Parliamentary questions

Mr Duncan Hamilton

494 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

29 Mar 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to take any action regarding the proposed sale of the Black Cuillins on Skye.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: We do not propose to intervene in the private sale of the Cuillin Estate.

21 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4703 by Ross Finnie on 9 March 2000, what weighting was given to geographical displacement of civil service posts in making the decision to place posts in the Area Office Network.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Decisions on where to place posts in the Area Office network have been based entirely on projected workloads, which have shown a requirement for new staff in offices throughout most of Scotland.

21 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4703 by Ross Finnie on 9 March 2000, whether projected workload was the sole criterion used and, if not, what other criteria were considered and what weighting was given to each criterion in the decision to place new posts in the Area Office network.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Projected workload was the sole criterion used.

21 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio is of pupils to teachers in nursery schools in public and private provision and what the explanation is for any variation between the two.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Nursery education in both the public and independent sector is delivered by a mix of staff which includes teachers, nursery nurses and other staff. The ratio of staff to pupils is 1:9 in local authorities and 1:5 in others. According to the February 1999 Pre-…

15 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3875 by Susan Deacon on 24 February 2000, how the number of intensive therapy unit beds compares to that in England and Wales.

Answer · Susan Deacon: A comparison of the type requested is not available. I understand that information on numbers of ITU beds in England and Wales is unlikely to be directly comparable, since definitions and methods of data collection differ in the three countries.

15 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assumption for wage inflation it has used for the year 2000-01 and by how much each pay award announced by the Review Bodies for Nurses, Midwives, Health Visitors and Professions Allied to Medicine and Doctors and Dentists was above, or below, the wage inflation assumption.

Answer · Susan Deacon: It is not the Executive's policy to divulge its assumptions about public sector pay increases. The costs of meeting the Pay Review Bodies awards in 2000-01 is estimated to be £88.2m and these costs will be met from the additional resources made available to H…

15 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3875 by Susan Deacon on 24 February 1999, whether the announcement by the Minister for Health and Community Care of an extra #6 million for intensive care beds has affected the number of beds referred to in the answer and, if so, by how many.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I announced on 22 February that an additional £6.8 million was being made available to the NHS in Scotland to spend on intensive care and high dependency beds and on new equipment. It is for Health Boards, working with NHS Trusts, to determine how best to use…

14 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that both the consultation document on and the findings of the review into Caledonian MacBrayne CFARES will be published.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: I announced in January that I have invited Caledonian MacBrayne to review the company's ferry fares structure. Decisions about publication of the consultation document and of the review findings are a matter for Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd. I believe that, in th…

9 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive to provide details of each publicly funded project which is aimed specifically at those affected by dyspraxia and what the total budget is of each such project.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: This information is not held centrally.

8 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average monthly cost is of providing (a) a full time GP in a single handed practice; (b) a full time GP in a practice with more than one GP; (c) a half time GP; (d) an associate GP and (e) a locum GP for a single handed practice.

Answer · Susan Deacon: This information is not collected centrally. GP Principals are self-employed contractors to the NHS. They receive payments to cover both their expenses in providing General Medical Services and a net income for doing so. This is reviewed annually by the Docto…

8 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the increase in real terms in health spending compared with spending in 1998-99, will be in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01 and (c) 2001-02 and what the average increase per year over this three-year period is, specifying in each case the increase in both percentage and monetary terms.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The information is:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=609><TR><TD WIDTH="23%" VALIGN="TOP"> </TD><TD WIDTH="25%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Total Budget<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">(billion)</TD><TD WIDTH="26%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Cas…

8 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3816 by Susan Deacon on 24 February 2000, why it is taking a different approach to that of the Republic of Ireland concerning end-product testing in scallops.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer you to the <I>Official Report</I> of the Members' Business Debate on the Scottish scallop industry held on 10 February in which I addressed this question fully.

8 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive to provide an up-to-date estimate of the costs of the Cubie Committee, including VAT, and to detail the main elements of this cost.

Answer · Henry McLeish: As at 14 March 2000 the latest estimate of the total costs including VAT incurred in the Committee's work is £472,111.73, this excludes Secretariat costs. The following elements make up this total:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=328><TR><TD WI…

8 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-2977 by Mr Jack McConnell on 17 December 1999, how many of the civil servants employed within the Health Department are employed in a research capacity.

Answer · Jack McConnell: As I indicated in reply to question S1W-2058, two members of staff are employed in such a capacity. In addition, there are some 20 or so staff in the Scottish Executive Health Department's Chief Scientist Office with responsibility for encouraging and support…

25 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the comment by the Deputy Minister for Highlands and Islands and Gaelic on 23 February 2000 (col. 73) that "CalMac provides vital lifeline services to routes including Gourock to Dunoon....", whether it will confirm that the Gourock-Dunoon service is classed as a "lifeline" se…

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Under the terms of The Highlands and Islands Shipping Act 1960 the classification "lifeline" has no statutory basis, however Ministers take the view that the Gourock-Dunoon (passenger only) ferry service is necessary to maintain or improve economic …

24 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of each health board's estimated budget increase for the next three years will be taken up by the recent pay rise announcements by the Pay Review Bodies for Nurses, Midwives, Health Visitors and Professions Allied to Medicine and Doctors and Dentists, expressed in both cas…

Answer · Susan Deacon: Details of the estimated cost of the recent pay review body awards for individual health boards for the next three years are not available. The estimated costs of the pay awards nationally are £88.2 million, £89.9 million and £89.9 million in 2000-01, 2001-02…

24 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4068 by Ross Finnie on 14 February 2000, what criteria were used in the decision to place new posts in the Rural Affairs Department within the existing Area Office network; in particular what criteria have been or will be used to determine which Area…

Answer · Ross Finnie: Decisions on where to place posts in the existing Area Office network have been based on projected workloads, which have shown a requirement for new staff in offices throughout most of Scotland.

24 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost of the Corncrake Action Plan Steering Group has been since its inception, specifying sub totals for (a) staff costs and (b) disbursements.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Information on the cost of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan for the corncrake is not held by the Scottish Executive. Details of funding from Scottish Natural Heritage to encourage farmers and crofters to manage land in a manner that meets the needs of the corn…