Parliamentary questions
David Mundell
955 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
23 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what training provision is in place to provide lay members of the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland's service review groups with the level of specialist knowledge required to carry out their duties effectively and which organisation provides any training given.
Answer · Susan Deacon: All lay members of the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland's review groups attend a two-day training course which covers general reviewing skills. This course has been developed and piloted on the board's behalf by Dumfries and Galloway Health Council.<P>La…
23 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that appointments to the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland's service review groups follow fair and independent procedures, and what weight will be given to lay views on such groups.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Nominations to the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland's service review groups were invited from all NHS Trusts in Scotland, from Health Councils and from a wide range of voluntary organisations. In addition, individuals who, for example, attended the board…
23 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what payments are made to technically qualified members of the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland's service review groups.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Technically qualified members of the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland's service review groups will receive no payment other than reimbursement of travel and subsistence if they are NHS employees. This is in accordance with Health Department policy and th…
23 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the payment structure is for lay members of the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland's service review groups, whether it differs from that for the rest of the UK and, if so, what the reasons are for this difference.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Lay members of the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland's service review groups will receive reimbursement of travel and subsistence expenses and compensation for loss of earnings in accordance with NHS rules.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">The board has decided not to p…
10 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to appoint a representative of parents to the board of the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
Answer · Jack McConnell: Final decisions on the permanent composition of the board will be informed by the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee's inquiry into SQA governance and the outcome of the Policy, Financial and Management Review.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">I announced on 22 Nove…
10 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has evaluated the Hydroscience rapid expansion dam flood protection system currently being considered by Dumfries and Galloway Council for central Dumfries.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: No. It is for councils to consider whether a temporary measure, such as the rapid emergency response offered by the Hydroscience system, would meet their needs.
7 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what training is currently available to GPs and their staff in respect of the use of information and communication technologies.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Training for GPs and practice staff in respect of the use of information and communication technologies is co-ordinated by Primary Care Trusts and island health boards on the basis of locally identified needs.<P>A national strategy for Information Management …
7 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what targets have been set for the number of GP surgeries to have the facility to make on-line hospital appointments by the year 2003.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The booking of out-patient appointments electronically is now included in a wider programme of electronic clinical communications between primary and secondary care. This wider programme known as Electronic Clinical Communications Implementation (ECCI) includ…
7 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what targets have been set for the number of GP surgeries to have videoconferencing facilities by 2003.
Answer · Susan Deacon: No national targets have been set for the number of GP surgeries to have videoconferencing facilities.
7 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many GP surgeries in each health board area have on-line facilities for booking hospital appointments for their patients and what measurement of usage of such facilities has taken place.
Answer · Susan Deacon: One of the pre-requisites for on-line booking of hospital appointments is a connection to a secure communications network. All GP surgeries in Scotland now have such a connection either to NHSNet or to a Local Health Board Network. In addition to a network co…
7 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many GP surgeries in each health board area have videoconferencing facilities and what measurement of usage of such facilities has taken place.
Answer · Susan Deacon: This information is not held centrally.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">There is no widespread implementation of videoconferencing, although there have been small scale experiments. Videoconferencing is one aspect of telemedicine and is part of the remit of the Scottish Te…
7 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Dumfries and Galloway Council about the repeated flooding of the River Nith at the Whitesands in Dumfries.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: Dumfries and Galloway Council have not approached my officials about flooding of the Whitesands in Dumfries. Consequently, no discussions have taken place.
7 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review its current expenditure on flood prevention.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: Resources for flood prevention were considered as part of the recently completed Spending Review. This led to a significant increase in resources being made available for flood prevention measures over the next three years.
7 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any mechanism in place to measure its intellectual capital.
Answer · Angus MacKay: The Scottish Executive does not have a mechanism in place that provides an overall measure of its intellectual capital. However, the Executive uses many of the measures of intellectual capital used by leading exponents of this discipline including employee sa…
7 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-2432 by Sarah Boyack on 2 November 2000, where Moffat's "thistle sign" is located and what words it bears.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The town of Moffat itself does not have a "thistle sign" located on either the A74(M) or the adjacent A701 trunk road. However, Moffat Woollen Mill and Moffat Station Park have tourist information signs on the A701 trunk road approach to junction&nb…
7 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive why it was not represented at e2000 at Airth Castle Hotel on 3 November and what steps it has taken to obtain details of, and feedback from, the presentation by Jonas Riddestrale on "funky business".
