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Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

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Question reference: S5W-13546

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 12 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering rebranding the Forestry Commission in Scotland and, if so, how many staff are employed with this; what their terms of reference and remit are, and when they will report their conclusions to ministers.

As set out in the Policy Memorandum (paragraph 66) and the Financial Memorandum (paragraphs 44 and 45) for the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Bill, there will need to be some rebranding of Forestry Commission Scotland and Forest Enterprise Scotland assets on completion of the devolution of forestry.

The approach will be proportionate and low-cost, the activity will be spread over a period of time and it will make maximum use of existing allocated budgets for the usual replacement of assets such as vehicles and signage on the National Forest Estate. It is anticipated that any additional costs can be subsumed within the overall budget provision.

Three existing members of staff in Forest Enterprise Scotland are, as part of their current responsibilities, contributing to this work. A design graduate placement has also been established in Forest Enterprise Scotland, to provide an opportunity for a new entrant to gain first-hand experience in the development process of a new visual brand.

This work falls under the auspices of the Forestry Devolution Programme, which has been established to oversee all work related to completing the devolution of forestry.

Question reference: S5O-01613

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that patients who require prosthetic limb replacements are treated locally.

Question reference: S5W-13221

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 19 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many business reference numbers (BRN) have been issued with correct payment and reduction letters in each year since 2015, and how this compares with the number of BRN claims each year under the Basic Payments Scheme.

The following tables set out the number of claims for the Basic Payment Scheme for 2015 and 2016, the number of claims paid, and the number of claims still to be paid.

All businesses that have received their Basic Payment Scheme payment have also received their Basic Payment Scheme payment letter.

In any claim year not all Businesses that submit an application will be found to be eligible for a Basic Payment Scheme Payment, and some ineligible claims will not be formally withdrawn.

SAF 2015

Claims Received for BPS that haven't been withdrawn or deleted	18,935
Total BPS payments made and letters issued	18,418
Eligible BPS Balance payments left to make	0

Figures accurate as of 12 December 2017 13:00

SAF 2016

Claims Received for BPS that haven't been withdrawn or deleted	18,496
Total BPS payments made and letters issued	17,834
Eligible BPS Balance payments left to make	5

Figures accurate as of 12 December 2017 13:00

As mentioned in response to S5W-11154 on 21 September 2017, we have not yet issued any reduction and exclusion letters for Basic Payment Scheme. Final testing and development of the functionality required to issue the letters is close to completion. We expect to be able to start distributing Reduction and Exclusion letters for 2015 and 2016 in the near future. 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/28877.aspx

Question reference: S5F-01852

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 December 2017

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government takes to acknowledge seasonal workers and companies that operate over the festive season.

Question reference: S5O-01504

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Funding Council’s statistics on teacher vacancies, particularly regarding the Highlands.

Question reference: S5W-11552

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much NHS Highland has paid other NHS boards in the UK in each of the last three years, broken down by the (a) board paid and (b) treatment category.

It is not unusual for patients to move to other health boards for specialist treatment. Some specialist services, such as plastic surgery and neurosurgery, are provided on a regional basis. NHS Highland has service level agreements with other NHSScotland Boards in the central belt and Aberdeen for tertiary services such as specialist paediatrics and transplant surgery.

NHS Highland paid other NHSScotland Boards £100.9m in 2016-17; £98.4m in 2015-16; and £92.5m in 2014-15. The breakdown by Board is provided in the following table.

NHS Highland made payments to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in excess of £68 million in 2016-17. This primarily related to Acute Services in the Argyll and Bute area provided by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde under a service level agreement with NHS Highland.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on treatment category.

NHSScotland Board

2016-17	2015-16	2014-15
£'000	£'000	£'000

NHS Ayrshire and Arran	311	329	300
NHS Borders	73	59	36
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	35	28	32
NHS Fife	252	242	237
NHS Forth Valley	151	135	163
NHS Grampian	6,969	7,319	6,522
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	68,030	65,987	61,998
NHS Lanarkshire	183	197	164
NHS Lothian	4,687	5,103	5,609
NHS Orkney	40	31	44
NHS Shetland	43	20	24
NHS Tayside	3,830	2,965	2,405
NHS Western Isles	58	69	59
NHS National Services Scotland	13,605	13,485	12,736
NHS Scottish Ambulance Service	421	406	356
NHS Education for Scotland	14	13	21
The State Hospitals Board for Scotland	0	0	1
NHS 24	0	0	0
Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland	0	0	0
NHS Health Scotland	0	0	1
Healthcare Improvement Scotland	0	1	1
NHS National Waiting Times Centre Board	2,189	2,018	1,831
Total	100,891	98,407	92,540
Health bodies outside Scotland (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)	599	936	933

Question reference: S5W-11629

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 30 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when the post in NHS Highland for the radiologist who retired in June 2017 was publically advertised; whether the board has written to other NHS boards to request assistance with the provision of radiologists, and what additional employment incentives have been offered and implemented to attract radiologists to the region.

While the Scottish Government sets strategic policies for the NHS in Scotland, it is the responsibility of NHS Boards – including NHS Highland – to plan and recruit their workforce to ensure that enough professional staff and facilities are available to provide the best possible care for patients in a variety of settings.

NHS Highland have advised that they currently have 5 vacant radiology posts, which are advertised on a rolling basis. The vacant posts cover a variety of sub-specialty interests. The individual who occupied the radiology post which became vacant in June has now returned to work in the Board on a part-time, fixed-term basis.

A national working group, is currently exploring the potential for an international recruitment campaign to attract more radiologists to come and work within NHSScotland.

Question reference: S5W-11551

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 27 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much NHS Highland spent on (a) agency and (b) locum staff in each of the last three years.

In the last three years NHS Highland has spent the following on both agency and bank staff:

Nursing	Agency *	Staff Bank
	£'000	£'000
2016-17	1,296.3 *	6,585.6
2015-16	1,017.8 *	6,411.8
2014-15	730.2 *	6,811.5


Medical	Agency ^	Staff Bank
	£'000	£'000
2016-17	11,742.2 ^	2,993.3
2015-16	12,229.3 ^	2,948.0
2014-15	8,673.3 ^	1,626.9

* source: ISD Scotland (ISD(M)18)

^ sources: NHS Boards and Managed Agency Service Network (MASNet)

Question reference: S5W-11627

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how was radiologist cover in NHS Highland organised for the weekend of 19-20 August 2017.

Question reference: S5W-11626

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government for how many weekends in 2017 has NHS Highland had no radiologist cover arranged by midday on the Friday before.

While the Scottish Government sets strategic policies for the NHS in Scotland, it is the responsibility of NHS Boards – including NHS Highland – to plan their workforce to ensure that enough professional staff and facilities are available to provide the best possible care for patients in a variety of settings.

Information on NHS Board staffing rotas is not held centrally. Specific local information may be available from NHS Highland.

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