Parliamentary questions
Dr Richard Simpson
2,702 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
10 Jun 2009 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is confident that it will, in this parliamentary session, fulfil the pledge in the SNP manifesto to ensure that every pupil has two hours of quality PE each week delivered by specialist PE teachers.
Answer · Keith Brown: <i > This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:</i></p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0618-01.htm">http://www.scot…
9 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of its intention to replace the Scottish Advisory Committee on Drug Misuse (SACDM) with a drugs strategy delivery commission as stated in The Road to Recovery, One Year On, whether the Scottish Government will proceed with the proposed research sub-group of SACDM and, if so, whe…
Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-24662 on 18 June 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/B…
9 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it informed members of the Scottish Advisory Committee on Drug Misuse that the committee was being disbanded; whether the Scottish Government consulted on this, and, if so, when.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Members of the Scottish Advisory Committee on Drug Misuse (SACDM) were advised in spring 2008 of the Government''s intention to reconstitute SACDM to give it a key role in overseeing the implementation of our national drugs strategy. On 20 April 2009 I announ…
9 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the healthyliving award at entry or higher level takes into account the level of (a) trans fat, (b) saturated fat, (c) sugar or (d) salt as criteria determining eligibility for an award.
Answer · Shona Robison: The criteria for the healthyliving award and healthyliving award <i >plus</i> are based on the general principles of a healthy balanced diet to address the dietary concerns in Scotland, namely to reduce the amount of fat (including saturated fat), salt and su…
9 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any of the 550 establishments that hold the healthyliving award sell products containing trans fat levels of more than 1%.
Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not publicly available.</p> <p >The healthyliving award scheme does not require participating outlets to measure the trans fat content of foods. The criteria are food group based rather than nutrient based, that is they look at cooking me…
26 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that drug services are aware of the reclassification of BZP (also known as herbal ecstasy) and industrial solvent GBL and how to treat people who are using these substances.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Home Office is currently consulting on the options to control BZP and GBL, including full control as a Class C drug. A decision on reclassification will be made later in the year. We will ensure that drug treatment services, and other stakeholders are the…
21 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-23788 by Stewart Stevenson on 20 May 2009, what effect the completion of the UP passenger loop at Stirling railway station could or will have on the timings of the Alloa to Glasgow and Edinburgh passenger link and on freight train operations by DB Sc…
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The creation of a double junction and new UP passenger loop at Stirling railway station will facilitate journey time savings of up to five minutes for a number of Alloa to Glasgow trains. The new facilities will increase the flexibility of the route, assistin…
21 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-23785 by Stewart Stevenson on 20 May 2009, when Transport Scotland decided to request that DB Schenker give up operating freight trains across the Forth Bridge.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: It was always the intention that freight trains would run on this line as the business case presented to Parliament provided for both a passenger line to Alloa and freight line to Kincardine.</p> <p >The line provides a direct route for freight trains supply…
21 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the final cost was for the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine project and how much beyond this cost it has allocated to deal with contingencies or emerging liabilities.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The final cost for the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine project will not be known until the final account has been agreed. The current estimate for the cost to the Scottish Government, for the construction of the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway project, is in line…
21 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether people who bought properties on the basis of information issued by the promoters of the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine Railway and Linked Improvements Bill that trains would not run between 11 pm and 7 am will be compensated.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Compensation may be payable under Part 1 of the Land Compensation (Scotland) Act 1973 provided qualifying property owners along the new railway line can demonstrate that they have suffered financial loss due to devaluation of a property as a result of the re-…
21 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it would support further freight services operating on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine rail route.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Transport Scotland continues to support sustainable transport solutions, including the transfer of goods from road-to-rail across the entire Scottish network, with a view to encouraging a reduction in road congestion hence reducing emissions.</p>
21 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the railway line speed is reduced between Alloa and Kincardine.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The railway line speed is limited between Alloa and Kincardine due to the alignment of the railway, which was constructed within the limits of the existing dismantled railway to reduce land take, and mineworkings.</p> <p >At Alloa, Clackmannan and Kincardine…
14 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18865 by John Swinney on 8 January 2009, when the guidance on consulting service users before and during any tendering or retendering process will be published.
Answer · John Swinney: The development of guidance on social care procurement, including advice on consultation with service users, is being take forward by the joint improvement team as a priority. Service users and their representative bodies are fully involved in the development…
14 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the risk of transmission of the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease has been eliminated from Scottish blood products.
