Parliamentary questions

Ms Rosemary Byrne

600 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

29 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it intends to provide to support those affected by chronic pain and their families in each of the the remaining years of this parliamentary session.

Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the question S2W-18231 answered on 18 August 2005. 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/webapp/…

29 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has provided to support those affected by chronic pain and their families in each year since 1999.

Answer · Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally. NHS boards are given unified budgets, increased by an average of 7.6% in the current financial year, from which they would be expected to meet the costs of treatment for people with chronic pain.

29 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage it pays of the salaries of specialist multiple sclerosis nurses.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive does notdirectly pay anything towards the salaries of NHS staff, including specialist multiplesclerosis nurses, as funding is allocated by the Scottish Executive to healthboards according to the Arbuthnott Formula.

29 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it intends to provide for training specialist multiple sclerosis nurses in each of the remaining years of this parliamentary session.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The planning and training of the workforce, including MS nurses, is primarily a matter for individual NHS boards.

29 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has provided for training specialist multiple sclerosis nurses in each year since 1999.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The planning and training of the workforce, including MS nurses, is primarily a matter for individual NHS boards.

29 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it intends to provide to support those affected by multiple sclerosis and their families in each of the the remaining years of this parliamentary session.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Executive does not allocate NHS funds on the basis of particular conditions. NHS boards are given unified budgets from which they are expected to meet the costs of treatment for people with multiple sclerosis and other conditions.

29 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it intends to provide for research into multiple sclerosis in each of the the remaining years of this parliamentary session.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answerto question S2W-18224 on 11 August 2005. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility forwhich can be found at: <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa…

29 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has provided to support those affected by multiple sclerosis and their families in each year since 1999.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Full information is not held centrally. NHS boards are given unified budgets, increased by an average of 7.6% in the current financial year, from which they would be expected to meet the costs of treatment for people with multiple sclerosis. The Execut…

29 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has provided for research into multiple sclerosis in each year since 1999.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Chief Scientist Office(CSO), within the Scottish Executive Health Department, has responsibility forencouraging and supporting research into health and health care needs in Scotland. CSO primarily responds to requests for fundingresearch proposals initiat…

29 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to introduce a general cycle-to-work scheme similar to that introduced in England and Wales.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The UK-wide cycle-to-work scheme already extends to Scotland, and promotes cycling through an annual tax exemption which allows employers to lend cycles and cyclists’ safety equipment to employees as a tax-free benefit. It is up to individual employers to det…

25 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current levels are of emissions from sources of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls to air, water and land.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-18069 on 19 August 2005. 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/…

25 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what inventories of emissions from sources of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls to air, water and land currently exist and how they are monitored.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Source inventories provide a register or catalogue of pollutant emissions to the environment from a variety of sources. The UK National Atmospheric Emission Inventory (NAEI) is compiled by the National Environmental Technology Centre on behalf of the Scottish…

25 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to devise a strategy to achieve further reduction in dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: As a Party to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the UK is obliged to take measures to reduce unintentional releases of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs with the goal of their continuing minimisation and, where feasible, ultimate eliminati…

25 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to establish an expert group to devise a strategy to achieve further reduction in dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: A UK Dioxins Strategy Group, which includes a full range of key stakeholders and experts on dioxins, has been established by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to help inform work on developing a UK Dioxins Action Plan. The principa…

25 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to give lowland farmers grant assistance for farm business development similar to that provided in the Highlands and Islands.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Such assistance has recentlybeen made available. The Farm Business Development Scheme Variation (Scotland)Scheme 2005 (SSI 219/2005), which came into force on 1 June 2005, extended thescope of the scheme to allow the payment of grant aid for specific addition…

25 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to expand the current list of measures contained in land management contracts.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executiveintends to introduce Land Management Contracts in full from 2007. Work is on-goingwith stakeholders to develop Tier 3 and to explore any changes or furthermeasures which should be added to Tier 2 (the Menu Scheme) for 2007. There willbe …

25 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make any representations to the Department for Trade and Industry on appointing an independent regulator of the supermarket code of practice to ensure fair trade between supermarkets and suppliers.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) recently published its report on supermarkets’ compliance with the code of practice. We shall be discussing with OFT the report’s conclusions and the way forward. We shall continue to emphasise to supermarkets how seriously th…

25 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the Department for Trade and Industry in order to address any uneven distribution of margins in the dairy supply chain.

