Section E – Written questions lodged on 12 March 2014
Questions marked with a triangle (Δ) are initiated by the Scottish Government in order to facilitate the provision of information to the Parliament.
Questions in which a member has indicated a declarable interest are marked with an "R".
S4W-20087 Elaine Smith: To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the possible impact on police services, whether it has discussed with the Scottish Police Federation (a) what the federation’s views are on the findings of and (b) whether the federation plans to set up an inquiry similar to the independent review of the Police Federation of England and Wales, which was chaired by Sir David Normington.
S4W-20089 Elaine Smith: To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish Police Federation is legally bound to (a) act in the public interest and (b) not carry out professional misconduct and, if not, whether it is considering introducing such legislation.
S4W-20092 Elaine Smith: To ask the Scottish Government when protections will be put in place to protect NHS whistleblowers.
S4W-20093 Elaine Smith: To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) other public sector workers and (b) Police Scotland employees will be afforded the same protections in relation to whistleblowing as NHS staff.
S4W-20094 Elaine Smith: To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that any public sector worker’s correct reporting of inappropriate conduct by their employer should be protected in the same way that NHS whistleblowers are to be protected.
S4W-20095 Elaine Smith: To ask the Scottish Government whether police officers charged with alleged misconduct under the Police Service of Scotland (Conduct) Regulations 2013 have the right to a fair hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal as per Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
S4W-20096 Elaine Smith: To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the fairness of allowing police misconduct hearings to be carried out in-house without the scrutiny of an independent court and whether it considers that this is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
S4W-20097 Elaine Smith: To ask the Scottish Government what funding is available to local authorities in support of the Pathways process for looked after children.
S4W-20098 Elaine Smith: To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities have received funding in support of the Pathways process for looked after children.
S4W-20099 Elaine Smith: To ask the Scottish Government how many schools are involved in the Pathways process for looked after children.
S4W-20100 Elaine Smith: To ask the Scottish Government which schools in North Lanarkshire are involved in the Pathways process for looked after children.
S4W-20101 Elaine Smith: To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to schools that are taking part in the Pathways process for looked after children.
S4W-20102 Jackie Baillie: To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce a national service delivery model for anticoagulation international normalised ratio (INR) testing in line with the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh consensus statement, Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guideline 129 and the Scottish patient safety programme on improving warfarin safety and optimising warfarin management.
S4W-20103 Jackie Baillie: To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to increase the number of patients self-testing/self-managing international normalised ratio (INR) testing as part of a stroke prevention programme.
S4W-20104 Jackie Baillie: To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to undertake a review and analysis of the uptake of patient international normalised ratio (INR) self-testing/self-management in comparison with rates in England and other European countries and identify any barriers to Scottish patients managing their own condition.
S4W-20126 Jackie Baillie: To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-19663 by Alex Neil on 4 March 2014, when initial warning letters were issued by the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry.
S4W-20127 Jackie Baillie: To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S4W-17494 and S4W-17495 by Alex Neil on 11 October 2013, whether and, if so, what new factor has led to the delay in publishing the inquiry report given that the warning letter process was noted at that time.
S4W-20128 Jamie McGrigor: To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to questions S4W-17786, S4W-19755 and S4W-19947 on 11 October 2013, 26 February 2014 and 11 March 2014 respectively and in light of the answer to S4W-17768, which stated that “the Deputy First Minister has indicated that she intends to reach a conclusion on the way forward by the end of the year”, whether a conclusion was reached by then and, if so, when this will be communicated and, if not, what the reason is for the delay.
S4W-20129 Gavin Brown: To ask the Scottish Government whether reprints of the white paper on independence will be updated to reflect the most recently published financial figures.
S4W-20130 Gavin Brown: To ask the Scottish Government from which directorate budget the costs associated with the white paper on independence are being met.
S4W-20131 Jamie McGrigor: To ask the Scottish Government whether, as part of the decision to deploy the MV Coruisk on the Gourock to Dunoon route, the Deputy First Minister or Transport Scotland issued instructions to Argyll Ferries regarding the timetable and duration of crossings.
S4W-20132 David Stewart: To ask the Scottish Government how many employees are working on the CalMac IT improvement projects.
S4W-20133 David Stewart: To ask the Scottish Government how many information systems contractors rather than CalMac employees have been employed to facilitate the CalMac IT improvement projects and at what cost.
S4W-20134 David Stewart: To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) Transport Scotland and (b) CalMac budget is for CalMac IT improvement projects and how much has been spent to date.
