Margaret Jamieson

21 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many special educational needs support staff are employed (a) in each further education (FE) college and (b) per thousand FE college students.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: This information is not held centrally.

21 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many special educational needs lecturing staff are employed (a) in each further education (FE) college and (b) per thousand FE college students.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: This information is not held centrally.

17 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the report of the Scottish Breast Screening Development Task Group on the extension of the upper age limit for routine invitation for breast screening will be published.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Breast Screening Development Task Group's Report was received on 6 April. A copy of the report has been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. no. 13559) and will be placed on the SHOW website.

3 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact on individual learning difficulty sufferers of the withdrawal of the Meares-Irlen syndrome service currently provided by Glasgow Caledonian University.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The provision of this service at Glasgow Caledonian University is a matter for the university. I am advised by the university that the service is not being withdrawn.

3 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will extend the support being given to rural businesses in areas affected by the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak to those in "at risk" areas such as Ayrshire.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-15612.

3 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is giving rural businesses affected by the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in "at risk" areas such as Ayrshire.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: Support is available to rural businesses affected by the foot and mouth outbreak through the Small Business Gateway which has a number of outlets in Ayrshire. The Gateway is the focal point for the provision of information and advice. Direct access to busines…

3 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak is having on rural businesses in "at risk" areas such as Ayrshire.

Answer · Ross Finnie: In March I announced the establishment of an Impact Assessment Group to inform the Executive about the effect which the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak is having across all areas and sectors. To date the majority of the assessment has been qualitative and has…

26 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to produce a Communities Against Drugs toolkit for Scotland similar to that produced by the Crime Reduction Unit.

Answer · Iain Gray: The Home Office Crime Reduction Unit toolkit on drug-related crime is one of a series of 22 designed to help all those involved in crime reduction and community safety to work as effectively as possible. The Home Office has agreed to make these toolkits and o…

26 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will produce a Scottish version of the document Communities Against Drugs published jointly by Her Majesty's Treasury, the Home Office and the Cabinet Office.

Answer · Iain Gray: The Executive is announcing today a new Scottish Communities Against Drugs Fund. This will provide up to £500,000 to match funds raised by the Daily Record, for local communities to address the problems with drugs that they identify in their area. The Fund wi…

26 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation it has undertaken in respect of section 37 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

Answer · Peter Peacock: A joint informal consultation paper <I>Disability Discrimination Act 1995: The Government's Proposals for Taxis</I> was issued in July 1997.

26 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to consult on the regulations to implement section 37 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

Answer · Peter Peacock: It is anticipated the equivalent Scottish regulations will go out to formal consultation by the end of June.

26 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when section 37 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 will be brought into force.

Answer · Peter Peacock: It is anticipated that the Scottish Regulations equivalent to section 37 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 will come into force in the autumn.

5 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms are in place to determine the expected health gains arising from each approved personal medical services scheme and how patients will be informed of the targets for such gains.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Every Personal Medical Services (PMS) scheme will vary according to the local needs of the patient population and the services that are developed to meet those needs. Monitoring arrangements are determined locally. If the PMS scheme is a pilot, it will be rev…

5 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the financial allocation for the personal medical services pilot and permanent schemes, broken down by (a) health board and (b) local health care co-operative.

Answer · Susan Deacon: A recurring investment programme of £4.5/6/8 million over the next three years has been agreed for the development of Personal Medical Services (PMS) in Scotland. The allocations were made to health boards, not to Local Health Care Co-operatives. The table sh…

5 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to inform general practitioners of the options available under the National Health Service (Personal Medical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2001 (SSI 2001/72).

Answer · Susan Deacon: A variety of initiatives have been undertaken by the Scottish Executive to inform primary care teams about Personal Medical Services: a leaflet explaining PMS has been distributed; a series of roadshows has taken place; information is available on the SHOW we…

4 Apr 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what provision there is for the assessment and treatment of Meares-Irlen syndrome in Glasgow and the west of Scotland.

