Shona Robison

20 Sep 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why Tayside Health Board spent 14% of their capital allocation in 1999-2000.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Capital resources of £6.7 million were made available for investment in the Tayside Health Board area in 1999-2000.<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>In addition to £1 million of capital investment in the Tayside area in 1999-2000, £5.7million was transferred from …

12 Sep 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many families are currently living in temporary accommodation awaiting housing allocation, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The information requested is not currently available.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">However, the Scottish Executive has recently introduced a new data collection from local authorities to obtain quarterly information on the numbers of households with children in temporar…

6 Sep 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children were assessed as requiring secure accommodation in each local authority area in each of the last five years.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: This information is not held centrally.

6 Sep 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children were accommodated in secure units in each local authority area in each of the last five years.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: The total number of admissions to secure units for the last five years was as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Year ended 31 March</TD><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="JUSTIF…

6 Sep 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many secure units for young people were provided in each local authority area in each of the last five years.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: The number of secure units for young people in Scotland over the last five years was as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD WIDTH="17%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Local Authority Area</TD><TD WIDTH="17%" VALIGN="TOP"><P AL…

6 Sep 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the demand for secure unit places for children exceeds the number of places available.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: Demand for secure places can exceed supply from time to time although that does not necessarily mean that provision overall is inadequate. I have asked the Secure Accommodation Advisory Group chaired by Sally Kuenssberg, Chairman of the Scottish Children's Re…

25 Aug 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what training the police have undergone in preparation for the dispersal of asylum seekers.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Nationally, the Scottish Police College provides Equal Opportunities training for all new recruits, serving officers and support staff. The topics covered include Racism Awareness, Cultural Diversity and Cross-Cultural Communications.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">In add…

25 Aug 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any policy has been developed across all police forces for addressing racist attacks and abuse aimed at the growing refugee population.

Answer · Jim Wallace: All forces currently have in place Race Relations Policies designed to ensure the fair and equitable treatment of the people and communities they serve, including refugees and asylum seekers. Moreover, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACP…

25 Aug 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what preparations have been made by police forces to cope with any increase in the numbers of asylum seekers.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Police forces across Scotland worked closely with local authorities and other agencies to prepare for the possibility of incoming refugees from Kosovo in 1999. Key efforts by the police included the identification of suitable interpreters and the production o…

25 Aug 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether a system of accreditation or quality control for registered voluntary advice centres exists and, if not, what plans it has to introduce such a system.

Answer · Henry McLeish: Although policy on consumer protection is reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Executive has been closely involved with the work being carried out by the Department of Trade and Industry to develop a new high quality advice network. The Consumer Suppor…

29 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government requesting the immediate release of any share of the money raised from the recent auction of mobile phones licences which Scotland is to receive, in order to provide health boards with additional funding.

Answer · Susan Deacon: No. Responsibility for mobile phone licences is a reserved matter. Scotland will of course receive the consequentials of UK public spending decisions under the Barnett formula.

29 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Health and Community Care will reply to my letter of 16 May 2000 regarding funding levels for interferon treatment in Tayside.

Answer · Susan Deacon: My response to Ms Robison was mailed on Wednesday 12 July 2000.

29 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Health and Community Care will reply to my letter of 28 December 1999 regarding the financial position of Tayside health services.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Despite an exhaustive search, I regret that there is no record of the receipt of the letter.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Tayside's financial position has been the subject of widespread publicity and debate. I expect the NHS in Tayside to keep local MSPs informed of dev…

29 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the increases in domestic water charges have resulted in an increase in demand for water meter installations.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The number of water meters installed in domestic properties throughout Scotland at the customer's request since the introduction of new charge levels on 1 April 2000 has been 44. The total number of households served by the three water authorities is 2.3 mill…

21 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7671 by Susan Deacon on 20 June 2000, how many graduates of the University of Dundee School of Nursing and Midwifery have been employed by Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust and the Tayside Primary Care NHS Trust and the predecessor trusts, for e…

Answer · Susan Deacon: This is a matter for Dundee University and the Tayside NHS Trusts. The information is not held centrally.

21 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7671 by Susan Deacon on 20 June 2000, how many nurses who graduated from the University of Dundee of Nursing and Midwifery in spring 2000 were employed in the NHSiS.