Answer · Shona Robison: As there is currently no test available, the risk of transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease from Scottish blood products remains. In the absence of a test, a range of precautionary measures to minimise the risk of vCJD transmission have been put in…
14 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to address the increasing use of (a) cocaine, (b) anabolic steroids and (c) GHB and GBL.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: I will shortly publish the government''s response to the Scottish Advisory Committee (SACDM) Project Group Report on psychostimulants. This will set out a package of action to address psychostimulant use, including the rise in use of cocaine and GHB. The Home…
13 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it or the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland has issued on the provision of substitute medicine and HIV medication, in particular highly active antiretroviral therapy, to people in police custody already prescribed such medicines.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The provision of medical care in police custody is determined at a local level, and each police force in Scotland has arrangements in place for the health care of those in their custody. The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland Health and Medical …
13 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will issue new guidance on needle exchange following the publication of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance in February 2009.
Answer · Shona Robison: National guidelines for services providing injection equipment to injecting drug users are currently being developed by a Guideline Development Group established under the Phase 2 Hepatitis C Action Plan. The guideline will be published by July 2009.</p>
13 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is promoting the use of dried spot blood testing for hepatitis C virus infection.
Answer · Shona Robison: As part of the Hepatitis C Action Plan, funding has been provided to evaluate dried blood spot testing for hepatitis C diagnosis. If evaluation shows that testing of dried blood spot specimens is as accurate as using conventional blood testing, such an approa…
13 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that effective statutory, voluntary and peer support is readily available for people being tested and going into treatment for hepatitis C.
Answer · Shona Robison: Under the Hepatitis C Phase 2 Action Plan, significant funding has been provided to NHS boards to improve the support services for those infected with hepatitis C. Managed Care Networks for hepatitis C have been set up in every NHS board area and all NHS boar…
13 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-21973 by Adam Ingram on 27 March 2009, how the national data standards being developed under the eCare Framework will relate to forms SMR 25a and SMR 25b and the waiting times data system for substance misusers.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The national data standards referred to in the answer to question S3W-21973 are being developed specifically in relation to children and families under the <i >Getting It Right for Every Child</i> programme. As the Drugs Strategy says, through developing thes…
13 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the variation in prescribing burprenorphine or suboxine across NHS boards reflects patient choice or NHS board choice.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: </p> <p >The decision on what drugs to prescribe for opiate addiction is taken by clinicians in consultation with their patient.</p> <p > </p>
13 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued on the use of burprenorphine or suboxine in the treatment of heroin addiction as part of choice in management and recovery for addicts.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: <i >The Drug Misuse and Dependence: UK Guidelines on Clinical Management</i> (sometimes known as the Orange Book) provide guidelines for clinicians on the treatment of drug misuse. This includes information on pharmacological interventions including buprenorp…
12 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the final criteria for and listing of Scottish battlefields will be published and whether such a listing will have an influence on any decision to underground the proposed Beauly to Denny power line.
Answer · Michael Russell: Ministers will make a statement on policy for historic battlefields later in the summer. It is not possible to speculate on the application of as yet unpublished policy to specific cases.</p>
12 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take into account when reaching a decision on the proposed Beauly to Denny power line (a) the Health Protection Agency’s acknowledgement of an association between prolonged exposure to intense power frequency magnetic fields and a raised risk of childhood leukaemia, (b) pr…
Answer · Jim Mather: The Beauly Denny Local Public Inquiry considered a wide range of issues and the inquiry report was submitted to the Scottish Government on 18 February 2009. Ministers are now considering the report and will take a decision as soon as possible, after due consi…
8 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate Transport Scotland has made of the cost of doubling the track on the railway line from Alloa to Stirling.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Transport Scotland has not prepared a cost estimate for doubling the track on the railway line from Alloa to Stirling.</p>
8 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate Transport Scotland has made of the cost of the additional rolling stock needed to avoid night-time operating on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Provision of rolling stock for the operation of freight trains is a matter for freight train operating companies.</p>
8 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether speed restrictions on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line are being applied differently to trains with new and old wagons.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: No.</p>
8 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the UP passenger loops at Stirling railway station allowing parallel moves on platform six and nine have been completed and, if so, what effect this has had on timings of the Alloa to Glasgow rail link and freight train operation.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The works have not been completed.</p>
8 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the 2,200 ton trailing weight referred to in the minutes of the meeting between DB Schenker Rail, First ScotRail, Transport Scotland and Network Rail on 22 February 2008 was the same as the weight used in the 2002 Scott Wilson impact study and what the proposed increase in the tra…
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The weight used in the Scott Wilson Report was based on the use of 20 x HTA wagons each weighing 100 tonnes, therefore the Environmental Statement assumed a trailing weight of 2,000 tonnes.</p> <p >There is no proposal to increase the trailing weight of Hun…
8 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it first considered the operation of freight trains between 11 pm and 7 am on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line and how many train journeys to and from Longannet between 11 pm and 7 am were considered.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Transport Scotland first became aware of DB Schenker''s proposal to operate freight trains between 11 pm and 7 am in February 2008. The number of trains was a matter for DB Schenker to consider.</p>