Parliamentary questions
Jackson Carlaw
1,088 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
2 May 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people died in each year since 1997 as a result of NHS negligence.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p>
2 May 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many new organ donors were registered in each month since May 2007.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is shown in the following table.</p> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td rowspan=2 > <p align=center > </p> <p align=center >Year</p> </td> <td rowspan=2 > <p align=center >…
2 May 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it believes that its recent campaign to increase the number of registered organ donors was successful.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: A significant rise in the number of calls from Scotland to UK Transplant''s Organ Donor Line took place during the recent organ donation television campaign. A detailed evaluation of the campaign is being undertaken and is expected to be available in the near…
2 May 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what mileage rate were payable to volunteer drivers who took patients to health-related appointments in each year since 1997 in (a) cash and (b) real terms and when these rates will be reviewed.
Answer · Shona Robison: Mileage rates payable by the Scottish Ambulance Service to volunteer drivers are set out in the following table.</p> <p >Ambulance Car Service Mileage Rates (Pence per Mile) Cash and in Real Terms Using April 1997 as a Base and Retail Price Index (CBZW) Seri…
2 May 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11099 by Nicola Sturgeon on 14 April 2008, how it accounts for the rise in clinical negligence payouts between 2005-06 and 2006-07; what impact these payouts had on budgets originally aimed at delivering frontline services; what steps are being taken…
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The rise in clinical negligence payments between 2005-06 and 2006-07 is attributed to a larger than normal number of high-value settlements, mostly birth related cases which can take several years to settle.</p> <p >The Scottish Government operates an insura…
11 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of hospital-acquired infection (HAI) there have been in each year since 1997, also broken down by (a) type of infection, (b) number of deaths resulting from HAI, (c) NHS board and (d) hospital.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Data on specific selected healthcare associated infections (HAIs) were only routinely collected following the issue of Health Department Letter HDL (2001) 57 in 2001, and the information sought is not held in the format requested. It is also the case that the…
11 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many osteoporosis scanners there have been in the NHS in each year since 1999, also broken down by NHS board, and what steps it is taking to increase the number of such scanners.
Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally in the form requested. At April 2008, there were 18 DEXA scanners in NHSScotland, and a further two will be commissioned by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in this financial year. Every NHS board has access to DEXA scannin…
8 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average response times were for emergency police call-outs in each year since 1997, also broken down by police force and sub-division.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally.</p>
8 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average response times were for emergency fire brigade call-outs in each year since 1997, also broken down by fire brigade.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Information on the average response times for emergency call-outs is not held centrally. With the passing by Parliament of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the creation of a fire and rescue framework for Scotland, a new locally determined risk-assessed method…
8 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many attacks there have been on Scottish Ambulance Service staff in each year since 1999, also broken down by ambulance service division.
Answer · Shona Robison: The following table details the numbers of incidents of violence and aggression towards Scottish Ambulance Service staff since 2004 when formal guidance issued to staff about the need to report such incidents.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0…
8 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many attacks there have been on police officers in each year since 1999, also broken down by police force and sub-division.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The police recorded crime statistics collected centrally are based on an aggregate return at local authority level, and do not distinguish the circumstances of the crime, such as the occupation of the victim.</p> <p >However, I refer the member to the answe…
8 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many attacks there have been on firefighters in each year since 1999, also broken down by fire brigade.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The information requested on assaults on fire service personnel is given in Her Majesty''s Chief Inspector of Fire Services for Scotland annual reports, published by the Scottish Executive in January 2004; December 2004; October 2005; December 2006; and Novem…
8 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish rent collection figures for each local authority since 1997, broken down by total rent (a) due for collection, (b) collected and (c) the percentage of which has actually been collected.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: Total rent due for collection is not held centrally, however table 1 shows local authority rental income from housing between 1997-98 and 2006-07. Table 2 shows housing rent arrears at 31 December each year, except for 1997 (as at 30 September), and 2006-07 (…
2 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the number of physical attacks by pupils on pupils in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Maureen Watt: This information is not collected centrally.</p>
2 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish council tax collection rates for each local authority since 1997, broken down into total tax (a) due for collection, (b) collected and (c) the percentage of which has actually been collected.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government publishes detailed statistics on collection rates each year. The latest publication can be seen at <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/06/22095121/0">http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/06/22095121/0</a>.</p>…
2 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people under 18 years of age have been cautioned for drinking alcohol in a public place in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Local authorities have the power to make byelaws to prohibit drinking in designated public places under provisions contained in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, subject to confirmation by the Scottish ministers. To date, 31 local authorities across S…
2 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to detect and prevent people under 18 years of age from drinking alcohol in public places.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 overhauls the current under-age drinking offences and increases the associated maximum penalties from a £1,000 fine to a £5,000 fine, or a three month jail sentence, or both. The 2005 act also emphasises that licensed premise…
27 Mar 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many adoptions were carried out in each year since 1967, broken down by (a) age of those adopted and (b) local authority area.
