David Mundell

26 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what studies there have been in relation to ensuring the security of patient records held on the NHSnet, who was consulted in the course of any such studies and what the result of any such studies were.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14506.

26 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it would cost to ensure that patient records held on the NHSnet would be 100% secure from hackers.

Answer · Susan Deacon: NHSnet is an UK-wide secure network connecting NHS organisations. The network service is provided by BT and Cable & Wireless as a managed service. The contracts are supervised by the NHS Information Authority based in England. NHSScotland works closely wi…

26 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12985 by Mr Angus MacKay on 23 March 2001, how many jobs the proposed Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care and Scottish Social Services Council will create.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The number of new staff employed by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care and the Scottish Social Services Council will depend on the number of existing staff who choose to transfer to these bodies. However, we expect that the Commission will emp…

26 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12985 by Mr Angus MacKay on 23 March 2001, what criteria will be used in deciding the locations of the regional offices of the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have indicated that we are looking for regional offices for the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care in the Inverness, Aberdeen, Paisley, Hamilton/East Kilbride and East Lothian areas, as well as in Dundee. The main criteria which will be used in …

26 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12985 by Mr Angus MacKay on 23 March 2001, whether it will provide details of the two new Scottish Executive posts created in Dumfries and Galloway since July 1999.

Answer · Angus MacKay: One post is within the Scottish Courts Service and is a new trainee position as a Sheriff Clerk Depute in Dumfries Sheriff Court. The other is an Agricultural Officer post in the Dumfries Area Office of the Rural Affairs Department, dealing with Agenda 2000 w…

23 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister of Rural Development will respond to my letter of 4 December 2000 on behalf of my constituent Roy Anderson-Tyres regarding licensing of butchers shops.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: A reply was issued on 28 March 2001.

23 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take on the conclusions of the Report of the Deferrals Working Group.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The consultation with CoSLA on the Report's recommendations is not yet complete. Once it is I will make a full response on the Report.

21 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the application by West of Scotland Water to discharge effluent into the River Clyde at Biggar, (a) which bodies or individuals were consulted by the Environment Protection Unit Water Team, (b) what information was given during the consultation process and (c) on what basi…

Answer · Ross Finnie: Information was sought from the Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory, Pitlochry and, within the Scottish Executive, from the Veterinary Advisers and from Public Health Policy Unit. Clarification of various points was also sought from the Scottish Environment Prote…

21 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives it has in place, or intends to implement, to increase the numbers of women studying computing and engineering at university.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: Through the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department's Public Understanding of Science grant scheme, a contribution of £9,500 to the Women into Science and Engineering (WISE) initiative has been made during the financial year 2000-01, which promotes scienc…

21 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that any additional rural transport services paid for by the #1.2 million grant from the Rural Transport Fund to Dumfries and Galloway will continue after the end of the three-year funding period.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: For the first time we have awarded 3-year allocations to local authorities from the Rural Transport Fund which is a significant step forward. At present it is the intention to continue the Fund beyond 2003-2004 but this will be reviewed at the next spending r…

21 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce a mandatory training policy for NHS Trust staff on the use of medical equipment.

Answer · Susan Deacon: There is no mandatory training policy for NHS Trust staff on the use of medical equipment. NHS Trusts are responsible for ensuring that their employees are competent to use the equipment they need to use. Equally all health care professionals have a personal …

21 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it is making available to NHS Trusts to improve the information systems used to monitor the use and track the location of medical equipment.

Answer · Susan Deacon: It is for individual NHS Trusts to determine annually what levels of funding are required for investment in information systems for local management purposes, taking into account the national Information Management and Technology Strategy and other national a…

21 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what training is available, or will be made available, to NHS Trust staff to assist them in making procurement decisions.

Answer · Susan Deacon: NHS Trusts are responsible for planning and organising their own training activities according to the individual needs of the staff involved.<P>In order to support and promote action at local level, Scottish Healthcare Supplies are raising the profile of proc…

21 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken, or intends to take, to encourage the standardisation and co-operative purchasing of medical equipment across NHS Trusts.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Scottish Healthcare Supplies currently work closely with individual NHS Trusts to ensure that opportunities for standardisation and co-operative procurement of medical equipment are maximised.<P>In spring 2000 Scottish Healthcare Supplies launched a major new…

21 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to issue any guidelines on the management of medical equipment in NHS Trusts.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The majority of NHS Trusts have good procedures in place to deal with the management of medical equipment. <P>In April 2000 the Medical Devices Agency issued guidance entitled <I>Equipped to Care - The safe use of medical devices in the 21st century</I>. This…

19 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on what legal basis it intends to implement the foot and mouth slaughter programme announced by the Minister for Rural Development on 15 March 2001.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The legal basis for the pre-emptive cull, which I announced on 15 March, is under section 31, and Schedule 3 to, the Animal Health Act 1981.

