- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 29 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether smoking cessation services have been introduced in every health board area and how many people have received free nicotine replacement therapy as a result.
Answer
Following the launch of
Smoking Kills in December 1998, £3 million was allocated to health boards for smoking cessation services and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to be targeted at areas of social deprivation.
Smoking cessation has also been identified as a priority for investment from the £26 million Health Promotion Fund. Health boards will be able to provide more practical support through the NHS for those people who want to quit smoking.Comprehensive information on local smoking cessation services and on the number of people who have received free NRT is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 29 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what encouragement and incentives it provides to companies that are prepared to take responsibility for and develop brownfield sites.
Answer
National planning policies encourage the reuse of brownfield sites for new development.
The Scottish Enterprise Network offers support for brownfield development ranging from direct property and site assistance, such as addressing adverse physical conditions associated with brownfield land, to indirect support, advice and advocacy, assessment of the property market and opportunities for competitive advantage.
The development of some dwellings in deprived areas is supported financially through Scottish Homes Grants for Rent or Ownership scheme.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 28 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will tackle the low level of public awareness of the health risks of passive smoking found by the ASH Scotland/Health Education Board for Scotland survey on smoking in public places by undertaking a national public information campaign on passive smoking.
Answer
The Scottish Executive will examine the findings of the recent survey, commissioned by HEBS and ASH (Scotland) on public perceptions of passive smoking, when they become available.
The Executive recognises the importance for public awareness and understanding of issues surrounding passive smoking. Everyone should be able to be free from smoke and the effects of smoke wherever possible. It is important for employers, owners and managers of premises to understand these issues and to share the responsibility for creating smoke-free environments
The Executive will consider the need for a public awareness campaign on the effects of passive smoking in the light of the results of this latest survey when known, together with the impact of the Scottish Voluntary Charter on Smoking in Public Places and the HSE's proposed Approved Code of Practice on Passive Smoking in the Workplace.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 28 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the higher business rate poundage in Scotland as compared to England has had on new business formation, growth and survival.
Answer
The amount paid in rates is just one of many influences on the birth, growth and survival of businesses, and so extremely difficult to isolate its effect.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 28 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to reduce the level of unemployment in Scotland to UK levels or below.
Answer
A comprehensive range of policy measures is in place to reduce unemployment in Scotland, including the establishing of Local Economic Forums, the New Futures Fund and a Review of the Training for Work Programme all of which aim to ensure that unemployed people can play an effective part in Scotland's economic future.
To directly encourage the creation of new employment opportunities and safeguard existing jobs in areas of relatively weaker economic performance, the Regional Selective Assistance and Invest for Growth grant schemes offer financial support to businesses located in the Assisted Areas. The Scottish Executive is also contributing £454 million in supporting the Enterprise Network.Figures to the end-August show that 33,000 young people and long-term unemployed have gained employment through the New Deal in Scotland.Youth unemployment (18-24s unemployment for six months or more) in Scotland was around 3,000 in October 2000. This was 67% lower than in 1998. Long-term unemployment (over 25s who have been unemployment for two years or more) in Scotland was 11,000 in October 2000. This was 21% lower than October 1998, but has almost halved since 1997.I also refer Mr Gibson to the reply given to question S1W-11148.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 28 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive why the target set in Scottish Enterprise's Business Birth Rate Strategy in 1993 for Scotland to at least equal the UK average in the number of new businesses created each year per head of population by the end of the 1990s has not been achieved and what steps it will take to address this situation.
Answer
The objective set by Scottish Enterprise for the Business Birth Rate Strategy was very ambitious. In early 2000 Scottish Enterprise conducted a review to consider why the target had not been achieved. This is available on their website. Their review concluded that, although the number of new businesses created per head of population remained below the UK average, there had been some improvements in the infrastructure to support new businesses and an increase in the number of people enthusiastic about starting a business, and that these changes would have effect in the longer term. Scottish Enterprise are about to commission an independent review of the strategy to help focus on ways to improve the strategy in the 21st century. We are also working closely with Scottish Enterprise to improve our support for the small business sector, for example through the recent introduction of the Small Business Gateway.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 27 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure better sharing and co-ordination of information to local authorities, health boards and other agencies in relation to the commissioning of community care services for older people.
Answer
At a national level, the Scottish Executive is supporting the work of the Social Work Information Review Group which is committed to ensuring that information requirements and data standards set for social care are coherent with those set for health care. The outcome of this work will provide the agencies with a common currency of information to inform the planning and commissioning of services. The establishment of an Older People's Centre in 2001 to champion the development of good and innovative community care services will inform the commissioning process.
At local level, the Joint Future Group report will provide a new lead on service priorities and on improved information and systems integration in support of the delivery and commissioning of services.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 27 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what training medical students, doctors and other health care professionals receive in identifying and treating survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
Answer
The content of university medical courses is not a matter for the Scottish Executive to determine. The General Medical Council has a UK wide responsibility for determining the extent of the knowledge and skill required for the granting of primary medical qualifications. The route to reaching these standards is a matter for each individual medical school.
The content of specialist training for doctors is a matter for the Specialist Training Authority in the case of hospital doctors. The content of vocational training is a matter for the Joint Committee On Postgraduate Training For General Practice (JCPTGP) in the case of General Practitioners. The Scottish Executive would expect that, following completion of their training, doctors, as professionals, would keep their skills up to date in the areas which are relevant to their sphere of practice.
Training for nursing staff in dealing with childhood sexual abuse is embedded within the curriculum for certain qualifications such as paediatric nursing, forensic nursing, health visiting and midwifery. Dealing with the survivors of childhood abuse is a highly specialised aspect of childhood sexual abuse and training is the responsibility of individual practitioners in this field and their employers who are required to assess and meet the training needs of the multidisciplinary team.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 27 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of general practitioners have received training in cancer and palliative care in each of the last five years and what plans it has to ensure that all general practitioners receive training in this area.
Answer
General practitioners, like other professionals, are encouraged to look at their own personal learning needs and the health needs of their patients and to seek training in specific areas. Guidance and assistance is available from the Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education (SCPMDE) via the Postgraduate Directors of General Practice Education. Each GP also receives an annual Postgraduate Education Allowance to support an agreed amount of training. As the responsibility for continuous professional development belongs to the individual doctor, there is no central record kept of the details of training which has been undertaken.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 23 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the Accounts Commission for Scotland publication Supporting Prescribing in General Practice in September 1999, which of the following recommendations has each health board implemented: (a) substitution of branded Ranitidine and Fluoxetine by their generic equivalents and (b) therapeutic substitution of (i) Ranitidine/Famotidine/Ni'atidine by Cimitidine, (ii) Indapamide by Bendroflua'ide, (iii) Doxa'osin/Tera'osin by Pra'osin, (iv) Isosorbide Mononitrate by Isosorbide Dinitrate, (v) more expensive NSAIDs by Ibuprofen or Naproxen and (vi) Minocycline substituted Oxytetracycline.
Answer
The information requested is not available centrally and should be sought from individual health boards and Primary Care Trusts. Prescribers and health board and Primary Care Trust prescribing advisers receive for review regular reports from the Information and Statistics Division of the Common Services Agency on the prescribing behaviour of their individual practices.
