Duncan McNeil

14 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken in order to protect general practitioners from violent or aggressive patients when making home visits.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-23147.

14 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken in order to protect general practitioners and their support staff from violent or aggressive patients visiting their surgeries.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Island NHS Boards and Primary Care Trusts have the power to assign violent patients to the doctor who has the most appropriate facilities. In addition, we issued a circular to boards and trusts on 17 December 2001 on addressing the problem of violent or aggre…

11 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take in order to enhance the availability of venture capital.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: We have been considering carefully the extent to which Scottish firms are able to access venture capital investment in the current market. It seems clear that some firms continue to face difficulties in accessing small-scale, early-stage equity, and I am anno…

7 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to make available copies of (a) the report on the review of regional selective assistance and (b) its response to the report.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: I have considered carefully the report which was presented to me in December. I fully accept the key recommendations of focusing more on growing Scottish firms and more support for quality projects. A full copy of the report and my response is available in th…

6 Feb 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any evidence of ageism within the NHS.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The issue was explored in depth by the Chief Medical Officer's Expert Group on the Health of Older People, and forms a chapter in its report <I>Adding Life to Years,</I> published last month. The report concludes that while there is no systematic evidence of …

2 Jan 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the first supplementary question to question S1O-4290 by Lewis Macdonald on 13 December 2001, what progress is being made in discussions with Railtrack regarding its decision of 5 December 2001 not to support four Scottish Executive-funded rail enhancement projec…

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive has had a number of useful discussions with Railtrack and the administrators about a wide range of issues, including the Scottish rail enhancement projects. Further meetings are planned.

20 Dec 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current position is in respect of the Individual Learning Account scheme

Answer · Wendy Alexander: Following the announcement by the Department for Employment and Skills (DfES) on 23 November to suspend the Individual Learning Account (ILA) scheme in England, the Executive undertook a further review of the scheme in Scotland. Since then, extra validation c…

12 Dec 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that the views of the non-unionised workforce will be taken into account in any action it undertakes as a result of the Health and Safety Executive's report Cancer Among Current and Previous Workers at National Semiconductor (UK) Ltd, Greenock.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Occupational health and safety is a reserved matter.<P>The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has already outlined to the workforce its plans to take action as a result of its study into cancer at National Semiconductor (UK) Ltd, Greenock. HSE will also seek t…

12 Dec 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether a further study to establish any causal link between the working environment and cancer rates in the semiconductor industry should be carried out without delay following the publication of the Health and Safety Executive's report Cancer Among Current and Previous Workers at Nation…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Occupational health and safety is a reserved matter, and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has already initiated the planning of follow-up work to look more closely at individual employment and exposure histories in relevant current and former workers at …

12 Dec 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps will be taken to prepare local GPs and other health service professionals to deal with any increase in workload resulting from the publication of the Health and Safety Executive's report Cancer Among Current and Previous Workers at National Semiconductor (UK) Ltd, Greenock.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive recognised that NHS staff throughout Scotland, particularly GPs in and around Greenock, might be consulted following the publication of the Health and Safety Executive's report <I>Cancer Among Current and Previous Workers at National Se…

12 Dec 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take in response to the Health and Safety Executive's report Cancer Among Current and Previous Workers at National Semiconductor (UK) Ltd, Greenock.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Occupational health and safety is a reserved matter. <P>The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) now plans to undertake follow-up work to look more closely at individual worker histories at National Semiconductor (UK) Ltd in Greenock. The Scottish Executive has …

28 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the level of resources allocated to local authority and health board areas to combat drug abuse will reflect the findings of its research, Estimating National and Local Prevalence of Problem Drug Misuse in Scotland, published on 15 November 2001.

Answer · Richard Simpson: The prevalence report shows that the level of Executive funding for drug treatment services is broadly in line with the level of problem drug use in NHS Board areas. Prevalence estimates, along with other relative indicators of need, will be taken into accoun…

28 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much will be spent per head of population in the financial year 2001-02 on measures to prevent young people becoming involved with drugs in (a) Inverclyde and (b) throughout Scotland.

Answer · Richard Simpson: We estimate that £29.6 million will be spent in 2001-02 across Scotland, which equates to £5.79 per head of population, and £27.86 per head if the calculation is based on 0 to 16-year-olds.<P>It is not possible to provide a breakdown of these figures for Inve…

28 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much will be spent in the financial year 2001-02 on measures to prevent young people becoming involved with drugs in (a) Inverclyde and (b) throughout Scotland.

Answer · Richard Simpson: We estimate that around £29.6 million will be spent on prevention in Scotland in 2001-02. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of this figure for Inverclyde.