19 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11872 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 22 February 2001, whether its commitment to achieve universal access to the web by 2005 refers to universal access from home.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive is committed to achieving universal access to the web by 2005. It is technically possible now for anyone with a telephone line and a PC to purchase web access, but income and a range of other factors are currently affecting take-up by c…

19 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11872 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 22 February 2001, when the results of the e-care project will be available.

Answer · Angus MacKay: The Aberdeenshire E-care project is one of a series of Modernising Government Fund (MGF) projects that will use information and communications technology (ICT) to support a multi agency strategy for improving community care.<P>The E-care projects are being co…

19 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10988 by Susan Deacon on 22 February 2001, what short- and medium-term targets it has for the number of GP surgeries to have the facility to make online hospital appointments.

Answer · Susan Deacon: As explained in the answers to questions S1W-10986 and S1W-10988, the facility to make online outpatient appointments is part of a wider range of clinical communications between primary and secondary care which form the ECCI Programme. These facilities are be…

19 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-13635 by Mr Jim Wallace on 12 March 2001, how the #8 million investment package announced on 19 February 2001 is being spent, broken down by police force and project.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The £8 million investment package announced last month, which is being funded from the Capital Modernisation Fund, covers two major initiatives promoted by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland. The first is to share intelligence information ac…

19 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-13038 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 16 February 2001, how much of the #30 million funding for information and communication technology local support centres will be received by Scotland.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The £30 million funding for ICT support announced in the UK White Paper on Business and Skills will not be allocated specifically to geographic regions, since it will focus on UK-wide marketing activities, web-based assistance, and sector specific work. The l…

19 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12479 by Angus MacKay on 8 March 2001, when it will publish project plans and progress reports for the projects receiving funding from the Modernising Government Fund.

Answer · Angus MacKay: Funding arrangements for all of the Modernising Government Fund projects have been put in place and the first payments for those projects scheduled to commence in the current year were made before the end of March.<P>The Senior Responsible Officers (SROs) for…

16 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the use by the Scottish Egg Producing Retailers Association of the lion rampant as a trademark signifying that eggs displaying that mark are Scottish eggs produced in Scotland.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The application to register the mark is currently with the UK Patent Office. This is a reserved matter and it will be for the Patent Office to determine if the lion rampant would be an acceptable trademark.

16 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the proposed football academies which it intends will be funded from (a) sportscotland lottery funding and (b) other sources, will be outside Glasgow; where the academies will be, and how much funding each will receive.

Answer · Allan Wilson: The programme is application based so it is not possible to give a precise answer to this question. The funding currently available would allow eight academy projects to be supported from the Lottery Sports Fund if each received the maximum award of £500,000.…

15 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc (Scotland) Act 2000, what steps are being taken to publicly advertise the process of extinction of feu duties under section 7 and the requirement of a compensatory payment under section 8.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 will not be fully commenced until the closely related and complementary Title Conditions (Scotland) Bill has been enacted. It is intended that both pieces of legislation will be commenced at the same tim…

15 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has plans to set up community law centres similar to those operated in England and Wales.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Executive has set up a broadly-based working group, involving a range of interested organisations, to examine how a community legal service might be developed for Scotland. As part of its work, the group may wish to consider issues such as community law c…

14 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it intends to take in relation to deferring charges and levies under its control due to be paid by those affected by the foot and mouth disease outbreak.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Ms Alexander announced on 28 March a package of measures totalling £13.5 million, including a rates relief package. Hardship relief from non-domestic rates is currently available to any business demonstrating hardship, at the discretion of the billing local a…

14 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty's Government about deferring or restructuring VAT and income tax payments and other government levies and charges due to be paid by Scottish farmers, businesses and others affected by the foot and mouth disease outbreak and about the economic …

Answer · Ross Finnie: In addition to the £13.5 million emergency package for the Scottish rural economy, several measures were announced by the UK Government on 20&nbsp;March which will help Scottish farmers, businesses and others affected by the outbreak. They include flexibility…

14 Mar 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is currently taking to contain and eradicate foot and mouth disease.

Answer · Ross Finnie: A comprehensive cull of sheep within Infected Areas will get under way very soon. Similar radical action is being taken with the limited number of dangerous contacts in other parts of the country. Controls on the movement of cattle, sheep and pigs remain in p…

13 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what programmes it intends to fund with the #9.66 million allocated to it over the next three years from the UK Energy Efficiency Fund; whether it intends to make any of this funding available to businesses, and, if so, whether it will provide details.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The funding will be used to support energy efficiency and to further the development of renewable energy in Scotland. Discussions will be held with the Carbon Trust, the Energy Saving Trust and other bodies with an interest on how to enhance the delivery of e…