Parliamentary questions

Euan Robson

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

16 Mar 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what figures are available for the number of children who have not received pneumococcal immunisation since 12 July 2006 under the catch-up campaign referred to in a letter of that date from the Chief Medical Officer, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Information on immunisation is recorded on the Scottish ImmunisationRecall System (SIRS). Information Services Division (ISD), produce quarterly figuresfor Scotland on immunisation uptake using that information. ISD is still compilingthe information on immuni…

16 Mar 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have received pneumococcal immunisation since 12 July 2006 under the catch-up campaign referred to in a letter of that date from the Chief Medical Officer and whether there are any outstanding cases.

16 Mar 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review and evaluate the impact of Prevenar on pneumococcal immunisation and, if so, when it will do so.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Health Protection Scotland is monitoring the incidence of invasivepneumococcal disease in children and adults to detect any reductions in its occurrence.It will then evaluate the impact of the introduction of Prevenar into the routinechildhood immunisation sc…

12 Mar 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all petitions it has received since 1 January 2007 about the provision of dentistry or dental services, showing (a) the names of the petitioners and (b) the number of signatories.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: No such petitions have been received since 1 January 2007.

1 Mar 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis or data the level of provision of neonatal transport is decided.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: This is a National Service whichis planned and provided on a regional basis. There is a national co-ordinator whooversees provision nationally and each region (North, South East and Tayside, andWest) has a regional director and regional co-ordinator. There is…

22 Feb 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many injuries or fatal road accidents have involved horses in the last five years, broken down by police constabulary.

Answer · Tavish Scott: Data about injury roadaccidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executiveusing the STATS 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only roadaccidents in which one or more people were injured and which become known to thepolice. …

14 Feb 2007 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency is interpreting and enforcing regulations in a proportionate manner.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Environment ProtectionAgency takes individual regulatory decisions independently of the Executive. the Executive is, nevertheless, satisfied that the agency seeks to ensure that it actswithin the requirements of the legislation and its approach t…

25 Jan 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give details of any changes to the rates of support for further and higher education students which will apply for the academic year 2007-08.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: I am delighted to announce thenew rates of support for students in further and higher education for academic year2007-08. I am today placing in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib.number 41325) details of the rates of those loans, bursaries and gr…

11 Jan 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any statutory basis for disregarding war pensions or war gratuities or parts thereof when income is being assessed in the context of access to services provided by local authorities, provided either by the local authority alone or in partnership with other agencies.

Answer · Tom McCabe: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-30979 on 23 January 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’swebsite, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/…

11 Jan 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities disregard the first £10 of a war pension when assessing income in the context of access to local services.

11 Jan 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether war pensions and gratuities can be disregarded by local authorities when means testing access to local services.

Answer · Tom McCabe: There is a statutory disregardof the first £10 of a war pension in the assessment, by local authorities, of eligibilityfor access to some local services. These include the charging for residential accommodationand the assessment of eligibility for housing and…

8 Dec 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will encourage the incorporation into teacher training courses of an understanding of the processes by which children acquire speech and language skills.

Answer · Hugh Henry: All students undertaking initialteacher education courses are already required to understand the processes by whichchildren acquire speech and language skills.By the end of the course, andto reach the Standard of Initial Teacher Education, all student …

6 Dec 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions commenced under section 5(1) of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 have been for incidents that occurred in a community setting.

Answer · Elish Angiolini: The provisions of section 5(1)of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 apply only to incidents which takeplace “in a hospital or on land adjacent to and used wholly or mainly for the purposesof a hospital”.

6 Dec 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions have commenced under section 5(1) of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005.

Answer · Elish Angiolini: As at 7 December 2006, therewere 215 charges relating to offences undersection 5(1) of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 where the Procurator Fiscal had initiated courtproceedings.Notes:1. This information has beenextracted from the Crow…

6 Dec 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives it has undertaken to improve the safety and security of NHS staff working in the community.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive hasspent over £700,000 on projects aimed at reducing violence and aggression overthe last few years.This includes two zerotolerance poster campaigns which applied across NHSScotland, including generaland dental practices and phar…

6 Dec 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the occupational health cost of violence against healthcare staff has been in each NHS board in the last three years.

Answer · Andy Kerr: This information is not heldcentrally.

