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: S1W-08015

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 June 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 30 October 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all new non-departmental public bodies which have come into existence since May 1997.

Between May 1997 and July 2000, the following non-departmental public bodies came into existence:

NPDB	Date Established
British Potato Council	1/7/97
Clinical Standards Board for Scotland	1/4/99
Health Technology Board for Scotland	1/4/00
Learning and Teaching Scotland	1/7/00
Scottish Advisory Committee on Distinction Awards	9/11/98
Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission	1/4/99
Scottish Further Education Funding Council	4/7/99
Scottish Advisory Committee on the Dental Workforce	1/4/99
Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland	1/11/99

The British Potato Council supersedes the Potato Marketing Board and the Scottish Seed Potato Development Council. It covers the whole of Britain and Scotland is represented on it.

Learning and Teaching Scotland is developing from a merger between the Scottish Council for Education Technology and the Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum.

The Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland replaces the Scottish Water and Sewage Customers' Council.

Question reference: S1W-10354

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 October 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 27 October 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to increase the funding of dental schools.

Question reference: S1W-10355

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 October 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 27 October 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether additional funding will be provided to enable all dentists to fulfil their continuing professional education obligations.

As part of the Dental Action Plan announced on 14 August 2000, the Executive agreed to increase funding available to dentists to ensure that they are able to fulfil their continuing professional education obligations. We are also currently considering development of the present postgraduate education allowance for dentists undertaking NHS general dental services, to take account of the General Dental Council's recertification scheme.

Question reference: S1W-10356

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 October 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 27 October 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans are in place to fund training courses for dental nurses, dental hygienists, dental therapists and dental technicians to enable them to undertake continuing professional development.

Question reference: S1W-08124

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 June 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 25 October 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to address the 40% increase in accidental deaths of children under 15.

Question reference: S1W-08624

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 July 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 25 October 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the total number of general practitioner/general dental practitioner referrals to outpatients' departments were seen within nine weeks for each quarter from March 1997 to March 2000, listed by health board and for Scotland as a whole.

Information on outpatient waiting times is collected centrally only for first outpatient appointments with a consultant, following referral by a general medical practitioner/general dental practitioner.

This data is available by health board of residence, by NHS Trust of treatment and by specialty in Scottish Health Statistics, which is published annually by the Information and Statistics Division of the Common Services Agency. Copies are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 6937).

Question reference: S1W-10269

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 18 October 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any proposals to increase the payment to GPs for the care and treatment of diabetic patients.

Under the current arrangements, GPs can receive payments for providing a Chronic Disease Management Programme for patients with diabetes. This is an organised programme which has to be approved by the Primary Care Trust/Island Health Board and has to provide specific services detailed in the Statement of Fees and Allowances. Currently around 92% of all GPs are providing such programmes.

Payments under the programme are reviewed annually by the Doctors and Dentists Review Body (DDRB) and are increased in line with the annual GP pay uplift. Other than this there are no plans to increase the payment further.

Question reference: S1W-09533

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 September 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 13 October 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to take action in relation to the increase in the number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases reported in the Chief Medical Officer's report 1999 Health in Scotland.

I have already announced my intention to develop a sexual health strategy for Scotland, which will have as one goal the improved sexual health of young people in Scotland.

Presently, work is under way on a number of fronts to promote good sexual health, particularly among young people. Progress is being made on the demonstration project Healthy Respect which will be led by a team from Lothian Health. This project will receive £3 million over a three year period to develop best practice in the promotion of sexual health, in particular, the avoidance of sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV infection and chlamydia. The project will enable us to identify and promote good practice throughout Scotland. It is expected the project will be launched in November.

The Executive is also providing funding of £150,000 to set up four new Brook Advisory Centres in Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Falkirk. These new centres will provide a range of advice and support on sexual health, specifically to young people. Encouraging teenagers to think seriously about the consequences and responsibilities of sexual relationships also forms an important part of the HEBS' award-winning 'Think About It' mass media campaign.

The report of the HIV Health Promotion Strategy Review Group will be published in October. The report will stimulate the re-invigoration of prevention efforts at local level.

I recently announced plans for the use of the £26 million Health Improvement Fund and sexual health is one of the areas I have commended to boards for the use of these funds.

Question reference: S1W-08645

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 July 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 13 October 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-3791 and S1W-5730 by Susan Deacon on 21 January 2000 and 27 April 2000 respectively, whether it will reconsider its policy on the use of Taxane drugs for the treatment of advanced breast cancer and, in the light of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines offered to the NHS which recommended that such patients be offered either Taxotere or Taxol in their treatment, whether the Executive will issue similar guidelines to the NHSiS.

Taxol and Taxotere are available on the NHS in Scotland and the use of these drugs depends on the clinical judgement of the specialists concerned, informed by any advice issued by their local Drug and Therapeutic Committees.

The NICE advice is available to the NHS in Scotland. It will be for the Health Technology Board for Scotland to consider whether they wish to issue further advice directly to the NHS in Scotland.

Question reference: S1W-09956

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 September 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 11 October 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any evidence of new variant Creut'feldt Jakob Disease ever being passed on as a result of blood transfusion.

No. However, as announced by the then Health Minister Sam Galbraith in August 1998, significant action is already being taken to reduce the theoretical and unquantifiable risk of transmitting variant CJD through the blood supply:

on the advice of Spongiform Encephalophalogy Advisory Committee (SEAC) all blood for transfusion has the white cells removed through a process called leucodepletion. This is because current research indicates that infectivity from transmissible spongiform encephalopathies appears to be mainly linked to white blood cells.

on the advice of the Committee on the Safety of Medicines all blood products used in the UK are made from imported plasma from countries where there is no evidence of variant CJD.