Parliamentary questions

Richard Lochhead

2,448 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

16 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average number of hours of sick leave was per staff member in each NHS board in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: A pilot collection of occupational health and safety statistics has been made over the period 2000-01 to 2002-03 and these are due to be published shortly. The published data is not considered robust enough to be issued by NHS employer and will be shown by Sc…

16 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the patient to staff ratio is for each acute hospital, showing the percentage variation in relation to the guidelines based on the hospital's or NHS board's preferred formula that takes into account the workload and responsibilities for each hospital.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The specific informationrequested is not centrally available. In particular, information on staffnumbers is not collected nationally at individual hospital level and istherefore not possible to identify acute hospital staff as requested. Informationon guideli…

16 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to reduce the number of adverse events in the NHS, analyse the impact of such events on patient care and staff, combat any blame culture in the NHS and learn from past mistakes.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Patient safety has alwaysbeen a priority for NHS boards and is an integral part of the clinicalgovernance arrangements which all boards are required to have in place.NHS Quality ImprovementScotland (NHSQIS) have undertaken two national reviews to monit…

15 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-6249 by Mr Tom McCabe on 12 March 2004, how many general dental practitioners will reach the age of (a) 55 and (b) 60 in each of the next three years, expressed also as a percentage of all practitioners.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The information requested is shown in the following table.<h5>Number and Percentage of Principal NHS General Dental Practitioners (GDPs) Currently Working in the General Dental Service Who Will Reach the Age Of (A) 55 And (B) 60 During the Year to 12 Marc…

15 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many dental graduates remained in Scotland to work in (a) a practice, (b) the community and (c) a hospital following completion of their vocational training and general professional training in each of the last three years, expressed as a percentage of all who completed their training…

Answer · Tom McCabe: Tables 1 and 2 provide the information requested.Table 1: Percentage of Dentists Completing Vocational Training On 31 July and In Post in NHSScotland at 30 September of Same Year<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p…

15 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the status is of Scotland's current links with Nordic countries and what plans it has to build on them.

Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-5525 on 3 February 2004on contacts between the Scottish Executive and the Nordic Council ofMinisters. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search f…

15 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will respond to Audit Scotland's report Better equipped to care? - Follow up report on managing medical equipment and what steps need to be taken as a result of the report.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive acknowledges the concerns identified in the Audit Scotland report andwill respond once full consideration has been given to the recommendations made in the report.All NHS boards are beingasked to respond to the recommendations ma…

15 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the Scotland the Brand initiative and whether it intends to promote any alternative logos.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Scotland the Brand is a private sector company. It receivesno grant support from the Scottish Executive. The First Ministerwill announce details of a campaign to promote Scotland later this year. Nodecision has been taken about an alternative logo.

15 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what works of art and historical artefacts are currently on loan from institutions directly funded by it to departments of Her Majesty's Government, detailing the department and item in each case.

Answer · Frank McAveety: This is a matter for each of the National Institutions. The information requested is not held centrally.

10 Mar 2004 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any studies are planned to assess the impact of rising house prices on first time buyers in rural areas.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive commissions research on a regularbasis to help assess the need for new affordable housing which takes account ofhouse prices and incomes of first time buyers.

2 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average time was for the preparation of social enquiry reports requested by the courts in each local authority in each of the last three years and how many such requests (a) were processed in each of the last three years and (b) are currently outstanding in each local authority.

Answer · Hugh Henry: Section 201(3) of theCriminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (as amended by section 67 of the CriminalJustice (Scotland) Act 2003) specifies maximum periods for adjournmentfor the preparation of social enquiry reports. Information on the numbers ofSERs express…

1 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to provide powers for communities to enable them to acquire land and empty, derelict properties by compulsory purchase for community benefits such as affordable housing and community halls or other facilities.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: No. The existing statutorypowers already enable local authorities, acting in the public interest, topurchase land and property compulsorily for a variety of purposes.

1 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will provide the European and External Relations Committee with an annual report on the activities of the Executive's European Office, as agreed to by it in February 2003 in response to the European Committee's 5th report 2002, An Inquiry into Scotland's Representation in the Eur…

Answer · Andy Kerr: The first annual report willcover the financial year 2003-04 and will be available in April.

17 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how often it has had recourse to section 57(1) of the Scotland Act 1998 since May 1999, broken down by department and title of legislation.

Answer · Andy Kerr: From the information held centrally, Section 57(1) of the Scotland Act 1998 has been used to implement European Community obligations 17 times since May 1999. This is broken down by department,year of transposition and title of legislation below:Enviro…