Parliamentary questions
Mike Rumbles
1,089 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
25 Mar 2002 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer how much the Parliament spent on (a) postage and (b) stationery in each year since 1999-2000.
Answer · David Steel: The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has spent the following amounts in the last three financial years on postage and stationery:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=368><TR><TD WIDTH="21%" VALIGN="TOP"> </TD><TD WIDTH="23%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>19…
21 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made regarding Rate Relief for Small Businesses: Consultation Paper, issued in 2001.
Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-20893 on 11 December 2001.
19 Mar 2002 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the Scottish Agricultural College following the publication of the review of the college's operations.
Answer · Ross Finnie: I have asked the Scottish Agricultural College to consult stakeholders and staff on the Deloitte & Touche Report, and to undertake additional work on its strategy for its education services, and on the financial viability and affordability of the options …
8 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many school nurses were employed in each local authority area at 31 March and 30 September in each of the past three years.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Local authorities do not employ school nurses. School nurses are employed by NHS boards and the figures are detailed in the following table. The figures reflect the number of school nurses at 30 September each year. <P>There are as yet no figures available fo…
8 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities currently have strategies in place to offer help and advice to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.
Answer · Margaret Curran: The information requested is not held centrally. It is entirely up to local authorities if they wish to develop strategies to provide help and support to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. However, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities…
8 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much each health board spent on methadone prescriptions in each of the past three years.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The figures in the following table refer to prescriptions dispensed in the community and do not take into account those dispensed by hospitals or hospital-based clinics.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=425><TR><TD WIDTH="40%" VALIGN="TOP"> …
8 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have been prescribed methadone in each health board area in each of the past three years.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.
8 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have died as a direct result of ecstasy consumption in each of the past three years.
Answer · Richard Simpson: The following table presents the information available. For most of these cases other drugs including alcohol were also involved. It is therefore not possible to say how many of the deaths were as a direct result of ecstasy consumption.<P>Drug-related deaths …
8 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been (a) charged with and (b) convicted of cannabis possession in each of the past three years.
Answer · Richard Simpson: The available information is given in the table. Figures for the number of prosecutions and convictions for the possession of cannabis cannot, from the information held by the Scottish Executive, be separately identified within the total number of prosecution…
8 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many successful claims were made against the insurers of each health board in each of the past three years.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Health boards and NHS trusts do not carry commercial insurance for clinical negligence and most areas of public and employer liability. Cover for these is provided through the departmentally administered Clinical Negligence and Other Risks Indemnity Scheme (C…
8 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many audiologists trained in (a) the diagnosis of a patient's suitability for digital hearing aids and (b) the fitting of such aids there were in each health board area at 31 March and 30 September in each of the past three years.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: Information on the total number of qualified audiologists working in NHSScotland is not held centrally, but will be held by local NHS management. Contact details for NHS management personnel are available on: <P>www.show.scot.nhs.uk.<P>The supplier generally …
8 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many planning applications were (a) made and (b) approved in each local authority area in each of the past three years.
Answer · Margaret Curran: The information requested is given in the following table: <TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=606><TR><TD WIDTH="19%" VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT=58><P>Unitary Authority</TD><TD WIDTH="14%" VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT=58><P>1998-99<P>Total Applications Received<…
8 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many registered charities there were in each (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority area at 31 March in each of the past three years.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive does not hold the information requested. The Inland Revenue maintains a database of registered charities and at the end of February 2002 there were 30,197 charities registered in Scotland. The distribution of these by constituency or lo…
8 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of mothers currently continue to breastfeed at six weeks in each NHS board area.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Centrally held figures are not available for all NHS board areas. The following table, which is compiled by ISD and is drawn from the child surveillance pre-school system, shows the percentage of mothers breastfeeding at the six- to-eight week review point fo…
27 Feb 2002 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliament will continue to use the Royal Mail service following the de-regulation of postal services.
Answer · David Steel: The SPCB is currently contracted to Consignia for the provision of a mail management service at the Parliament's interim accommodation. The contract for this service was competitively tendered and there are no plans to review arrangements with Consignia follo…
13 Feb 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of its waste plastic was sent for recycling in each year since 1998-99.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive has introduced a system for collecting and recycling plastic cups at Victoria Quay. There are plans to extend the system of recycling plastic, including plastic cups, to other major occupancy buildings. In 2000-01 the Scottish Executive…
13 Feb 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of its waste paper was sent for recycling in each year since 1998-99.