Answer · Adam Ingram: The information requested is given in the following tables. The figures are compiled on the basis of year of registration rather than year of occurrence. A breakdown of this information by local authority area is not held centrally by the Scottish Executive.<…
27 Mar 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have applied for free personal care (a) nationally and (b) in each local authority area and, of these, how many have had their care provided free of charge in each year since free personal care was introduced.
Answer · Shona Robison: Free personal and nursing care was introduced in Scotland through the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002. Local authorities provide personal care services at home, without charge, to people aged 65 and over, or make payments for personal and nursin…
27 Mar 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many drivers of (a) emergency response and (b) non-emergency vehicles were employed by the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) in each year since 1997, also broken down by SAS division.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The following table gives details of the number of drivers of both emergency and non-emergency vehicles employed by the Scottish Ambulance Service in each year since 1997, also broken down by Ambulance Service division. In the case of the emergency services v…
27 Mar 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average response time was for emergency ambulance call-outs in each year since 1997, also broken down by Scottish Ambulance Service division.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The following table gives details of the average response time for emergency call-outs in each year since 2003-04 broken down by Scottish Ambulance Service Division. 2003-04 was the first year during which priority-based dispatch was fully operational; figure…
27 Mar 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-10470 by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 March 2008, how many complaints were registered against (a) emergency call-outs and (b) non-emergency bookings in each year since 1997, also broken down by Scottish Ambulance Service division.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The data system used by the Scottish Ambulance Service to capture information on complaints does not include a field which distinguishes between emergency and non-emergency activity.</p>
27 Mar 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-10471 by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 March 2008, what the total number of (a) emergency response and (b) non-emergency vehicles in the Scottish Ambulance Service’s (SAS’s) fleet was in each year since 2001, also broken down by SAS division.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The following table gives details of the numbers of emergency response and non-emergency response vehicles in the Scottish Ambulance Service''s fleet in each year since 2001-02.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=617 > <thead> <tr > …
25 Mar 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has given to GPs on the rates that they can charge patients for calls to surgery phone lines.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Guidance was issued on 29 March 2005 to the health boards and GPs that the NHS (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2004 were to be amended to prevent the use of national or premium rate telephone lines. These were considered to be an …
25 Mar 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much money the NHS has lost in each year since 1997 as a result of fraud, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: It is estimated that up to one percent of the overall NHS budget could be lost to fraud each year.</p> <p >NHS boards report identified losses that are recorded on their losses register as part of the annual accounts process in a standard template. Fraud los…
25 Mar 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions in the last year CalMac ferries between Largs and Cumbrae were (a) cancelled but excluded from the route’s reliability figures, (b) cancelled and included in the route’s reliability figures, (c) delayed but excluded from the route’s punctuality figures and (d) delaye…
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: CalMac Ferries Ltd has provided the following figures relating to the year ending 29 February 2008:</p> <p >(a) Sailings cancelled but excluded from the route''s reliability figures “ 82.</p> <p >(b) Sailings cancelled and included in the route''s reliabili…
25 Mar 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions in the last year CalMac ferries between Gourock and Dunoon were (a) cancelled but excluded from the route’s reliability figures, (b) cancelled and included in the route’s reliability figures, (c) delayed but excluded from the route’s punctuality figures and (d) delay…
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: CalMac Ferries Ltd has provided the following figures relating to the year ending 29 February 2008:</p> <p >(a) Sailings cancelled but excluded from the route''s reliability figures “ 99.</p> <p >(b) Sailings cancelled and included in the route''s reliabili…
25 Mar 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage people to register as organ donors.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The focus of all organ donation advertising and publicity campaigns in recent years has been to encourage people in Scotland to add their name to the NHS organ donor register. This counts as a form of authorisation in terms of the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act …
25 Mar 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many registered organ donors there have been in each year since 1999.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Numbers on the organ donor register at the end of each year are as follows:</p> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td > <p align=center > </p> </td> <td colspan=5 > <p align=center >Year End</p> </td> </tr> <tr > <…
18 Mar 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to monitor the effectiveness of the complaints system in the NHS.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: We work closely with the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman and the Scottish Health Council to ensure that the NHS complaints procedure is easy to use and effective.</p> <p >We have recently commissioned the Scottish Health Council to carry out a full evalua…