Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-07684

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 15 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-06957 by Shona Robison on 2 March 2017, whether it will increase the amount of information held centrally in order to determine whether the SIGN guidance has led to a change in the incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE).

Question reference: S5W-07683

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 15 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-06956 by Shona Robison on 2 March 2017, what its response is to the suggestion that it would be useful if information was held at NHS board level to allow for comparisons.

I refer to my answer S5W-07684 on 15 March 2017 which highlights the data available from NHS National Services Scotland. Additional data was collected locally for improvement and learning purposes as part of the VTE collaborative. The Scottish Government will remind NHS Boards of the availability of data from NHS National Services Scotland.

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: S5W-07878

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 15 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address so-called holiday-hunger among pupils who receive free school meals.

The Scottish Government is aware that several local authorities in Scotland offer holiday lunch club provision and welcomes any activity that may contribute to the health and wellbeing, as well as the attainment, of the most vulnerable in our society. Local authorities have flexibility to provide meals to children outwith term time and some choose to use this flexibility during school holidays to provide school holiday lunch clubs. The Scottish Government continues to encourage local authorities to allocate their total financial resources on the basis of local needs, priorities and circumstances.

Question reference: S5W-07159

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 13 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many referrals from schools to mental health links workers there have been in each year since this system was introduced.

Question reference: S5W-07585

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the prevalence of head injuries in prisons.

Question reference: S5W-07157

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 10 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it last made an assessment of the mortuary estate.

In October 2016, the Minister for Public Health and Sport wrote to NHS Board Chief Executives to provide details as to what mortuary facilities they are responsible for and whether their facilities comply with the current guidance on mortuary provision. Furthermore, the letter noted that many small hospitals have no mortuary facility but may have a body storage area. In these instances the Minister asked for reassurance that appropriate measures are in place to ensure suitable access and viewing arrangements are made with another facility (NHS, Local Authority or a local undertaker).

Twelve of the 14 territorial Health Boards generally reported no issues regarding their mortuary provision and they provided assurance of adequate body storage facilities and either on-site viewing facilities or arrangements with local funeral directors or other hospitals/facilities for viewings. The two remaining Boards (NHS Highland and NHS Tayside) highlighted some issues that they were managing, but they provided plans as to how they would address these issues.

Question reference: S5W-07640

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 8 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government which NHS buildings have been identified as being at risk of structural defects similar to those identified in the report on Edinburgh school buildings by John Cole, broken down by level of risk, and what action it will take to ensure that all affected NHS buildings are made safe.

Health Boards in Scotland are in the process of planning and conducting inspections of Healthcare Facilities in response to the guidance produced by the Scottish Futures Trust in response to the issue at the Edinburgh schools. At this point, there is no report of any NHS building being 'at risk'. Should any deficiency be identified from the planned surveys, Health Boards will take remedial action in an appropriate manner and timescale. It should be noted that inspections are precautionary in nature and the health facilities being inspected are all operational and timely survey work must be balanced against any disruption to essential service provision. This is particularly challenging for health facilities as intrusive surveys would often require a ward or facility to be closed.

Question reference: S5W-07298

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 8 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses in Lothian will see their non-domestic rates rise, broken down by the (a) type of business and (b) percentage increase.

Question reference: S5W-07165

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 8 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on (a) car, (b) rail, (c) flight and (d) other tavel by (i) the First Minister and (ii) ministers in each year since 1999.

(a) The following table details the complete yearly costs held by the Scottish Government.

Year	Total cost
2007-08	£962,142
2008-09	£980,985
2009-10	£995,658
2010-11	£974,678
2011-12	£1,074,714
2012-13	£1,204,864
2013-14	£1,156,208
2014-15	£1,184,851
2015-16	£1,145,521

Total costs include staff salaries, employer's contributions, fuel, vehicle maintenance, private hire and travel and subsistence.

(b) & (c) All domestic rail and flight costs are routinely published on the Scottish Government website. Please note these publications are only available online from 2007 onwards:

Costs from 2007 - May 2016 can be found at:

http://www.gov.scot/About/People/14944/travel

Costs from May 2016 onwards can be found at:

https://beta.gov.scot/publications/?term=Ministerial&publicationTypes=transparency_data

(d) Other travel costs:

A breakdown of Overseas visits from 1999 – 2014 can be found at:

http://www.gov.scot/About/People/14944/travel/visitsoverseas

Overseas travel costs from 2015 – 2016 can be found at:

http://www.gov.scot/About/People/14944/travel/visitsoverseas/visitsoverseas

Overseas travel costs from May 2016 onwards can be found at:

https://beta.gov.scot/publications/?term=Ministerial&publicationTypes=transparency_data

Other travel costs also include ferry travel and taxi travel. Please note these publications are only available from 2009 onwards.