Answer · Andy Kerr: In 1999-2000 the Scottish Executive recycled 25% of general waste, of which 25% was paper, and in 2000-01 we recycled 40% of general waste, of which 37% was paper. We expect to achieve our recycling target of 50% recycled waste for 2001-02. <P>Last year the E…
13 Feb 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much each of its departments spent on stationery in each year since 1998-99.
Answer · Andy Kerr: Departmental stationery requirements are met through central contracts. A breakdown by department since 1998-99 is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The following figures set out expenditure on stationery (e.g. recycled p…
13 Feb 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much each of its departments spent on postage in each year since 1998-99.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The information requested is shown in the following table:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=510><TR><TD WIDTH="56%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>Department</TD><TD WIDTH="15%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>1998-99<P>(£000)</TD><TD WIDTH="17%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>1999-2000<P>(…
13 Feb 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the basic councillor's attendance allowance was in each local authority in each of the past three financial years.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The maximum rate of attendance allowance for councillors is set by Scottish ministers and the current rate from 15 February this year is £30.42 per day. The previous rate, applicable from January 1999, was £28.53 per day. There is no obligation on councils to…
13 Feb 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual salary was of each local authority chief executive in each of the past three financial years.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The information requested is not held centrally. However, I understand it is available from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.
13 Feb 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what ring-fenced funding for education was allocated to each local authority in each of the past three financial years.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The information requested<B> </B>is given in the tables contained within <I>Ring-fenced Education Funding for Local Authorities (1998-99 to 2000-01)</I>. A copy is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 19591).
13 Feb 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many diabetic out-patient clinics there currently are in each NHS board area.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held centrally. NHS boards are expected to ensure appropriate services are provided for people with diabetes. This includes community and primary care services as well as hospital in-patient and out-patient care.
13 Feb 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding was allocated to diabetic out-patient clinics by each health board in each of the past three financial years.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not collected centrally. The Executive is committed to ensuring that the most effective services are provided for people with diabetes. To that end, NHS boards are expected to implement the SIGN Guideline on the management of diabetes and …
13 Feb 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many diabetologists there were in each health board area at 31 March and 30 September in each of the past three years.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: Information on the number of doctors recorded as specialising in endocrinology and diabetes at 30 September is shown in the following table. Information at 31 March is not available centrally.<P>Medical Staff Recorded as Specialising in Endocrinology and Diab…
13 Feb 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many dedicated audiology departments there currently are in each NHS board area.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: There are currently 22 main audiology services. The majority of these services provide satellite clinics outwith their main bases - one service visits 18 peripheral clinics.<P>NHS Board <TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=606><TR><TD WIDTH="22%" V…
13 Feb 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding was allocated to audiology departments by each health board area in each of the past three financial years.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: This information is not held centrally but is being collected as part of the wide-ranging review of audiology services, which is currently under way. The review is due to report in the autumn.
13 Feb 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many trained audiologists there were in each health board area at 31 March and 30 September in each of the past three years.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: Information on the number of trained medical staff employed in NHSScotland is collected annually by ISD Scotland at 30 September only. The following table shows the number of medical staff working in the specialty of audiological medicine in the last three ye…
30 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures consistency in standards between (a) BEAR Scotland Ltd, (b) Amey Highways Ltd and (c) Autolink Concessionaires Ltd.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Operating Company contracts and the M6 DBFO contract each have similar service standards specified for the management and maintenance of the network. The Performance Audit Group and Scott Wilson Scotland Limited monitor the performance of the Operating Co…
30 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how the trunk roads maintenance contracts with (a) BEAR Scotland Ltd, (b) Amey Highways Ltd and (c) Autolink Concessionaires Ltd are being evaluated.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive employs the Performance Audit Group to undertake audits and investigations of BEAR Scotland Ltd and Amey Highways Ltd to evaluate their performances against the requirements of the trunk roads maintenance contracts.<P>The contract with …