Parliamentary questions
Jackson Carlaw
1,088 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
11 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of (a) men and (b) women are being screened for chlamydia by each NHS board and how this percentage compares with screening targets.
Answer · Shona Robison: Percentages of men and women being tested for chlamydia by NHS board are shown in the following table.</p> <p >There are, as yet, no published targets for chlamydia testing. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland is currently in the final stages of developing cli…
11 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many diagnoses of (a) female infertility (i) in total and (ii) of tubal origin and (b) male infertility there have been in each year since 2002.
Answer · Shona Robison: The information requested is not centrally available. Patients with a diagnosis of infertility would generally be seen in an outpatient clinic and would not be admitted to hospital. Information on diagnoses is not recorded on the outpatient summary (SMR00) he…
11 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many diagnoses of chlamydia were reported to Health Protection Scotland in the (a) first, (b) second and (c) third quarter of 2007-08.
Answer · Shona Robison: Laboratory reports of genital chlamydia received by Health Protection Scotland in each quarter of 2007 are detailed as follows:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td valign=top > <p align=left >January to March 2007</p> </td…
31 Jan 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to ensure that diabetic patients on rosiglitazone who suffer from ischemic heart disease or peripheral arterial disease are no longer prescribed this medicine in line with the advice of the European Medicines Agency.
Answer · Shona Robison: The safety of medicines is reserved and is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The MHRA has advised that the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended new restrictions and warning…
16 Jan 2008 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made to implement its strategy to augment police numbers by the deferred retirement of existing police officers.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government’s priorityis to recruit, retain and redeploy police officers to build police capacity andstrengthen operational policing in our communities. Thus delivering an additional1,000 officers into our communities.</p><p>Retaining valuable off…
21 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to protect sensitive data, following the loss of the personal details of 25 million people by HM Revenue and Customs.
Answer · John Swinney: Our data protection and ITsecurity policies are corporate within the Scottish Government and there arespecific data transfer protocols for transferring particular types of informationbetween specific bodies or systems. This is in line with the overall framewo…
20 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prescriptions have been dispensed in each year since 1999, showing how many were (a) dispensed free of charge and (b) subject to a prescription charge.
Answer · Shona Robison: The total number of prescriptionsdispensed in Scotland by community pharmacists, dispensing doctors and appliancesuppliers is shown in the table.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td width=121 valign=top> <p align=center>Finan…
5 Dec 2007 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to increase the protection of the public as a result of the terrorist attack on Glasgow Airport on 30 June 2007.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Public safety remainsthe Scottish Government’s top priority, and security arrangements are kept underconstant review. The lessons learned from the Glasgow Airport incident have informed our resilience planningacross a range of sectors. The government and all …
29 Nov 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-4760 by Stewart Stevenson on 25 October 2007, what contingency arrangements have been made to ensure that the Isle of Arran has sufficient fuels in the event of adverse weather conditions making roads impassable or leading to the cancellation of ferr…
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Localauthorities, as Category 1 responders under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004,have a responsibility to assess the risk of emergencies occurring, and to usethis to inform contingency planning. North Ayrshire Council believe their plansin this regard are ro…
29 Nov 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to pilot driving on hard shoulders during rush hour on congested stretches of roads, in light of the results of the UK Government’s pilot scheme allowing drivers to use the hard shoulder on the M42 outside Birmingham during rush hour.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Transport Scotland is currently examining the feasibility of introducingdemand management measures, such as hard shoulder running, on congested parts of the central Scotland motorway and trunk road network. No decisionshave been taken to implement proposals a…
19 Nov 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-4661 by Jim Mather on 15 October 2007, how many children aged under six months were registered for adoption in each year from 1967 to 1987, also showing the total number of births in each year.
Answer · Jim Mather: The informationrequested is given in the following table.</p><p>Adoptions ofChildren Aged Under Six Months, 1967-87</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td nowrap valign=bottom> <p>Year of Adoption</p> </td> <td nowrap valign…
8 Nov 2007 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many (a) times each MSP has applied for public gallery tickets, (b) public gallery tickets each MSP has applied for, (c) times each MSP has been provided with public gallery tickets and (d) public gallery tickets each MSP has received for First Minister’s Question T…
Answer · Tricia Marwick: The system usedfor ticket bookings does not record enquiries which do not result in asuccessful booking. The following table shows the number of times when eachMSP has been able to book tickets for Debating Chamber public gallery ticketsin the period from 23…
24 Oct 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of total firearms offences recorded each year since 1997 were committed with (a) legally and (b) illegally held firearms.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: It is not known whatpercentage of total firearms offences are committed with legally or illegally heldfirearms. This is because, although the firearm certificate status of the accusedis collected as part of the statistical return, in a large proportion of cas…
24 Oct 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many injuries and fatalities resulting from firearms offences there have been in the Strathclyde police force area in each year since 1997, also broken down by (a) division and (b) sub-division.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Firearm statisticsbroken down by division and sub-division are not held centrally. The figures requestedfor Strathclyde police force area are provided in the following table:</p><p>Number of RecordedCrimes and Offences Involving Firearms in Strathclyde, where…
24 Oct 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many firearms offences there have been in the Strathclyde police force area in each year since 1997, also broken down by (a) division and (b) sub-division.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Firearm statisticsbroken down by division and sub-division are not held centrally. The figures requestedfor Strathclyde police force area are provided in the following table:</p><p>Number of RecordedCrimes and Offences Involving Firearms in Strathclyde</p><p>…
23 Oct 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the building being constructed as a replacement for the Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow contains the requisite features of a hospital.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Glasgow and Clydehave, following extensive consultation, developed a strategy for the future deliveryof health care services for the area covered by that board. This service strategyinvolves the replacement of a number of existing facilities which are not…
23 Oct 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to end the practice of children and adolescents being admitted to adult psychiatric wards as a result of a lack of suitable in-patient facilities for children and adolescents.
