Parliamentary questions
Mary Scanlon
4,514 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
6 Sep 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assurance it will give that couples currently on the waiting list for infertility treatment under the NHS in Argyll and Clyde will not have to wait any longer for their treatment when NHS Argyll and Clyde is dissolved in March 2006.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-18992 on 15 September 2005. 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://www.scottish.parliament.uk/web…
6 Sep 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that couples currently seeking infertility treatment under the NHS in Argyll and Clyde continue to have access to infertility services following the dissolution of NHS Argyll and Clyde in March 2006.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-18992 on 15 September 2005. 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://www.scottish.parliament.uk/web…
5 Sep 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether a ferry crossing from Orkney to Caithness would be preferable to a crossing from Orkney to Aberdeen in respect of animal welfare.
Answer · Tavish Scott: In terms of animal welfare during transportation there are a number of factors which need to be taken into consideration, such as the length of the total journey (not just the sea crossing) and the conditions in which the animals are housed during the journey…
5 Sep 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether a ferry service used to carry sheep from Orkney to Caithness will be given a livestock subsidy.
Answer · Tavish Scott: The Scottish Executive supports a ferry service between Caithness and the Orkney Islands as part of a grant awarded following a competitive tender process under European Union rules and guidelines. The current Invitation to Tender for the Northern Isles ferry…
5 Sep 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the new tender for the Northern Isles ferry service will include a subsidy for livestock or freight to travel across the Pentlands Firth.
Answer · Tavish Scott: The Invitation to Tender issued on 19 July 2005 invited three companies to tender for a grant to operate passenger and vehicle ferry services between the Scottish mainland and the Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. Section 3.2 of the Invitation to Tender se…
5 Sep 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the proposed level of subsidy is in respect of the new Northern Isles ferry tender.
Answer · Tavish Scott: The level of grant available for the next Northern Isles ferry service contract will be set following the outcome of the competitive tendering process currently in progress.</p>
5 Sep 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will provide evidence that houses in multiple occupation licensing regulations have been complied with to the fullest extent.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive collects statistics on local authorities’ licensing activity for Houses in Multiple Occupation, including the number of licences granted and the number revoked. These figures show that the number of licences in force rose by 97% during …
5 Sep 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average length of time has been for a person to be on a methadone programme in each year since 1999.
Answer · Hugh Henry: This information is not held centrally.</p> <p>The redesigned Scottish Drug Misuse Database will enable collection nationally of information about patients receiving methadone as well as other types of treatment.</p>
5 Sep 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of people on methadone programmes have moved on to a drug-free lifestyle in each year since 1999.
Answer · Hugh Henry: This information is not held centrally.</p> <p>The redesigned Scottish Drug Misuse Database will enable collection nationally of information about patients receiving methadone as well as other types of treatment.</p>
5 Sep 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what treatment choices, other than a methadone programme, are available to drug addicts to help them lead a drug-free lifestyle.
Answer · Hugh Henry: Decisions on treatment interventions and options for addressing other needs are made locally by patients and their medical and social care professionals and depend on individual circumstances.</p> <p>The treatment process to help individuals sustain drug-free…
1 Sep 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost will be of relocation of Scottish Natural Heritage headquarters to Inverness, including the cost of the building and associated staff costs.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: The information requested is given on page 24 in <i>Relocation of Headquarters, Project Plan</i>, published by Scottish Natural Heritage in March 2005, a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 35157).</p>
16 Aug 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether all 32 action points contained in the Health and Safety Executive's Report on the Management of Health and Safety in the Scottish Ambulance Service Board have now been fully implemented.
Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-18496 on 31 August 2005. 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://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp…
16 Aug 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether all 29 action points contained in the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) Employment Medical Advisory Service's Report on the Management of Occupation Stress in the Scottish Ambulance Service Board have now been fully implemented and, if not, what action remains to be taken in ord…
Answer · Andy Kerr: The Health and Safety Executive’s reports on the Management of Occupational Stress in the Scottish Ambulance Service Board and the Management of Health and Safety in the Scottish Ambulance Board were received at the same time and relate to the same audit. The…
16 Aug 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what support will be available over the next year for the rehabilitation of prisoners with a drug problem on leaving prison.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish PrisonService (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>As well as access to voluntarythroughcare, on leaving prison, prisoners will have access to the new ThroughcareAddiction Service intro…
16 Aug 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much will be allocated to each local authority over the next year for transitional throughcare for drug rehabilitation and support for prisoners released into the community.
