Parliamentary questions

Mr David Davidson

1,095 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

9 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what benefits to the Scottish economy it anticipates as a result of the recent visit to Prague by the Minister for Finance.

Answer · Jack McConnell: I visited Prague to meet the Minister for Regional Development and to launch, with him, the Twinning Covenant for the preparation of the Czech Republic to administer structural funds. The purpose of these European Commission funded Twinning Covenants is to es…

9 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce private funding into the higher education sector over the length of this Parliamentary session and, if it has no such plans, what alternative plans it has to ensure adequate funding for this sector.

Answer · Henry McLeish: The higher education sector receives about 30% of its funding from wholly private sources. The Executive proposes additional funding of £250 million for the three years to 2001-02 as announced following the Comprehensive Spending Review.

9 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many asthmatics were diagnosed per year over the last three years, categorised by health board area.

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

9 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it intends to take to facilitate earlier diagnosis of asthma within Scotland.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Primary Care Management of Asthma guideline, published in December 1998, and the Emergency Management of Acute Asthma guideline, published in June 1999, both stress the importance of early detection, treatment and management of asthma. These…

9 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether Ministers fully reimburse the Consolidated Fund for any journeys taken in their Ministerial vehicles when visiting their constituencies or attending party political events.

Answer · Donald Dewar: Guidance on the functions of the Government Car Service in Scotland has been issued to all Ministers of the Scottish Executive. Ministers and Deputy Ministers are entitled to use GCS services for journeys which are necessary in the course of carrying out thei…

5 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive to specify the number of people who suffer from multiple sclerosis in each of the Health Boards areas in Scotland.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The information is not available centrally in the form requested.Information derived from the Continuous Morbidity Recording (CMR) system estimates that approximately 5,900 individuals were seen by General Practitioners, in respect of Multi…

5 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive to specify the number of people in Scotland who suffer from multiple sclerosis and who have received Beta Interferon treatment in the past year and to breakdown the number for each Health Board area.

Answer · Susan Deacon: A total of 163 people in Scotland who suffer from multiple sclerosis received Beta Interferon treatment in the past year.This information is given on a national basis in order not to disclose information that may relate to an indi…

5 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive to specify the total cost of providing Beta Interferon treatment to people who suffer from multiple sclerosis in Scotland for the current financial year.

Answer · Susan Deacon: It is not possible to specify the total cost of providing Beta Interferon treatment to people who suffer from multiple sclerosis in Scotland for the current financial year because the number of people who suffer from multiple sclerosis in Scotland is not know…

5 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there has been any increase in the number of people being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in Scotland in the past three years and, if so, which Health Board is reporting the greatest increase over that period.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The information is not available centrally in the form requested.Information derived from the Continuous Morbidity Recording (CMR) system estimates that the number of patients seen by General Practitioners in Scotland for a first …

14 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for the coming year to deliver support to Family Mediation Scotland, and in particular how much money will be allocated to it, and from which budget.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: The Scottish Executive plans to support Family Mediation Scotland in the coming year through the provision of grants under the Social Work (Scotland) 1968. As part of a 3 year funding package, Family Mediation Scotland are due to receive a total of £88,580 un…

31 Aug 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to conduct a road safety audit of the Aberdeen-Peterhead road in the coming year with respect to the lack of safe passing places and if it will provide details of the accident record over the last 5 years of the section known locally as the Hatton Bends.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: There are no plans to conduct a review of overtaking opportunities on the Aberdeen to Peterhead road in the coming year, as the Scottish Executive already has sufficient data for present purposes. Between 1991 and 1996 there were …

31 Aug 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements it has put in place to allow the Scottish Ambulance Service to cope with the Millennium celebrations in Scotland.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Ambulance Service, in line with other parts of the NHS in Scotland, is geared up to deal with major incidents and provide emergency care 365 days a year. This winter will be no different. It is recognised, however, that the extended Millenni…

27 Aug 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to remedy the problems with the cervical screening systems in the Fife, Forth Valley and Tayside Health Board areas and what action it intends to take to audit these services in all other health board areas.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Inquiry Team's Report into the circumstances which gave rise to the problem with the cervical screening call/recall system in Fife, Forth Valley and Tayside Health Boards was published on 15 December 1999. I have asked the three health boards to take imme…

27 Aug 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to respond to the request from Scottish police forces for adequate funds to cope with their Millennium workload.

Answer · Jim Wallace: We have made clear to the police that we are sympathetic to their request for additional funding to meet the costs of policing Millennium related activity. We are presently examining funding pressures across the Scottish Executive programmes and an announceme…

25 Aug 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it intends to give to the campaign to maintain the facility of RAF Buchan, Peterhead, and whether it will set up an economic task force to investigate fully the potential impact on the local economy should the base be closed.

Answer · Henry McLeish: The Scottish Executive is in contact with MOD on a wide range of issues including their review of RAF Buchan.