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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S3W-09665

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 March 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what provision is planned to deliver classes for English for speakers of other languages to the rural areas of the Highlands and Islands parliamentary region.

This information is not held centrally.

Providers have discretion over the volume and nature of ESOL provision, although they should have regard to our adult ESOL strategy in planning such provision.

Publicly funded ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes are provided in Scotland's colleges, Community Learning and Development (CLD) partnerships in local authorities and by a small number of voluntary providers.

Question reference: S3W-10289

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 5 March 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many new secure units are planned for detaining children aged under 16 on remand.

Children under the age of 16 on remand are currently placed in secure accommodation in most cases. Children appearing on a charge before a criminal court can be remanded in prison custody under an unruly certificate. The Scottish Government has announced plans to abolish unruly certificates, which, if approved by Parliament would see all children remanded in existing secure units. There are no new secure units planned for this purpose.

Question reference: S3W-10288

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 5 March 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many secure units are available for children aged under 16 on remand and where such units are located.

Question reference: S3W-09607

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 March 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it will spend in the next financial year on publicity to make people aware that they may be entitled to dental treatment that is free or at a reduced cost.

Question reference: S3W-09525

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 4 March 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what new initiatives it will introduce in 2008-09 to offer increased access to NHS dental services in Orkney and what financial resources will be allocated to each initiative.

There are no current plans to introduce new initiatives in 2008-09 to increase access to NHS dental services specifically in Orkney.

NHS Orkney are planning to increase their dental premises but this will take some time to put in place as this is being taken forward as part of the board's property strategy.

The board is also considering whether dental surgeries should be included as part of the refurbishment of the Balfour hospital at the first phase of this project. This proposal is currently with the Scottish Government Health Directorates for approval.

Question reference: S3W-09608

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what the net expenditure was on NHS dental care per head in Orkney in the most recent year for which figures are available and how this compared with the net expenditure per head in Scotland.

Question reference: S3W-09609

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many dentists there are in Orkney per head of population and how this compares with the number of dentists per head of population in Scotland as a whole.

At 30 September 2007, there were 6.6 NHS dentists¹ per 10,000 population in Orkney and 5.7 NHS dentists^1. per 10,000 population in Scotland as a whole.

Note: 1. Head count of dentists working in the sectors of NHS general, community and hospital dental services (not the whole-time equivalent number, as information on the working hours of each dentist is not collected). A dentist may work in more than one sector of NHS dentistry.

Question reference: S3W-09610

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the percentage of people in Orkney who visit a private dentist and what the comparative percentage is for Scotland as a whole.

Question reference: S3W-09606

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of Orkney residents aged 18 and over have visited an NHS dentist in the most recent period for which figures are available and what the comparative figures are for Scotland as a whole.

Question reference: S3W-09523

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list its initiatives in place in 2007-08 to offer increased access to NHS dental services in Orkney and the financial resources allocated to each initiative.

A number of grants and allowances have been introduced over the years to recruit and retain dentists within general dental services in Scotland, including Orkney. These are:

commitment payments

grants for new and existing vocational training practices

remote areas allowance

recruitment and retention allowance

practice allowances

reimbursement of practice expenses

deprived areas allowance.

In addition, the Scottish Dental Access Initiative, which was first introduced in 1997, provides grants for those dentists wishing to establish new or expand existing NHS dental practices. This scheme was revised in 2007 to provide for the purchase or relocation of current NHS dental practices and to include specialist orthodontic practices. The financial assistance available under this scheme has also been revised.

NHS boards are also able to appoint directly salaried dentists to fill gaps in provision.