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The then Deputy Minister for Children and Education, Peter Peacock, was due to attend but, unfortunately, had to withdraw at short notice. Executive officials have been in touch with Scottish Enterprise Forth Valley for feedback on the event and information o…
1 Nov 2000 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to Railtrack or any other body about facilitating disabled access from the south-bound platform at Lockerbie station.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: Legislation on disability discrimination is a reserved matter. However, the Scottish Executive is in regular contact with Railtrack and the train operating companies on improving access to rail services in Scotland. I understand that Railtrack is working clos…
31 Oct 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Rural Development next intends to meet Councillor Andrew Campbell, CoSLA's Rural Affairs spokesman.
Answer · Ross Finnie: Councillor Campbell has written to me to request a meeting, and I am happy to agree to this. Our officials are arranging a mutually convenient date.
24 Oct 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any discussions with Her Majesty's Government about including an obligation relating to the extent of the coverage to be provided, particularly in rural areas of Scotland, as one of the conditions which will apply to third generation mobile phone licence holders and wha…
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive has regular discussions with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including telecoms.
24 Oct 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the dates are of local holidays in 2000 by local authority area.
Answer · Jim Wallace: These dates are set out in the publication <I>Scottish</I> <I>Public</I> <I>Holidays</I> <I>2000</I>, a copy of which has been placed in SPICe for reference purposes (Bib. no 9399).
24 Oct 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the dates are of bank holidays in 2000.
Answer · Jim Wallace: These dates are set out in the publication <I>Scottish</I> <I>Public</I> <I>Holidays</I> <I>2000</I>, a copy of which has been placed in SPICe for reference purposes (Bib. no 9399).
24 Oct 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the dates are of public holidays in 2000 and in which areas of Scotland each date applies.
Answer · Jim Wallace: There is no definition of a public holiday in Scotland, although the phrase is sometimes used as a generic term to refer to both bank and local holidays. Bank holidays have their basis in the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 and their dates are consist…
24 Oct 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the definition is of a bank holiday.
Answer · Jim Wallace: Bank holidays in the United Kingdom are established under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 (C.80). The 1971 Act provides that banks are not liable for failing to process certain transactions on such a day. Schedule 1 to the 1971 Act prescribes the …
24 Oct 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the definition is of a local holiday.
Answer · Jim Wallace: There is no statutory definition of a local holiday. Dates of local holidays vary from area to area across Scotland and are usually agreed between local government, local business interests and other interested local parties. Such holidays often have their ro…
24 Oct 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the definition is of a public holiday.
Answer · Jim Wallace: There is no definition of a public holiday in Scotland, although the phrase is sometimes used as a generic term to refer to both bank and local holidays. The dates of both bank and local holidays across Scotland can be obtained from the publication <I>Scottis…
24 Oct 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has, or intends to compile, any data on the number of people ordinarily resident in Scotland who have received NHS medical treatment in the North of England in the last three years.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Information on residents of Scotland treated in the North of England is not available from routine central returns. We are in the process of establishing a routine exchange of information between the Information & Statistics Division in Scotland and the D…
24 Oct 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has, or intends to compile, any data on the number of people resident in the North of England who regularly work in Scotland.
Answer · Alasdair Morrison: The UK-wide Labour Force Survey, which is run by the Office for National Statistics, asks people where they work and collects information on where they live. Latest figures, for summer 2000, show that around 22,000 people are resident in the North of England,…
24 Oct 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has, or intends to compile, any data on the number of people resident in the North of England who have received NHS medical treatment in Scotland in the last three years.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The available information on North of England residents treated in the National Health Service in Scotland is distributed over a variety of sources, relating principally to the acute, maternity and psychiatric hospital sectors, and is presented in Table 1 for…
24 Oct 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has, or intends to compile, any data on the number of people resident in Scotland who regularly work in the North of England.
Answer · Alasdair Morrison: The UK-wide Labour Force Survey, which is run by the Office for National Statistics, asks people where they work and collects information on where they live. Latest figures, for summer 2000, show that around 12,000 people are resident in Scotland, but work in…
24 Oct 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what relationships it has, or intends to establish, with local or regional governmental bodies in the North of England.
Answer · Jack McConnell: The Scottish Executive has no formal links with local authorities in the North of England. However, the Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the government offices in the North-East and the North-West on issues of common interest.