Parliamentary questions

Cathy Peattie

299 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

20 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) NHS and (b) private sector operations to reverse female sterilisation have been carried out in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The number of reversal of female sterilisation procedures performed by NHS Board of Residence in Scotland is presented in the table. The Scottish Executive does not hold details of operations performed in private hospitals. Number of female sterilisati…

20 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it anticipates, or will rule out the possibility, that licences to cull buzzards may be granted in order to protect game birds.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Licence applications to kill or take wild birds are assessed on their individual merits. If Scottish ministers are satisfied that an application is for a purpose specified in Section 16 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981, and it can be shown that ther…

20 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications have been made for licences to cull buzzards; how many licences have been granted; to whom they have been granted; on what grounds they were granted, and how many birds have been culled under each licence in each of the last five years.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: No licences have been granted by the Executive to cull buzzards. However, licences have been issued to take and kill, as a last resort, small numbers of buzzards for purposes specified in Section 16 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981, where there has …

20 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether NHS 24 uses the independent medical knowledge and expertise of patient support groups to ensure that it has the best possible information in order to respond to enquiries to its telephone helpline service.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Through its various Patient Focus Public Involvement (PFPI) activities, NHS 24 acknowledges the valuable contributions that “expert patients”, carers and representative groups make to the service that is provided and how it can be improved. The organisation h…

20 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what relationships exist between NHS 24 and patient support groups to assist in the delivery of NHS 24's telephone helpline service.

Answer · Andy Kerr: As part of its commitment to the national NHS Patient Focus Public Involvement (PFPI) strategy, NHS 24 has been working with voluntary sector, user and representative groups, such as Help the Aged, Racial Equality Councils and disability representative groups…

7 Jun 2005 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide details of the staff time and costs incurred in dealing with each freedom of information request made to date and whether it will automatically provide this information for future requests.

Answer · Robert Brown: Prior to 1 May 2005, we didnot record the amount of staff time incurred in dealing with each individual FOIrequest. Information about time spent is recorded once the enquiry hasbeen completed. Details of the time spent on each request completed between 1 May …

3 May 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the consultation will begin on the Partnership Agreement review of NHS prescription charges for people with chronic health conditions and young people in full-time education or training.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The date for commencing the consultation phase of the review has still to be determined but is expected to be during summer 2005.

3 May 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in respect of the Partnership Agreement review of NHS prescription charges for people with chronic health conditions and young people in full-time education or training.

Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-16094 on 3 May 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.s…

13 Apr 2005 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that women are offered breast cancer screening as soon as possible after their 50th birthday.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: There is a national computerised call-recall system in place which ensures that eligible women, who are registered with a general practitioner and are in the age range 50 to 69 (64 where age extension has not been implemented) years are invited for breast scr…

26 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a commitment (a) to fund the associated womens’ services in the criminal justice sector through section 27 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 and (b) that children and young people living with domestic abuse should have access to support in their own right, given …

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive is committed to supporting women, children and young people who experience domestic abuse. Section 27 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 as amended by the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions)(Scotland) Act 1990 provides fund…

4 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the number of British Sign Language/English Interpreters in Scotland.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive will support two major new initiatives.The first will provide project funding to the Scottish Association of Sign Language Interpreters to implement a “training of trainers” academic course to be delivered at Heriot-Watt Universi…

9 Jun 2004 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how often patient records are lost annually and what percentage of instances of such loss results from false identification based on similarity of name.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: It is a very rare occurrence to lose a patient’s records and for that reason central statistics are not kept. I have been made aware, however, that just such an event has befallen one of Cathy Peattie’s constituents. I very much regret that.

28 Apr 2004 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the Modern Apprenticeship (MA) programme is developing and whether standards are improving.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: I am delighted to announce thatwe have met our partnership commitment to increase the apprenticeship programmeto 30,000 by 2006. There are now over 31,000 MAs in training which is an outstandingachievement and illustrates the popularity of the programme with …

10 Mar 2004 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to provide and promote training in the use of British Sign Language.

Answer · Margaret Curran: We are promoting training in British Sign Language in anumber of different ways.For example, we are providing £78,000 over three years tothe Scottish Association of Sign Language Interpreters; and this year weprovided £167,000 to run courses on the use…

6 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered funding free mountain weather forecasts, as currently being trialled in Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons.

