Parliamentary questions

Mr Keith Raffan

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

8 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline its strategy for the Drug Enforcement Agency, and confirm whether its principal target will be major drug traffickers and suppliers and not minor user dealers.

Answer · Angus MacKay: I refer the Member to my answer to his earlier question S1W-00488.

8 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether MI6 will be involved in working with the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Answer · Angus MacKay: I refer the Member to my answer to his earlier question S1W-00488.

8 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to provide additional resources to drug action teams in order to increase services for drug misusers in the Fife, Forth Valley and Tayside Health Board areas.

Answer · Angus MacKay: The provision of additional resources to assist Drug Action Teams (DATs) directly in implementing the Government's strategy Tackling Drugs in Scotland: Action in Partnership, is currently under consideration. Funding for drug misuse services, is provi…

8 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what were the key findings of the recent review of the effectiveness of drug action teams.

Answer · Angus MacKay: The evaluation identified the need for more vigorous performance management of Drug Action Teams (DAT's) by the Scottish Executive, and for a greater focus by DATs on developing partnership working at local level.

8 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what is the total level of funding provided to drug action teams in the current financial year.

Answer · Angus MacKay: A total of £500,812 has been allocated in this financial year to provide administrative support to Drug Action Teams.

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of three and four year olds in each local authority area are enrolled to attend nursery education provision for the academic year 1999/2000.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: Information about the enrolment of children for pre-school education provision is not held centrally. The table below shows the current estimate of the number of grant eligible children who will participate in pre-school education during the first two terms …

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an estimate for the current financial year of the number of homes in each local authority area that suffer from dampness.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The information requested is not collected centrally except in relation to local authority stock. The latest available information for local authority stock is for the year to 31 March 1997. The only available information for all stock is derived from the 1…

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are currently unemployed in each constituency area and what were the equivalent figures for each of the last five years.

Answer · Henry McLeish: Headline unemployment figures are derived from the Labour Force Survey, and use internationally-agreed definitions. Unfortunately these data are only available down to local authority level. However, figures for the number of people claiming unemployment-r…

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers in each force area are designated as community beat officers in the current financial year and what were the equivalent figures in each of the past five years.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The information is not collected in the form requested. The deployment of police officers is an operational matter for Chief Constables who have to respond flexibly to the diversity of tasks placed on the police.

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children in each year group in each local authority are enrolled in classes of more than thirty for the academic year 1999-2000.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: The information requested will not be available until after the school census for the 1999-2000 academic year has been completed. The census was carried out in September and the results published early in 2000.

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are enrolled in (a) part time; and (b) full time further education courses during the academic year of 1999/2000; and what were the equivalent figures for each of the past five years.

Answer · Henry McLeish: Enrolment figures are not yet available for the year 1999-2000.The table details student enrolments on vocational further education courses in further and higher education institutions in Scotland between 1994-95 and 1997-98, the latest yea…

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged over 18 are enrolled in adult education courses in each local authority area for the academic year of 1999/2000 and what were the equivalent figures for each of the past five years.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: Information is not held centrally on enrolment rates in adult education courses in the form requested.Information is available on community education provision for 1995/6 and 1996/7. This information is not available at local authority lev…

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers in each force area are normally available for duty on the beat during the current financial year and what were the equivalent figures for each of the past eight years.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The information is not available in the form requested. The deployment of officers is entirely a matter for Chief Constables but the vast majority of police officers in all forces are involved in operational duties.

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers are employed in each force area for the current financial year and what were the equivalent figures in each of the past eight years.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The information is shown in the table.Number of Police Officers<IMG SRC="Image1.gif" WIDTH=720 HEIGHT=210>What these figures do not show is the huge increase in suppo…

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an estimate of the number of people in each health board area who are currently waiting for an appointment with a consultant following referral by a general practitioner, and whether it will provide a breakdown of the length of time for which those people (a) have …

Answer · Susan Deacon: Information on waiting lists is collected centrally for hospital inpatients and day cases. Data is available on first outpatient referrals and the length of time that patients waited for their first outpatient appointment. The median waiting time for a first …

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list for each health board area the waiting time being advised to patients for consultancy in (a) ear, nose and throat; (b) trauma and orthopaedic surgery; (c) general surgery; (d) ophthalmology; and (e) gynaecology.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The current local outpatient waiting time guarantees for a first outpatient appointment following a General Medical Practitioner referral for the specialties of Ear, Nose and Throat, Orthopaedics, General Surgery, Ophthalmology and Gynaecology by Health Board…

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people on the housing waiting list of each local authority in Scotland: (a) are waiting for a transfer; (b) are homeless; (c) are waiting for elderly persons' accommodation; and (d) live in houses.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: This information is not held centrally.

