Parliamentary questions
Stewart Stevenson
2,358 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
29 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the 10 most common reasons for calls to NHS 24 were in the last 12 months for which information is available.
Answer · Andy Kerr: Between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005 the 10 most common reasons for calls to NHS 24, based on the use of algorithms, were:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <tr> <td> <p> </p></td> <td> <p align=center>Reason</p></td> </tr> …
28 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much (a) it and (b) non-departmental public bodies spent on advertising in 2004-05, broken down by media type.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Information on Non Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) is not held centrally by the Executive. NDPBs are responsible for the management and monitoring of their own budgets and spending on advertising is an operational matter for them to manage within their ove…
28 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many temporary buildings there have been on school premises in each local authority area in (a) 1999, (b) 2001 and (c) 2005, broken down into (i) primary, (ii) secondary and (iii) special schools.
Answer · Robert Brown: The information requested is not collected centrally.</p>
28 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of deaths from cervical cancer occurred in women aged (a) 60 and over, (b) from 30 to 59 and (c) under 30 in each year since 1975.
Answer · George Lyon: The information requested is given in the following table.</p><p>Deaths from Cervical Cancer, Scotland, 1975-2004 Percentage by Age</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 width=378> <thead> <tr> <td rowspan=2> <p> </p> </td> <td colspan=3> …
28 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many press officers it employed and what their cost was in each year since 1999.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Information from 2002 onwardsis set out in the tables below. (It would only be possible to provide data priorto this date at disproportionate cost.) The information covers mainstream pressofficers. It does not include any staff working on support activities t…
28 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive within what interest rate range, relative to the base rate, core funding for PFI and PPP contracts has been in each year since 1999.
Answer · Tom McCabe: I refer the member to the answerto question S2W-17635 on 12 July 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the searchfacility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.s…
28 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the interest rate range, relative to the base rate, within which core funding for PFI and PPP contracts should fall.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The swap rate is negotiated as part of the competitive dialogue under the invitation to negotiate procurement process. There is no set range as it will depend on the prevailing market factors in each case. It is for each public authority, supported by profess…
28 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is in relation to the use of separate bidding competitions for funding embedded within PFI and PPP contracts.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive keepsprocurement mechanisms such as funding competitions under review whenconsidering appropriate delivery arrangements. Currently there is healthycompetition in Scotland in the PPP funding market, with several bondproviders adding to b…
28 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many PFI or PPP contracts have been subject to bidding competition for the funding embedded within them in each year since 1999.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Since 1999, in all PPP/PFIprocurements in Scotland competitively priced funding arrangements have beenproposed by bidders. There has been no separate funding competition instigatedby the public sector.</p>
23 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) maximum and (b) median number of remand prisoners was in the most recent year for which figures are available, broken down by prison.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p>The information is given in the following table :</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>2004</p…
23 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio of the number of GPs to population was in each NHS board area in each of the last five years.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The table shows the average number of patients per whole-time-equivalent GP to in each of Scotland’s NHS boards.</p> <p>Average Number of Patients Per Whole-Time-Equivalent General Practitioner<sup>1</sup> in Scotland by NHS Board Area; As At 1 October, 2000 …
23 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people attending accident and emergency departments were not registered with a GP in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Andy Kerr: This information is not collected centrally. We do urge everyone to register with a general practitioner and to seek their help and advice as to the best access to the services they may need.</p>
23 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total number of accident and emergency attendances was in each NHS board area in each of the last five years for which figures were available.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The information requested isshown in the following table. Data for the year ending March 2005 are not yetcomplete.</p><p>The figuresinclude return attendances as well as new presentations.</p><p>NHSScotland– Accident and emergency Attendances<sup>1</sup>; by …
23 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average daily number of general and acute beds open overnight was in each of the last five years in (a) Scotland and (b) each NHS board area and what the bed occupancy rate was.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The information requested is shown in the following tables.</p> <p>Table 1 shows information on average available staffed beds. This indicates the average daily number of beds, which were staffed and were available for the reception of inpatients and day case…
23 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) doctors, (b) nurses, (c) consultants and (d) auxiliary staff have been victims of violence in each of the last 10 years, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The information asked for is not collected in the requested format. The data available on violence is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under Workforce Statistics, <a href="http://www.isdscotland.org/workforce">www.isdscotland.org/workforce<…
23 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the spending per pupil was in the 10 per cent (a) least deprived and (b) most deprived local authority areas in (i) 1999-2000, (ii) 2002-03, (iii) 2003-04 and (iv) 2004-05.
