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: S3W-36643

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 October 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to improve awareness of pneumococcal disease.

Question reference: S3W-36352

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 29 September 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what action will be taken in response to the Mental Welfare Commission’s report from their investigation into the care and treatment of Mrs I.

The MWC''s recommendations addressed to the Scottish Government were to review the roles of welfare attorneys, in particular, to address:

The information and guidance available for welfare attorneys;

Support for them in undertaking their duties;

Their authority to act where the adult resists, and

Their interface with the named person.

The Scottish Government already produces a Code of Practice for Continuing and Welfare Attorneys, this can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/03/19074726/0.

We will consider at one of our regular meetings with the Mental Welfare Commission and the Office of the Public Guardian what more can be done to draw attention to the code.

Question reference: S3W-36353

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 27 September 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the target period for completion of the A82 works at Pulpit Rock and Crianlarich remains 2012-13 and what the timetable is for the design work for the upgrade and realignment of the A82 from Tarbet to Inverarnan.

The A82 Crianlarich Bypass and the A82 Pulpit Rock Improvement are scheduled to complete in 2012-13 subject to satisfactory completion of statutory process.

A timetable for the design work for the upgrade and realignment of the A82 between Tarbet and Inverarnan as part of Intervention 3 of the Strategic Transport Project Review (STPR) will be set in the context of overall affordability and our commitments to other STPR proposals.

Question reference: S3W-36344

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2010
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the planned improvements to and upgrade of the A82 since April 2010.

Question reference: S3W-34007

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 18 August 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many operations and treatments have been carried out in the independent health care sector on behalf of NHS patients in each of the last 10 years.

As described in the answer to question S3W-21983 on 27 March 2009 the information relating to the activity undertaken for NHS patients through independent hospitals is known to have been under-reported in the past. Since 2007 steps have been taken to improve the recording of this activity. Given these concerns with data quality, which go back a number of years, it is not possible to provide a meaningful trend from the centrally collected statistics.

Table 1 shows the number of records received by ISD relating to discharges from independent acute hospitals. Table 2 shows the number of records received by ISD from the joint NHS/independent facility at the Scottish Regional Treatment Centre (SRTC) at Stracathro Hospital. The SRTC was established in January 2007 and was provided by the independent sector provider Netcare. This contract expired in January 2010 and the Centre is now managed by NHS Tayside.

As the figures in table 1 demonstrate, interpretation of these figures should be made with caution given the considerable variation in the number of recorded discharges year on year.

When this Government came to power we ceased direct central funding for independent sector activity. Prior to 2007 approximately £15 million per annum was provided from central funding to support independent sector activity in Scotland. In the latest year for which data is available (2008-09), approximately £10 million was spent by the NHS, compared to the £15+ million expenditure prior to 2006-07.

Table 1. Inpatient and Day Case Discharges for NHS Patients treated in the Independent Sector^1,2 Number of Cases Reported to ISD Scotland, Years Ending 31 March 2000-09

	Year Ending 31 March
	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
No. of discharges from independent acute hospitals²	237	58	511	527	872	1,158	1,410	1,620	1,031	2,285

Table 2. Inpatient and Day Case Discharges from the Scottish Regional Treatment Centre at Stracathro Hospital^1,2. Number of Cases Reported to ISD Scotland, Years Ending 31 March 2007-09

	Year Ending 31 March
	2007	2008	2009
No. of discharges	72	1,612	2,434

Source: ISD Scotland SMR01. Date: June 2010.

Notes:

1. It is emphasised that the figures shown are based on incomplete returns. Submissions levels are believed to vary by location and over time. The figures are of limited use and should be treated with caution.

2. The figures in table 1 exclude episodes of care delivered at the Scottish Regional Treatment Centre (SRTC) at Stracathro Hospital. SRTC was established in January 2007 and was provided by the independent sector provider Netcare. This contract expired in January 2010 and the Centre is now managed by NHS Tayside.

Question reference: S3W-35418

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 July 2010
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 2 August 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what advice is provided to the public regarding the risk of human contact with giant hogweed, as referred to in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Giant hogweed is listed on schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 which makes it an offence to plant, or cause this plant to grow, in the wild.

Advice on the risk of burning from contact with the sap of giant hogweed is provided on the Scottish Government website (www.scotland.gov.uk/invasivespecies) and within the Horticultural Code of Practice published by the Scottish Executive in 2005 and available at:

www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/Wildlife-Habitats/InvasiveSpecies/HCOP.

Local authorities and other organisations may provide further information in areas where the plant is being controlled. I understand that Highland Council currently consider that there is sufficient general local awareness of the problems caused by giant hogweed since it has had an established presence in the area for some time.

Question reference: S3W-35420

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 July 2010
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 2 August 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken to combat the spread of giant hogweed.

Question reference: S3W-35419

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 July 2010
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 2 August 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken in Scotland to comply with the Weeds Act 1959 regarding the spread of giant hogweed.

Injurious weeds specified in the Weeds Act 1959 include spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare), creeping or field thistle (Cirsium arvense), curled and broad-leaved docks (Rumex crispus/obtusifolius), and common ragwort (Senecio jacobaea). Giant hogweed is not covered by the provisions of the Weeds Act 1959.

Giant hogweed is listed on schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 which makes it an offence to plant, or cause this plant to grow, in the wild. The Scottish Government''s Wildlife and Natural Environment Bill, which is currently under consideration by the Scottish Parliament, includes provisions intended to improve the effectiveness of controls applicable to invasive non-native species and which could potentially apply to situations where a local authority or another public body has identified the need to control giant hogweed.

Question reference: S3W-35356

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 July 2010
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 28 July 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what research is the Scottish Agricultural College undertaking to identify the potential factors which cause bovine neonatal pancytopaenia (bleeding calf syndrome).

The Scottish Government is aware that Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) is participating in a GB-wide case-control study. SAC may be involved in other research not known to the Scottish Government; more information may be available by contacting the Scottish Agricultural College directly. Research work is also being undertaken in Scotland by Moredun Research Institute, and notably elsewhere by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency and Pfizer.

Question reference: S3W-35357

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 July 2010
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 28 July 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what analysis it has made of the results of the Monitor Farms programme.

The Scottish Government commissioned an independent review of the Scottish Monitor Farm programme in 2008. ADAS, who carried out the review, reported that, overall, the programme was effective in bringing about physical and financial improvements on the farms involved and on farms not actively engaged in the programme. They concluded that, at a conservative estimate, for every £1 of public funding invested in the programme, the farming economy benefited by £6.50. The full report, An Investigation into the Role and Effectiveness of Scottish Monitor Farms, can be found on the Scottish Government website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/10/29093936/0.