Parliamentary questions
Jackie Baillie
9,397 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
12 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that a scheme for the minimum pricing of alcohol is compatible with EU competition law and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to answer to questions S3W-15628 on 9 September 2008 and S3W-18002 on 26 November 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at: </p> <p ><a h…
12 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has legislative competence to introduce a scheme for the minimum pricing of alcohol and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to answers to questions S3W-15628 on 9 September 2008 and S3W-18002 on 26 November 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http:…
11 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-16443 by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 September 2008, how many of the remaining 50 staff members at the Vale of Leven Hospital who registered for cleanliness champion training have now completed it.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde advise that 73 staff registered for the Cleanliness Champion Training Programme between May 2007 and September 2008. 36 have now completed it “ an increase of 13 on the answer provided to S3W-16443. The Cleanliness Champions trai…
11 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many members of staff at the Vale of Leven Hospital received specific training on Clostridium difficile prior to December 2007; what the nature of that training was, and when it was received.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde advise that ten nurses at the Vale of Leven Hospital undertook specific training on Clostridium difficile prior to December 2007. Training took place on 4 March 2007 and focused on hand washing protocols when dealing with patient…
11 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18165 by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 December 2008, how many members of staff at the Vale of Leven Hospital have now received training on Clostridium difficile; what the nature of that training was, and when it was received.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde advise that all priority staff as identified by the Vale of Leven Hospital have completed healthcare associated infection (HAI) training.</p> <p >Sessions to date have been held during September and November 2008 and have cover…
8 Dec 2008 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will adapt the Parliament’s website to enable British Sign Language to be used.
Answer · Mike Pringle: The Parliament has a webpage dedicated to BSL and is currently working towards enhancing the use of BSL on the website. </p> <p >This is being carried out through the web development project where accessibility issues are being fully considered. BSL users w…
8 Dec 2008 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it has awarded a contract to any organisation to translate parliamentary information into British Sign Language.
Answer · Mike Pringle: A contract was awarded to MPH Accessible Media on 26 March 2007 to translate parliamentary information into BSL. They have completed eight videos, since then, seven of which are on the Parliament website. The contractor is currently translating a further pub…
8 Dec 2008 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether the Parliament routinely translates information into British Sign Language.
Answer · Mike Pringle: The SPCB is committed to the provision of BSL in the Parliament. Routinely, the SPCB considers BSL for all new publications produced by the Parliament and has translated most of the public information leaflets into BSL. The new engagement publication for inst…
8 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will adapt its website to enable British Sign Language to be used.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: The British Sign Language and Linguistic Access Working Group advises the Equality Unit on improving linguistic access for deaf people in Scotland. Since January 2008, the Scottish Government''s website has included a BSL translation of an introductory page w…
8 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has awarded a contract to any organisation to translate Scottish Government information into British Sign Language.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government have contracted with AC2.com and the British Deaf Association (Scotland) to acquire British Sign Language (BSL) translation services.</p>
8 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it routinely translates Scottish Government information into British Sign Language.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish Government recognises the importance of making information accessible to British Sign Language (BSL) users. We routinely provide BSL interpreters for meetings if BSL users will be present, and we consider providing BSL DVD translations of publica…
4 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanism exists for tenants to appeal against a local authority determination of abandonment of tenancy.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: The abandonment procedure for Scottish secure tenancies is set out in sections 17 and 18 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001. Section 19 of that act provides that a tenant whose house has been repossessed in accordance with that procedure has a right of appeal…
4 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how often sections (a) 17 and (b) 18 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 have been used to date, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: Sections 17 and 18 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 deal with the abandonment and ensuing repossession of properties under the Scottish secure tenancy. The information is not held centrally for local authority landlords; however, information on the number o…
27 Nov 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Strathclyde Police incident team investigating the deaths of patients from Clostridium difficile at the Vale of Leven Hospital was established.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: A Detective Superintendent from Strathclyde Police has been involved in this matter since July 2008. In early September, following discussions with the Area Procurator Fiscal for Argyll and Clyde, the police were asked to examine the medical records of all pa…
26 Nov 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its reasons were for refusing to answer 21 freedom of information requests and subsequent reviews relating to the outbreak of Clostridium difficile at the Vale of Leven Hospital, given that when the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing has committed to being open and transparen…
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The member received written replies from Scottish Government officials, dated 14 July and 11 November 2008 outlining the reasons for refusing to provide the information requested. The member was advised in S3W-15495 to follow the standard procedures as set ou…
