Parliamentary questions

Brian Adam

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

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients infected with hepatitis C have been treated with antiviral agents to date.

Answer · Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally. The Scottish Executive has funded the establishment of a database, which will hold information on all hepatitis C virus infected persons in clinical care throughout Scotland. It is anticipated that this database will be…

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what account it will take of feedback from the hepatitis C awareness campaign in England in any plans for a similar campaign in Scotland.

Answer · Andy Kerr: These are issues, which are being considered in the context of the Action Plan, to which the answer given to question S2W-13550 on 24 January 2005 refers. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search fac…

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what awareness or education measures it has in place, or are planned, to highlight the dangers of hepatitis C, particularly to high risk groups.

Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-13555 on 24 January 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/webap…

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has taken to prevent any further increase in the number of people infected with hepatitis C.

Answer · Andy Kerr: A range of measures have been taken, including – · allocating over £8 million annually to NHS boards for action to prevent the spread of bloodborne viruses, including hepatitis C;· revising the Lord Advocate’s guidelines to permit a substantial …

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to identify how many prison inmates are infected with hepatitis C and how many inmates are infected in each prison.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:An anonymous study was carried out by the Scottish Centre for the Infection of Environmental Health (SCIEH) at HM Prison, Shotts in 2…

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which population groups are at greatest risk of acquiring hepatitis C infection and what plans it has to test or screen these groups.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Health Protection Scotland estimates that approximately 90% of the estimated 50,000 persons in Scotland, who have been infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), are either former or current injecting drug users, and this population group is thus at greatest risk…

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of hepatitis C infection it estimates there are and on what evidence this estimate has been based.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Health Protection Scotland estimates that approximately 50,000 persons in Scotland have been infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) of whom some 20,000 have been diagnosed. The estimate of 50,000 is based on a wide range of HCV prevalence data which were g…

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to tackle stigma and discrimination associated with hepatitis C infection and to encourage those most at risk to come forward for screening.

Answer · Andy Kerr: These are issues, which are being considered in the context of the action plan, to which the answer to question S2W-13550 on 24 January 2005 refers. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility …

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to identify the extent of unidentified hepatitis C infection.

Answer · Andy Kerr: As part of its response to the challenges of hepatitis C, the Executive is developing, in consultation with stakeholders, an action plan which will identify the main issues and the specific actions needed. The plan will be supported by appropriate education a…

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the establishment of maxillofacial consultant posts is and how many such consultants are currently in post, broken down by maxillofacial unit and expressed also per 100,000 head of population.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Data is not available by maxillofacial unit. However, tables 1 and 2 provide figures for consultants in maxillofacial specialties (Surgery and Radiology) by NHS board. These figures are likely to be an undercount of all maxillofacial consultants because maxil…

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to increase its smoking cessation programmes as part of its proposed ban on smoking in public places, particularly in the period between enactment of the proposed bill and its implementation.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive announced an additional £4 million for smoking cessation services for 2005-06. This more than doubles the funding available for cessation services and will allow smoking cessation programmes to expand to meet the increased demand for se…

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many maxillofacial units there are in the NHS and where they are located.

Answer · Andy Kerr: A list of the 41 hospitals undertaking maxillofacial in-patient and day case treatment during the year to 30 September 2004 is provided in the following table.NHSScotland: Hospital Undertaking Maxillofacial1 In-Patient and Day Case Treatment…

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times are for out-patient appointments for maxillofacial specialties, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The information requested is currently being validated by the Information Services Division of NHS National Services Scotland. I will write to the member as soon as the information is available and will arrange for a copy of my reply to be placed in the Parli…

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times are for in-patient treatment for maxillofacial specialties, broken down NHS board.

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has a policy on the remuneration of NHS consultants for work done beyond 48 hours per week.

