Parliamentary questions

Brian Adam

1,580 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

15 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any discussions with HM Treasury about the liability for VAT on infrastructure projects such as the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and, if so, what the outcomes were and whether it will publish them.

Answer · Tavish Scott: I have discussed this matterwith the Secretary of State for Scotland. We are working with Council partners to appeal HMRevenue and Customs position and Scottish Executive officials are in contactwith officials from HM Revenue and Customs.

15 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on whether liability for VAT on infrastructure facilities differs according to whether a project is funded through PFI or PPP rather than traditional financing.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The principles of VAT apply irrespectiveof the method of financing.

15 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has about the reasons for any liability for VAT on infrastructure facilities and whether liability differs according to whether a project is Executive-led or led by other public bodies or agencies, including local authorities.

Answer · Tom McCabe: VAT is payable on infrastructurefacilities, and the tax has to be paid by the client to the contractor. This isthe case whether the client is the Executive, a local authority or any other publicbody.Some bodies, for example localauthorities or (most) c…

7 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-26087 and S2W-26088 by Lewis Macdonald on 2 June 2006, how many (a) salaried and (b) non-salaried dentists have (i) started and (ii) stopped providing NHS general dental services since the publication of An Action Plan for Improving Oral Health and…

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The information requested isshown in the following tables. It should be noted that (a) ISD Scotland doesnot collect information on the specific reasons why dentists cease to providegeneral dental services and (b) that ISD Scotland would expect a “drop-out”rat…

1 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been given to NHS boards or the NHS Dental Practice Board about the criteria for assessing dentists’ continued commitment to NHS dentistry in respect of gross income and patient numbers and when such guidance was given.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The criteria for beingregarded as an NHS committed practice for the enhanced rate of the generaldental practice allowance is contained in Determination XIV of the Statement ofDental Remuneration. Dentists were provided with an outline of the new NHScommitment…

1 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the criteria are for assessment of dentists’ continued commitment to NHS dentistry in respect of gross income and patient numbers and what would constitute a negative assessment of continued commitment to NHS dentistry.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The criteria for beingregarded as an NHS committed practice, in respect of the payment of certainallowances, are that the dentists within a practice have to:provide general dentalservices to all categories of patients;have an average of 500regis…

31 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of income received in each of the last five years by Scottish Water and its predecessor organisations from sources other than customer charges and net new borrowing.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: A breakdown of the incomereceived from non-statutory functions and other trading activities may be foundin the annual accounts published for each of the financial years in question. Copiesof the accounts for Scottish Water and its predecessor organisations ma…

31 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much Scottish Water and its predecessor organisations have received in each of the last five years from (a) customer charges, (b) net new borrowing and (c) other sources.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The information requested isshown in the annual accounts published for each of the financial years inquestion. Copies of the accounts for Scottish Water and its predecessororganisations may be found in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Therelevant B…

31 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much Scottish Water and its predecessor organisations have spent in each of the last five years on (a) capital investment, (b) operating costs, (c) interest, (d) private finance initiatives and similar schemes and (e) restructuring and transformation costs.

24 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it estimates that it would cost to implement a maternity leave scheme for student nurses identical to that in England.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Under the arrangements availableto nursing and midwifery students in England, students can receive up to 45 weeks additional supportwhen they withdraw from their course because of pregnancy and childbirth. At currentrates, if a similar allowance were to be in…

24 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it estimates that the new maternity leave arrangements for students nurses will cost.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Nursing and MidwiferyStudent Bursary scheme in Scotland now includes an arrangement which allows bursarypayments to be continued where nursing and midwifery students have to withdrawfrom their course due to circumstances such as caring duties, ill health …

24 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many student nurses sought maternity leave in each of the last three years.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The information requested isnot held centrally.

24 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) hard-wired, (b) sealed long-life battery and (c) other smoke alarms for deaf people have been installed under Executive schemes in each of the last three years, broken down by fire board area, and who bore the installation costs of such alarms.

Answer · Hugh Henry: This information is not heldcentrally.

24 May 2006 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to act on any of the recommendations set out in the recent Rowntree Foundation report on drug misuse.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Joseph Rowntree FoundationReport on Drug Consumption Rooms, published on 23 May, recommended that pilotdrug consumption rooms should be set up in the UK.We have no plans to introducedrug consumption rooms in Scotland. However, we will contin…

15 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider bringing forward the implementation date of the requirement to supply free tap water on request under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.