28 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent per head of population in the financial years 1999-2000 and 2000-01 on measures to prevent young people becoming involved with drugs in (a) Inverclyde and (b) throughout Scotland.

Answer · Richard Simpson: We estimate that around £22.6 million per annum was spent on prevention throughout Scotland, in 1999-2000 and 2000-01. On a per head of population basis, this equates to £4.42 per person per annum. However, if the calculation is based on 0 to 16-year-olds, th…

28 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent in the financial years 1999-2000 and 2000-01 on measures to prevent young people becoming involved with drugs in (a) Inverclyde and (b) throughout Scotland.

Answer · Richard Simpson: A Policy Unit review of expenditure on drugs, published by the Executive in October 2000, estimated that around £22.6 million was spent per annum on prevention in 1999-2000 and in 2000-01. This included schools and health education, grants and research, commu…

28 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are in place to prevent young people becoming involved with drugs.

Answer · Richard Simpson: The Executive's first<I> Annual Report on Drug Misuse</I>, published on 23 November, highlights a wide range of actions to help young people stay away from drugs. Some examples are:<P>(a) in 2000-01, 97% of Scottish schools provided drug education;<P>(b) the …

15 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its investigation into the failure to renew the Order under the Erskine Bridge Tolls Act 1968 to toll vehicles crossing the bridge has been completed.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The investigation by the head of the Scottish Executive Development Department is now complete. Her conclusions and recommendations are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre. Executive action is being taken on all the recommendations.

18 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to encourage the growth of the community development finance sector.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: I am pleased to announce the launch of Social Investment Scotland, a new loan fund for the social economy. Social Investment Scotland will provide loan finance and technical assistance to social economy organisations with the aim of stimulating wealth in disa…

5 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the outcome was of the consultation last year on the physical punishment of children in Scotland.

Answer · Jim Wallace: We published our consultation paper in February 2000 and received 220 responses. Many incorporated the views of numbers of parents and children. We are grateful for all the careful thought and analysis that went into the responses. I have placed a full analys…

10 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take in the light of its consultation paper Modernising the Complaints System published in October 2000.

Answer · Angus MacKay: I have today published and laid before the Parliament a further consultation paper, <I>A Modern Complaints System</I>, which sets out detailed proposals for public sector Ombudsman arrangements in Scotland.<I><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Modernising the Complaints Syst…

11 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what changes it proposes to make to the structure of its departments.

Answer · Henry McLeish: With effect from Monday 11 June, the Finance Group and the Executive Secretariat will be brought together to form a new Department to be known as the Scottish Executive Finance and Central Services Department (SEFCSD). Bringing these two functions together wi…

3 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will build on the skills of the Scottish electronics industry workforce to ensure that the industry is able to compete globally for higher value, higher skilled work.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The electronics industry is presently undergoing worldwide restructuring and it is crucial that the industry in Scotland acquires the skills to compete for high value work. Scottish Enterprise is currently conducting an audit of existing skills in the sector …

3 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage diversification in the Scottish electronics industry.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: There is a wide range of support available to the electronics sector from the Executive and from the Enterprise Networks to assist it to diversify into new markets. This assistance includes scenario-planning, investigations of possible future outcomes at sect…

7 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what powers are available to it to ensure that awards made to football clubs by sportscotland are used effectively, efficiently and for the purposes for which they were intended.

7 Feb 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that the views of pregnant women on maternity services are taken account of.

Answer · Susan Deacon: On 2 February I announced the publication of <I>A Framework for Maternity Services in Scotland</I>. This was published following extensive consultation with women and professionals. <P>The Executive expects local health boards and NHS Trusts to consult widely…

3 Jan 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the introduction of paternity leave would have on Scotland's economy.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: Employment policy is a reserved area. The Department of Trade and Industry issued a Green Paper, <I>Work and Parents: Competitiveness and Choice</I>, on 7 December 2000. The paper includes an option to introduce paid paternity leave. The consultation runs unt…

6 Dec 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to encourage skilled and experienced nurses to remain in frontline work in the NHS.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has already demonstrated its belief that an investment in staff is an investment in patient care. Last year's pay award for nurses was implemented in full, without staging with particular targeted awards for 8,500 of our most experience…

5 Dec 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on the review of the enterprise networks.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The interim conclusions of the Review of Enterprise Networks in Scotland were announced to Parliament on 6 July. On 6 November I hosted a major conference to discuss progress and listen to the views of key players in the field of economic development. As a re…

27 Nov 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its ports policy is.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: A ports policy paper, <I>Modern Ports</I>, has been published today and a copy has been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. no 9874). The paper provides a comprehensive statement of future policy on a wide range of issues relating to the UK port…