Parliamentary questions
Brian Adam
1,580 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
19 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the budget is for its waste awareness campaign.
Answer · Allan Wilson: Expenditure to date on thewaste element of the Executive’s “Do a Little, Change a Lot” campaignhas been approximately £500,000.</p><p>In addition the Executivehas provided £50,000 in each of 2002-03 and 2003-04 to the Scottish WasteAwareness Group (SWAG) for …
19 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in its waste awareness campaign.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The National Waste Plan 2003sets out measures for the implementation of waste awareness campaignsthroughout Scotland. Each of the eleven area waste plans also includesproposals for improving awareness and attitudes to waste on a local level.</p><p>Progress is…
19 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients over 65 are currently being treated for dementia and how much treatment per patient costs in each NHS board and what the reasons are for any differences.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Data on expenditure andnumbers treated by disease type in each NHS board are not held centrally.</p>
8 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider a compensation scheme for deckhands who have lost their employment in the fishing industry due to decommissioning on a similar basis to the compensation awarded to deep-sea trawler men who used to fish off Iceland.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive has no plans to provide compensation to fishermen formerly employed onvessels which have been decommissioned.</p><p>Mechanisms are in placethrough the local enterprise network and other public sector agencies toprovide a wide range of s…
8 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route will have a hard shoulder and, if not, how much it would cost to add one.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route is being designed as a dual 2 lane, all purposecarriageway. In normal circumstances, this type of road does not have a hardshoulder. However, unlike significant stretches of the A90 dual carriagewaysouth of Aberdeen, the …
5 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the implications are of its plans to merge the higher and further education funding councils for the number and range of further education colleges.
Answer · Jim Wallace: There are no implicationsfor the number and range of further education colleges in plans for merging thefurther and higher education funding councils.</p>
5 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to rationalise the further education sector and, if so, what the criteria would be for any such rationalisation.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive is committed to a further education sector which delivers the maximumvalue for the record levels of funding now being invested. That criterion isreflected strongly in ministers’ guidance to the Scottish Further EducationFunding Council,…
5 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy objectives are for the further education sector set out in order of priority, detailing the reasons behind each objective.
Answer · Jim Wallace: Ministers have a range ofpolicy objectives for the further education sector which support our overallcommitment to growing the economy and promoting a socially just society. Thesepolicy objectives are set out in the annual letter of strategic guidance to the …
5 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to eliminate or reduce NHS reliance on agency staff.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: We are committed toimproving patient services by supporting new ways of working that reflect bestpractice and offer innovative solutions to workforce issues including reducingthe reliance on agency staff.</p><p>NHS employers have beenasked to implement the re…
5 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any locum, bank or agency medical laboratory scientific officers (biomedical scientists) have been employed in NHS laboratories in each of the last three years and, if so, how many such staff have been employed and in which locations.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This information is notcentrally available.</p>
5 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are in the NHS to address the impact of the European Working Time Directive on out-of-normal hours working in laboratories and who has been consulted on any such plans.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: All employers must complywith the Working Time Regulations. The regulations came into force in 1998 forall NHS staff, except doctors in training who will be included progressivelyfrom August 2004. Guidance has been issued to all NHSScotland employers drawingt…
5 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to create advanced practitioner posts in biomedical sciences in the NHS and, if so, how such plans will be achieved.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive hasno plans to create advanced practitioner posts in biomedical sciences inNHSScotland. It is open to individual NHSScotland employers to determine whether,in providing an effective laboratory service, there is a need for advancedpracti…
5 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any advanced practitioner posts in biomedical sciences have been created in the NHS and, if so, how many such posts were created and where they are located.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Currently there are noadvanced practitioner posts in biomedical sciences in NHSScotland.</p>
5 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether information on the number, grade and age of staff in the NHS is gathered, broken down by profession and NHS board, to assist in workforce planning and, if so, by whom.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Information on the number,grade and age of staff in the NHS, broken down by profession and NHS board, iscollected by the Information and Statistics Division of the Common ServicesAgency of NHSScotland. These data are used to assist in workforce planningexerci…
5 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many medical laboratory scientific officers (biomedical scientists) are employed by each NHS board, broken down by grade.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: <p>Centrally held information on medical laboratory scientific officers (MLSOs) does not allow the explicit identification of biomedical scientists. The followingfigures show the most recent available information (as at September 2002) forMLSOs by NHS board a…
15 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has monitored any savings to the social work budgets of local authorities as a result of voluntary de-registration of care establishments under the supporting people initiative and, if so, what these savings were, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Tom McCabe: No, but the Executiveannounced on 5 December a review of the Supporting People programme to ensurethat it is meeting its original objectives.</p>
12 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce national and local co-ordinating committees for forensic pathology services and, if so, how the membership of such committees will be determined.