Answer · Hugh Henry: Funds for voluntary throughcare, which includes the new Throughcare Addiction Service, are allocated to the Criminal Justice Groupings comprising individual local authorities. The following table shows the allocations to each grouping for 2005-06. A total of …
16 Aug 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, during the current review of the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) scheme, it has considered proposals, or received representations from hydro generators or others, to allow any hydro-generation plant downrated to below 20MW capacity prior to 1 April 2002 and later refurbished to …
Answer · Nicol Stephen: No such proposals were received or considered. One representation was received regarding the extension of eligibility to new generation within existing civil works of hydro stations, and which also proposed removing the 20MW threshold. This was outwith the sc…
16 Aug 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, during the current review of the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) scheme, it has considered proposals, or received representations from hydro generators or others, to allow the downrating to below 20MW of any hydro-generation plant whose capacity is over 20MW to make it eligible…
Answer · Nicol Stephen: No such proposals were received or considered. One representation was received regarding the extension of eligibility to new generation within existing civil works of hydro stations, and which also proposed removing the 20MW threshold. This was outwith the sc…
16 Aug 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, during the current review of the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) scheme, it has considered proposals, or received representations from hydro generators or others, to raise the capacity limit below which a hydro-generating plant is eligible for accreditation under the Renewables …
Answer · Nicol Stephen: One representation was received regarding generation within existing civil works of hydro stations, and which also proposed removing the 20MW threshold. This was outwith the scope of the review and has not been taken forward.</p>
16 Aug 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of Scotland's hydro-electricity generated at plants accredited under the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) scheme is generated by plants commissioned since the Executive announced its renewable energy target.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The requested information is not held centrally. Statistics on the output from Scottish hydro generation are collected by the UK Government’s Department of Trade and Industry and by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) in respect of output eligib…
16 Aug 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of hydro-electricity generated at plants accredited under the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) scheme is supplied by stations which (a) have been generating for 10 years or more and (b) were commissioned after 1 April 2002.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The requested information is not held centrally. Statistics on the output from Scottish hydro generation are collected by the UK Government’s Department of Trade and Industry and by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) in respect of output eligib…
8 Aug 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-17718 by George Lyon on 22 July 2005, what the reasons were for methadone being a factor in methadone-related drug deaths and whether any prosecutions are being considered as a result.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The National Investigation intoDrug-Related Deaths in 2003 has shown that poly-drug misuse remains the main causeof death and that few deaths are caused by methadone alone. Further research isrequired to establish why individual drugs from a mixture of substa…
20 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive why the NHS has to guarantee an infertility out-patient appointment within 26 weeks but the waiting time for a patient to receive treatment can be three to five years.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the questionS2W-18011 answered on 9 August 2005. All answers to written fertility services areavailable on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can befound at: <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.searc…
20 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive why the treatment of infertility is not covered by NHS waiting list targets.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Infertility treatment hasnever been included in the Waiting Times Guarantee as it is measured separatelyfrom national waiting times standards. However, the Executive is about tolaunch a review of access criteria for NHS funded assisted conceptiontreatment. Fo…
20 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to implement a national strategy for chronic pain services.
Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-18009 on 31 August 2005. 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://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp…
20 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how the provision of chronic pain services will be improved following the recommendations of Professor McEwen’s report, Chronic Pain Services in Scotland.
Answer · Andy Kerr: Our policy for the treatment of all long-term conditions will be shaped by the Kerr Report, which recommends that effective long-term condition management should be based on a generic approach geared to the management of the totality of a person’s needs, in t…
19 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies currently exist in secondary schools for teachers in (a) mathematics, (b) physics, (c) chemistry, (d) biology and (e) English.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The latest information available from the teacher vacancies survey returned by local authorities at February 2005 is provided in the following table.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>Subject</p></td> <td>…
19 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that sufficient graduates in chemistry will be available to fill all teaching posts for the foreseeable future.
Answer · Peter Peacock: In 2005, 102 people have accepted a place on the Postgraduate Certificate in Education in Chemistry, which represents an increase of 92% compared with the intake of 53 in 2004. This suggests that currently sufficient numbers of chemistry students are applying…
19 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken in response to the conclusions of the Royal Society of Chemistry's survey of May 2005, Snuffing out the Bunsen Burners, that 22.3% of local authority schools are refusing access to chemistry courses due to lack of chemistry teachers, 30.7% of local authority sch…
Answer · Peter Peacock: Vacancies indicated by local authorities on February 2005 were 19 chemistry, 11 of which were for more than three months. That is 1.9% and 1.2% respectively of the full teaching complement in the subject. These figures do not support the vacancy level suggest…
1 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities can charge for assisting with the preparation of food under paragraph 2(a) of schedule 1 to the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Schedule 1 of the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002makes explicit that assistance with the preparation of food should not be chargedfor and the terms of the act must be observed.</p><p>We wrote to all local authoritieson 24 September 2004 to remin…
1 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many methadone-related drug deaths have been recorded in each of the last three years.
Answer · George Lyon: There were 69 methadone-relateddrug deaths in Scotland in 2001, 98 in 2002, and 87 in 2003. The figure for 2004will be published on 31 August 2005 in the General Register Office for Scotland’s annualpaper on drug-related deaths.</p>