Parliamentary questions

Michael McMahon

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

22 Nov 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will conduct tests similar to those being carried out at Newcastle General Hospital into a new drug treatment for mesothelioma patients.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive encourages patient entry into clinical trials but has no locus in setting these up.

15 Nov 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any additional resources are being made available for the ambulance service in Lanarkshire.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Ambulance Service is funded to provide services across Scotland. This year's allocation is £94.3 million - up £4.1 million on last year.The allocation includes £500,000 specifically for 20 more frontline staff in Glasgow, and a further £485,00…

12 Nov 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what reviews have taken place of the likely impact of the Working Time Directive on the road haulage industry.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Mattersrelating to the working time proposals which will implement the Road TransportDirective are reserved. I recognise, however, the concern of the road haulageindustry in Scotland about some of the proposals and weremain in close contact with colleagues in…

3 Nov 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the Equality Strategy.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: We have published today the Scottish Executive's Equality Strategy entitled Working Together for Equality, copies of which are available in the Parliament's reference centre. There will be an opportunity to debate it in Parliament on Wednesday 8 Novemb…

6 Sep 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-5761 by Rhona Brankin on 13 April 2000, how work to take forward the role of sport in promoting social inclusion has progressed.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Our aim is to harness new and existing resources to reap the full potential of sport in creating a more inclusive Scotland. One example is sportscotland's commitment to working with all 47 Social Inclusion Partnerships over the next three years to ensu…

18 Aug 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list by (a) local authority area and (b) parliamentary constituency all sites of historic battles maintained by it, its agencies or other Scottish public bodies and whether there are any plans to add new sites to this list.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: There is no central list of battlefield sites. Historic Scotland is currently giving consideration to drawing up a register although there is a lack of evidence to identify the precise location of many battlefields and few physical remains survive.<P ALIGN="J…

30 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail the number of dwellings by council tax band in each local authority.

Answer · Jack McConnell: The table below shows the number of dwellings by council tax band in each local authority area.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=642><TR><TD VALIGN="TOP" COLSPAN=10 HEIGHT=13>Number of properties on th…

21 Jun 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether palliative care will be an integral part of strategies for cancer care and the care of those with chronic and progressive illnesses.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive supports the principle that palliative care should form an integral part of the management of those with all forms of progressive illness.

16 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7398 by Susan Deacon on 14 June 2000, whether it will detail by (a) health board and (b) hospital, the incidence of burkholdaria cepacia in each of the last ten years, showing the number of fatalities and the age groups of those affected.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health (SCIEH) have provided data on the incidences of Burkholderia Cepacia over the last ten years split by health board, reporting laboratory, and grouped by age. Most laboratories are located within the d…

16 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to introduce legislation to limit the height of trees, such as Leylandii hedges, in urban settings.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Executive is currently considering the subject of high hedges. A consultation paper was issued on 12 January 2000, seeking views on the extent of problems they cause; and on whether existing remedies are sufficient to deal with any problems experienced or…

14 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures are in place to monitor the work of Social Inclusion Partnerships.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: I refer Mr McMahon to the answer I gave to question S1W-7258 on 8 June 2000.

14 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in tackling social exclusion in the Hamilton North and Bellshill constituency.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: In November 1999, we published Social Justice - a Scotland where everyone matters, which set out our commitment to tackling exclusion and disadvantage wherever it occurs. At a local level, action to achieve the milestones is being taken by our network …

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether a decision has been reached on the allocation of Rough Sleeper Initiative funding to Glasgow and Edinburgh following the most recent round of bids for funds.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: Further to my answer of 23 February, I am today announcing the allocation of £5.26 million to Edinburgh for the immediate provision of interim direct access facilities for people who are presently sleeping rough in Edinburgh; for the development of a new rece…

26 Apr 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in developing shared care strategies to assist patients with opiate addiction in the Lanarkshire area.

Answer · Iain Gray: Lanarkshire Drug Action Team are committed to an extension of Shared Care activity in the area in line with the Action In Partnership strategy. This includes a comprehensive training and support service in which over 50% of GP practices in the area are partic…

20 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children with special needs are currently educated (a) for more than one third of the week and (b) wholly in non-mainstream schools, in each local authority.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: All pupils educated and based in non-mainstream schools are in full-time education and therefore qualify as being educated for more than one third of the week. The information requested is given in the table below.<P ALIGN…

20 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children with special needs are currently being educated in non-mainstream schools (a) outwith their home town and (b) in their home town, in each local authority.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: The Scottish Executive does not collect information about pupils' home towns. Information is collected on the numbers of pupils attending publicly funded special schools within and outwith their own local authority. The information is provided in the table be…

20 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to publish regular statistics on educational qualifications obtained by pupils in Scotland's special educational needs schools.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: The Scottish Executive has no plans to publish statistics on educational qualifications obtained by pupils in special schools.

24 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether public funding, including Regional Selective Assistance, is required to be taken into account by NHS Trusts when considering tenders for NHS contracts.

Answer · Susan Deacon: There is no requirement for NHS Trusts to take account of public funding, including Regional Selective Assistance, when considering tenders for NHS contracts from competing companies.

10 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in awarding work contracts, any NHS Trust requiring a private build solution has awarded a contract to an organisation already utilising NHS property.

Answer · Susan Deacon: This information is not held centrally.

10 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, when work contracts have been awarded by NHS Trusts, any such contracts have attracted capital charges to the National Health Service.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Where expenditure on capital projects increases the value of NHS assets this attracts capital charges.Projects put forward for capital funding are the subject of business cases, which consider all aspects of the project including …

27 Oct 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has received from its medical advisers on the possible impact on breast cancer detection rates and breast cancer mortality rates of extending the routine call/recall element of the breast cancer screening programme to women aged 65-69.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive is firmly committed to the Breast Screening Programme. At present, women aged 50-64 are invited every 3 years and women aged over 64 can attend on request, either through their General Practitioner or by calling their local breast scree…

17 Jun 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many disabled students in Scotland it intends will benefit from the extension of the non-means tested Disabled Students Allowance to full time students.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: From session 1999/2000, as part of the aim to widen access to higher education, the Disabled Students' Allowance will be available to all eligible full-time and part-time higher education students; there is no speci…

16 Jun 1999 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many disabled students in Scotland it intends will benefit from the extension of the non-means tested Disabled Students Allowance to full time students.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: From session 1999/2000, as part of the aim to widen access to higher education, the Disabled Students' Allowance will be available to all eligible full-time and part-time higher education students; there is no specified number.