Answer · Andy Kerr: No. The new consultant contract includes a mechanism for prospective job plans to be agreed to reflect the service needs of the organisation and the requirements of the European Working Time Directive.Employers therefore have to consider how they will …

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any NHS consultants have agreed remuneration packages for sessions worked beyond 48 hours per week and, if so, how many and on what basis, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Andy Kerr: No information about the terms and conditions of service for individual consultants has been collected by the Scottish Executive Health Department. This is confidential to NHS boards and the consultants.

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many consultants have agreed contracts to work more than 48 hours per week and on what basis, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Andy Kerr: This information is not collected centrally.Information is available by NHS board on the average number of programmed activities (i.e. four hour blocks of work) contained in consultants’ job plans. The average figure for Scotland is 11.6, which indicat…

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many consultants have yet to reach agreement on the new consultant contract, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Final figures are not yet available.However, in September 2004, 83% of consultants had reached agreement on the contract and signed off their job plans.12% of consultants had been offered job plans by their employer but not yet agreed them at th…

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in implementing the new consultant contract within the NHS.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Good progress has been made in implementing the new consultant contract within NHSScotland.NHS boards were asked to complete the job planning process by the end of May. This has taken slightly longer than anticipated but the majority of boards have no…

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies there are in each local authority area for teachers in (a) primary schools, (b) English, (c) modern languages, (d) mathematics, (e) science subjects, (f) technical subjects, (g) art, (h) geography, (i) history (j) computer studies and (k) physical education.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The latest information available from the teacher vacancies survey returned by local authorities is at February 2004 which is in the Parliament’s Reference Centre, Bib. number 32903. The next survey will be undertaken at February 2005 and the results will be …

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

Answer · Peter Peacock: The information requested is not held centrally.

13 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in consideration of changes to the calf registration scheme.

Answer · Ross Finnie: This is a complex issue with set European legislative deadlines for registering and tagging calves. My aim is to find a pragmatic approach which does not jeopardise approval of our Cattle Tracing System or the credibility of our beef industry particularly in …

13 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which science centres received grants from it in 2004-05; how much each centre received; which centres will receive grants in 2005-06, and what the value of each grant will be.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The latest estimates for Scottish Executive funding to Scottish science centres in 2004-05 are:<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <tr> <td> Glasgow Science Centre </td> <td> £127,000 </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Ou…

13 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Deputy Minister for Education and Young People has met Aberdeen City Council to discuss its children's services budget and, if so, what the outcome was.

Answer · Euan Robson: No. However, my colleague Tavish Scott, Deputy Minister for Finance, Public Service Reform and Parliamentary Business met with them on 1 October 2004. I have also had subsequent correspondence with them and suggested that they explore their concerns about the…

13 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it has allocated, or intends to allocate, to local authorities for capital projects such as mechanical biological treatment plants and gasification/pyrolysis plants.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive has allocated funding to three capital projects of this nature to date as detailed in the following table:<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> Local Authority </td> <td> Type of Projec…

13 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is on track to meet the 2013 target for the reduction of landfill.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive is working with local authorities to put resources and measures in place to assist in meeting this target.

13 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce legislation to reduce the amount of packaging used by manufacturers.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Legislation to encourage manufacturersto reduce packaging already exists. Under the Packaging (Essential Requirements)Regulations 2003, anyone may complain to their local authority trading standardsofficer if they believe a product uses excessive packaging. T…

13 Jan 2005 · Written Question

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive has awarded over £126 million in grant support between all 32 Scottish local authorities for financial years 1999-2000 to 2004-05. These awards are summarised in the following table:<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <the…

13 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the legislation covering the burning of commercial and domestic waste by conventional power stations.

Answer · Ross Finnie: No. The main relevant legislationis the Waste Incineration (Scotland) Regulations 2003. These are consistent with the WasteFramework Directive (75/442/EEC) and the Waste Incineration Directive (2000/76/EC).

13 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has carried out on mechanical biological treatment as a means of disposing of domestic and commercial waste.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive has not carried out research specifically on mechanical and biological treatment technologies. However, the National Waste Plan 2003 recognises the role these technologies could play in delivering diversion from landfill. Information on…