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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

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S4W-18285

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how (a) much it costs and (b) long it takes for a fully qualified tradesperson to achieve PAS2030 certification.

(a) Costs are determined by the Certification Body. Prices may start at around £400-500. However it is a competitive market and costs may vary between Certification Bodies. Costs are also influenced by the following factors:

The size of the company;

Measures they wish to become certified for;

Existing qualifications and competence of the operatives (certification requires operatives to have appropriate qualifications / competence but does not train or qualify people)

What are the existing management systems in place, and what additional procedures/proves need to be developed; and

Availability of the Certification Body, e.g. how soon auditor is available to undertake the audit;

Similar factors

(b) The timeline for a tradesperson to achieve certification also depends on the above mentioned factors, but in general terms it could take 6-8 weeks.

More information can be found on Green Deal Oversight and Registration Body (GDORB) website at the following link:

http://gdorb.decc.gov.uk/.

Question reference: S4W-18291

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what help is available to small businesses to enable them to achieve PAS2030 certification.

There is no available funding for accreditation or certification. However, financial support is available to Scottish businesses through the Low Carbon Skills Fund managed by Skills Development Scotland. This fund has been established to enable employers to have access to funding to undertake training to support sustainable development and growth. This includes learning and training to improve resource and energy efficiency; to adopt innovate technologies or new sustainable practices and processes; and to identify new market opportunities.

LCSF allows Scottish Businesses with up to 250 employees to apply for up to £12,500 towards employee training and can provide 50% of training costs (to a maximum of £500 per episode) for up to 25 episodes of training.

LCSF has supported over 2,100 episodes of training since Oct 2010.

http://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/our-services/low-carbon-skills-fund/.

Question reference: S4W-18288

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how the requirements for PAS2030 certification differ from those for being gas safe approved.

The Green Deal Oversight and Registration Body (GDORB) has been working very closely with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), Gas Safe Register and other stakeholders to identify a solution that would recognise the existing qualifications and competencies of Gas Safe registered businesses.

The technical requirements for installers under the Green Deal are set out in the BSI standard PAS 2030. Following the initial gap analysis, it has been concluded that being Gas Safe registered alone is not sufficient to allow Gas Safe registered business to operate under the Green Deal and certification to PAS 2030 is required in addition to holding current certificates of competence and Gas Safe registration. In addition, the installers are required to sign up to the Green Deal Code of Practice, which sets out the obligations around the conduct of Green Deal participants, such as selling practices and contracting.

As the assessment by Green Deal Certification Bodies of companies installing gas measures will include an assessment of compliance with gas safety regulations, it has been agreed that Gas Safe registration for relevant types of work will be accepted as a method for demonstrating compliance with the gas safety elements of PAS 2030. However, the installation company will still be required to be approved and certified against PAS 2030 (in particular the quality management systems and installation processes requirements) by a Certification Body accredited by United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).

Further information can be found at:

The Green Deal - Gd Orb Announcement Regarding Green Deal Registration For Gas Safe Registered Businesses.

Question reference: S4O-02622

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to provide permanent employment opportunities for people who will be on temporary contracts during the Christmas period.

Question reference: S4W-18282

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 20 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government for what conditions people are routinely offered speech therapy.

The purpose of a speech and language therapy service is to provide evidence-based services that anticipate and respond to the needs of individuals who may experience speech, language, communication or swallowing difficulties. The reasons for these difficulties will vary significantly and referral to speech and language therapy services will be when there is a clinical need identified and is not solely based on a specific diagnosis.

Conditions for which people are routinely offered speech and language therapy include, but are not restricted to, the following:

Acquired Motor Speech Disorders

Asphasia

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Brain Injury

Cerebral Palsy

Cleft Palate and Velopharyngeal Disorders

Dysfluency

Dyslexia

Dysphagia

Progressive Neurological Conditions

Primary Speech/Language Disorder

Speech/Language Delay.

Question reference: S4W-18283

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 20 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government to how many sessions of speech therapy stroke patients are entitled in each NHS board area and for how long.

Question reference: S4W-17984

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 19 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many Scotland-based health researchers or methodologists the Chief Scientist Office has funded under the same or a similar scheme to the funding of 18 research professorships by the National Institute for Health Research.

Scotland has a Senior Clinical Fellowships scheme open to doctors and dentists. It is funded by the Scottish Funding Council and the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, St Andrews, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The level of individuals awarded these fellowships would be broadly equivalent to those funded through the National Institute for Health Research scheme.

In total 18 fellowships have been awarded since 2009 and the chief scientist office provides a start-up grant to successful Fellows to the value of £75,000 to each fellow.

Question reference: S4W-18083

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what research it has commissioned on the cost effectiveness of the shingles vaccine, Zostavax.

The Scottish Government has not commissioned research on the cost effectiveness of the shingles vaccine Zostavax.

The Scottish Government and all other UK Health Departments take advice on immunisation issues from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Prior to the introduction of the shingles vaccination programme, the JCVI reviewed medical, epidemiological and economic evidence as well as vaccine safety and efficacy data relevant to a shingles vaccination programme. This included the following studies specifically relating to cost effectiveness of the vaccination programme:

Gauthier A, Breuer J, Carrington D et al. (2009) Epidemiology and cost of herpes zoster and post-herpetic neuralgia in the United Kingdom. Epidemiol Infect 137(1): 38-47. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez/18466661

van Hoek AJ, Gay N, Melegaro A et al. (2009) Estimating the cost-effectiveness of vaccination against herpes zoster in England and Wales. Vaccine 27( 9): 1454-67. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez/19135492.

Question reference: S4F-01705

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2013

To ask the First Minister when the Scottish Government will bring forward plans to extend legislation to make wilful neglect of patients a criminal offence.

Question reference: S4O-02605

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to align education and skills provision in the Highlands and Islands with the needs of local employers.