee–Aberdeen main line.

5 Jan 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to help older people access essential requirements, including food, medical attention and prescriptions, under the current COVID-19 restrictions.

18 Nov 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on subject choice in the 2020-21 academic year.

3 Nov 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what input the Scottish tourism sector has had into its decision-making on COVID-19 restrictions.

28 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to introduce or endorse social distancing badges or lanyards similar to those developed in Wales to support people who are at higher risk from COVID-19 to indicate to others that they need to maintain physical distancing in public places.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-30966 on 13 August 2020. 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…

28 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to introducing social distancing badges or lanyards similar to those developed in Wales to support people who are at higher risk from COVID-19 to indicate to others that they need to maintain physical distancing in public places.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Physical distancing and good hand hygiene are the most effective measures in preventing the spread of Covid-19, and the Scottish Government is not considering introducing physical distancing badges or lanyards. Although significant progress has been made in …

21 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish updated guidance regarding the resumption of aerosol generating dental procedures for NHS patients.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: We are not in a position to give a precise date on when this guidance will be published. The Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) is leading a 4 UK country group looking at all aerosol generated procedures (AGP) in dentistry examining each…

21 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of private patients being allowed to access the full range of dental treatments from 13 July 2020, for what reason only a limited number of NHS treatments were made available.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: In a letter to private healthcare providers on 1 June the National Clinical Director and the Chief Dental Officer highlighted the importance of the entire independent healthcare sector, including independent dentists, following the spirit of the route map and…

17 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates being able to relax the restrictions on attendances at weddings and wedding receptions.

Answer · Ash Denham: With effect from 15 July, Scottish Ministers removed the restrictions in the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 affecting attendance at marriage ceremonies and civil partnership registrations, subject to the need to maintain physical …

17 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to improve the waiting times specifically for new patients receiving a first appointment for chronic pain services, in light of the latest available figures reportedly indicating that the target waiting time is only being met 60.5% of the time.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: On 31 May we published the “Re-mobilise, Recover, Re-design: the framework for NHS Scotland” that supports Health Boards to plan the phased restoration of postponed NHS services. Health Boards and partners are currently undertaking the safe and phased re-star…

17 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many enquiries regarding COVID-19 support it has received from businesses in each of the last four months, broken down by parliamentary region.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has received unprecedented levels of correspondence since March 2020 which led to a decentralised approach to the preparation of replies and associated data capture. The best available data available from these different systems confir…

10 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with local authorities and partner organisations taking forward City Region Deals to focus the work of these on enabling economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Investment through City and Regional Growth Deals will be a vital enabler of economic recovery. We are working with local authorities; their regional partners; and the UK Government to ensure all Deals deliver on creating high quality jobs and supporting busi…

10 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to additional support for the oil and gas sector, in light of low oil prices caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The oil and gas sector in Scotland continues to be significantly affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the decrease in oil prices. The Scottish Government are working with a range of partners to consider how short, medium and long term needs can…

3 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to increasing the planned funding settlement for the Scottish National Investment Bank to assist businesses that have been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has taken a series of unprecedented policy actions in response to the crisis. This includes £2.3 billion of business support measures and a £230 million investment package to help stimulate Scotland's economy following the pandemic, co…

3 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to establishing a single set of consolidated accounts for the public sector, showing revenue-funded commitments alongside total public sector assets and liabilities, to increase the transparency of the overall financial position of the public sector.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government complies with all financial reporting and auditing requirements and is developing its financial reporting to support transparency and the understanding of the financial picture. A commitment has been made to produce a further consolida…

23 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-29587 by Joe FitzPatrick on 17 June 2020, whether it will provide a breakdown of how the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland spent the £6,000 it received in 2019-20, and what the estimated expenditure for 2020-21 is.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The following table details how the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland spent the £6,000 it received in 2019-2020. Advisory Group meeting including staff time,lunch for 35, travel expenses, printing etc.   £1,000 Staff time to support the work of the…

23 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in charitable bonds in each of the last four years to support grants for registered social landlords.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The charitable bond programme was first introduced in 2013-14 as an innovative investment model for the affordable housing sector. It makes available development finance to Registered Social Landlords for the provision of new affordable housing, whilst also g…

23 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the Strategic Housing Investment Framework has made on the building of affordable homes, and what its position is on whether its formula requires updating.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Strategic Housing Investment Framework (SHIF) was agreed with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) in 2012 to determine the initial allocation of Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) capital funding to 30 of the 32 local authority ar…

17 Jun 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to set out a revised social security programme.

15 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will aim to ensure that there is funding certainty for the provision of affordable housing after 2021.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government has provided a commitment of £300 million interim funding certainty for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme for 2021-22 ahead of the Spending Review later this year. This will ensure that affordable homes continue to be delivered b…