S4W-20135 David Stewart: To ask the Scottish Government how many IT projects Transport Scotland and CalMac are undertaking and when they are due to be completed.
S4W-20136 David Stewart: To ask the Scottish Government what wireless internet systems CalMac is investing in and whether it will (a) use the Scottish wide area network being delivered by Capita and BT fibre broadband or (b) establish its own network delivered via radio masts.
S4W-20137 David Stewart: To ask the Scottish Government how reliable the technologies are that Transport Scotland and CalMac are using in the CalMac IT improvement projects.
S4W-20138 David Stewart: To ask the Scottish Government what organisation is responsible for procurement for CalMac IT projects.
S4W-20139 David Stewart: To ask the Scottish Government how the bidding process was conducted to select an organisation to carry out the CalMac IT improvement projects, and what the rationale was for that process.
S4W-20140 David Stewart: To ask the Scottish Government what organisations have been invited to consult on the CalMac IT improvement projects.
S4W-20141 Richard Simpson: To ask the Scottish Government how it will encourage the creation or reestablishment of networked primary care practices previously known as local healthcare cooperatives as recommended by the Royal College of General Practitioners. R
S4W-20142 Richard Simpson: To ask the Scottish Government how many quality and outcomes framework data sets GP practices will need to manually enter into the Calculating Quality Reporting Service until they can be automated by the General Practice Extraction Service. R
S4W-20143 Richard Simpson: To ask the Scottish Government what the cost of free eye tests has been in each of the last five years.
S4W-20144 Richard Simpson: To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made of the cost effectiveness of repeated free eye tests for (a) different age groups, (b) people with a risk factor and (c) people with normal vision.
S4W-20145 Richard Simpson: To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has issued on the assessment and management of the psychological consequences for patients who have been treated in intensive care units.
S4W-20146 Richard Simpson: To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish an analysis of the use of the NHS whistleblowers’ helpline, and whether this give details of the (a) sectors that the calls came from and (b) action taken.
S4W-20148 Angus MacDonald: To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that the virulent porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV) does not infect the country’s pig population.
S4W-20149 Angus MacDonald: To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it is giving to (a) animal feed manufacturers, (b) animal nutritionists and (c) vets regarding the identification and isolation of feed products on farms labelled as containing spray-dried porcine plasma.
S4W-20150 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-19254 by Keith Brown on 3 February 2014, what meetings and other measures have been arranged by Transport Scotland to consult the wider community in Langholm about proposals for a 20 mph limit trial on the A7.
S4W-20151 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Government which community groups have been contacted by Transport Scotland in connection with (a) the consultation on a 20 mph speed trial on the A7 in Langholm and (b) the statutory consultation in respect of the speed limit order required to promote any change in the speed limit.
S4W-20152 Kezia Dugdale: To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to implement online appointment booking services for (a) GP surgeries and (b) hospitals across the country.
S4W-20153 Kezia Dugdale: To ask the Scottish Government what data protection issues arise from online appointment booking services for (a) GP surgeries and (b) hospitals.
S4W-20154 Kezia Dugdale: To ask the Scottish Government what it considers the benefits are of online appointment booking services for (a) GP surgeries and (b) hospitals.
S4W-20155 David Stewart: To ask the Scottish Government what the budget is for dualling the A9 in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16 and (c) 2016-17 and what the timetable is for completion.
S4W-20156 David Stewart: To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) budget and (b) timeframe is for completion of improvements to the (i) Highland Main Line and (ii) Inverness to Aberdeen line.
S4W-20157 David Stewart: To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on electrification of the (a) Inverness to Aberdeen and (b) Inverness to Glasgow/Edinburgh railway lines.
S4W-20158 David Stewart: To ask the Scottish Government whether it will dovetail rail and road improvements before the commencement of the construction to dual the A9.
S4W-20159 David Stewart: To ask the Scottish Government whether it anticipates that there will be traffic congestion associated with construction works to dual the A9 and, if so, whether it will lead to increased rail traffic in the Highlands.
S4W-20161 Tavish Scott: To ask the Scottish Government how many events relating to Scotland’s Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland ministers have attended since January 2014.
S4W-20162 Tavish Scott: To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on events relating to Scotland’s Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland.
S4W-20163 Richard Simpson: To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on introducing a HEAT target for drug treatment to ensure that patients complete their treatment.
S4W-20164 Richard Simpson: To ask the Scottish Government when the HEAT target for stroke will be achieved.
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