Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

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: S4W-22819

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 4 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with COSLA about the council tax reduction scheme and its financial contribution to it for 2015-16.

The Scottish Government and local government worked in partnership to provide an extra £40 million in 2013-14 and 2014-15 to mitigate the 10% cut in funding from the UK Government for council tax benefit successor arrangements.

This commitment has enabled us to protect entitlement which existed under council tax benefit within the council tax reduction scheme - meaning that, from April 2013, vulnerable people have had the same net liability for council tax as if council tax benefit were still in place, providing that their circumstances have remained the same.

The Scottish Government’s Draft Budget 2015-16 includes a commitment to roll forward that contribution of £23 million in 2015-16, with an expectation that local government will again contribute £17 million towards filling the funding gap. This joint commitment will enable us to maintain support for the most vulnerable households in Scotland through the council tax reduction scheme.

Question reference: S4F-02365

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 November 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2014

To ask the First Minister what engagements he has planned for the rest of the day.

Question reference: S4W-22815

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 3 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what the underspend on the Scottish Welfare Fund was in 2013-14, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S4W-22816

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 3 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much will be allocated to the Scottish Welfare Fund in 2015-16, broken down by local authority.

The Draft Budget 2015-16 proposes that £33 million is allocated to the Scottish Welfare Fund. Following consideration by the joint COSLA/Scottish Government settlement and distribution group, the distribution methodology for 2015-16 will be the same as for 2014-15. The most recent Scottish Welfare Fund statistics contain a breakdown of funding which has been allocated to local authorities for 2014-15. This information is contained in table 25 of the publication which is available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Social-Welfare/swf/SWF30Jun2014

Question reference: S4W-22814

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 3 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much will be allocated for mitigation of the so-called bedroom tax in 2015-16, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S4W-22818

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 3 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers it appropriate to describe the Scottish Welfare Fund as mitigation in relation to the so-called bedroom tax, in light of community care grants and crisis grants being devolved.

Question reference: S4W-22817

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 3 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much is allocated to local authorities for the administration of the Scottish Welfare Fund in 2015-16, also broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S4W-22707

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 30 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many individual patient treatment requests that were or have been approved by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) since April 2014 were for medicines for treating end of life or rare conditions that had been declined by the Scottish Medicines Consortium.

Question reference: S4W-22703

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 30 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many individual patient treatment requests were or have been approved by NHS Lothian in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) since April 2014, also broken down by requests from residents of other NHS board areas.

In 2012-13, 41 requests were made and 18 approved. In 2013-14, 73 requests were made and 67 approved. From 1 April 2014 to 30 September 2014, 80 requests were made and 80 were approved.

This data relates to the number of individual patient treatment requests approved for patients resident in the NHS Lothian board area and does not include requests approved for residents of other NHS board areas. Information on requests approved is held by NHS board residency.

In NHS Lothian board area and throughout Scotland there has been a significant increase in the approval rate of individual patient treatment requests in the transitional period ahead of a body of decisions by the Scottish Medicines Consortium under their new process. In 2011-12, the approval rate for individual patient treatment requests in Scotland was 66%. From 1 April 2014 to 30 September 2014, the approval rate of individual patient treatment requests in Scotland was 92%.

Data for 2014 is subject to further verification at the end of 2014-15.

Question reference: S4W-22709

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 30 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what the reason is for the delay in publishing its new guidance on access to medicines, which was due to be published in May 2014.

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