Parliamentary questions
Carolyn Leckie
686 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
16 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it will allocate to the achievement of equal pay in each of the next three years.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive is one of seven partners in the Close the Gap project that has been part-funded by the European EQUAL programme since November 2001. This project aims to raise awareness about the pay gap between women and men in Scotland and encourage …
16 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it has allocated to meeting its obligations under equal pay legislation in each of the last five years.
Answer · Andy Kerr: Responsibility for pay matters in the Scottish Executive Main bargaining unit (SEM) rests with the Human Resources: Pay and Leave team. The need to ensure that the Executive meets its obligations under equal pay legislation underpins all of the team’s work.</…
15 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-9905 by Malcolm Chisholm on 9 September 2004, whether it will provide equivalent figures for the five years prior to 1998.
Answer · Andy Kerr: Specialty definitions in Scotland were revised from 1 April 1997. As a result directly comparable information prior to 1997-98 is not available.</p>
15 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many staffed (a) day care and (b) day surgery beds there have been in each NHS board in each year since 1998 and what the turnover of patients per bed has been.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The specific information requested is not centrally available.</p>
15 Sep 2004 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of issues relating to contract cost control in respect of the new Parliament building, it is appropriate for Executive-funded bodies to negotiate building contracts from design through construction with only one consortium of companies and in what circumstances a negotia…
Answer · Andy Kerr: The prime objective of government procurement is to achieve value for money and it is the Executive’s policy that procurement should be undertaken through opencompetition unless there are exceptional reasons which justify negotiating withonly one bidder.</p>
8 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many babies have been hospitalised with whooping cough in each year since 1990; of these, how many have died as a result of this disease, and what age each baby was at the time of death.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The available information is shown in the table:</p><p>Table1. Number<sup>1,2</sup> of Babies<sup>4</sup> Hospitalised for Whooping Cough<sup>3</sup>, 1990-2003</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 width=609> <thead> <tr> <td> <p> </p> </td> …
6 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many staffed beds there were in each category of care in the NHS in each of the past 10 years, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is given in a table “hospital beds by specialty” a copy of which has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 33661).
12 Jul 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to ensure that public sector pay is free from gender inequality.
Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-9694 answered on 9 August 2004. All answers to written questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/s…
12 Jul 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that the current pay structures of public bodies for which it is responsible are free from gender inequality.
Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-9694 answered on 9 August 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliame…
12 Jul 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms are in place to ensure that public employers directly accountable to it meet their obligations with respect to equal pay.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The public sector is made up of independent - or at arm’s length - corporate bodies which determine their own pay and grading structures. Ministers are ultimately responsible for approving the pay structures of Non Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) but have …
12 Jul 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures are in place to ensure that it meets its obligations under the Equal Pay Directive.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive has an equal pay policy which applies to all staff in its core departments. This commits the Executive to ensuring that all of its staff, regardless of gender, ethnicity or disability, receive equal pay for doing work of equal value. th…
1 Jul 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many staffed beds there in each category of care in the NHS, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Information on average available staffed beds by category of care for Scotland and in each NHS board area for the year ending 31 March 2004 is shown in the following tables:</p><p>NHSScotland - Average Available Staffed Beds<sup>1</sup>; by Specialty Group</p…
1 Jul 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many staffed beds there are in the NHS.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-9535 on 28 July 2004 which is available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa">http://www.scottish.parliame…
30 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it issues to NHS boards in respect of the sale of assets such as magnetic resonance imaging scanners.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: No guidance has issued toNHS boards in respect of the sale of assets such as magnetic resonance imagingscanners. NHS boards are given general revenue and capital allocations and itis for the boards to decide, based on their local knowledge of local needs, how…
30 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which company now owns Raigmore Hospital's magnetic resonance imaging scanner.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The contract in place for this transaction is a matter for NHS Highland and any questions concerning the contract should be directed to them.</p>
30 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it was aware of plans by NHS Highland to sell Raigmore Hospital's new magnetic resonance imaging scanner to a private company and then lease it back prior to the allocation of extra funding for NHS boards in June 2004; whether NHS Highland notified the Executive of such a sale and…
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Scottish Executive HealthDepartment was aware of NHS Highland’s plans and we can confirm that a full andformal tendering process to identify best value was conducted, prior to optionappraisals being presented to the NHS Highland Board.</p>
30 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether its national review of the early years and childcare workforce will seek, and include, input from the Equal Opportunities Commission.
