- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 10 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-3598 by Michael Russell on 5 September 2007, to which local authorities the £19.5 million for flood prevention was allocated, showing the original bid made by each.
Answer
The following awardshave been made;
| Local Authority | Grant Offer |
| Moray | £455,000 |
| West Lothian | £22,000 |
| South Lanarkshire | £836,000 |
| East Ayrshire | £6,672,000 |
| Fife | £3,638,000 |
| City of Edinburgh | £7,900,000 |
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many job analysis questionnaires have been completed in the last year by NHS boards for staff who have yet to be salary banded under Agenda for Change, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
This information isnot held centrally.
I can, however, advisethat approximately 7% of the NHSScotland workforce covered by Agenda for Changedo not match national job profiles, and will therefore have to complete a job evaluationquestionnaire as part of the job evaluation process.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how much backpaid salary NHS boards estimate that they will have to pay in the next 24 months to staff who have yet to be banded under Agenda for Change, broken down by (a) profession and (b) board.
Answer
This information isnot held centrally.
I can report howeverthat health boards are making steady progress towards the conclusion of the implementationof Agenda for Change pay, and the vast majority of staff now assimilated have alreadyreceived arrears of pay.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what target date NHS boards have set for completing the banding process for NHS staff under Agenda for Change, broken down by (a) profession and (b) board.
Answer
There has been notarget date set for the conclusion of the implementation of Agenda for Change pay.However, I can confirm that health boards are very close to completing this process,with around 18,000 of the 140,000 plus substantive staff across NHSScotland stillwaiting to assimilate to the new pay bands. A substantial number of these staffare actually in receipt of their job evaluation outcome, and therefore know whichof the pay bands they will be moving to.
Health boards areaware of the need to conclude assimilation as quickly and effectively as possible,and progress towards this continues to be monitored and supported by the ScottishGovernment.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of staff working in the NHS in the last 12 months are appealing their new salary bandings under Agenda for Change, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) profession.
Answer
We are currently inthe early stages of gathering data on the number of job evaluation review requestswhich have been received by health boards. Initial indications are that approximately20% members of staff are seeking a review of their Agenda for Change job evaluationoutcome across NHSScotland. The information held centrally does not break this downby health board or profession.
Of the reviews processedto date 14% have resulted in post holders being awarded a higher band while in 85%of cases the initial decision was found to have been correct. 1% of cases were re-directedto another Agenda for Change process related to job evaluation and are currentlyunder further consideration.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 26 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 7 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many forced marriages have been annulled by Scottish courts in each year since 1999.
Answer
The information requestedis not held centrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 26 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 5 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) women and (b) men have contacted Scottish Government agencies or departments seeking assistance or advice about forced marriages in each year since 2002.
Answer
This information isnot available.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 26 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 5 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures and protocols are in place with (a) the Home Office and (b) other nations in respect of Scottish nationals who are the victims of forced marriages and who have been removed from Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Governmentworks with the joint Home Office/Foreign and Commonwealth Office Forced MarriageUnit in relation to policy development in this area. Organisations that directlysupport those affected by forced marriage in Scotland work closely with the Forced Marriage Unit in cases where Scottish nationalshave been removed from Scotland.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 26 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 5 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what specific support there is for victims of forced marriages.
Answer
The Scottish Governmentis working with partners in the public and voluntary sector to progress action inScotland on this matter. Currently, there are a rangeof organisations working with those affected by forced marriage, including Shaktiand Hemat Gryffe Women’s Aid, Saheliya, Amina the Muslim Women’s Resource Centreand the Council of British Pakistanis (Scotland). This is in addition to mainstream services offered by the police, localauthorities and Women’s Aid groups. All these organisations are members of the ScottishForced Marriage Network which was established in March 2005, and played a key rolein the joint UK Government/Scottish Government consultation on whether tocriminalise forced marriage. It is planned to reconvene the network in 2008 to furtherdevelop the Scottish Government’s work to tackle this very serious issue.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 26 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 5 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to raise awareness of the unacceptability of forced marriages in Scotland and to ensure that relevant support services have the necessary access and resources to offer assistance to individuals who are subject to or under threat of forced marriages.
Answer
In 2008 the ScottishGovernment plans to consult the people of Scotland on whether civil legislationshould be introduced to protect those affected by forced marriage, or that thereis currently sufficient legal protection. This consultation will link with the workcurrently underway within communities to raise awareness of this very serious issue.Members of the Forced Marriage Network are key to this activity and the networkwill reconvene in 2008 to furtherdevelop the Scottish Government’s work in this area.
The majority of theorganisations working to support those affected by forced marriage are funded bythe Scottish Government. We recently demonstrated our on-going commitment to tacklingViolence Against Women by allocating £40 million over the next three years to thiswork.
