Parliamentary questions
Mary Scanlon
4,514 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
7 Jan 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether all unintentionally homeless households will be entitled to permanent accommodation by 2012.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: The Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act2003 incorporates a target that the distinction between homeless households assessedas having a priority need for accommodation and those who are assessed as “non-priority”will be removed by 2012. The Scottish Government is …
7 Jan 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what it expects the average subsidy to be for each house built for social renting in 2008-09.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: As foreshadowed in Firm Foundations: the Future of Housingin Scotland, the Scottish Government willbe consulting in coming weeks on proposals for getting better value from the currentarrangements for subsidising new social housing. The average subsidy in 2008…
7 Jan 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what it expects the unit cost to be of an affordable home in 2008-09.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: I have asked James Hynd, ActingChief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>The average unit cost of an affordablehome in 2006-07 was £115,071. Building cost inflation is currently sitting at 7%which will affect the c…
7 Jan 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its target is for building new houses for low cost home ownership from 2008-09 to 2010-11.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: On the basis of the reforms proposedin Firm Foundations: theFuture of Housing in Scotland, the ScottishGovernment expects that the increased budget for affordable housing of £1.5 billionin 2008-11 will deliver more new affordable homes – including social rent…
7 Jan 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its target is for building new affordable rented homes from 2008-09 to 2010-11.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: On the basis of the reforms proposedin Firm Foundations: theFuture of Housing in Scotland, the ScottishGovernment expects that the increased budget for affordable housing of £1.5 billionin 2008-11 will deliver more new affordable homes – including social rent…
21 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to encourage the production of more fruit and vegetables.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The fruit and vegetable sectorhas historically been relatively unsupported. The 2007 reform of the EU fruit andvegetable regime will give growers greater flexibility as land used to grow fruitand vegetables will, from 15 May 2008, support Single Farm Payment …
20 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what reduction in alcohol demand it anticipates would arise from a (a) 5%, (b) 10% and (c) 20% increase in price.
Answer · Shona Robison: International studies have showna correlation between price and consumption, although it is clear that the relationshipis complex, and variable in different countries and across different products. Fromthe available evidence it is not possible to accurately p…
20 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the national care standards for elderly people in care homes will be reviewed.
Answer · Shona Robison: Section 5 of the Regulation ofCare (Scotland) Act 2001 requires Scottish ministers to keep the NationalCare Standards under review. We are currently considering how best to do this.</p><p>There is a procedure in placeto amend the standards if this is required…
20 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what dental services will be available for patients from the north east and highlands and islands at the new Aberdeen dental school in 2008.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Aberdeen dentalschool will be established primarily to train dental students, although serviceprovision is expected to be affected positively when the students graduate and hopefullyremain in the area.</p><p>As part of the teaching programme,it is expecte…
20 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many dental students will be enrolled at the new Aberdeen dental school in 2008.
Answer · Shona Robison: It is expected that up to 15dental students will be enrolled at the new Aberdeen dental school in 2008,rising to 20 students per year in subsequent years.</p>
20 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what levels of success have been measured by the Getting it Right for Every Child programme.
Answer · Adam Ingram: Success will ultimately be determined by the experiences of children and families in how help is co-ordinated and delivered to them, how they are involved in these decisions and what the improvements in children''s outcomes are. This will form part of the eva…
13 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that local authority planners build new schools of an adequate size to fit the appropriate, and future planned, population in their catchment areas.
Answer · Maureen Watt: Local authorities are under astatutory duty to ensure that they provide and maintain for their area sufficientschool accommodation. It is therefore for them to decide how best to fulfil thatduty and ensure that supply of school places meets envisaged and chan…
13 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage change in the number of people presented to accident and emergency departments has been in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information on the percentagechange in the number of people presenting to Accident and Emergency departmentsin each of the last five years by NHS board area is shown in table 1.</p><p>Table 1: Accident and EmergencyAttendances; Percentage Change from Previous…
13 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage change in the number of category A emergency call-outs has been in each of the last five years, broken down by Scottish Ambulance Service division.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Ambulance Servicecompleted the roll-out of the priority-based dispatch system across mainland Scotland in March2004, so 2004-05 is the first year in which category A demand and performance canbe measured across Scotland. This information is colle…
13 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which community health partnerships have a representative of the Scottish Ambulance Service on their management committees, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government doesnot hold information on the composition of CHP management committees centrally.However, CHP regulations set out minimum requirements for membership of CHP committeesand boards have local discretion in terms of additional members.</…
13 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline the prevention strategy for diabetes.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There are currently no effectivetherapies to prevent type 1 diabetes.</p><p>Type 2 diabetes is associatedwith several factors, some of which are reversible and others, such as genetic associations,which cannot be influenced by lifestyle changes. Obesity is th…
13 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to ensure the early diagnosis of diabetes to assist in the management of the condition and help to reduce further health complications.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government fullysupports the principle of early diagnosis of long-term conditions such as diabetes,in order to improve quality of life and reduce the risk of complications. The NationalScreening Committee (NSC) advises that we should screen group…
6 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what services are available for patients suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome and myalgic encephalomyelitis, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Shona Robison: The information isnot available in the form requested. Action for ME has, however, produced a reporton the scoping exercise which it carried out with funding from the Scottish Government.The report presents an overview of ME/CFS services in Scotland from the …
6 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to implement maximum waiting time targets from GP referral to treatment for people with mental health problems.
