Parliamentary questions
Richard Lochhead
2,448 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
15 Aug 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive to whom drug action teams are accountable and whether there are any plans to measure their performance.
Answer · Iain Gray: Drug Action Teams (DATs) are accountable to the Executive through annual corporate planning arrangements. They are required to report current and planned activity in their area to meet objectives across the four pillars of the drugs strategy and their own loc…
15 Aug 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many rehabilitation beds are available in each health board area for registered drug users, expressed on a per capita basis and as a ratio to the number of registered drug users in each area.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Information in the form requested is not held centrally. The term "registered drug" user no longer exists and I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-16963 on 8 August.<P>Rehabilitation for those addicted to drugs is provided through …
15 Aug 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHSiS appointments with (a) consultants and (b) GPs patients failed to attend in each health board area and health trust in each of the last three years, expressed as a percentage of all appointments in each case, and what the cost to the NHSiS of missed appointments was in each…
Answer · Susan Deacon: The only data held centrally on missed appointments is the number of first consultant out-patient appointments not attended. The percentage who did not attend for each of the last three years by health board area and health trust can be found on the Informati…
15 Aug 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to help former trawlermen with their applications for compensation from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) following the closure of the Icelandic fisheries in the 1970s and whether it will give details of any communication with the DTI on this matter.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: I wrote to the Secretary of State at the Department of Trade and Industry on 25 July offering all assistance in helping identify trawlermen who previously worked in Icelandic waters. I was very pleased that the Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen on behalf of the S…
8 Aug 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the safety camera project being piloted by Strathclyde Police which allows them to retain the money raised through fixed-penalty speeding fines will be extended to other police force areas.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The extension of this project is currently being considered by the police, local authorities and other potential partners, the Executive and the United Kingdom government.
8 Aug 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) fixed site and (b) mobile unit speed cameras it currently funds, calibrates and maintains, broken down by police force area; how much it cost to fund, calibrate and maintain such cameras in 2000-01; how much was raised through fines by these cameras in this period and whethe…
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive is responsible for the maintenance for 94 Gatso and 45 loop or sub-surface sensor type speed camera sites on the trunk road network in the following police force areas:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=609><TR><TD WIDTH="4…
24 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the provision of dermatologists is in each health board area, expressed (a) numerically and (b) per capita.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The information requested is shown in the following table, which should be read in conjunction with the notes below. In particular, the figures do not reflect directly the availability of dermatology services, because in many instances doctors employed in one…
24 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are currently on waiting lists to see dermatologists in (a) each health board area and (b) Scotland as a whole.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Information on waiting lists is collected centrally only for hospital in-patient/day case treatment.<P>The number of patients on the in-patient/day case waiting list in the specialty of dermatology on 31 March 2001, by health board of residence, is given in t…
24 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the current average waiting time is for an appointment to see a dermatologist in (a) each health board area and (b) Scotland as a whole.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The median waiting time for a first out-patient appointment with a Consultant in Dermatology, following referral by a General Medical Practitioner, in the year ended 30 June 2001, by health board of residence, is provided in the table.<FONT FACE="Arial"><P AL…
20 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what salaries and benefits are received by the chief executives and chairmen of each water authority and by what percentage these increased in 2001-02.
Answer · Ross Finnie: Scottish Executive guidance on <I>Public Appointments: Pay of Chairmen, Board Members and Chief Executives in 2001-02</I> was issued to the water authorities in July. The figures in the table include the recommended increase of 3%, which is still to be applie…
20 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many oncologists are employed in each health board area and what the ratio of these to population is in each area.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Cancer services in Scotland are delivered by clinicians working within managed clinical networks. The number of oncologists employed in any health board area and the ratio of these to population is therefore not an indicator of the level of patient access to …
18 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail all available public sources of (a) further and (b) higher education student support.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: Information is not held centrally on all available public sources of further and higher education student support. A variety of sources of public funding are available to Scottish students, and students studying in Scotland, depending on the type, level, mode…
18 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what incentives it plans to offer to encourage farmers' sons or daughters to remain in the industry.
Answer · Ross Finnie: There are specific grant schemes operating across Scotland to support farmers and their immediate families in developing and sustaining farm incomes. The schemes provide valuable assistance to farming families in supporting diversification opportunities, both…
18 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to offer farmers early retirement schemes.
