Parliamentary questions

Nicola Sturgeon

676 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

10 Jun 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-286 by Cathy Jamieson on 3 June 2003, what conclusion has been reached in respect of the notice received on 30 January 2003 under paragraph 6.8 of the Minutes of Agreement between the Secretary of State for Scotland and Kilmarnock Prison Services Ltd…

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:No action was necessary. Kilmarnock Prison Services Limited subsequently advised that they had obtained and placed insurance cover.

10 Jun 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give details of each default notice received under paragraph 46 of the Minute of Agreement Between the Secretary of State for Scotland and Kilmarnock Prison Services Ltd for the Design, Construction, Management and Financing of a Prison at Kilmarnock, including the date on…

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:There have been no such notices.

5 Jun 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to reform the law on corporate killing.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: We will study the judgement of the Appeal Court on the Transco case, once it is available, before deciding whether legislation is required.

5 Jun 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-113 by Elish Angiolini on 2 June 2003, what the cost was of reports to procurator fiscal marked "no proceedings", broken down by reason of (a) time-bar, (b) delay by police/other agency, (c) lack of court resources, (d) procurator fiscal staff shorta…

Answer · Elish Angiolini: The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service records the nature of case costs but does not attribute this to individual cases. Staff time spent on individual cases is not recorded but costing estimates are based on standard weightings derived from past anal…

5 Jun 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-113 by Mrs Elish Angiolini on 2 June 2003, whether it will provide a breakdown by type of offence of reports to procurators fiscal marked "no proceedings" for reason of (a) time-bar, (b) delay by police/other agency, (c) lack of court resources, (d) …

Answer · Elish Angiolini: The information sought can only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Current Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service information systems are designed to support core operations of the department and track the progress of cases and it is not possible to ex…

13 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients on the true waiting list did not have a guarantee in each of the last four quarters.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The number of patients on the in-patient and day case waiting list with an exception to the national waiting time guarantee on 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December 2002 is given in the table.The increase in the number of waiting time guarantee e…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the role of the new Scottish Health Council will differ from that of the Scottish Association of Health Councils, as referred to in chapter 5 of Partnership for Care: Scotland's Health White Paper.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Local health councils have formed a national association, the Scottish Association of Health Councils, as a membership organisation entirely funded by its members' subscriptions. Currently, 14 out of the 15 Scottish health councils have chosen to be members.<…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual budget for the new Scottish Health Council will be, as referred to in chapter 5 of Partnership for Care: Scotland's Health White Paper.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The budget for the new Scottish Health Council has not yet been determined. However, local health councils received core funding of £1,979,000 from the Scottish Executive in financial year 2002-03.

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the Scottish Health Council will work with local health councils in each NHS board area to achieve greater public involvement in the NHS, as referred to in chapter 5 of Partnership for Care: Scotland's Health White Paper.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: A consultation paper on A new public involvement structure for NHSScotland was launched on 4 March and includes proposals for how the Scottish Health Council might operate nationally and locally. Copies of the consultation paper are available in the Pa…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been made available for the new research strategy, as referred to in chapter 5 of Partnership for Care: Scotland's Health White Paper.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) will receive £47.5 million in 2003-04 to support research into health and health care needs in Scotland. The strategic direction of that research over the next five years, will be determined by CSO's new research strategy, whi…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been provided to each NHS board to introduce and develop new hospital appointment systems in each year since 1999-2000 and what future funding will be provided, as referred to in chapter 4 of Partnership for Care: Scotland's Health White Paper.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Information, Management and Technology Strategies are agreed at NHS health board level together with associated local investment plans, which will include provision for systems such as hospital appointments systems. The Health Department intends to investigat…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what incentives will be introduced as part of the Performance Incentive Framework, as referred to in chapter 4 of Partnership for Care: Scotland's Health White Paper.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Performance Incentive Framework (PIF) will be developed over the coming months with involvement from the key stakeholders in NHS Scotland.The framework will balance the current escalating intervention protocol with a range of incentives designed to enc…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many out-patient clinics are held in local health centres, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how Centre for Change and Innovation funding will be distributed to NHS boards, as referred to in chapter 5 of Partnership for Care: Scotland's Health White Paper.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Centre for Change and Innovation's budget of £12.8 million will be used to fund national programmes which will be rolled out across NHSScotland. Where there is clear evidence of innovation within a board area, this may receive pump priming to pilot and ev…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the Centre for Change and Innovation's budget is for 2003-04, as referred to in chapter 5 of Partnership for Care: Scotland's Health White Paper.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Centre for Change and Innovation's budget for 2003-04 is £12.8 million.