Answer · Susan Deacon: This is a matter for local health boards and NHS Trusts.

29 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to implement the recommendations of the 1998 Scottish Office Report Sensing Progress.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: In examining services for the Chief Social Work Inspector's Annual Report for 2002, officials will seek up to date information on local progress in implementing the recommendations of <I>Sensing Progress</I>.<P>A working group consisting of representatives fr…

29 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in the light of the recent guidance to local authorities in England and Wales on social care for deafblind children and adults, what steps it is taking to ensure that a similar approach is adopted in relation to deafblind children and adults in Scotland.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: In 1998 the Scottish Executive published its <I>Sensing Progress</I> report which examined the planning, delivery, commissioning and management of social work services for people who had visual or hearing impairment or who were deafblind.<P>Following a number…

28 Mar 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of take-up was achieved in its flu vaccination campaign and what impact the campaign had on NHS performance levels.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Due to the efforts of GPs and NHS staff, the Scotland- wide target of 60% uptake for 2000-01 has been exceeded with 63.5% of the total number of patients aged 65 and over in reporting practices receiving the vaccine.<P>This has been part of the range of measu…

20 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans are in place to review the Arbuthnott formula and monitor its operation.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I have today appointed a Standing Committee, under the Chairmanship of Sir John Arbuthnott, for that very purpose. The remit of the committee is to:<P>keep the formula for resource allocation for NHSScotland under review;<P>keep under review the information a…

14 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure the co-ordination of the views of infertility sufferers following the cessation of funding for the National Infertility Support Network.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive has agreed to provide core funding towards the administrative costs of Child Infertility Network Scotland for a three-year period commencing 2000-01. This will enable them to continue providing the service which was previously provided …

13 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish, for each local authority area, the numbers of councillors, broken down by political party, who were in arrears of council tax and debarred from participating in the budget setting process for 2001-02.

Answer · Peter Peacock: This information is not held centrally.

9 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of any impact of the removal of water charges relief on the work of charities and voluntary organisations.

Answer · Ross Finnie: It is not possible to make an overall assessment of the impact on such a large number of diverse organisations. Reliefs are being phased out over a number of years to allow organisations time to adjust to higher charges.

9 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give any direction to water authorities relating to the removal of water charges relief afforded to charities.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive supports the policy of phased withdrawal of reliefs offered to charities. As the Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development indicated on 4 April, the Scottish Executive recognises the concerns of a number of organisations abo…

9 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation it has had with the water authorities in respect of the decision to remove the water charges relief afforded to charities.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The water authorities informed the Scottish Executive of their intention to make a phased withdrawal of reliefs. They were asked to consider whether it was practical to ringfence particular groups, but they indicated that it was not. On this basis, they have …

8 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take following the publication of Power Frequency Electromagnetic Fields and the Risk of Cancer by the National Radiological Protection Board.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the Member to the answer given to question S1O-3093 on 15 March 2001.

14 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when will it make an announcement on compensation for victims of variant Creut'feldt Jakob Disease.

Answer · Susan Deacon: In my statement to the Parliament on 26&nbsp;October 2000, I said that the UK Government were looking to put in place financial arrangements to benefit those with vCJD and their families. Constructing a compensation scheme that is effective and properly meets…

9 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7571 by Susan Deacon on 16 June 2000, what progress has been made in ensuring equity of access to infertility services and treatment across Scotland.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-13246.

9 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4313 by Susan Deacon on 24 February 2000, when it plans to review progress on the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the Expert Advisory Group on Infertility Services published in February 2000.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive Health Department is currently conducting an exercise to determine the extent to which Health Boards have implemented the recommendations contained in the report.

24 Jan 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are for developing new contractual arrangements for GPs, as outlined in Our National Health, a plan for action, a plan for change.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Personal Medical Services (PMS) operate under the NHS (Primary Care) Act 1997 and introduce flexibility to primary care services by meeting specific local needs through PMS pilots. Pilot GPs can be salaried either to Primary Care Trusts or within practices or…