Answer · Peter Peacock: Information on education spend per pupil by each local authority is published by the Scottish Executive in <i>Expenditure on Scottish Education, 2005</i>:<i> </i></p> <p><a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00389-00.asp">http://www.scotland.gov…
23 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of fires were caused by accumulations of litter in each year since 1999.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The information is not available in the form requested but table 3 of the Statistical Bulletin Criminal Justice Series Fire Statistics Scotland, published by the Scottish Executive in March 2005, provides details of secondary fires, which includes fires invol…
23 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of computer (a) hacking, (b) fraud and (c) theft have been recorded and on how many occasions computer systems (i) within and (ii) outwith the Executive have been illegally accessed by computer hackers in each year since 1999.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The recorded crime statisticsavailable centrally do not differentiate the circumstances of the crime and as suchit is not possible to distinguish cases where a computer was involved incommitting a fraud or theft.</p><p>Inrelation to computer hacking, two type…
22 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the (a) error rate and (b) durability of (i) fingerprint identification, (ii) retina identification and (iii) facial mapping and what assessment has been made of the effects of (1) age and (2) seasonal work on the accuracy of fingerprint identification.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Fingerprint Service (SFS) and the Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) have carried out and continue to carry out assessments of fingerprint identification techniques.</p> <p>A benchmarking exercise on two Automatic Fingerprint Recog…
21 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will reply to my letter of 18 May 2005 on parliamentary questions S2W-15081 and S2W-15082.
Answer · Andy Kerr: I wrote to the member on 23 June, providing a full response to his letter.</p>
21 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were arrested for the (a) supply and (b) possession with intent to supply of (i) heroin, (ii) crack cocaine, (iii) all class A drugs and (iv) all class B drugs excluding cannabis prior to reclassification in each calendar year since 2001, broken down by (1) police force an…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Statistics on arrests are not available. The available statistics on persons with a charge proved for drug supply offences is given in the table. Supply and possession with intent to supply are not separately identifiable in the statistics held centrally, nor…
21 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of (a) male and (b) female prisoners it estimates have (i) alcohol and (ii) drug abuse problems.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p>I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-15576 on 14 April 2005, and the answer given to question S2W-16631 on 31 May 2005. All an…
21 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital workers have been disciplined for alcohol and drug-related incidents since 1997, broken down by (a) profession and (b) gender.
Answer · Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally.</p>
21 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff members were attacked with weapons in mental health wards in each of the last five years.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Information on the number of attacks on mental health wards is not held centrally. The information available on violence is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under Workforce Statistics, <a href="http://www.isdscotland.org/workforce">www.isds…
21 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which dentists are accepting new NHS (a) child and (b) adult patients, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: This information is not held centrally. Health boards may hold the information.</p>
21 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of (a) children and (b) adults living in each NHS board area are registered with an NHS dentist and what the figures were in each of the last five years.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Percentage of children and adults living in each NHS board area registered with an NHS dentist<sup>1</sup>, at 31 March</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p> </p></td> <td> <p>1999</p></td> <td> <p…
21 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average call back time for NHS 24 has been in each month since the service was established.
Answer · Andy Kerr: At all times, clinicallyurgent calls are dealt with immediately by NHS 24 nurse advisers. During peaktimes, less clinically urgent calls are prioritised and the service endeavoursto achieve call back by a nurse adviser within specified target times – 60 minut…
21 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints have been made by members of the public regarding the service they have received from NHS 24 and how many such complaints were upheld.
Answer · Andy Kerr: This information isavailable for 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 and is set out in this table:</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>Year</p> </td> <td> <p align=center>Complaints received</p> </td> <td> <p align=cente…
21 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to recruit dentists in (a) Greece, (b) Portugal, (c) Germany, (d) Spain and (e) India and what intermediary organisations it uses for this purpose.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive does not currently have any specific measures to recruit dentists from Greece, Portugal, Germany, Spain or India as responsibilityfor recruitment is a matter for NHS boards and independent dental practitionerswho own dental practices.</…
21 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total financial cost was to NHS boards of pursuing prosecutions on behalf of staff who were victims of alleged assault during their hours of work in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answer · Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally to answer the question.</p>