Parliamentary questions
Stewart Stevenson
2,358 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
13 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what research projects it has commissioned since 1999 and what the timetable is for the publication of each piece of research that has yet to be completed.
Answer · Tom McCabe: To provide a comprehensiveanswer to this question would involve disproportionate cost. There are,however, a number of websites where Scottish Executive's research programmesare recorded:</p><p>Theannual report of the Scottish Executive Health Department Chief…
13 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether occupied Crown property is exempt from council tax.
Answer · George Lyon: Occupied Crown property is liable for council tax with the exception of dwellings owned by the Ministry of Defence for armed forces accommodation. In those cases, the Ministry of Defence make a payment in lieu of council tax.</p>
13 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many mobile phones have been reported by ministers as (a) lost and (b) stolen in each year since 1999.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The numbers of mobile phones that have been reported by ministers as (a) lost and (b) stolen in each year since 1999 are as follows:</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 width=566> <thead> <tr> <td colspan=7> <p>Mobile phones reported by Minis…
13 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish a full economic cost-benefit analysis for Scotland of the successful London Olympic bid.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: No. The Scottish Executivewill, however, aim to maximise the potential business, tourism, sporting andcultural benefits to Scotland which will arise from London hosting the Olympics;and will monitor and evaluate the economic impacts on Scotland ofsuch an impo…
13 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people employed by it and non-departmental public bodies have a compulsory retirement age of 65.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executivenormal retirement age is 60, although staff can be retained on a yearly basisup to age 65 provided their performance, conduct and attendance aresatisfactory and there is a post available. This policy extends to all ScottishExecutive core…
13 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it (a) has had and (b) plans to have with (i) current UK nuclear operators, (ii) overseas nuclear power operators and (iii) investors in respect of conditions which would be necessary for them to consider constructing or financing new nuclear power plants in Scotland.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The Scottish Executive has neither had nor planned any discussions with nuclear operators or investors on the construction or financing of new nuclear power plants in Scotland.</p>
13 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of MRSA there were in each hospital in each of the last five years for which statistics are available.
Answer · Andy Kerr: A national mandatoryhealthcare associated infection surveillance system was introduced in 2001 tomonitor MRSA bacteraemias (blood infections). The surveillance is operated byHealth Protection Scotland (HPS) and it produces quarterly reports about theincidence…
12 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital admissions on mental health grounds in the last three years have resulted from the use of (a) pharmaceutical drugs, (b) heroin, (c) cocaine, (d) cannabis, (e) alcohol, (f) nicotine and (g) magic mushrooms
Answer · Hugh Henry: Admissions to mental illness hospitals and psychiatric units for the last three years where information is available and where substances are listed on hospital record summaries is shown in Table 1. In cases of multiple drug use, specific drugs are not always…
12 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of people recruited to teach (a) science, (b) mathematics and (c) modern languages were from (i) the United Kingdom, (ii) the European Union and (iii) other overseas nations in each year from 1994 to 2004.
Answer · Peter Peacock: Local authorities areresponsible for the recruitment of teachers in their areas. Information on theareas of origin of newly recruited teachers is not held centrally.</p>
12 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many students from (a) China and (b) India took courses in (i) science and (ii) engineering at higher education institutions in Scotland at (1) undergraduate and (2) postgraduate level in each year from 1994 to 2004.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The tables below give the numbers of students domiciled in China and India attending courses at Scottish higher education institutions in the academic years 1994-95 to 2003-04.</p><p>(a) China</p><p>Students domiciled in China attending Scottish Higher Educat…
12 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many families were housed in temporary accommodation in each local authority (a) in 1997 and (b) on the last date for which figures are available.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Temporary accommodation provided under Section 29 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 is that which is used by local authorities when carrying out their duty to provide accommodation to people who apply as homeless while their applications are being assessed, …
12 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were registered on council house waiting lists in each local authority (a) in 1997 and (b) on the last date for which figures are available.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The numbers of households onwaiting lists for each local authority are published on an annual basis for2000-01 onwards in the quarterly Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin(Housing Series)<i> Housing Trends in </i><i>Scotland</i><i>.</i> This is available …
12 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people were not in employment, education or training, broken down by (a) constituency and (b) local authority (i) in total and (ii) as a percentage of each age group ranked in descending order and grouped by region, in the last year for which figures are available.
