Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S4W-02444

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are to ensure that children have a safe walking route to school.

Question reference: S4O-00132

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has held discussions with European Commission officials or other member states regarding proposals for Scottish independence.

Question reference: S4W-01665

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 24 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-39342 by Nicola Sturgeon on 28 February 2011, how many hospital admissions were attributed to weather-related falls during December 2010.

Due to the way that data are collected and recorded it is very difficult to know the full extent of admissions that are the result of a fall which can be attributed to the weather.

The number of falls due to ice and snow that resulted in an emergency inpatient hospital admission during the calendar month December 2010 across Scotland was at least 1,100.

The data submission for inpatient admissions during December 2010 are 90% complete across Scotland. This is mainly due to two NHS boards recently implementing a new IT Patient Management System and has resulted in data submission backlogs for this time period.

NHS boards are focussing their efforts to resolve submission issues in order to improve completeness levels. These will be monitored centrally. Although this particular analysis is not routinely published by ISD, it will be available on request once these issues are resolved.

Question reference: S4W-01660

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 24 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) UK nationals, (b) people born in the UK, (c) other EU nationals and (d) non-EU nationals were in employment in the (i) public and (ii) private sector in Scotland in each of the last four quarters for which figures are available, also expressed as a proportion.

The preferred data source information on employment in the public sector is the Quarterly Public Sector Employment (QPSE) publication. However, this does not include the level of detail required to answer this question. Data from the Labour Force Survey cannot be used either as some of the estimates required are below the reliability threshold. The Annual Population Survey (APS) can be used to estimate the number and proportion of people in employment within the public and private sectors by nationality and country of birth. As the APS is not seasonally adjusted, comparisons can only be made on an annual basis. Data for the latest three years (from the January to December datasets) is shown in the following table.

Table 1: Nationality and Country of Birth for People Aged 16 and Above in Employment in Scotland, 2008 to 2010

2008

2009

2010

Sector

Measure

level (000)

proportion of sector¹

level (000)

proportion of sector¹

level (000)

proportion of sector¹

Nationality of all aged 16+ in employment

Public

UK Nationals	682.9	97.4%	701.8	96.9%	678.7	96.6%
Other EU Nationals	7.6	1.1%	10	1.4%	13.1	1.9%
Non-EU Nationals	10.7	1.5%	12.3	1.7%	10.8	1.5%

Private

UK Nationals	1,715.2	94.7%	1,647.2	94.0%	1,629.8	93.4%
Other EU Nationals	57.1	3.2%	60.1	3.4%	66.2	3.8%
Non-EU Nationals	39.1	2.2%	45.7	2.6%	48.5	2.8%

Country of birth of all aged 16+ in employment

Public	UK born	669.2	95.4%	690.1	95.3%	664.6	94.6%
Private	UK born	1,675	92.5%	1,608.4	91.7%	1,596.5	91.5%

Source: Annual Population Survey, January – December, Office for National Statistics.

Notes:

1. Proportions of all working in relevant sector.

2. Proportions may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

3. Proportions are of all aged 16 and over, excluding non-respondents.

4. Levels rounded to nearest hundred.

5. The APS over-estimates the level of public sector employment due to respondent self-classification. Estimates from the APS for January to December 2010 indicate that over the year the number of people aged 16 and over employed in the public sector in Scotland was 702,700. Estimates from the Quarterly Public Sector Employment (QPSE) publication indicates that over the calendar year 2010 the average number of people employed in the public sector in Scotland was 618,800. This divergence is due to private sector employee’s being classified in the public sector when they actually work for private sector organisations providing a service to the public sector.

Question reference: S4W-01661

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to raise awareness among (a) its employees, (b) GPs and (c) the public of the issues surrounding Vitamin D deficiency.

In July this year the Chief Medical Officer wrote to all Health Professionals across Scotland publicising current advice on supplementation to address vitamin D deficiency. This was backed up by an advisory leaflet for health professionals, which highlights the at risk groups. In addition, a leaflet directed at the general public was distributed.

Both the public and professional leaflets were distributed widely including GP practices, maternity units, health boards, and pharmacies.

We have not done any specific awareness raising for Scottish Government employees.

Question reference: S4W-01664

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been issued to NHS boards for (a) identifying and (b) treating Vitamin D deficiency in each of the last four years.

The Scottish Government have not issued guidance per-say to health boards over the past four years either on identifying or the treatment of vitamin D deficiency.

However, as my response to question S4W-01661 on 19 August 2011 indicates there has been a letter issued by the Chief Medical Officer to all Health Professionals across Scotland publicising current advice on supplementation to address vitamin D deficiency. This was backed up by an advisory leaflet for health professionals, which highlights the at risk groups.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/MAQASearch/QAndMSearch.aspx.

Question reference: S4W-01666

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-39349 by Nicola Sturgeon on 24 February 2011, when it expects the falls and fracture self-assessment resource pack to be launched.

Question reference: S4W-01668

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much each NHS board spent on locum doctors in 2010-11.

NHS boards spent the following on agency locum doctors in 2010-11:

NHS Board	£000
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	3,423
NHS Borders	496
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	2,474
NHS Fife	2,614
NHS Forth Valley	1,481
NHS Grampian	3,323
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	6,101
NHS Highland	2,981
NHS Lanarkshire	2,420
NHS Lothian	5,509
NHS Orkney	1,169
NHS Shetland	604
NHS Tayside	1,692
NHS Western Isles	449
Total	34,775

Source: NHS National Service Scotland National Procurement data collected from NHSScotland Boards accounts payable information.

Question reference: S4W-01667

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-39358 by Nicola Sturgeon on 28 February 2011, what progress there has been regarding the development of the national musculoskeletal programme.

Question reference: S4O-00077

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it gives to local authorities to ensure that recycling achieves a minimum carbon footprint.