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

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 965 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S2W-12428

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 24 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS dental patients have been deregistered in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board area.

The information is provided inthe following table , which show all NHS patients whose registration status indicated“withdrawn”.

Number of NHS Patients whoseRegistration Status Shows “Withdrawn”¹; April 1999 to March 2004

NHS board of practice where patient is registered	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Ayrshire and Arran	312	350	206	189	192
Borders	118	98	148	4,269	7,076
Argyll and Clyde	210	201	147	130	344
Fife	608	441	502	572	862
Greater Glasgow	575	598	753	1,525	496
Highland	285	1,587	4,536	222	218
Lanarkshire	511	425	438	365	718
Grampian	2,518	2,030	2,441	7,517	4,340
Orkney	7	1	1	50	34
Lothian	404	367	350	2,279	2,709
Tayside	335	305	610	1,139	848
Forth Valley	436	253	238	359	319
Western Isles	57	60	54	27	37
Dumfries and Galloway	791	112	590	1,057	826
Shetland	9	13	5	2	2
Scotland	7,176	6,841	11,019	19,702	19,021

Source: MIDAS (ManagementInformation and Dental Accounting System).

Note: 1. Based on patients whoseregistration status indicates “withdrawn” between the dates in question. This occurswhen there is a request for the registration record to be withdrawn (made usuallyby the dentist, and subsequently approved by the NHS board). Patient registrationscan be withdrawn for a number of reasons, including the dentist moving to anotherarea, non-payment of charges by the patient or entry into a private arrangementbecause the dentist has decided to stop treating some or all categories of NHS patients.The numbers also include withdrawals carried out where more than one active registrationexists for the same patient, as part of data cleansing. Some patients whose registrationhas been withdrawn may register with another dentist under NHS arrangements elsewhere.

Question reference: S2W-11115

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 October 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 23 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-10724 by Mr Andy Kerr on 29 September 2004, what support will be given to Perth and Kinross Council to prepare for the G8 Summit.

Scottish Ministers are committed to ensuring that the G8 Summit is successful. We welcome all the steps which Perth and Kinross Council are taking with others to that end. Executive and Foreign and Commonwealth officials are working closely with the council as well as with a range of other stakeholders to help them to prepare.

To underline our support, the Minister for Justice has already visited the area to meet the Chief Executive of the Council and Chief Constable of Tayside Police. The Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport visited the area recently. I plan to undertake a visit to the council in January to discuss summit plans.

Question reference: S2W-12956

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 23 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the membership and remit is of the committee examining the provision of neurosurgical services in Scotland; when it is expected to report, and whether implementation of any recommendations will be delayed until after the conclusion, and consideration, of the review of the National Framework for Service Change, chaired by David Kerr.

The committee to which the member refers is a sub-group of the National Framework for Service Change and accordingly it’s conclusions will form part of the report that Scottish ministers commissioned from David Kerr and his Advisory Group. The remit of the sub-group is to examine the future configuration of neurosurgery services in Scotland in order to inform work on the planning of highly specialised care. A list of the membership of the sub-group is set out as follows;

James Kennedy

Chair and Member of the National Framework Advisory Group

Professor Ian Whittle

Consultant Neurosurgeon

Professor Ian Bone

Consultant Neurologist

Mr David Mowle

Consultant Neurosurgeon

Dr Adam Bryson

Medical Director

National Services Scotland

Dr Annie Ingram

Regional Planning & Workforce Co-Ordinator

Dr Aileen Keel

Deputy CMO

Hilary Mounfield

Chief Executive

Dr Evelyn Teasdale

Consultant Radiologist

Elizabeth Preston

Assistant General Manager

Dr Uwe Spelmeyer

Consultant Neurologist

Mr James Steers

Consultant Paediatric Neurosurgeon

Dr Robert McWilliam

Consultant Paediatric Neurologist

Will Scott

National Planning Team

Myra Duncan

Advisor

National Planning Team

Professor Graham Teasdale

President, Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons, Glasgow

Karen Bruce

Deputy Head, Allied Health Professions

Miss Lynn Myles

Consultant Neurosurgeon

Miss Jennifer Brown

Consultant Neurosurgeon

Mr Kenneth Lindsay

Consultant Neurosurgeon

James Miller

General Manager Regional Services

Mr David Currie

Consultant Neurosurgeon

Callum Kerr

General Manager, Scottish Ambulance Service

Mark Hazelwood

Neurological Alliance Scotland

Dr Martin Kirkpatrick

Consultant Paediatric Neurologist

Andrew Wynd

Chief Executive.

Question reference: S2W-12744

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 16 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-11112 and S2W-12247 by Mr Tom McCabe on 1 November and Malcolm Chisholm on 29 November 2004, whether the Finance Committee's report on the relocation of public sector jobs has been made available to the Department for Work and Pensions and, if so, what response there has been from that department to the opinions that have been expressed by the Scottish Parliament on this matter.

