- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 27 July 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to set up detoxification clinics for people seeking to stop taking prescribed psychiatric medication.
Answer
NHSScotland has no immediateplans to set up such clinics.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 27 July 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the prescribing of paroxetine, Seroxat, in light of research by the Scottish Association for Mental Health which states that Seroxat performed badly compared to other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
Answer
The safety of the selectiveserotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), including Seroxat, has been closelymonitored by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) andthe Government’s independent expert advisory committee, the Committee on Safetyof Medicines (CSM).
The CSM has issued advice ona number of occasions about the prescription of Seroxat, most recently in March2004. This advice forms part of an on-going in-depth review of the safety ofSSRIs by the CSM’s expert working group on SSRIs. Extensive advice about theuse of SSRIs is available on the MHRA website www.mhra.gov.uk.
As with all medicines, thedecision whether or not to prescribe a treatment for a particular patient dependson the clinical judgement of the doctor concerned, in consultation with thepatient and bearing in mind the risks and benefits of treatment.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 27 July 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the prescribing of anti-depressants, following the report by the Scottish Association for Mental Health, All you need to know? - Scottish Survey of People's Experience of Psychiatric Drugs.
Answer
The regulation of medicinesis reserved and is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare productsRegulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Government’s independent expert advisory bodythe Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM).
The safety of anti-depressantsis kept under continuous review by the MHRA/CSM. In particular, the safety of theselective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) is currently undergoingintensive review by a working group of the CSM. Advice has been communicated tohealth professionals and patients as each stage of the review has beencompleted. The group is expected to complete its work later this year, at whichtime it will publish a final report.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 July 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 27 July 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria will be applied in any decision on relocating public sector jobs to Moray and the Highlands and Islands.
Answer
Relocation decisions are basedon a range of factors. These include socio-economic factors such asunemployment, and other indicators of deprivation, the operationaleffectiveness of the organisation concerned, the level of investment requiredand the position of staff concerned.
Each decision is made on acase by case basis, with the particular circumstances of the body concerned andits fit with relocation objectives being considered.
Moray and the Highlands andIslands, along with all parts of Scotland, will continue to be considered as each relocationopportunity arises.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 July 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 27 July 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8628 by Mr Tom McCabe on 25 June 2004, what advice it has received on the legality of two people paying different amounts for the same service.
Answer
The amount which those whoseaccommodation is provided or arranged by a local authority contribute dependson a financial assessment of their resources. They will not pay for the part of the service which the authority is prevented from charging for under freepersonal care legislation. The cost of providing the service will depend on therate agreed between the local authority and the care home provider.
The amount which those whoarrange their own accommodation pay will depend on whether they are eligible toreceive free personal care from the local authority. Most “self funders”benefit from personal and/or nursing care payments. The amount they pay fortheir accommodation and living costs depends on the rate set by the care home provider,normally a private matter between the parties.
Those whose accommodation isprovided or arranged by the local authority, but who ask the local authority toprovide more expensive accommodation, will require to pay top-up fees. Theamount of the top-up fee will depend on the rate for the service set by thecare home provider. Again, that rate is normally a private matter between theparties.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 28 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 26 July 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children under 16 who are resident in Scotland received detoxification and rehabilitation treatment outwith Scotland in each of the last five years.
Answer
Information on the number of under 16s who have received treatment outwith Scotland is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 28 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 26 July 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether tenants would be committing an offence by continuing their contractual obligation to pay rent in circumstances where, under the national registration scheme for private landlords, a notice for no rent payable is placed on a landlord.
Answer
When a notice that no rent is payable is served on a landlord within the registration scheme, the notice overrides the tenant’s contractual obligation to pay rent. However, if a tenant continues to make payments without that obligation to do so he or she will not be committing an offence.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 28 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 26 July 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how the national registration scheme for private landlords will identify landlords who wish to avoid registration.
Answer
As with existing licensing schemes, local authorities will use information from a variety of local sources to identify those who seek to evade the requirement to register. We will be working with local authorities to identify and disseminate good practice for ensuring maximum coverage of the registration scheme.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 28 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 26 July 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether local pilot studies will be carried out to assess the implications of the national registration scheme for private landlords on (a) rent levels, (b) supply of housing and (c) the cost of enforcement.
Answer
We will introduce the registration scheme in the light of discussions with representatives of key interests including local authorities, landlord and agents. Those discussions will cover the manner in which the scheme is introduced, within the framework established by primary legislation.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 28 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 26 July 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position would be on the Cairngorms National Park authority's prohibition on wind farm developments in circumstances where an application is made for wind farms of over 50 megawatts.
Answer
The Electricity Act pre-dates the designation of the National Park Authorities and does not make specific reference to the National Park Authority having a role in respect of applications for consent under s.36 or 37 of the Act. Ministers recognise, however, the important role of National Park Authorities and would therefore take special note of any such objection.