Answer · Ross Finnie: In preparing the Scottish Rural Development Plan, we consulted widely on whether to introduce an early retirement scheme for farmers. In light of that consultation, we concluded against the introduction of a scheme and concentrated resources instead on measur…
11 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown by constituency and parliamentary region or by the most appropriate available geographical area of the location of the holders of the first 100,000 individual learning accounts.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Executive's target of 100,000 Individual Learning Accounts (ILAs) was achieved on 11 June 2001. The nearest date for which ILAs are broken down geographically is for the period ended 30 June. The following details are provided below by Local Enterprise Co…
11 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive ehat steps are being taken to help the fishing industry to recruit crews.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: I understand that certain sectors of the fishing industry are having difficulty in retaining crew members. We expect that the impact of the Executive's decommissioning scheme on the viability and profitability of vessels will assist in attracting crews.
11 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug addicts are (a) registered and (b) estimated to live in each health board area, giving each figure (i) as a percentage of the national figure and (ii) as a proportion of the population in each area.
Answer · Iain Gray: The term "registered drug addict" no longer exists. Information on the numbers of people misusing drugs is not held centrally. However the Scottish Executive has commissioned the Centre for Drugs Misuse Research at the University of Glasgow to condu…
9 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is seeking a ban on industrial fishing as part of the review of the Common Fisheries Policy or through any other forum.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: A decision to ban or limit industrial fishing must be based on scientific evidence. We are working with colleagues in DEFRA to establish the impact of the industrial fisheries on the marine ecosystem, both in terms of bycatch of other fish and the importance …
9 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio of GPs to patients is in each health board area.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The ratio of GPs to patients in each health board area is shown in the following table.<FONT FACE="Arial"><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Ratio of GPs to patients¹, by Health Board (As at 1 October 2000)<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD WIDTH="50…
9 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many GPs (a) retired, (b) resigned and (c) took up post in each of the last five years in each health board area.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Robust information on the numbers of GPs who retire or resign is not available since many do not supply a reason for leaving. Table 1 shows the numbers of GPs, by health board area, who ceased to practise as GP Principals in each of the last five years. Table…
6 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many GP co-operatives are funded by the Scottish Executive, which co-operatives these are and how much funding is given to each.
Answer · Susan Deacon: There are some 37 GP Out-of-Hours Co-operatives in Scotland - these are not directly funded by the Executive but an Out-of-Hours Development Fund (£5.742 million for 2001-02) is allocated to health boards to support improvements in out-of-hours services, incl…
6 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce more stringent enforcement of the Specified Risk Materials Regulations 1997 in relation to imported beef carcasses.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Food Standards Agency has advised that European Law requires specified risk material (SRM) to be removed at the slaughterhouse, and it is illegal for another EU Member State to send consignments of meat to the UK, which contain spinal cord. The Specified …
5 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what funds were allocated by Scottish Enterprise to each Local Enterprise Company (LEC), expressed both in monetary and per capita terms for each LEC and as a percentage of each LEC's overall budget allocation, in each of the last three years.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. The Scottish Executive does not hold this information centrally.
3 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any justice projects will be abandoned or reduced as a result of the recent budget announcement and, if so, which specific projects will be affected.
Answer · Jim Wallace: There will be no projects abandoned or reduced following the announcement of savings on the justice budget.
3 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any agricultural projects will be abandoned or reduced as a result of the recent budget announcement and, if so, which specific projects will be affected.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The impact of the budget announcement on planned agricultural and other Rural Development and Environment spending is set out in the reply to question S1W-16765.
3 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any fisheries projects will be abandoned or reduced as a result of the recent budget announcement and, if so, which specific projects will be affected.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-16765. These are the only savings planned in the fisheries programmes.
3 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list by police force area the amount of illegal drugs sei'ed by the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency.
Answer · Iain Gray: The following table contains estimates, by police force area, of the weights of Class A and Class B controlled drugs seized within Scotland in operations involving the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency during the period 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001.<TABLE BOR…
3 Jul 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to improve safety in the fishing industry; what funds it has available for this purpose, and whether the recent budget announcement will have any impact on the amount of funds available.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: To improve safety culture in the fishing industry the Executive is making available up to £1.5 million over three years for the provision of free safety training for fishermen. The recent budget announcement will have no impact on this.
25 Jun 2001 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister to what extent the pattern of land ownership is expected to change should the proposals contained in its draft Land Reform (Scotland) Bill be implemented.
Answer · Henry McLeish: The community right to buy proposals in the draft Land Reform (Scotland) Bill will give community bodies significant new opportunities to own and manage rural land for community purposes. They will be able to register an interest in land in which they can dem…
22 Jun 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many submissions were received on the proposal to introduce a 20 day standstill period following movements of livestock and how many submissions were in favour of the proposal being implemented.
Answer · Ross Finnie: Over 150 replies have been received and are being carefully considered. The vast majority of responses stress that the introduction of a straight 20-day standstill period is unworkable. Equally, however, many recognise that the status quo is untenable and off…