Answer · Shona Robison: We continue our workwith NHS boards and other partners to deliver the objectives from the Mental Healthof Children and Young People’s Framework (Bib. number 38415) and Delivering a HealthyFuture (Bib. number 42137) designed to achieve early and sustained chan…
23 Oct 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many beds there have been for children and adolescents in child and adolescent psychiatric wards in each year since 1999.
Answer · Shona Robison: Information by hospitalward is not collected centrally. However, figures for the specialties Child Psychiatryand Adolescent Psychiatry and are given in the following table.</p><p>Average AvailableStaffed Hospital Beds for Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Spec…
23 Oct 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many babies have been born to drug-dependent mothers in each year since 1999, also broken down by maternity unit.
Answer · Shona Robison: The information requestedis supplied for the years 1998-99 to 2004-05 (the latest year available) in Table1: Number of Babies Born in Maternities Recording Drug Misuse by Hospital, YearEnding 31 March, a copy of which is available in the Scottish ParliamentIn…
23 Oct 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has a maximum waiting time guarantee for applicants under the central heating programme and, if so, what that guarantee is.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:</p><p>There is no maximumwaiting time guarantee for applicants to the central heating programme.</p><p>The programme is demand-led.As such, waiting …
23 Oct 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications have been made under the central heating programme and what the average wait between application and installation has been since its inception, also broken down by parliamentary constituency.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:</p><p>Information in theformat requested is not held centrally.</p><p>The average waitingtime on the central heating programme reported by the manag…
22 Oct 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-4664 by Kenny MacAskill on 17 October 2007, how many police officers there have been in each division of Strathclyde Police in each year since 1979, shown on a (a) head count and (b) whole-time equivalent basis over the entire period.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This informationis not held centrally.</p>
19 Oct 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a comprehensive list of all its waiting time guarantees for the health service and the latest figures for the number of patients who have been treated (a) within and (b) outwith guaranteed waiting times.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The NHS in Scotland is working to ensure delivery of a number of nationalwaiting times targets for the benefit of patients. These national targets are publishedon the <i>Acute Hospital Care</i> website, which is operated by NHS National ServicesScotland’s Inf…
19 Oct 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that all patients who are suspected of suffering from cancer are subject to the maximum waiting time guarantee.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: All patients who areurgently referred by a GP are subject to the 62 day national target waiting time.</p><p>The Cancer Performance Support Team has been working directlywith NHS boards to ensure critical timed pathways are in place backed up by robustinter-ho…
19 Oct 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-4664 by Kenny MacAskill on 17 October 2007, how many police officers there have been in each division of Strathclyde Police in each year since 1979, shown on a (a) head count and (b) whole-time equivalent basis over the entire period.
10 Oct 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many fixed penalty notices have been issued (a) nationally and (b) in each local authority area since the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003 came into force.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This informationis not held centrally but with the individual local authorities.</p>
28 Sep 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its definition is of a lifeline ferry service.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: There is nodefinition, in statute, of “lifeline ferry service”. However, the previousadministration noted that, in subsidising ferry services, its objective was “toensure the provision of a suitable standard of transport connection, in termsof quality, freque…
28 Sep 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis it was decided that Caledonian MacBrayne should provide an additional service between Ardrossan and Brodick in winter months, rather than focusing on increasing the reliability and punctuality of existing services.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Prior to finalisingthe service specification for the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract, theformer administration undertook a consultation exercise in 2004-05 that sought viewson a range of issues, including“further changes to timetables and services …
28 Sep 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that the Isle of Arran will have access to sufficient fuels over the winter months, given the decision of Scottish Fuels to transport fuel to the island by road via ferry.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I understand thatCalMac Ferries has accepted a block booking for a tanker on its 7am sailing fromArdrossan to Brodick on every weekday throughout the winter, returning on the 11amsailing each day. This should provide sufficient capacity to meet Arran’s needsf…
28 Sep 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that Caledonian MacBrayne’s performance and reliability figures are open to full public examination.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Clyde and HebridesFerry Services Public Service Contract requires CalMac Ferries Ltd to submit regularreports on performance (including reliability and punctuality) to the Scottish Government,to make summary information available to those attending the ha…