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: S2W-05675

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 23 January 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made to establish the ex-gratia payment scheme for people with Hepatitis C through blood and blood products.

We have announced today thatthe ex-gratia payments will be administered through a UK-wide schemewhich will operate on the same basis as the Scottish scheme previouslyannounced. A copy of the full press release has been posted to each MSP andalso placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

The independent body thatwill administer the scheme will be set up as soon as possible. Once thenecessary mechanisms for accepting claims and making payments are in place, wewill announce the final details of the scheme and will work closely with thehealth service, clinicians and voluntary groups to ensure claimants know whatto do in order to make an application.

Question reference: S2O-01108

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 January 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of skin cancer have been treated by the photodynamic therapy unit at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, and what percentage of those cases has been treated successfully.

Question reference: S2W-05024

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 December 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 15 December 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will consult on Care Commission fee levels for 2004-05.

The Executive is todayissuing a consultation paper on Care Commission fee levels for 2004-05. It isbeing sent to a large number of interested parties, including local authoritiesand care providers.

The financial memorandum tothe Regulation of Care (Scotland) Bill set out a policy of introducing fees atfull cost recovery levels in 2004-05, except for childminding and day care ofchildren, which would continue to be subsidised. The Executive has reviewedthat policy. In recognition of the difficulties which would be presented toproviders and users by a move to full cost recovery in one step, theconsultation paper proposes spreading that move over three years. The subsidyfor childminding and day care of children will continue. The paper proposes thecontinuation of the current policy of setting fees for services whoseregulation commenced after 1 April 2002 at full direct cost recovery levels from the outset.

Comments are invited on thepaper by 6 February 2004 in order to enable new fee levels to come intooperation on 1 April 2004.

Question reference: S2W-04332

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 November 2003
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 15 December 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that all services dealing with vulnerable and at risk children are working in co-operation with each other to avoid such children falling through the net of support.

In line with therecommendations in the For Scotland’s Children report, weare working with agencies to ensure better co-ordination across all servicesfor children and young people, in particular for those who are vulnerable ordisadvantaged, such as young people leaving care.

The new cabinet delivery groupon Children and Young People has identified key cross-cutting priorities tocarry forward this work – on issues such as information-sharing and assessment,inspection and quality assurance, planning and delivery and workforce.

The three-year Child Protection Reform Programme isdeveloping a range of measures to help ensure effective and coherent supportand protection for children who are at risk of neglect or abuse, including aChildren’s Charter and national standards for child protection, which willapply across all agencies and individuals working with children, and monitoringthrough a joint inspection system.

The ministers for Justice,Health and Community Care and myself wrote to the leaders and chief executivesof local authorities, health boards and chiefinspectors of police on 11 November asking them to provide a statement of assurance that they have reviewed current childprotection operations, singly and collectively; they are satisfied with theperformance of services, or, if not, have put plans in place to addressweaknesses, and have robust quality assurance procedures in place.

In addition we will accelerate the development or theintroduction of multi-agency inspection.

Question reference: S2W-02467

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Mary Mulligan on 22 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how many community councils have appealed to the Court of Session against local planning decisions in each of the last five years.

We do not hold the informationyou have requested on appeals by community councils. The publication Civil JudicialStatistics Scotland (link to the latest edition of this publication http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/justice/cjst-00.asp)contains figures under the heading JudicialReview Procedure on Court of Session cases. The figures below are taken from thatsection of the publication and represent those cases marked “planning permission”.They cover the latest five-year period forwhich figures have been published.

Year	No. of Petitions
2001	16
2000	14
1999	10
1998	12
1997	20

Question reference: S2W-02468

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 22 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received from Scottish Enterprise concerning the promotion of return freight business from mainland Europe to Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-02466

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in the establishment of a task force to review advertising and recruitment of staff in the NHS, having regard to any relevant EU directives.

A short-life working group wasset up in December 2002 by the Executive following the publication of Workingfor Health – the Workforce Development Action Plan. The outcome from this group’swork was a mapping exercise of careers, recruitment and retention across all staffgroups and the development of an additional support team called Careers for Healthwhich is currently being established within the department.

Currently, the responsibilityfor reviewing advertising and recruitment of staff in the NHS, having regard toany relevant EU directives, is addressed by our professional human resource colleaguesin NHS boards. However, the Careers for Health team will consider undertaking aspart of its first year projects a review of advertising and recruitment of staffin the NHS, having regard to any relevant EU directives, to establish what benefitsthere could be from the co-ordination of this activity on a national basis.

Question reference: S2W-02469

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 22 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on promoting to local education authorities and head teachers use of the Rosyth to Zeebruge Ferry for school trips.

Question reference: S2W-02470

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 22 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how many conferences have been organised by Scottish Enterprise to promote freight transport from Rosyth to Zeebrugge and vice versa.

Question reference: S2W-01484

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 7 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether VisitScotland holds joint strategy discussions with ScotRail to secure maximum capacity on trains for tourists travelling with bicycles to top tourist areas.