- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 03 March 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 17 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what concerns it has about the impact on businesses of increases in public and product liability insurance costs and what representations it has made to the insurance industry and HM Treasury on this matter.
Answer
Statutory requirements affecting liability insurance costs are a reserved matter and therefore responsibility rests with the UK Government. The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including this.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 6 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive when remedial works to the A95 trunk road following the autumn storms will be completed.
Answer
The major landslip and bridge failure at Auchlunkart, which closed the A95 between Mulben and Craigellachie, is expected to be repaired by mid-April.Repairs to the other areas affected by the autumn storms will continue beyond this date. With the exception of a weekend closure starting on 7 March at one location, these repairs will not require the closure of the trunk road.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Elaine Murray on 20 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure the maintenance of gravestones and to safeguard them as a source of historical and genealogical information.
Answer
I have asked Graeme Munro, Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:Responsibility for the maintenance of gravestones lies with their owners. On the advice of Historic Scotland, significant graveyards and gravestones are given legal protection through listing or scheduling, as appropriate. Any proposals affecting listed structures or scheduled monuments should normally be the subject of listed building or scheduled monument consent unless there are over-riding public safety considerations. The condition of scheduled monuments is monitored by Historic Scotland's Monument Wardens. In addition, Historic Scotland has commissioned research which had led to two publications - Conservation of Historic Graveyards - A Guide for Practitioners and The Carved Stones of Scotland: A guide to Helping in their Protection, copies of which are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 26560 and 26559 respectively). Historic Scotland is also providing financial support, through the Council for Scottish Archaeology, for a development officer working with community groups and cemetery managers to promote best practice in the recording and management of graveyards and gravestones.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 18 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to request the service records of Scottish armed forces personnel from the Ministry of Defence archive at Hayes, Middlesex, for archiving in Scotland for the purposes of genealogical research and as part of its cultural strategy and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer
No. Service records are entirely a matter for the UK Government.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 14 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any action has been taken against NHS boards that have failed to give timeous access to patients' records in cases of complaint or alleged negligence.
Answer
In his recent letter to NHS board and Trusts Chief Executives about access to medical records the Chief Executive, NHSScotland, referred to my statement that the NHS must be as open and transparent as possible and indicated that:the service should continue to ensure that any requests for access to medical records are handled promptly and in accordance with the Data Protection Act.if patients are not happy about the way the application has been dealt with they may either write and complain to the data controller within the organisation, using the NHS complaints procedure, or complain to the Information Commissioner.The Information Commissioner may take action against NHS organisations who do not meet their obligations under the Data Protection Act.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 10 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage NHS boards to allow patients access to their own records.
Answer
The Chief Executive, NHS Scotland, has written to the Chief Executives of all NHS trusts and boards to remind them of their obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 to make available medical records to patients.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to fund improvements in quality associated with the new GP contracts and whether it will use a central fund for this purpose and, if so, what impact this will have on funding for other local health services.
Answer
The April 2002 framework for the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract stated that practices providing GMS will be able to increase their income if they achieve a series of quality standards. I am happy to confirm our commitment to this. Negotiations on the detail and costing of the new GP contract are being taken forward on a UK basis by the NHS Confederation, representing the four UK Health Departments, and the UK General Practitioners Committee (GPC). No final decisions have yet been agreed and it would, therefore, be inappropriate for me at this stage to discuss details of the negotiations or their likely impact.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Des McNulty on 27 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what weight it gives to cumulative effects of multiple proposals across local authority boundaries in consideration of planning applications for wind farms.
Answer
It is for the decision-maker to decide how much weight should be attached to each material consideration in the context of individual proposals. When considering cumulative effect, account will need to be taken of the scale and location of other wind farms, regardless of where they are situated.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 27 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider reviewing the practice of self-regulation in the legal profession.
Answer
The Executive is at present considering recommendations made by the Justice 1 Committee in the report which it published on 27 November 2002 on its inquiry into the regulation of the legal profession. The committee recommended the continuation of self-regulation, subject to the strengthening of safeguards, the enhancement of the role of the Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman and an increase in lay involvement in the complaints handling process.The Executive will respond to the committee's recommendations as soon as possible.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive when the review by the Standing Committee on Resource Allocation of the formula for the allocation of NHS board funding will be complete; what consultations it has carried out on this matter, and when it plans to implement any revised recommendations of the committee.
Answer
I expect the Standing Committee on Resource Allocation (SCRA) to produce its conclusions by the summer of 2003. To date, no consultation has been carried out. The extent of any future consultation and the timing of the implementation of any revised recommendations cannot be determined until SCRA's conclusions are known.