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what NHS Quality Improvement Scotland's budget is for 2003-04.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The budget of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland for 2003-04 is £10.231 million.

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information that is not currently available to NHS patients will be provided to patients in future through the Patient Information Initiative and what funding the initiative will receive, as referred to in chapter 3 of Partnership for Care: Scotland's Health White Paper.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The white paper Partnership for Care notes that patient information is currently available from a variety of sources. However, this information may vary in quality, or may not be in a format which is readily accessible to those who use NHS services in …

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the amalgamation of the Health Education Board for Scotland and the Public Health Institute for Scotland will cost and what the projected savings are in each year, as referred to in chapter 2 of Partnership for Care: Scotland's Health White Paper.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The overall financial effect of the integration of the Health Education Board for Scotland and the Public Health Institute of Scotland will be cost neutral.

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its health improvement challenge, as referred to in chapter 2 of Partnership for Care: Scotland's Health White Paper.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Improving Health in Scotland - the Challenge was launched today at the third Healthy Scotland Convention held in Edinburgh. I also refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34705 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are avai…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what projects are funded under the Health Improvement Fund and what funding has been provided to each project, as referred to in chapter 2 of Partnership for Care: Scotland's Health White Paper.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Full details about projects funded by the Health Improvement Fund across Scotland, between 2000-01 and 2003-04, is given in the Investment Report Putting the Pieces in Place. This is available from the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 19606) …

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what financial and other support exists for small and medium-si'ed enterprises in dealing with drug and alcohol problems of employees and what support it plans to provide, as referred to in chapter 2 of Partnership for Care: Scotland's Health White Paper.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive issued a resource pack with information on occupational health to approximately 77,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in December 2001. This includes guidance on the development of workplace drug and alcohol policies.Scotland's Health at …

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what effective interventions it will use to ensure that standards are met and enforced within the NHS, as referred to in chapter 1 of Partnership for Care: Scotland's Health White Paper.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Our recent White Paper Partnership for Care focuses on listening to patients and involving the public and communities, and on improving the quality of health care. Our proposals involve a range of interventions that may be necessary to ensure that a…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the abolition of NHS trusts will (a) cost and (b) save, as referred to in chapter 7 of Partnership for Care: Scotland's Health White Paper.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: When we set out our proposals in Partnership for Care to dissolve the remaining NHS trusts, our primary objective was not to achieve financial savings, and nor have we identified any direct cost implications. Rather, changes to the governance of local …

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what investment has been made in personal computers, network connections and training for NHS staff to use information and communication systems, as referred to in chapter 6 of Partnership for Care: Scotland's Health White Paper, and what investment it will make available in each of the n…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Investment plans for the provision of personal computers, network connections and training for NHS staff are agreed between NHS boards and NHS trusts in support of their local IM&T Strategy. Central records are not kept of this investment.Central funds…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current level of funding is for the (a) Partnership Support Unit, (b) Scottish Partnership Forum and (c) Human Resources Forum, as referred to in chapter 6 of Partnership for Care: Scotland's Health White Paper, and what funding it will make available in each of the next three ye…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The work of the Scottish Partnership Forum (SPF) is supportive of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Scottish Executive and the STUC. This provides a framework for the development of genuine partnership working between the two organisations and inclu…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been set aside to encourage skilled professionals to return to the NHS, as referred to in chapter 6 of Partnership for Care: Scotland's Health White Paper, and how much it will set aside in each of the next three years to encourage skilled professionals to return to the N…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive is taking action to build capacity in NHSScotland. Return to Practice schemes are an important part of that and some examples are given:£2 million has been allocated to NHS boards, spread over 2002-03 and 2003-04 to fund Return to Pr…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients received diagnostic tests performed in one-stop clinics as a percentage of all patients receiving diagnostic tests in the NHS in each of the last three years.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS patients were treated in non-NHS institutions in each of the four most recent quarters.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Reliable information on the number of NHS patients treated in non-NHS institutions is not available centrally. However, the Information and Statistics Division, part of the Common Services Agency in NHSScotland, are currently working with the Scottish Executi…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact providing treatment in other NHS board areas to patients waiting the longest will have on local budgets for cross-boundary flow.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: A large number of NHS patients in Scotland already receive treatment in hospitals outside their NHS board areas of residence. Arrangements are already in place for the planning and funding of these out of area treatments. The number of out of area treatments …

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hours of teaching are carried out by each NHS acute hospital where teaching takes place.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.