- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 28 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8629 by Mr Tom McCabe on 10 June 2004, why local authority care homes are funded to cover the full cost to the authority of providing care home places while care homes in the independent sector are funded below the cost of providing such places.
Answer
The cost of local authority homes is a matter for individual local authorities. However, information received indicates that while there are regional variations in the differential in the cost of care, in some cases this is quite small. As the statutory provider of services, local authorities provide care homes where the private sector is not prepared to engage, because to do so would be uneconomical.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 25 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive why self-funding patients of care homes have to pay higher amounts for the same quality of care than patients funded by local authorities.
Answer
Most so called “self funding”care home residents benefit from personal and/or nursing care payments. The remainingfee is normally a private matter between the resident and the care home.
Residents who qualify for additionallocal authority support as a result of the financial assessment are asked for acontribution towards their fees, based on the outcome of that assessment.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the Remote and Rural Areas Resource Initiative's report on the provision of a pilot televisiting service for psychiatric in-patients in Aberdeen who originate from remote areas and whether it will support expansion of the scheme.
Answer
I welcome any initiative that improves services for patients. We have consistently emphasised the role that up-to-date technology and telemedicine techniques can play in securing improvements for patients in rural areas.
The White Paper Our National Health made clear that NHS boards are responsible for planning to roll out good practice emerging from projects sponsored by the Remote and Rural Areas Resource Initiative. I understand that all NHS board chief executives now have a copy of the project leader’s report on the televisiting project based at the Royal Cornhill Hospital in Aberdeen. It will be for individual boards to decide whether they wish to introduce similar arrangements in their own areas.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 23 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what risk analysis has been carried out on which to base any decision in relation to increasing places in open prisons.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:
All prisoners transferred to open prison have been classified through our sentence management system as being low supervision and low-risk. The SPS has a surplus of such prisoners in closed establishments and it is from this group that future transfers will take place.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 23 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any prison staff have intimated any legal claims against it for being subjected to degrading working conditions subsequent to Lord Bonomy's judgement in the Napier case.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:
No such claims have been received to date.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 22 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners have absconded from (a) HM Prison Castle Huntly and (b) HM Prison Noranside in each of the last five years.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:
Information on prisoner absconds is published in SPS Annual Reports, copies of which are available in Scottish Parliaments Information Centre (Bib. numbers 4045; 7929; 18239; 22587; 28640) and are also available on the SPS website at www.sps.gov.uk.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 22 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners have breached non-parole licences in each of the last five years.
Answer
The National Objectives and Standards for Social Work Services require supervising officers to investigate and take appropriate action in respect of any apparent failure on the part of a released prisoner to comply with licence conditions. Information about issues dealt with at a local level is not available centrally. Where non-compliance constitutes a risk to public safety, the supervising officer must report the matter to the Justice Department. The JusticeDepartment can refer these cases to the Parole Board to consider possible groundsfor recall. The number of non-parole licence cases of failure to comply with licence conditions referred and the number of those that were recalled in each of the last five years is as follows:
| Year | Total Cases Referred | Total Cases Recalled |
| 1999 | 156 | 140 |
| 2000 | 168 | 124 |
| 2001 | 204 | 149 |
| 2002 | 191 | 145 |
| 2003 | 206 | 158 |
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 17 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what the timescale is for the implementation of the national registration scheme for private landlords in order to allow local authorities sufficient time to assess costs, ensure that resources are in place, prepare administrative and IT systems and publicise the scheme.
Answer
We have not set a fixed timescale for implementation because we wish to consider these among other issues in consultation with key stakeholders on the detailed mechanics of implementing the registration scheme within the framework in the bill.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 17 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to address the circumstances where a 38-year-old woman has to wait for two years for infertility treatment, by which time she is no longer eligible for treatment because of her age.
Answer
The eligibility criteria for access to NHS funded infertility treatment are re-applied for each treatment cycle. Thus, for example, if the woman reaches the age of 38 or if her total number of unsuccessful embryo transfers reaches three, then the couple becomes ineligible for further cycles.
The criteria were developed by an expert advisory group using the most up-to-date available clinical evidence. NHS boards have been asked to work towards the implementation of the criteria as existing resources allow and bearing in mind local and national priorities.
The Executive is currently in the process of reviewing the criteria, including the age limit. I anticipate the review being completed later in 2004.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 17 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any discussions with the Scottish Premier League regarding the decision to prevent Scottish First Division champions, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, from gaining promotion into the premier league next season.
Answer
No such discussions have been held.
