Christine Grahame

19 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-792 by Nicola Sturgeon on 18 June 2007, how many NHS staff are currently on special leave with pay and serving with the Territorial Army or reserves and how many staff were on such leave on the same date in the previous eight years.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The information requestedis not held centrally.</p>

19 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-792 by Nicola Sturgeon on 18 June 2007, what NHS Scotland’s annual costs have been since 1999 to cover for staff on special leave with pay who were performing civic and public duties with the Territorial Army or reserves.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The information requestedis not held centrally.</p>

19 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-792 by Nicola Sturgeon on 18 June 2007, how many recruitment visits there have been to hospitals by the British armed forces in each year since 1999, broken down by hospital.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The information requestedis not held centrally.</p>

19 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-790 by Maureen Watt on 19 June 2007, whether ministers offer guidance to schools on the distinction between recruitment to the armed forces headed up by the Army recruitment team and other careers information.

Answer · Maureen Watt: The Executive offers no suchguidance.</p>

14 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider extending access to free personal care to the estimated 1,350 to 1,650 people under the age of 65 suffering from dementia.

Answer · Shona Robison: The free personalcare policy was introduced to benefit people aged 65 and over, and the governmentis focusing its attention on addressing implementation issues arising from thispolicy. There are no current plans to extend this general provision to other careg…

13 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many local advisory councils of the Scottish Health Council there are; where the councils are located and what funding they receive.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There is a Local AdvisoryCouncil (LAC) in each of the 14 territorial NHS board areas. The following tabledetails total expenditure, which represents members expenses, by each LAC in 2006-07:</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td…

13 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it monitors the expenditure of the Scottish Health Council.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish HealthCouncil was established as part of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland but with itsown distinct identity. The Chief Executive of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland istherefore the accountable officer for the Scottish Health Council and is person…

13 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21691 by Mr Andy Kerr on 19 January 2006, which NHS boards have developed strategic partnerships with the Citizens Advice Bureau in their areas to provide independent advice and support for patients and when any such partnerships were developed.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The following tabledetails the current position in relation to the partnerships between NHS boardsand the Citizens Advice Bureau for the provision of an independent advice and supportservice:</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <t…

13 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29690 by Mr Andy Kerr on 14 November 2006, what the projected funding is for the Scottish Health Council in each financial year from 2007-08.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The funding allocationagreed for the Scottish Health Council for 2007-08 is £2.711 million. Funding forsubsequent years will be set following the spending review, which is currently underway.</p>

13 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of the Transport Research Laboratory’s survey of lorry drivers at service stations with regard to the connection between weight and sleep disorders including sleep apnoea.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Yes, we are awareof the report and have noted its content.</p>

13 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of research undertaken by police in Leicester regarding the connection between road traffic accidents and sleepiness.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Executiveis not aware of research undertaken by police in Leicester. We are, however, aware of the work of the Loughborough University’s Sleep Research Centre on aspects of driversleepiness and road traffic accidents.</p>

13 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will commission research into the connection between drivers’ sleepiness or falling asleep at the wheel and road traffic accidents.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: There are no currentplans to do so. The future economic and social research programme for transport,which includes road safety, is currently being developed and is expected to be finalisedby September.</p><p>The UK Governmenthas been conducting research into …

13 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring has been undertaken of the effectiveness of NHS Health Scotland’s disbursements of funding.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Monitoring the effectivenessof NHS Health Scotland’s disbursements of funding is by way of theorganisation’s performance management system.</p><p>Internal processesto monitor effectiveness are driven by quarterly business plan delivery reviewswhich involve bu…

13 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which voluntary organisations received funding from NHS Health Scotland in each year since 1999 and how much each received.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-962 on 20 June 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.sea…

13 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the voluntary sector receives funding from NHS Health Scotland and, if so, how much it has received in each year since 1999.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The figures forfunding, since NHS Health Scotland’s inception in 2003, are shown in the followingtable. </p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td nowrap valign=top> <p>Organisation</p> </td> <td nowrap valign=top> <p align=c…