Answer · Frank McAveety: We are aware of the pilot weatherforecasting service recently introduced into Wales and have asked theMountaineering Council of Scotland to monitor and evaluate its operation duringits trial period. We will then consider whether a similar service might beintr…

6 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance exists in respect of the recruitment of police officers who have experienced stress, depression or other mental health illness.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The appointment of officersin Scottish police forces is solely the responsibility of chief constables. To assist chief constables in making appointments,the Scottish Executive provides guidance on the requirements, includingmedical standards, which those seek…

6 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance exists in respect of serving police officers who have experienced stress, depression or other mental health illness.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answergiven to question S2W-6037 on 26 February 2004. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/web…

6 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance exists in respect of serving police officers who are experiencing stress, depression or other mental health illness.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Association of Chief PoliceOfficers in Scotland published a Scottish Police Service People Strategydocument in August last year and intends to introduce a strategy for a healthypolice service as part of an associated action plan. The strategy documentmake…

6 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of police officers who have retired in the last five years on ill health grounds were (a) diagnosed with stress or a mental illness, (b) injured while on duty and (c) injured while off duty.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: This information is not held centrally and is a matter for individual Chief Constables.

6 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to the training of carers in lifting and handling techniques.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive issued guidance (CCD 2/2003) in March 2003 to local authorities, NHSScotlandand the voluntary sector advising on new legislative measures to support unpaidcarers contained in the Community Care and Health (Scotland)Act 2002. A fundament…

6 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to primary care services providing carers with free influen'a vaccination at a local GP surgery.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Joint Committee onVaccination and Immunisation advises UK Health Departments on issues relatingto vaccination and immunisation, based on currently available scientificevidence.The committee is currentlyconsidering whether carers should be brought w…

4 Feb 2004 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to ensure that woman are offered breast cancer screening at the age of 50.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: There is anational computerised call-recall system in place which ensures that eligiblewomen, who are registered with a general practitioner and are in the age range50-64 years are invited for breast screening every three years. Eligible womenare invited for …

21 Jan 2004 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to improve safety in the Forth Estuary and, in particular, to ensure ease of access to, and a prompt and appropriate response from, emergency services.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Maritimesafety is a reserved matter and responsibility in this areas lies with theMaritime and Coastguard Agency.However,following the recent tragedy in the Forth Estuary when two men went missing ona fishing trip, Central Scotland Police are carrying …

19 Nov 2003 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to have Gypsy/Travellers recognised as an ethnic group in Scots law.

Answer · Margaret Curran: Racerelations legislation is a reserved matter. Any change would have to be made byWestminster legislation.The Scottish Executive acknowledges the cultural identity of Gypsies/Travellers in Scotland andacknowledges them as a distinct group. This is ref…

3 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what laws, regulations, policies or guidance there are regarding dismissal from the police force in relation to an offence where a police officer has been found not guilty of that offence in a court of law.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Police officers areappointed by the chief constable and are subject to the conditions of serviceas set out in police regulations.The relevant statuterelating to dismissal from the Police Service in the context of police conductis set out in the Police …

3 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers have been dismissed for neglect of duty in the last 10 years.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Information at this level ofdetail is not held centrally.

12 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how awards to local authorities under its #1 million youth crime prevention initiative announced on 25 June 2003 were calculated.

Answer · Hugh Henry: <div class=Section1>As this was additional moneyfor the Community Safety Partnerships the previously agreed formula for theCommunity Safety Partnership Award Programme was applied which is based onpopulation and crimes per head of population figures. The p…

12 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) national and (b) individual NHS board policies exist on the retention of medical data including test results and associated records.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: National guidance onretention and destruction of medical records is set out in NHS MEL(1993)152which can be found at <ahref="http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd/mels/1993_152.htm">www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd/mels/1993_152.htm</a>.Individual NHS boards follow the g…

12 Jun 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the decision of the Fire Brigades Union made in Glasgow on 12 June 2003.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive very much welcomes the decision of the Fire Brigades Union Recall Conference to accept the employers' pay offer and bring an end to the dispute. This will enable all the stakeholders to work together to take forward the vision for the f…

26 May 2003 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to encourage younger people to apply for appointment to the boards of public bodies.

Answer · Andy Kerr: As ministers we want to be able to appoint more people to the boards of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) from population groups that are currently under-represented, including people under 35. That is why I welcome the recent appointment of the youngest…