- Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to introduce full annual health checks for those aged 75 and over.
Answer
The terms of service forgeneral practitioners already require them each year to invite each of theirpatients aged 75 or over to participate in a consultation to assess whether thepatient has any need for general medical services.
- Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether guidelines have been issued on the recommended number of dieticians employed in hospitals.
Answer
The British DieteticAssociation is currently working on guidelines on the number of dieticiansrequired across a number of general specialty areas. However the associationhas made no recommendations about numbers of dieticians in hospitals. Noguidelines have been issued by the Scottish Executive on the recommended number ofdieticians in hospitals in Scotland.
- Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 10 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence there is regarding any correlation between the level of diagnosis of (a) cancer and (b) asthma and communities' proximity to opencast coal mines and whether there are plans to instigate research into any such correlation.
Answer
In relation to asthma andrespiratory health more generally, I refer the member to the answer given toquestion S2W-3288 on 3 November 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the research facility for which can befound at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.The Scottish Executive is not aware of any credible evidence orrationale for an increase in the risk of cancer for communities close toopencast sites and has no plans to instigate further research.
- Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 10 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether an assessment has been conducted on the health of communities living in close proximity to opencast coal mines and, if not, whether an assessment is planned.
Answer
I refer themember to the answer given to question S2W-3288 on 3 November 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available onthe Parliament’s website, the research facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 10 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether research has been commissioned into the health implications of opencast mine developments.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-3288 on 3 November 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the research facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 6 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether its Environment and Rural Affairs Department's research organisation assessment exercise has been completed and when reports of its findings and conclusions will be published.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-3149 on 30 October 2003.All answers to written parliamentary questions available on the Parliament’swebsite, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 5 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many direct flights from Scotland to (a) European and (b) non-European destinations have been made in each of the last three years broken down by (i) route, (ii) airport and (iii) carrier.
Answer
Information as at March 2001,March 2002 and March 2003 showing the direct flights from Scotland to European Unionand other international destinations, and broken down by (i) route, (ii)airport and (iii) carrier, has been compiled from various sources by the CivilAviation Authority. A copy of the information is available in the Parliament’sReference Centre (Bib. number 29718).
- Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Mary Mulligan on 4 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has reviewed National Planning Policy Guideline 16; if so, whether results of the review will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, and if not, whether there are plans to carry out such a review and when this will take place.
Answer
Research is under way on theoperation and effectiveness of NPPG 16. This is expected to report veryshortly. A decision will be taken on whether the guidance should be reviewedwhen the research findings are known.
- Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether research has been completed, or is in the process of being conducted, into the levels of respiratory diseases in the local communities living in close proximity to open-cast coal mines, and whether the results of any such research will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
Answer
The Committee onthe Medical Effects of Air Pollutants has considered reports on two separatestudies on
The Acute Effects of Air Pollution on the Respiratory Health ofChildren in West Glamorgan (1997) and on
Do particulates from opencast coal mining impair children's respiratoryhealth (1999), produced respectivelyby the Welsh Combined Centres for Public Health and researchers from theUniversity of Newcastle. On the first of these, the committeeconcluded that the report did not support the assertion that asthma was morecommon in an area close to the opencast coal mine under study. On the second,the cmmittee concluded that the respiratory health of children living incommunities close to open-ast sites was very similar to that of children livingin communities distant from such sites.
The results ofthese studies are openly available and there are no plans to place them in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.
- Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 31 October 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what levels of mercury emissions would be defined as being dangerous to health and what the current levels are broken down by local authority area
Answer
The risks to public healthposed by mercury emissions depend on the resulting public exposures. Because of the diversity of emissions (for example, to water or air) and the complexity of the exposure pathways by which environmental mercury in its various forms canbe inhaled or ingested, it is not possible definitively to state a level ofmercury emissions that would be defined as being dangerous to health. The Scottish Executive is content that the current legislation for limiting industrialemissions and for the control of contaminants in food and water are sufficientto ensure that the risks for the health of the general public from environmentalmercury are properly controlled. The Food Standards Agency has providedadditional, related advice for susceptible groups on limitation of consumptionof certain foods.
Information on mercury emission levels broken down bylocal authority is not held centrally. However, the Scottish Environment ProtectionAgency (SEPA) hold details of mercury emissions from certain sites regulated asPart A installations under the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland)Regulations 2000, where these emissions exceed certain reporting thresholds. For mercury, these thresholds are 10 kg/year to air, and 1kg/year to water.
The following tables providea summary of the emissions data held by SEPA for 2002. Some types ofinstallations that emit mercury e.g. crematoria, are not regulated as Part Aprocesses and the table therefore does not include emissions from such sources.Crematoria are, nonetheless, subject to strict regulation as Part B processesunder the regulations.
Air Emissions
| Company | Site | Emissions (kg) | Local Authority |
| Scottish Power | Longannet Power Station | 52 | Fife |
| Scottish Power | Cockenzie Power Station | 30.5 | East Lothian |
| Lafarge Cement UK | Dunbar works | 13.8 | East Lothian |
Water emissions
| Company | Site | Emissions (kg) | Local Authority |
| BP Exploration Co Ltd | Kinneil terminal | 1.1 | Falkirk |
| Grangemouth CHP Ltd | Bo’ness Road | 6.3 | Falkirk |
| BP Exploration Co Ltd | Dalmeny Tank Farm | 2.0 | City of Edinburgh |
| Clackmannanshire Council | Black Devon Landfill Site | 1.2 | Clackmannanshire |
| BP Oil Grangemouth Refinery Ltd | Grangemouth Refinery | 10.6 | Falkirk |
| Talisman Energy UK Ltd | Flotta Terminal | 4.0 6.0 | Shetland Falkirk |
| BP Chemicals Limited Arjo Wiggins Limited | Grangemouth Fort William Mill | 3.7 | Highland |
It should not be inferredthat reports above the threshold imply a risk to health, since, as described inthe tables, risk is related to degree of exposure rather than the level ofemission.
