- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 January 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by Derek Mackay on 28 January 2015
To ask the Scottish Government how many crossings on the Lochboisdale – Mallaig ferry service in each month since November 2013 have been (a) scheduled and (b) cancelled, and what the reason was for each cancellation.
Answer
Details of the number of Lochboisdale to Mallaig a) scheduled and b) cancelled sailings each month since November 2013 to date, and the reason for the cancellation are set out in the following table:
| Year/Month | Scheduled Sailings | Weather cancellations | Technical cancellations | Other cancellations* |
| 2013-14 | | | | |
| November | 24 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
| December | 36 | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| January | 24 | 10 | 2 | 0 |
| February | 12 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| March | 36 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| April | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014-15 | | | | |
| November | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| December | 36 | 16 | 4 | 0 |
*Ship out of position
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 January 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 28 January 2015
To ask the Scottish Government which (a) local authority and (b) private care homes in each local authority area are subject to admission restrictions set by the Care Inspectorate, and how long these have been in place.
Answer
The Care Inspectorate has a restriction in place in Marine House Care Home in Forfar at present. This restriction is to limit admissions to no more than one older person every 14 days up to a maximum of 45 older people. This restriction came into effect on 28 August 2014 and is still in place.
Although it is uncommon for the Care Inspectorate to place such restrictions, it works closely with local authorities who may cease admissions to services with poor grades until quality improves. This is currently the case in Marine House Care Home as well as in other services across Scotland. The Care Inspectorate works closely with local authorities to keep them informed of its findings and with care services to ensure they can achieve sustainable improvements to their service. In some cases, services themselves may voluntarily stop or restrict admissions for a range of reasons such as refurbishment, staff recruitment issues or whilst they make improvements.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 January 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 28 January 2015
To ask the Scottish Government which hospitals were placed on red alert between 1 December 2014 and 15 January 2015 and for how long; how many beds were available during the red alert period, and how this compared with demand.
Answer
While hospitals have experienced pressures this winter, none has needed to declare a major incident because of the demands that it was facing. Boards have been keeping the Scottish Government informed daily about the pressures that they face and the actions that are being taken to address them. Additional support has been provided to the boards when required.
Official statistics on hospital activity and beds relating to the quarters ending December 2014 and March 2015 will be published in March 2015 and June 2015 respectively.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 January 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 22 January 2015
To ask the Scottish Government in which NHS boards mental health first aid training took place in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14.
Answer
Scottish Mental Health First Aid courses are run by partners from across public services on behalf of NHS Health Scotland. The number of courses ran during 2012–13 and 2013–14 classed in each health board is as follows:
| Board Area | 2012-13 | 2013-14 |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 8 | 10 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 5 | 11 |
| Fife | 21 | 25 |
| Forth Valley | 25 | 34 |
| Grampian | 17 | 17 |
| Greater Glasgow and Clyde | 77 | 85 |
| Highland | 9 | 13 |
| Lanarkshire | 26 | 14 |
| Lothian | 49 | 42 |
| Orkney | 0 | 0 |
| Scottish Borders | 2 | 2 |
| Shetland | 2 | 3 |
| Tayside | 25 | 26 |
| Western Isles | 1 | 1 |
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 January 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 15 January 2015
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) NHS staff and (b) other people attended mental health first aid training in (i) 2012-13 and (ii) 2013-14.
Answer
The total number of attendees for mental health first training in 2012-13 and 2013-14 is broken down as follows:
| | 2012-13 | 2013-14 |
| NHS staff | 140 | 123 |
| Other people | 2200 | 2274 |
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 January 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 15 January 2015
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many mental health first aid courses took place in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14.
Answer
The number of Scottish mental health first aid courses that took place are as follows:
| | 2012-13 | 2013-14 |
| Number of courses: | 267 | 283 |
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 January 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 15 January 2015
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many trained mental health first aid instructors there are.
Answer
Since Scotland’s Mental Health First Aid was introduced, 484 people have undertaken the instructor training. There are currently 322 trainers on NHS Health Scotland’s database.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 December 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 7 January 2015
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to update the level of support available under the croft house grant scheme and, if so, when.
Answer
Public consultation on a review of the croft house grant scheme was launched on 6 January 2015. The consultation period will conclude on 31 March 2015 and we would encourage as many contributions as possible.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 December 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 7 January 2015
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the level of support available under the croft house grant scheme has not increased since 2005.
Answer
In the years of its operation, this valuable support has helped enable the construction of over 900 new croft houses and the improvement of a further 200 existing croft houses.
The Scottish Government has held informal discussions with a number of crofting stakeholders and these have informed the terms of a review of the croft house grant scheme launched on 7 January 2015. The Scottish Government’s proposals include a significant increase in the level of support to be offered.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Derek Mackay on 23 December 2014
To ask the Scottish Government how it (a) has provided and (b) will provide information to the public regarding public transport etiquette in relation to disabled people.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not currently provide information to the public regarding public transport etiquette in relation to disabled people. Encouraging good behaviour on buses is primarily a matter for operators, including through their conditions of carriage.
The Scottish Government will continue to consider with operators and disability groups whether more could usefully be done regarding attitudes and behaviour towards disabled bus users.