24 Nov 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff are employed at the Vale of Leven Hospital, broken down by profession.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not centrally available. However, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have provided the Scottish Government with the information, set out at Table 1. Table 1 shows that at October 2008:</p> <p >the Vale of Leven hospital employed 720.…
21 Nov 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will require local authorities to use only polling stations that are accessible to everyone including those with disabilities and, if so, when.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The administration of elections in Scotland, including the provision of polling stations, is the responsibility of the individual Returning Officer within each local authority area. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995, as amended by the Disability Discrimi…
21 Nov 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that general health campaigns reach disabled people.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Executive and the NHS in Scotland have a legal duty to undertake equality impact assessments of their existing and proposed policies and procedures under the race, disability and gender legislation to ensure fair and equal access. This requiremen…
21 Nov 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to put an end to inequality in the provision of physiotherapy, speech and occupational therapy services so that everyone has the same access no matter where they live.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There are currently no specific waiting time targets for the allied health professions. It is for NHS boards and local authorities to determine the level of service provision for physiotherapy, speech and language therapy and occupational therapy based on loc…
21 Nov 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the waiting times are for carers’ assessments, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally.</p> <p >The Scottish Government recognises the importance of carer assessments in identifying carers'' needs for support and as a gateway to accessing this support. As the member will be aware, under the Community Care…
21 Nov 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to reduce the waiting times for carers’ assessments.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-18129 on 27 November 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/…
21 Nov 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to make the system for charging for services fairer for carers.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: It is for local authorities to determine the charges for community care services, following the appropriate regulations and guidance. Only the resources of the person receiving the services should be taken into account by the local authority within the financ…
21 Nov 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to ensure that pupils with additional support needs and their families have (a) full and easy access to learning materials in different formats, (b) knowledge of the transcription services available and (c) an understanding of the alternative or accessible formats …
Answer · Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government has taken a number of steps to ensure that accessible curriculum material is available for those with additional support needs.</p> <p >The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) is responsible for determining the entitlement of all…
21 Nov 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to promote equality in education for pupils with additional support needs, specifically in ensuring that they are taught by appropriately trained staff.
Answer · Maureen Watt: The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 places duties on education authorities to ensure that the additional support needs of all children and young people are addressed and that they have access to the same range of learning oppor…
20 Nov 2008 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that incidence of and mortality from Clostridium difficile are reported on a hospital-by-hospital basis.
Answer · Shona Robison: Yes. The Scottish Government will be issuing a reporting template for all boards to use from January 2009.</p> <p >This template will enable boards to undertake a critical review of all cases of Clostridium difficile associated disease in hospital and those …
19 Nov 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what training is in place for teachers and support staff to ensure that they are familiar with autistic children’s needs and can support them effectively.
Answer · Maureen Watt: Under the concordat, the Scottish Government is providing local government with £34.9 billion over the next three years, an increase of 13.1% across the period. Significant controls and flexibilities have been devolved to better enable local authorities to re…
19 Nov 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to further invest in direct research on (a) attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, (b) dyspraxia, (c) Tourette’s syndrome and (d) deficit in attention, motor control and perception.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Government Health Directorates has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and health care needs in Scotland. The CSO primarily responds to requests for funding research proposals…
19 Nov 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to further invest in medical and statistical research into learning difficulties.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Government Health Directorates has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and healthcare needs in Scotland. CSO primarily responds to requests for funding research proposals init…
19 Nov 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to address a shortage in early intervention and specialist support offered to children with dyslexia as described in a recent report by HM Inspectorate of Education.
Answer · Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government is taking a significant number of steps to help support children with dyslexia including the following:</p> <p >We are developing The Early Years Framework with COSLA, which is about moving from intervention when a crisis happens tow…
19 Nov 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what systems are in place to ensure children with learning difficulties are identified and supported.
Answer · Maureen Watt: The identification of children with learning difficulties can happen at different stages of a child''s life. Therefore, a number of systems exist to identify and support these children.</p> <p >Health for All Children (Hall 4) guidance was issued in 2005 and…