Answer · Colin Boyd: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-5007. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa">http…
12 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce and fund a training programme for forensic pathologists.
Answer · Colin Boyd: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-5007. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa">http…
12 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce quality assurance programmes across the range of forensic services.
Answer · Colin Boyd: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-5007. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa">http…
12 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of post-mortem examinations commissioned by procurators fiscal is conducted by the “view and grant” procedure in (a) Scotland and (b) each local authority area.
Answer · Colin Boyd: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-5007. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa">http…
12 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the “view and grant” procedure and fee structure for post-mortem examinations.
Answer · Colin Boyd: The “view and grant” procedureis a mechanism whereby pathologists are able to certify unsuspicious deathsbased on an external examination and consideration of medical records, withoutthe need for an autopsy examination. It is a matter for the professionalasse…
12 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what role it will play in implementing the objectives and principles of Part II of the European Charter on Regional and Minority Languages, with particular reference to Scots and Gaelic.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The policies, legislationand practice of the Scottish Executive plays an important role in implementing theobjectives and principles of Part II of the European Charter on Regional andMinority Languages, with regard to Scots and Gaelic.</p><p>In addition the E…
21 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review its annual road safety campaigns.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: All road safety campaignsare continually reviewed by the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Road SafetyCampaign. Independent research and evaluation is commissioned to track longterm changes in attitudes and behaviour relating to driving amongst targetaudien…
21 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much its (a) festive and (b) summer safety campaigns cost and how much police time was devoted to each campaign, in each of the last three years.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Executive provides fundsto the Scottish Road Safety Campaign for the production of key road safetyeducation initiatives and publicity campaigns. The campaign arranges publicityto complement enforcement campaigns undertaken by police forces in Scotland.</p…
21 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many lives saved and injuries have been prevented as a result of its annual campaigns on driving with excessive speed or under the influence of alcohol or drugs in each of the last three years.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Deaths and serious injurieson Scotland's roads fell by 9.6% between 2000 and 2002. In 2000 3,893people were killed or seriously injured, in 2001 3,755 and in 2002 3,518, so atthe end of the three year period there were 375 fewer fatal or serious casualtiestha…
21 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it assesses the value for money of its safe driving campaigns related and driving with excessive speed or under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Road safety campaigns arerigorously researched and developed on the basis of research evidence.Campaigns are evaluated in terms of awareness levels to ensure that the roadsafety message is reaching its intended audience. Long-term changes in publicattitudes a…
21 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been charged with drink-driving offences in each month in the last three years.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The statistics availablecentrally are compiled on an annual basis. The latest available data ondrink-driving offences proceeded against are given in Table 20 of the ScottishExecutive statistical bulletin <i>Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts</i>, <i>2001…
21 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the proposed alternative to the Scottish and Newcastle Lymphoma Group will monitor the quality of diagnosis and appropriateness of patient treatment.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Yes. Scottish cancer managedclinical networks are bound by the terms of NHS HDL(2002)69 and NHS HDL (2001)71, both of which require continuous assessment of and improvements in thequality of care provided for patients.</p>
21 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the proposed alternative to the Scottish and Newcastle Lymphoma Group will be monitored with regard to the quality and consistency across Scotland of data and patient outcomes.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: On patients outcomes, themember should refer to my answer to question S2W-4335 on 8 December 2003. Asfar as quality of data is concerned, this is a matter for the CancerInformation Group of the Information and Statistics Division of the CommonServices Agency …
21 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans for an external review of the Scottish and Newcastle Lymphoma Group.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: There are currently no plansto review the Scotland and Newcastle Lymphoma Group.</p>