Parliamentary questions
Robert Brown
1,531 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
2 Feb 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what has been the average grant made to householders under the Warm Deal in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answer · Frank McAveety: Eaga report that the average grant for the month ending 31 January 2000 was £312.
2 Feb 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive to provide a breakdown of spending on the Warm Deal in the most recent period for which figures are available by (a) local authority area, (b) house type and (c) age of property.
Answer · Frank McAveety: Expenditure by the local authorities taking part in the Warm Deal is set out in the table below. Eaga's expenditure is not distributed by local authority area. Neither Eaga nor authorities supply the Executive with details of work by house type or age of prop…
2 Feb 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive to provide a breakdown, by category, of the precise nature of the work which has been carried out in homes under the Warm Deal in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answer · Frank McAveety: The Warm Deal provides a package of insulation measures comprising cavity wall insulation, loft, cold tank and pipe insulation, hot tank insulation, draughtproofing, energy efficient lightbulbs and energy advice. All households benefiting from the Warm Deal w…
31 Jan 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to make funding available to place defibrillators at public locations in Scotland in order to reduce the number of deaths caused by heart attacks.
Answer · Susan Deacon: There are no plans currently to place defibrillators at public locations in Scotland.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">The evidence for improved outcomes resulting from the placing of defibrillators in public locations is not as clear-cut as might be assumed. A number of im…
31 Jan 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is on target to achieve the elimination of mixed sex wards in NHS hospitals by March 2002.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Executive is on target to achieve elimination of mixed sex accommodation in the NHS in Scotland by March 2002.
31 Jan 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3323 by Susan Deacon on 18 January 2000, to provide the most recent available data on the percentage of patients accommodated in mixed sex wards, broken down by health board area.
Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer to the answer given to S1W-4075.
31 Jan 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3323 by Susan Deacon on 18 January 2000, whether the percentage of patients accommodated in mixed sex wards as at 1 December 1999 is now available and, if not, when it is expected to be available.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Information on the percentage of patients now accommodated in mixed sex wards is not held by the Executive and is not being collected. The 90% figure announced in April 1999 was an estimate based on advice provided by Trusts at that time. It reflected the fac…
31 Jan 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what systems of quality control are in place for work carried out under the Warm Deal and what systems are in place to ensure that the Warm Deal is giving the best value for money.
Answer · Frank McAveety: Local authorities must establish best value in the delivery of works under the Warm Deal and satisfy themselves as to quality control procedures. The remainder of the programme is administered by Eaga. The contractors they use are appointed by competitive ten…
31 Jan 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how the salary levels of biomedical scientists working in the NHS have changed over the last 10 years relative to those in other professions allied to medicine.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The information requested is not available centrally. However, the comparable staff group, MLSOs, salaries are shown in the table below:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD WIDTH="20%" VALIGN="TOP"> </TD><TD WIDTH="20%" VALIGN="TOP…
31 Jan 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the starting salary is of graduate biomedical scientists working in the NHS.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The current starting salary is £7,476.<FONT FACE="Arial, Helvetica" SIZE=2><P>A pay offer to this group of staff has recently been made and, if accepted, this will mean that from 1 April 1999 the starting salary will increase to £9,420 and to £9,702 from 1 Ap…
31 Jan 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to tackle any recruitment and salary problems in relation to biomedical scientists working in the NHS.
Answer · Susan Deacon: There is no evidence held centrally to suggest any widespread recruitment and retention issues surrounding this staff group.<FONT FACE="Arial, Helvetica" SIZE=2><P>However, the recent pay offer to biomedical scientists, if accepted, will mean increases of up …
21 Jan 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which public agency has the overall responsibility for co-ordinating the regeneration of Glasgow and what agreements are in place to allocate specific lead responsibility for the key aspects or objectives of regeneration.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The regeneration of Glasgow is being led by the Glasgow Alliance which, under the leadership of the local council, brings together the public sector agencies, the private sector and the community and voluntary sectors in Glasgow, to work together to change th…
19 Jan 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive why the Scottish Homes analysis of fuel poverty from the Housing Condition Survey 1996 has not yet been released into the public domain and when it intends to make this information public.
Answer · Frank McAveety: Work on the analysis has not yet been completed.
18 Jan 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any guidelines are provided to police officers as to the approach to be taken to a civil property dispute.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Executive does not provide guidelines on civil property disputes to the police. However, the police have a duty to maintain public order and safety.
13 Jan 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken by either the Minister for Communities or the Homelessness Task Force to establish the extent of homelessness among disabled people and provide an informed basis for encouraging project bids to tackle the problems.
Answer · Jackie Baillie: The Code of Guidance on Homelessness already makes provision for disabled homeless people to be regarded as being in priority need for the purposes of the homeless persons legislation. The operation of this and other aspects of the legislation come within the…
13 Jan 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what specific projects have been set up to date within the Rough Sleepers Initiative for meeting the particular needs of disabled people.