Answer · Euan Robson: The Review will consultwidely over the next year on a range of issues identified by the Review SteeringGroup. The Equal Opportunities Commission will be consulted.</p>
30 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the operating costs of each surgical patient have been in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The following tables show the average cost per case for a surgical inpatient and day case respectively for financial years 1998-99 to 2002-03, by NHS board.</p><p>Table 1 – Inpatient Cost Per Case (£), by Health Board of Treatment and Financial Year</p><table…
30 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the operating costs per patient have been at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital in each year since 2002.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested isnot currently available. Costing information for the Golden Jubilee NationalHospital will be included for the first time in the 2003-04 Scottish HealthService Costs publication which is due to be published in November 2004.</p>
30 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of cardiothoractic surgical beds has been in (a) the Golden Jubilee National Hospital and (b) all other hospitals where cardiothoracic surgery is carried out in each year since 2002.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Information on a range of cost information, including the costs of cardiothoracic surgical beds in NHSScotland hospitals, is published by the Information and Statistics Division of the NHS National Services Scotland in the publication <i>Scottish</i> <i>Healt…
30 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much the NHS has spent on external consultancy in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive donot hold this information, as it is not separately disclosed in the accounts ofNHS bodies.</p>
23 Jun 2004 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Coatbridge College about terms and conditions and security of employment for academic staff.
Answer · Jim Wallace: None. Employment issues within further education colleges, which are autonomous bodies in terms of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992, are solely for the colleges themselves to address.</p>
22 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many adults who are cared for by elderly parents are awaiting supported accommodation and what the average waiting time is for such accommodation.
Answer · Tom McCabe: This information is not heldcentrally.</p>
16 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive under what planning regulations local authorities are able to approve a planning application for a crematorium when the applicant does not have an approved waste management strategy.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: Section 37 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 sets out the provisions by which all planning applications must be determined. Under the provisions of this legislation, it is not necessary for other consents to be in place before planning perm…
14 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8350 by Cathy Jamieson on 14 June 2004, whether it will require provision of information on wage rates paid to security staff employed by Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd to inform its position in respect of the appropriateness of the continuation…
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 answergiven to question S2W-8350 on 14 June 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on…
14 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8634 by Malcolm Chisholm on 10 June 2004, whether it has any plans to ask NHS boards to provide such NHS staffing information.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The disclosure of staff costs and numbers in resource accounts is determined by the accounting guidance to be applied. This guidance is formulated by the Financial Reporting Advisory Board to HM Treasury and applied, as appropriate, to NHS Scotland. We are no…
14 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8631 by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 June 2004, whether it intends to introduce “mystery shopping” to other areas of the NHS than NHS 24.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: There are no current plans tointroduce further “mystery shopping” initiatives in the NHS at national level. the Executive believes that it is important for the quality of health care servicesto be independently assessed and reported on. That is why we establi…
14 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive who is responsible for the implementation of waste management strategies for the safe disposal of mercury filters at crematoria.
Answer · Ross Finnie: Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 implementation of waste management measures to protect public health andthe environment is the statutory responsibility of those who deposit, treat, keepand/or dispose of waste. The regulatory body, which is respons…
14 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what waste management strategies are in place for the safe disposal of mercury filters in the development of new crematoria.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The disposal of waste, includingmercury filters, is governed by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and relatedlegislation, notably (in the case of hazardous waste such as mercury) the SpecialWaste Regulations 1996 (as amended). The main aim of this legisla…
14 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been undertaken into any displacement effects that the development of the crematorium in High Blantyre is likely to have and what associated job losses will occur at Linn and Daldowie crematoria operated by Glasgow City Council.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: This is a matter for South Lanarkshire and Glasgow City Councils to consider. Glasgow City Council have not, however,objected to South Lanarkshire Council about the proposal.</p>