Answer · Susan Deacon: This information is not held centrally.

19 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why the Minister for Health and Community Care has not replied to correspondence from Professor Sir Alfred Cuschieri with regard to the cancer treatment unit for Tayside.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I have written today to Professor Sir Alfred Cuschieri expressing my regret that he had not received an earlier reply to his letter about the Scottish Image Guided Microtherapy Unit at Ninewells. I explained that no discourtesy was intended, as the delay was …

15 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will recommend that local authorities standardise the criteria on which a person with reduced mobility is granted a disabled persons' buspass and, if so, whether it will recommend that the defining criterion is a letter from a doctor rather than the receipt of mobility allowanc…

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has no plans to do so. The existing powers under section 93 of the Transport Act 1985 allow local authorities to establish concessionary fares schemes for eligible categories including disabled people. These powers are discretionary and…

14 Jun 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to protect the current level of investment in specialist services provided by Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Investment in the specialist services provided by Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust is a local issue and as such is a matter for the health board and Trust.

6 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what powers local authorities have to ensure property developers do not prolong or do not finish developments, and what action it plans to take to strengthen local authorities' powers to deal with such situations.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Section 58 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 provides that development to which a planning permission relates must be begun within five years of the date on which the permission was granted unless the permission stipulates a different perio…

6 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many nurses are expected to graduate from the College of Nursing at Ninewells Hospital in the year 2000 and how many of these graduates are expected to be employed by Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust in the year following their graduation.

Answer · Susan Deacon: In the year 2000, 93 students graduated from the University of Dundee School of Nursing and Midwifery in the spring of the year 2000 with a further 161 students expected to graduate in the autumn.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Approximately 25% of those students graduati…

30 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Transport and the Environment will answer my letter of 28 March 2000 regarding the Tay Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: I wrote to the Member on 13 June. I also understand that she has already received a full reply to the issues raised in a letter from the Chief Executive of the North of Scotland Water Authority, Alastair Findlay, dated 7 April.

25 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take to ensure that bus companies cannot withdraw services for purely financial reasons.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The provision of local bus services is a matter for the commercial judgement of individual bus operators. If bus services cannot be run on a commercial basis local transport authorities have powers to subsidise services which meet an identifiable social need.…

22 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will instigate an investigation into the Baldovie incinerator in Dundee to ensure that emissions are not harmful to the citi'ens in the surrounding area.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: There is no need for an investigation into the Baldovie waste to energy plant. Scottish Ministers are satisfied that the new Baldovie incinerator can operate to meet SEPA's requirements under existing and forthcoming legislation. In particular, it has been de…

22 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a statement about the safety of incinerators, taking into account recent reports from the USA that European standards on the levels of harmful chemicals which may be emitted into the atmosphere from industrial processes may not be sufficiently safe.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a draft report on dioxins in the environment in 1994. Following substantial criticisms of the basis for its recommendations from many sources, including the UK Government, the EPA has undertaken further a…

3 May 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are available to provide protection to witnesses in cases of anti-social behaviour.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Executive recognises the need for witnesses in cases of anti-social behaviour to give evidence free from intimidation. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 made provision for applications for Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and eviction for anti-social behaviour …

17 Apr 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases involving illegal eviction of tenants by private landlords were (a) referred to and (b) pursued by Procurators Fiscal in each year from 1989-90 to 1998-99 inclusive.

Answer · Neil Davidson: The requested information is not available.

12 Apr 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients in each health board area have received the anti-cancer drug Taxotere over the last 12 months.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The information requested is not available centrally.

12 Apr 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether all patients in the Tayside Health Board area who require the anti-cancer drug Taxotere are receiving this drug.

Answer · Susan Deacon: This information is not available centrally. The treatment of patients with cancer is a matter for specialists experienced in the management of cancer and the question of whether individual patients might benefit from treatment with Taxotere is a matter for t…

12 Apr 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the anti-cancer drugs Taxol and Taxotere will be available to all patients who require them.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The drugs Taxol and Taxotere are available on the NHS. The use of these drugs in the treatment of patients depends on the clinical judgement of the clinicians concerned.