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many council houses have been sold under the right-to-buy legislation since 1979 in each district council area (up until 31 March 1996) and in each unitary local authority area (since 1 April 1996) in Scotland.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The information requested is set out in the table, which includes sales up to the end of September 1998. More recent information is not yet available. The figures given include right to buy, rent to mortgage and voluntary sales, all of which were made under…

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what are the total capital receipts arising from the sale of council houses since 1979 for each local authority in Scotland.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: Information for the financial years 1990-91 to 1997-98, as reported by local authorities, is given in the tables. Information for the earlier years is not readily available. Table 1Total Capital Receipts -…

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are claiming housing benefit in each local authority area in the current financial year; and what were the figures for the same period in (a) 1974; (b) 1979; (c) 1988; and (d) 1996.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: This information is not collected by the Scottish Executive. However, information supplied by the Department of Social Security is published in the Scottish Office Statistical Bulletin (Housing Series). The most recent information, relating to the number of…

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many homes unfit for human habitation there are in each local authority area and what plans it has to reduce the number.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The statutory measure of basic house condition in Scotland is the Tolerable Standard. It does not make mention of fitness for human habitation. Local authorities submit estimates of the number of below tolerable standard houses in their areas at 31 March ea…

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients (a) in each health board area; and (b) nationally, were detained past their original discharge date in NHS beds before moving to social service beds in the last year for which figures are available; and whether it will estimate the cost of delayed discharges to the NHS.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Health Boards have not previously been required to submit information routinely on delayed discharges. However, a pilot data collection exercise started in April 1999 to collect information based on an agreed national standard definition, reasons for delay a…

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what were the numbers of operations cancelled on the day of, or the day after, admission to a hospital, and the numbers of those patients not readmitted within a month, by quarter-year for the last two years for each health board.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Information on cancellations of hospital admissions at the level of detail requested is not held centrally. Details of cancellations of planned admissions for inpatient and day case treatment for each Health Board in Scotland for the period requested is provi…

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients (a) had not yet been seen following GP written referral; and (b) were waiting between referral and consultation, broken down (i) by speciality; and (ii) by quarter-year from 30 March 1997.

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) acute; (b) geriatric; (c) mental illness; (d) learning disability; and (e) maternity beds there were in each health board area in each year since 1994-95.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Information on the number of acute, geriatric, psychiatric, learning disability and obstetric beds in each Health Board for each year since 1994-95 is provided in the table.NHS in Scotland - A…

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many full time equivalent (a) bank; (b) agency; and (c) contract nurses were employed, and at what cost, by each health board area in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The information available for agency nursing staff is shown in the table. No cost data to match the staff numbers is available. Information for bank and contract nursing staff is not available centrally. The use of bank and agency nurses…

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the hospitals in Scotland which have acute beds and in each case the number of (a) intensive care beds; (b) high dependency beds; and (c) other acute beds.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Information on the number of intensive care and other acute beds is shown in the tables. Separate numbers for high dependency beds are not collected and such beds are therefore included in the figures shown for other acute beds.<P…

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS patients have been waiting over 12 months for their NHS operation and for a breakdown (a) by health board; and (b) by quarter-year from 30 March 1997.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The number of patients with a Patient's Charter guarantee who waited over 12 months for inpatient and day case treatment, by Health Board area, on the dates requested, is provided in the table.The Scottish Executive is committed to set and …

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS patients were waiting to be (a) seen following GP written referral; and (b) seen following referral to consultation, for each quarter since 30 March 1997.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Information on waiting lists is collected centrally only for hospital inpatients and day cases. Data is available on first outpatient referrals and the length of time that patients waited for their first outpatient appointment. The median wait for a first out…

5 Jul 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in residential care homes in each of the last five years were funded by (a) the local authority on a means tested basis; (b) the individuals themselves; and (c) the Department of Social Security through preserved rights; and what were the figures for people aged (i) 60 to …

Answer · Iain Gray: The tables show how older people in residential care homes in Scotland were funded in each of the last four years available and categorised by age bands. Information for 1998 will be published on August 25th.Age and Fu…