- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 14 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it estimates is being spent by the NHS in Scotland annually on smoking related illness.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally. The precise cost of treating smoking-related disease is difficult to ascertain, since cost data collected centrally from the National Health Service in Scotland cannot be attributed to individual disease. However, our best estimate is that the annual cost to the NHS in Scotland of treating illness and disease caused by smoking is approximately £140 million in terms of GP visits, prescriptions, treatment and operations (Buck et al, Cost effectiveness of smoking cessation intervention, [1997]).
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 14 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department employees resigned in the past year excluding retirals.
Answer
The number of employees who left the Scottish Executive between 1 March 1999 and 1 March 2000 inclusive and had been assigned to the Rural Affairs Department are set out below.
| Reason for Leaving | Employees |
| Resignations (primarily to pursue alternative opportunities) | 45 |
| Age Retirement | 10 |
| Other | 16 |
| Total | 71 |
In addition, 119 staff moved from the Rural Affairs Department to other Scottish Executive Departments in this time period following reorganisation.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 14 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what the most recent figure is for the number of blocked beds in Scotland.
Answer
On the basis of the latest available information, discharge arrangements for 2,391 patients have been delayed for more than two days.
From 1 April this year this information will be collected quarterly against agreed national definitions. The first national data will be available shortly after the first census on 30 June.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 14 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation process has been undertaken with the health boards in Scotland in relation to fluoridation.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is currently considering the timing of and most appropriate arrangements for consultation on this issue, including public consultation. It is my intention to announce further proposals on this after the conclusions are known of the review of the safety of fluoridation currently being conducted by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at York University.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 29 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what was allocated and spent by the Scottish Tourist Board on its external relations department in each of the last five years.
Answer
The information, including staff and related costs, is as follows:
Financial Year | Amount |
1995-96 | £382,000 |
1996-97 | £340,000 |
1997-98 | £359,000 |
1998-99 | £343,000 |
1999-2000 | £347,000 |
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 29 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what was allocated and spent by the Scottish Tourist Board on hospitality in each of the last five years.
Answer
The Board do not show this separately in their accounts.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 29 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any guidelines in place regarding payment for residential care by elderly people and whether the policies of Moray Council to (a) require elderly property owners to take out a loan to pay for their care until their property is sold and (b) to delay admission to care for people without assets are consistent with these guidelines.
Answer
The National Assistance (Assessment of Resources) Regulations 1992 and amendments apply to adults placed in residential and nursing homes by local authorities. The Scottish Executive has issued guidance to local authorities on the application of these regulations. Neither point is directly covered by the regulations or guidance.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 23 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives it is taking to address male infertility.
Answer
The report of the Expert Advisory Group on Infertility Services in Scotland was issued to health boards and NHS Trusts on 11 February. It recommends couple-based care for the management and delivery of infertility services. Health boards and NHS Trusts have been asked to work towards the implementation of the report as resources permit and bearing in mind their existing clinical priorities which are cancer, coronary heart disease and mental health.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 23 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the male fertility treatment intra cytoplasmic sperm injection is available throughout Scotland via the NHS.
Answer
Not all health boards currently provide intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for their residents. I have, however, asked health boards and NHS Trusts throughout Scotland to work towards the implementation of the report of the Expert Advisory Group on Infertility Services in Scotland which envisaged the selection of patients for ICSI treatment on the basis of criteria agreed locally by the four tertiary centres providing this service and funded by the NHS.
Progress towards this and the other recommendations in the report will be as resources permit and as determined locally by health boards and NHS Trusts, bearing in mind their existing clinical priorities of cancer, coronary heart disease and mental health.
I shall be reviewing the position early next year.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 22 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to reduce the amount of bureaucracy experienced by farmers.
Answer
Yes. The Scottish Executive commissioned and has now received a report from a panel of industry representatives on the red tape involved in paying EU subsidies. This involved a detailed scrutiny of the EU Regulations and their implementation. The recommendations made by the panel are now being addressed.