13 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which health projects received funding from NHS Health Scotland for publicity or public information in each year since 1999 and how much each received.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Health projectsdo not receive funding from NHS Health Scotland for publicity or public information. Instead, projects receive supportfrom NHS Health Scotland staff such as expertise, literature andadvice regarding public relations.</p>

13 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of funding NHS Health Scotland has received in each year since 1999.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Health Scotland’s levels of funding, since inception in April 2003,are set out in the following table.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td width=72 valign=top> <p>Financial Year</p> </td> <td width=171 valign=top> …

13 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received any communication from the UK Government since May 2007 to propose that a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee be convened.

Answer · Linda Fabiani: No.</p>

13 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions and on what dates the Joint Ministerial Committee has met since 1999, excluding any sub-committee meetings.

Answer · Linda Fabiani: The Joint MinisterialCommittee has met in plenary three times since 1999, on the following dates:</p><p>1 September 2000.</p><p>30 October 2001.</p><p>22 October 2002.</p>

12 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-25808 by Cathy Jamieson on 23 May 2006, what plans it now has to introduce a convention to prevent the Special Branch carrying out electronic surveillance of MSPs and whether it will hold discussions with the UK Government and the security services o…

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Scottishministers have no role in authorising general covert surveillance. They do havethe specific power to authorise interception of communications for the purpose of the prevention or detection of serious crime. Authorisation of interception warrantsfor ma…

12 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what concerns it has that customers on Scottish Power’s dynamic teleswitched tariff cannot switch to another supplier without incurring additional costs.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: I am advised byOfgem that a consumer is not likely to incur additional costs in switching to asimilar dynamic teleswitching tariff offered by an alternative supplier.</p>

8 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether particular procedures are in place in respect of foreign workers who require enhanced disclosure certificates and, if so, what these procedures are.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Disclosure Scotland, whocarry out criminal record checks on behalf of Scottish ministers, do not have accessto information about the criminal records of foreign workers before they enter theUnited Kingdom. It is the responsibility of the person concerned topr…

8 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider issuing guidance to all bodies for which it has responsibility to ensure that recruitment shortages in the British armed forces do not lead to diminished public services through significantly increased recruitment activity by the armed forces in devolved areas.

Answer · John Swinney: We have no plansto issue such specific guidance.</p>

8 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider banning the practice of recruitment visits to hospitals by the armed forces targeting NHS staff, in light of pressure on NHS boards to deliver high-quality health provision to patients.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Governmenthas no plans to ban recruitment visits to hospitals by the British Armed Forces.Recruitment visits are in the main held for recruitment to the reserves or TerritorialArmy (TA) and are carried out with the permission of the hospital. NHS…

8 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS employees have been recruited into the British armed forces following recruitment activities in hospitals and what the resulting impact has been on the delivery of health services to patients in each year since 2003.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The information requestedis not available centrally.</p>

8 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the call by the EIS for a ban on recruitment by the armed forces in schools, whether ministers will issue immediate guidance to education authorities to ensure that this practice ceases.

Answer · Maureen Watt: Local authoritiesand schools are presently and rightly responsible for considering thearrangements under which any potential employer offers advice on careeropportunities to pupils, and does that in a professional manner, appropriate tothe pupils’ age and mat…

6 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost to each NHS board has been of employing agency nurses, in each year since 1999.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information on staff employedin NHS Scotland is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under WorkforceStatistics, at <a href="http://www.isdscotland.org/workforce">www.isdscotland.org/workforce</a>.The full dataset on the use of agency staff with…

5 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executivehow many official visits by the Home Secretary have required dedicated Scottish police resources in each year since 1999.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-543 on 12 June 2007. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.sea…

5 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executivehow many official visits by the Prime Minister have required dedicated Scottish police resources in each year since 1999.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-543 on 12 June 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.se…

5 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executivehow many official visits by the Chancellor of the Exchequer have required dedicated Scottish police resources in each year since 1999.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-543 on 12 June 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.se…