Answer · George Lyon: The provision of free tap wateris a mandatory condition of the new premises licence introduced by the Licensing(Scotland) Act 2005. Its implementation is therefore tied to the implementation of the new licence and we have no plans to bring that date forward. …

12 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-25673 by Hugh Henry on 12 May 2006, whether the scheme includes provision for the supply of alarms with 10-year sealed batteries.

Answer · Hugh Henry: Yes. However, alarms are suppliedfollowing an assessment based on the circumstances of the recipient (including thedegree of hearing impairment) and battery-powered alarms with their limited functionalityare not suitable in all cases.

12 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-25672 by Hugh Henry on 12 May 2006, whether the arrangements include provision for the costs of hard-wiring the alarms.

Answer · Hugh Henry: Yes, although if the cost ofhard-wiring exceeds a certain threshold the owner of a private dwelling may be askedto cover the balance. Local authorities will meet all of the installation costswhere their tenants are concerned.

12 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-25514 by Cathy Jamieson on 11 May 2006, whether consideration was given to the allocations between the different local authorities within police board areas in light of population changes.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Population is taken intoaccount in the new police formula. The fire formula is still under review anduntil new arrangements are agreed funding will continue to be allocated on thebasis of establishments. Establishments were based on population, however thesew…

11 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions there have been of motorists for using hand-held mobile phones while driving, broken down by police force area and sheriff court.

Answer · Colin Boyd: The Crown Office and ProcuratorFiscal Service’s Case Management Database recordsdetails of the charges against each accused in terms of the specific common lawor statutory offence that is alleged to have been committed.The following table shows thetota…

10 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average values are of individual allowances for dentists with a gross income of £25,000 who qualify for extra commitment payments.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The definition in relationto the enhanced allowances for NHS committed practices states that the practicemust treat all categories of patients and have on average a minimum of 500registered NHS patients per dentist, of whom at least 100 must be fee-payingadul…

10 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what allowances are included in the calculations of gross income in respect of extra commitment payments for dentists.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The following allowances are included in the calculations of grossincome in respect of extra commitment payments for dentists:Seniority Payment;Vocational Trainer Grant;Continuing ProfessionalDevelopment Allowance;Remote Area Allow…

5 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider introducing a scheme to allow the purchase costs of smoke alarms with 10-year sealed batteries to be provided for hard of hearing people.

Answer · Hugh Henry: A scheme is already in placeto install smoke alarms in domestic premises, including those occupied bypeople who are hard of hearing.

5 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider introducing a scheme to allow the installation costs of hard-wiring as well as the purchase costs of smoke alarms to be provided for hard of hearing people.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The Scottish Fire and RescueServices, in partnership with special interest groups, already havearrangements in place to purchase and install specially designed alarms for thehard of hearing.

4 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the implementation group for the review of neurosurgery services in Scotland has met and what its schedule is for future meetings.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The implementation group hasnot yet met, but we would expect that it will hold its initial meeting in autumn2006. The general timetable for its work set out in Delivering for Healthanticipates that the group will submit proposals to the Executive by De…

4 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the membership is of the implementation group for the review of neurosurgery services in Scotland.

Answer · Andy Kerr: John Glennie was announced asthe chair of the neuroscience implementation group on 16 May and we are currentlylooking at the composition of the group. Since this is a national service, we needto make sure that all parts of Scotland are represented. The group …

4 May 2006 · Written Question

2 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the requisitions apportioned to each local authority for police and fire and rescue services.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The way in which we makethese allocations is kept under review to ensure that they reflect changingcircumstances.The Fire GAE Working Groupwas established in 2004 and is currently assessing the impact of IntegratedRisk Management Planning on demand. Th…

19 Apr 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will run a Paramics traffic model on the Aberdeen Sub Area Model, simulating the twin trumpet design, north or south of Charleston, for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and what the reasons are for the Executive’s position on this matter.

Answer · Tavish Scott: No. We are satisfied that Charleston isthe optimum location for a junction with the A90, the AWPR and the A956 Wellington Road.

18 Apr 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its criteria for measuring commitment to NHS dentistry discriminate against dentists who practice part-time in comparison with those who provide part-time NHS services.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: No. I refer the member tothe answer to question S2W-25259 on 3 May 2006. 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/wa…

18 Apr 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it assesses the commitment of part-time dentists, irrespective of whether such commitment to the NHS is part-time.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The commitment of a dentistwho works part of the week with NHS patients and part of the week in privatepractice will be measured in the same way as a dentist who works full-time in amixed practice. A dentist whose income is overwhelmingly from part-time NHSwo…