Answer · Ross Finnie: None. These are issues forthose involved in the industry and the Scottish Executive continues toencourage all concerned - producers, processors and retailers - to worktogether to secure the long-term future of the industry.

23 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether all Scottish prisons will be involved in any new initiative to replace the Cranston project.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish PrisonService (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:It is the intention of thethe SPS that all offenders have access to the new Enhanced Casework Service. I referthe member to the answer…

23 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to replace the Cranston project.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish PrisonService (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:The current SPS Addiction ServicesContract providing assessment, referral, brief interventions and transitional care,delivered by Cran…

23 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what evaluation it has made of the Cranston project.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows: The Addiction Services Contract delivered by Cranstoun Drug Services is monitored within the SPS by an established contract complian…

20 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many placing request refusals, having been dealt with by local authority education appeal committees, have had a summary application lodged with the Sheriff Court and are awaiting a court hearing date.

Answer · Peter Peacock: We do not have the information requested for the current year. From 1 August 2003 to 31 July 2004, over thirty thousand placing requests were made. In the same period, four appeals were made to the sheriff court by parents or pupils whose placing request had …

20 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many appeals under Part VI of the record of needs are currently with local authority education appeal committees awaiting a placing request refusal hearing date.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The information requested is not held centrally.

20 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many records of needs are currently at appeal to the Scottish Ministers against (a) Part IIIB, summary of impairments, (b) Part IV, statement of special educational needs, (c) a decision to open or continue a record and (d) a decision to close or not to open a record following a revie…

Answer · Peter Peacock: Scottish ministers currently have thirteen Record of Needs Appeals for consideration. Five of those are against Part IIIB, summary of impairments giving rise to special educational needs, and Part IV, statement of special educational needs. There are no appea…

20 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been set aside for the training of parents to aid their understanding of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 prior to its implementation.

Answer · Euan Robson: The total funding set aside for the implementation of the act is £12 million in 2004-05 and £14 million in 2005-06. Funding has not been allocated specifically for the training of parents since they have been included in consultation and raising awareness sem…

13 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in implementing the recommendations in Professor McEwans report on chronic pain sufferers and the management of their pain.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Executive has made Professor McEwen's report available to NHS boards and will be convening a conference to discuss best practice on pain management on 8 July 2005.

10 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils are diagnosed as dyslexic in each local authority area, expressed also as a percentage of all schoolchildren in the local authority area.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The number of pupils who areidentified as having dyslexia in each local authority area is not heldcentrally. However, statistical information on the number of pupils with a recordof needs and/or individualised educational programme as at September 2004, whoha…

10 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are applied in defining dyslexia.

Answer · Peter Peacock: I refer the member to the answer to parliamentary question S2W-17256, answered on 22 June 2005 whichprovides one example of the key considerations in determining whether or not anindividual has dyslexia.All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are…

10 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current definition is of dyslexia.

Answer · Peter Peacock: There is not one single andcommonly agreed definition of dyslexia. Organisations representing those withdyslexia each provide their own definition. Dyslexia Scotland,the national dyslexia organisation in Scotland, uses the following definition.“Dyslexi…

10 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many educational psychologists have been employed by each local authority in each year since 1999.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The full-time equivalent (FTE) numbers of educational psychologists in September 1999, 2003 and 2004 are shown in the following table. Data for 2000 to 2002 were not collected. The figures below indicate an 11% increase in numbers since 1999. Current figures …