Question reference: S2W-12227

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 16 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11120 by Mr Tom McCabe on 1 November 2004 regarding the hosting of the G8 Summit, what work is being undertaken by the local enterprise network to provide information and assistance to Scottish businesses in respect of the summit.

Question reference: S2W-12226

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 16 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11120 by Mr Tom McCabe on 1 November 2004 regarding the hosting of the G8 Summit, what work is being carried out by Scottish Enterprise to provide information and assistance to Scottish businesses in respect of the summit.

This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. However, the enterprise networks (represented by Scottish Enterprise Tayside) are working with the Executive to support the preparations for the G8 Summit and to provide information and assistance to Scottish businesses as this work progresses.

This includes: working with Scotland's key business organisations on summit planning; providing information for businesses about the summit on scottish-enterprise.com; working with Foreign and Commonwealth Office consultants on possible sponsorship opportunities; alerting companies to summit procurement opportunities advertised in the Official Journal European Union (OJEU) and identifying companies who may be in a position to tender for services which fall under OJEU thresholds; providing suggestions from across the enterprise networks for company and other possible press visits. Scottish Enterprise Tayside representatives have also attended briefings for the local business community led by Perth and Kinross Council.

Question reference: S2W-12429

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 8 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests to reopen railway stations are under consideration and where such stations are located.

The Scottish Executive does not hold comprehensive information on all station reopening proposals as these are often developed and promoted, in the first instance, by the relevant local authority or regional transport partnership. The following stations are however being considered for re-opening in the Scottish Executive’s Partnership Agreement in terms of projects referred to:

Project	Stations Under Consideration for Re-Opening
Airdrie - Bathgate	Plains, Caldercruix, Armadale, Blackridge
Stirling – Alloa – Kincardine	Alloa
Larkhall – Milngavie	Larkhall
Borders	Galashiels, Eskbank, Gorebridge, Newtongrange

Additionally, the following new stations are being considered under committed projects:

Project	New Stations Under Consideration for Opening
Larkhall – Milngavie	Dawsholm (to be re-named Kelvindale), Chatelherault, Merryton
Edinburgh Airport Rail Link	Edinburgh Airport
Glasgow Airport Rail Link	Glasgow Airport
Borders	Tweedbank

The Scottish Executive is also supporting the feasibility studies into the reopening of Laurencekirk station and into the Aberdeen Crossrail and Glasgow Crossrail proposals which will include the creation of new stations.

Question reference: S2W-12430

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 8 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many proposals for additional railway track are being considered and for which areas.

The table sets out the new or re-opened lines being taken forward by the Scottish Executive under project commitments in the Scottish Executive’s Partnership Agreement:

Project Under Consideration	Area
Airdrie to Bathgate	New line linking services from West of Glasgow with Edinburgh
Edinburgh Airport Rail Link	New line linking the airport with the rest of the Scottish Network, including Fife, Stirling, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Newcastle
Glasgow Airport Rail Link	New line linking the airport with the rail network providing direct link to Glasgow City centre
Larkhall to Milngavie	Two new lines providing half-hourly Larkhall – Glasgow Central services running onto Hyndland and Milngavie
Scottish Borders Railway	Reinstating the line between Edinburgh and Central Borders
Stirling – Alloa – Kincardine	Re-opening the Stirling to Alloa line for passenger rail and through freight to Kincardine and Dunfermline via Longannet

Question reference: S2W-12221

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 6 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what rules and procedures will be followed when decisions on procurement are made in relation to the hosting of the G8 Summit.

Question reference: S2W-12223

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 6 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11116 by Mr Tom McCabe on 1 November 2004 regarding the hosting of the G8 summit, what national and local opportunities and events will be held aimed at showcasing Scottish businesses and products and raising the profile of Scotland internationally.

The G8 Summit is a tremendous opportunity for Scotland to promote itself to an international audience and to demonstrate its capability of hosting prestigious events.

Plans for Scottish activities connected to the summit are gathering pace and conversations have taken place with local authorities, who are working up plans for individual and collaborative events in the run-up to July 2005. A further meeting of stakeholders will take place early in the new year to co-ordinate plans and shape an overall events strategy. There are numerous opportunities to promote Scottish produce and commerce, and these are being communicated to the business community as they arise. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is also taking active steps to promote Scottish businesses at Gleneagles itself.

Event Scotland has offered to produce promotional literature to inform the public, media and other visitors of the events on offer. This forms part of a broader media strategy to promote Scotland, which includes press visits, media packs, websites and a promotional campaign. A full Scottish summit events programme will be launched early in 2005.