6 Dec 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many attacks on nursing staff working in the community have been recorded in each NHS board area in the last three years.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The information requested isnot collected centrally in the form requested. However with the development of the Scottish Workforce Information Statistical System (SWISS) this kind ofinformation will be available in the future.The data available onviolen…

15 Nov 2006 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the level of housing association grants provided to housing associations in the Scottish Borders.

Answer · Des McNulty: In thecurrent year we will provide £502 million of funding through the AffordableHousing Investment programme to support affordable housing projects across Scotland.Ouraffordable housing investment in the Scottish Borders in the current yearstands at a…

25 Oct 2006 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many shop proprietors have been fined for selling cigarettes to under 16-year-olds in the Scottish Borders and nationwide since 2003.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: In 2003-04and 2004-05 a total of three persons were convicted of selling cigarettes tounder 16-year-olds. None of these were in courts in the Scottish Borders.

17 Oct 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executivewhat representations local authorities have made, either collectively or individually, in respect of the discharge of their duties to provide additional support for learning for gifted children under the Education Additional Support for Learning (Scotland) Act 2004.

Answer · Robert Brown: The Executive is not awareof any such representations.

17 Oct 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has conducted or commissioned into the extent of provision by local authorities of additional support for learning for gifted children since the passage of the Education Additional Support for Learning (Scotland) Act 2004.

Answer · Robert Brown: The commencement date of theEducation (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 was 14 November 2005. Todate, no specific research has been conducted or commissioned in relation togifted children.

17 Oct 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has reviewed, or plans to review, the effectiveness and adequacy of provision by local authorities of additional support for learning for gifted children since the passage of the Education Additional Support for Learning (Scotland) Act 2004.

Answer · Robert Brown: The aim of the act is toensure that all children and young people with additional support needs,including gifted children, are provided with the necessary support to help themwork towards achieving their fullest potential.HMIE are monitoring andevaluat…

16 Oct 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake a study to compare the outcomes for patients who purchase donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine privately for mild Alzheimer’s disease and patients who do not receive the drug until they develop moderate Alzheimer’s disease.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Chief Scientist Office (CSO),within the Scottish Executive Health Department, has responsibility for encouragingand supporting research into health and health care needs in Scotland. TheCSO does not normally commission research but supports research proje…

16 Oct 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will monitor the number of patients who choose to purchase donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine privately for mild Alzheimer’s disease.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Information on private prescriptionsis not collected centrally except for schedule 2 and 3 controlled drugs.

16 Oct 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what account has been taken of any savings to the NHS and local authorities in social care costs as a result of people being able to lead independent lives for longer if donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine were to be prescribed to those suffering from the mild form of Alzheimer’s dise…

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The National Institute forHealth and Clinical Excellence (NICE) process for developing its multipletechnology appraisals takes factors such as wider benefits to patients’families and society into account when it is appropriate to do so.NICE’s economic …

16 Oct 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the additional cost to the NHS would be if donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine were prescribed to those suffering from the mild form of Alzheimer’s disease.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Guidance issued by the NationalInstitute of Clinical Excellence in 2001, and endorsed by the then Health TechnologyBoard for Scotland, recommended the use of donepezil, galantamine and rivastigminefor patients suffering from mild to moderate dementia in Alzhe…

11 Oct 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated to each local authority for CCTV in the last three years.

Answer · Hugh Henry: Funding for CCTV is availablefrom a range of sources, including both dedicated CCTV programmes and more genericschemes which include CCTV as one element. The principal sources of funding fromthe Executive for CCTV since 2003 have been provided for flexible re…

27 Sep 2006 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide additional resources to local authorities to improve the number, and terms and conditions, of school-based technicians under its national science strategy.

Answer · Robert Brown: The terms and conditions of service,and the numbers of science technicians in schools, are matters for local authoritiesas employers.

13 Sep 2006 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to review the Rural Stewardship Scheme.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Rural Stewardship Schemeis now closed. However, I have announced that I intend to bring forward a plannedreview of all agri-environment schemes, including the Rural Stewardship Scheme.The review will be completed as early as possible in 2007.

11 Sep 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive at what level of income a parent forum or parent council becomes liable to pay corporation tax.

Answer · Robert Brown: Corporation tax is liable tobe paid on profits from trading activities, or from investment income or capitalgains.It is not anticipated that ParentCouncils will, in normal circumstances, require to pay tax since fundraising activitiessuch as school fet…