Answer · Jackie Baillie: One bid is currently under consideration; this is the first such proposal put forward by a local authority for funding under the Rough Sleepers Initiative.
5 Jan 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of patients in each health board area in Scotland who were referred for a hospital appointment by their GP in the last year received an appointment date which was within nine weeks of their referral date.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The information requested is given in the table.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">PERCENTAGE OF PATIENTS WHO RECEIVED THEIR FIRST OUTPATIENT APPOINTMENT WITHIN NINE WEEKS FOLLOWING A GENERAL MEDICAL PRACTITIONER/GENERAL DENTAL PRACTITIONER REFERRAL IN THE YEAR ENDING 31 SEP…
5 Jan 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are currently being taken by the Executive or by local authorities to stamp out illegal money lending by "loan sharks".
Answer · Jackie Baillie: Consumer protection is a reserved matter and therefore the responsibility of the UK Government. The Scottish Executive is addressing financial exclusion through a variety of measures, which includes support for credit unions as one way of improving access to …
15 Dec 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of patients in the Greater Glasgow Health Board area were treated in (a) orthopaedic and (b) ophthalmology departments within three months of being placed on the waiting list.
Answer · Susan Deacon: 47% of orthopaedic and 56% of ophthalmology patients were treated within three months of being placed on the waiting list within the Greater Glasgow Health Board area.
15 Dec 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce a system of no fault compensation in Scotland and, if so, for which category of claims.
Answer · Jim Wallace: We do not have any plans at present to change the law of reparation to introduce a system of no fault compensation in Scotland.
15 Dec 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to promote the use of mediation procedures in medical negligence claims in Scotland.
Answer · Susan Deacon: We currently have no plans to actively promote the use of mediation procedures in medical negligence claims in Scotland.<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>All medical negligence claims in Scotland are handled through the Central Legal Office (CLO) who advise Health…
14 Dec 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of NHS patients were accommodated in mixed-sex wards in each year since 1994, broken down by health board area.
Answer · Susan Deacon: When Mr Galbraith, as Minister for Health, announced in April 1999 that resources were being made available to end mixed sex accommodation, it was estimated that over 90% of patients going into hospital were already guaranteed a bed on a single sex ward. Furt…
14 Dec 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of breast screening appointments constituted self referrals by women over the age of 64 in each year since 1994, broken down by health board area.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The percentage of breast screening appointments that constituted self or GP referrals of women over the age of 64 in each year since 1993-94 was as follows:<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY"><TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD WIDTH="27%" VALIGN="TOP"…
14 Dec 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of eligible children were immunised with the mumps, measles and rubella vaccine in each year since 1994.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The information is as follows:-<P><DIR><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Year Ending 31 December Percentage rate of eligible children vaccinated<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY"><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">1994 93.5<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">1995 94.1<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">1996 94.6<P ALIGN="…
14 Dec 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the National Advisory Committee on Alcohol Misuse to report on its proposals for a national strategy to tackle alcohol misuse in Scotland.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Advisory Committee on Alcohol Misuse has met three times since its establishment in April 1999 and I expect to be in a position to make an announcement early in the new year on its proposals.
9 Dec 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it proposes to take to address the report of the National Audit Office on the Scottish Ambulance Service, particularly with regard to any shortcomings in Greater Glasgow.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive welcomes the NAO report on the Scottish Ambulance Service. We do not want to pre-empt the Parliament's consideration of it. We are, however, committed to working to ensure that the people of Scotland get the high quality and rapid ambul…
8 Dec 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to provide additional resources to police forensic laboratories.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive does not provide resources specifically for forensic laboratories. Decisions on the level of resources to be allocated to police forensic laboratories from the overall GAE provided for the police are for Chief Constables to determine, i…
8 Dec 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what is the average length of time taken in each police force area to deal with drug analysis by forensic laboratories in drug cases.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The provision of forensic laboratories services is the responsibility of individual police forces. I understand that the forces hold this information in a variety of different ways, which are not directly comparable. However, all forces consider that they hav…
8 Dec 1999 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it proposes to take to address the report of the National Audit Office on the Scottish Ambulance Service, particularly with regard to any shortcomings in Greater Glasgow.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive welcomes the NAO report on the Scottish Ambulance Service. We do not want to pre-empt the Parliament's consideration of it. We are, however, committed to working to ensure that the people of Scotland get the high quality and rapid ambul…
2 Dec 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to encourage consultation between health professionals and representatives of the deaf community regarding the development of objective and agreed information and protocols as to the appropriateness of the use of cochlear implant services, particularly for childre…
Answer · Susan Deacon: The provision of cochlear implantation in Scotland has recently been reviewed by the National Services Advisory Group, which advises The Scottish Executive on specialist services. Clinicians and representatives of the deaf community were involved in the revie…