Answer · Allan Wilson: Young people not inemployment education or training is usually defined by the Scottish Executiveas those aged 16-19 not in employment, education or training (NEET). Data on theNEET group are taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The most up to datedata a…
12 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the incidence of breast cancer per 1,000 women has been in each year since 1990, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Andy Kerr: <i>Cancer Scenarios</i> (Scottish Executive 2001 (updated in 2004)) projected that cancer incidence will continue to increase, due partly to an ageing population. However, as a result of raised awareness, earlier detection and improved treatment fewer people …
12 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many primary school-aged children it is estimated that there will be in each of the next five academic years.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The information requested is set out in the following table.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>Year</p></td> <td> <p align=center>Projected Number of 4 to 11-Year-Old Children*</p></td> </tr> </thea…
12 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the incidence of testicular cancer per 1,000 men has been in each year since 1990, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Andy Kerr: <i>Cancer Scenarios</i> Scottish Executive 2001 (updated in 2004)) projected that cancer incidence will continue to increase, due partly to an ageing population. However, as a result of raised awareness, earlier detection and improved treatment fewer people a…
12 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the life expectancy rates were for (a) males and (b) females in each year from (i) 1980 to 1985 and (ii) 1990 to 1995, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer · George Lyon: The information requested isgiven in <i>Life</i> <i>expectancy at birth 1980 to 1995</i>, a copy of whichhas been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 37186).</p>
11 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many public sector IT projects budgeted to cost over £1 million are currently in progress.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive doesnot hold a central register of all public sector IT projects and thereforecould only provide the information requested at disproportionate cost. Thisanswer covers IT projects approved by the Scottish Executive InformationSystems Ste…
11 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many public sector IT projects costing over £1 million have been (a) completed within 10% of the original budget, (b) completed outwith 10% of the original budget and (c) abandoned in each year since 1999.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive does not hold a central register of all public sector IT projects and therefore could only provide the information requested at disproportionate cost. This answer covers IT projects approved by the Scottish Executive Information System…
11 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many public sector IT projects costing over £1 million have been completed in each year since 1999.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive does not hold a central register of all public sector IT projects and therefore could only provide the information requested at disproportionate cost.This answer covers IT projects approved by the Scottish Executive Information Systems …
11 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many public sector IT projects costing over £1 million have been started in each year since 1999.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive does not hold a central repository of all public sector IT projects that have been started in each year since 1999 and the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The following figures refer specifically t…
11 Jul 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many valuations of PFI/PPP assets where transfer of ownership to the public sector will take place on conclusion of the contract have been undertaken and what the total value was in each case.
Answer · Tom McCabe: None. </p><p>The improved or new assets constructedas a result of PPP projects will usually be accounted for on the contractor’s balancesheet. Valuations and accounting treatment during the contract are the responsibilityof the PPP contractor. When the asset …
30 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in updating its plans for the prison estate.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I asked the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to update its Prisons Estates Strategy in the light of the Napier judgement and other developments since the Estates Review was completed in 2002. As part of that work, the SPS will be discussing options for prison se…
29 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many meat inspectors were employed in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The following table details the numbers of staff employed as meat hygiene inspectors and senior meat hygiene inspectors in Scotland in each of the last three years as at 1 April</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <tr> <td> <p>Post</p></td…
29 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the rate of sickness absence for (a) medical staff, (b) non-medical clinical staff and (c) all other staff has been in the NHS in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The information asked for is not collected centrally in the form requested. The information available on sickness absence is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under Workforce Statistics, <a href="http://www.isdscotland.org/workforce">www.isd…
29 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of (a) gonorrhoea, (b) syphilis, (c) chlamydia and (b) thrush have been diagnosed in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The information requested isshown in the following tables. Table 1 shows information on number of cases ofgonorrhoea, syphilis and chlamydia based on laboratory reports by NHS board oftesting in the last five years. Table 2 shows estimated number of contacts …
29 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many carers were recorded by the 2001 Census, broken down into those (a) aged under 18, (b) aged 18 to 64, (c) aged 65 to 74, (d) aged 75 and over and (e) whose age was not known in each local authority area.
Answer · George Lyon: The information requested isin the following table.There are no people in category (e) because an age was imputedif no date of birth was supplied on the census form.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p align=center> Counc…
29 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths have been recorded where (a) clostridium difficile-associated disease, (b) MRSA, (c) vancomycin-resistant enterococci, (d) multi-resistant acinetobacter spp and (e) penicillin-resistant streptococcus pneumoniae was mentioned on the death certificate and in how many cases i…
Answer · George Lyon: The information requested isgiven in the following table.</p><p>Deaths Associatedwith Certain Causes Mentioned on Death Certificates</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <tr> <td> <p> </p> </td> <td> <p align=right>2001</p> </td> <td> <p al…
29 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many alcohol-related incidents required a response by ambulance services in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer · Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally.</p>
29 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many calls to NHS 24 regarding access to an NHS dentist there have been in (a) total and (b) each NHS board in each month since 2002, broken down into (i) emergency, (ii) urgent, (iii) routine and (iv) other calls.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The information requested isdetailed in the table: <i>Number of calls to NHS 24 regarding access to an NHSdentist from May 2002 to June 2005</i> a copy of which has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 37184).</p>