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: S2W-19572

Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 September 2005
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 19 October 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what locations have been confirmed for building new homes under the Homestake scheme.

I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

New homes in the following locationsare planned under the Homestake shared equity scheme:

Aberdeen

Auchenback, East Renfrewshire

Aviemore

Carluke

Carrbridge

Clydebank

Cumbernauld

Dalry, Dumfries and Galloway

Dundee

Dunfermline

Dunoon

Edinburgh

Fort William

Gorebridge

Greenlaw, East Renfrewshire

Hamilton

High Valleyfield

Inverness (eight schemes)

Isle of Islay

Kelty

Kilmarnock

Kilmichael, Argyll and Bute

Kingussie

Kirkintilloch (two schemes)

Kirkmichael, Argyll and Bute

Livingston

Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire

Newmachar, Aberdeenshire

Newtongrange

Perth and Kinross (two schemes)

Portlethen

Portree

Rothesay

South Angus

Springside, North Ayrshire

Taynuilt, Argyll and Bute

Thurso (two schemes)

Other areas are likely to benefitfrom the scheme in the future when new development opportunities arise.

Question reference: S2W-19571

Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 September 2005
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 17 October 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what registered social landlords have been confirmed as participating in the Homestake scheme.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

The following registered social landlords are either participating, or are planning to participate, in the Homestake shared equity scheme:

Albyn Housing Society

Almond Housing Association

Angus Housing Association

Arklet Housing Association

Atrium Homes

Cairn Housing Association

Castle Rock Edinvar Housing Association

Clyde Valley Housing Association

Cube Housing Association

Cumbernauld Housing Partnership

Dunbritton Housing Association

Dunedin Canmore Housing Association

Fyne Homes

Grampian Housing Association

Hillcrest Housing Association

Hillhead Housing Association

Irvine Housing Association

Kingdom Housing Association

Langstane Housing Association

Link Group

Lochaber Housing Association

Lochalsh & Skye Housing Association

Loreburn Housing Association

Lothian Homes

Melville Housing Association

Ochilview Housing Association

Pentland Housing Association

Perthshire Housing Association

West Highland Housing Association.

Question reference: S2W-19570

Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 September 2005
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 17 October 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what money has been allocated to fund the Homestake open market scheme in Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Question reference: S2W-19573

Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 September 2005
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 17 October 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what its annual target will be for newly built homes under the Homestake scheme.

Question reference: S2W-19569

Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 September 2005
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 17 October 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what funds have been allocated for building new homes under the Homestake scheme.

Question reference: S2O-06744

Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 19 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will take to tackle health care-associated infections in the NHS.

We recently announced a new campaign to protect patients from hospital infections and ensuring clean wards. This will be a thorough, relentless and systematic campaign, which is one of the most comprehensive in Europe, and is backed by £15 million investment over three years.

The key elements include sisters and charge nurses being accountable for ward cleanliness and a programme to ensure that alcohol hand rubs are available near every frontline bed by the beginning of April 2005. I have received confirmation from chief executives that the policy to provide alcohol hand rubs has been fully implemented. There is also a reinforcement of management accountabilities and responsibility, and further developments in education and training for cleaning, nursing and medical staff.

Cleanliness is everyone’s responsibility. Staff and visitors alike can do a lot to help keep patients safe from infection.

Question reference: S2W-14254

Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 10 March 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to highlight to young women over 12 the dangers of drinking and the risk of foetal alcohol syndrome.

NHS Health Scotland producesa teaching pack, Drink Talking, which is distributed to secondary schoolsand contains a video and teaching notes to facilitate discussion on the effectsof alcohol on the body. Although this does not specifically discuss the effectsof alcohol on unborn babies, it does offer advice on alcohol consumption. Alcohol:What every parent should know, a guide that is aimed at the parents of teenagechildren, is also distributed to schools and contains information on the effectsof alcohol consumption and the health of unborn children.

Question reference: S2W-14253

Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 4 March 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to highlight to women who are pregnant the dangers of drinking and the risk of foetal alcohol syndrome.

The Scottish Executive ensures that information about foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is included in appropriate publications for expectant mothers. The NHS Health Scotland book Ready, Steady, Baby a guide to pregnancy, birth and early parenthood, given to all new mothers, contains a section on alcohol consumption during pregnancy. The risks of FAS are also highlighted in A Framework for Maternity Services (2001) and in Getting Our Priorities Right (2001), offering guidance to agencies on working with families affected by problem drug use. NHS Health Scotland also produces a teaching pack which is distributed to all secondary schools and includes information relating to the effects of alcohol on the body.

Question reference: S2W-14255

Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 4 March 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many babies were born with drug dependency, broken down by NHS board, in each of the last 10 years.

The number of babies discharged from Neonatal Units with a diagnosis involving drug misuse is shown in the table below. Data for years prior to 1997-98 are not available as different diagnostic codes were used to provide analysis of numbers of discharges recording drug misuse. Data for 2003-04 is not yet available.

Neonatal Discharges⁴ Recording Drug Misuse⁵ broken down by Health Board

	Neonatal Discharges Recording Drug Misuse (SMR11)
1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03^P
Argyll and Clyde	11	22	34	29	29	33
Ayrshire and Arran	17	23	28	19	26	21
Borders	**	+	**	+	**	**
Dumfries and Galloway	**	5	7	13	13	10
Fife	6	10	15	8	8	18
Forth Valley	7	**	12	15	6	15
Grampian	60	42	67	101	86	72
Greater Glasgow	66	98	109	94	33+	26
Highland	**	5	6	5	**	6
Islands	+	+	**	**	-	-
Lanarkshire	**	**	10	14	19	27
Lothian	16	19	29	18	28	22
Tayside	24	13	5	12	7	19

^PProvisional

**In order to maintain patient confidentiality, values of one and over and less than five have been suppressed.

+Incomplete data collection.

Source: SBR, SMR02 and SMR11.

Ref: S2W-5284 and S2W-13388.

Question reference: S2W-14252

Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 3 March 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many babies were born with foetal alcohol syndrome, broken down by NHS board, in each of the last 10 years.