Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-28932

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government which consulting firm has been hired to oversee the implementation of Best Start programme for maternity and neonatal care, and how much the firm has been paid for its services.

No consulting firm has been hired or paid to oversee the implementation of the Best Start programme for maternity and neonatal care. The Best Start Implementation Programme Board (IPB), Chaired by Jane Grant, Chief Executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde was established in June 2017 to guide the implementation of The Best Start: A Five-Year Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Care in Scotland.

Members of the IPB are drawn from NHSScotland, third sector organisations, Partnership and Royal Colleges. Members are not paid; however, third sector representative have been reimbursed for travel expenses.

Question reference: S6W-28927

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of safe staffing numbers in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s Neonatal Unit as part of its Best Start programme for maternity and neonatal care.

The Scottish Government commissioned independent modelling report was published on 29 May, and, following consideration of that report, we have asked the Regional Chief Executives to progress with the development of implementation plans.

We have asked that implementation plans are developed with the input of multidisciplinary clinical teams and describe service requirements for the new model and how they will be achieved.

Question reference: S6W-28930

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will share what clinical outcomes data it has gathered on the proposed reconfiguration of services outlined in The Best Start: A Five-Year Forward Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Care in Scotland.

Neonatal clinical outcomes data is gathered from neonatal units in Scotland and routinely published by Public Health Scotland on their Scottish Pregnancy, Births and Neonatal Data Dashboard. The National Neonatal Audit Programme run by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health also provides a further level of detailed comparable neonatal clinical outcomes data for units in England, Scotland and Wales on their Data Dashboard, and in their annual reports.

Question reference: S6W-28678

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the current pay bands are for special advisers.

Question reference: S6W-28679

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many special advisers received severance packages in each of the last five years, and what the total value was of any such payments.

The terms of Special Adviser contracts of employment are reserved to the UK Government. Those contracts include a requirement that severance payments are made to special advisers where their employment is terminated in the circumstances where a First Minister demits office, or on the dissolution of Parliament prior to a Scottish Parliamentary election. The value of severance payment due is dependent on an individual’s length of service and range from the equivalent of 3 months’ pay up to a maximum of 6 months’ pay.However, payment of severance is subject to agreement that should an individual be reappointed as a special adviser, they will repay any severance pay less the amount of salary they would have been paid had they been employed during the period between the termination of the previous contract and re-appointment on a fresh contract. Therefore the amount of severance to be repaid upon reappointment varies depending on the length of time between termination of employment and later reappointment. The following table sets out for each of the last 5 years to July 2024, the net cost of severance payments once the approximate level of repayments received are taken into account for those who were reappointed:

Period	No of SpAds receiving severance payments	Net cost of severance payments
July 2019 to June 2020	0	£0.00
July 2020 to June 2021	12	£153,458
July 2021 to June 2022	0	£0.00
July 2022 to June 2023	8	£204,055
July 2023 to June 2024	5	£144,843

Question reference: S6W-28574

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 August 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 11 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government sdfdsf

Question reference: S6W-28590

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 August 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 11 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government dfgdg

Question reference: S6W-28575

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 August 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 11 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government SDFDSF

Question reference: S6W-28571

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 August 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 11 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Governmentsdfdsf

Question reference: S6W-28580

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 August 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 11 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government asdfasdfa

Pay Band	Pay Range
1	£58,444 to £61,586
2	£64,335 to £77,955
3	£80,332 to £90,243
4	£108,781 to £115,304

Tell us your views

Chamber and committees