Answer · Shona Robison: There are no plansto do so at this time, but we are working to drive downwaiting times for any patient groups that sit outside the maximum waiting time targets.The <i>Better Health, Better Care Action Plan</i> (Bib. number 44287) reaffirmedour commitment to d…
6 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to review the hepatitis B immunisation policy.
Answer · Shona Robison: As with all immunisationpolicy, the Scottish Government position on hepatitis B immunisation is informedby advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The JCVIis an independent committee of experts whose role is to provide advice t…
6 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that all young people have access to chlamydia testing, including people living in remote and rural areas.
Answer · Shona Robison: The national sexualhealth strategy, Respect and Responsibility included an action for NHS Quality ImprovementScotland (NHS QIS) to take forward the development of appropriate clinical standardsfor dealing with sexually transmitted infections. NHS QIS produced…
6 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will increase the number of school nurses by 100% to ensure that all young people have access to nursing staff with sexual health knowledge.
Answer · Shona Robison: Our plans are to increasethe range of nursing and other health care support available to school-aged childrenand young people. A health care model targeted at deprived and other areas withhigh numbers of disadvantaged children will be developed in 2008. We wi…
6 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review HIV prevention funding to ensure that it is fit for purpose and reflective of changes in epidemiology.
Answer · Shona Robison: The fundingprovided to NHS Boards for Bloodborne Virus prevention work – including HIVprevention work – is calculated using annual incidence data for HIV and hepatitisC. Funding therefore responds to changes in epidemiology of the disease. BloodborneVirus fun…
6 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to set a target for reduction of the rate of undiagnosed HIV infection.
Answer · Shona Robison: There is no planto set a target for the reduction of the rate of undiagnosed HIV infection. AnHIV sub-group of the National Sexual Health Advisory Committee has been lookingat issues relating to the diagnosis and prevention of HIV among men who havesex with m…
6 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to reduce undiagnosed HIV infection.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Chief MedicalOfficer and Chief Nursing Officer have recently issued a joint letter to all doctorsand nurses in Scotland on “Improving the detection and diagnosisof HIV in non-HIV specialities including primary care”. It states that a specialeffort on the …
6 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to page 47 of Scottish Budget: Spending Review 2007, what support, advice and treatment services are in place in each NHS board to meet the target to “reduce the rate of increase in the proportion of children with their Body Mass Index outwith a healthy range by 2018”.
Answer · Shona Robison: Boards undertake anumber of activities to promote physical activity and nutrition that contributeto the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity. These include support forbreastfeeding. An additional investment of £11.5 million each year between2008-11 h…
6 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to page 47 of Scottish Budget: Spending Review 2007, how its target to “improve the quality of healthcare experience” will be measured.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: <i>Better Together</i>, the new programme for improving health careexperience, which was announced in March 2007, will provide the information neededto monitor this target.</p><p>The first part ofthis programme of work, which is currently underway, is to dete…
6 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how the health portfolio will contribute to the intention to reduce public bodies by 25%.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer themember to the answer to question S3W-7323 on 12 December 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/w…
6 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to page 47 of Scottish Budget: Spending Review 2007, how the “increase in the proportion of adults making one or more visits to the outdoors per week” will be monitored.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: The ScottishRecreation Survey, undertaken by Scottish Natural Heritage on a monthly basison a demographically representative sample of 1,000 adults living in Scotland, will indicate how many visits to the outdoors areundertaken per week.</p>
6 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the outcome agreements with local authorities as they relate to (a) sports funding, (b) mental health support and services and (c) care for elderly people will be made known.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: As part of the new concordatagreed between the Scottish Government and COSLA, each local authority will aimto reach a single outcome agreement (SOA) with the Scottish Government at the earliestopportunity, based on the national outcomes and, under a common fr…