- 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 23 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to ensure a co-ordinated approach to new house building projects, taking into account play, community, shopping and educational needs.
Answer
National planning policy guidelines seek to ensure that, when local authorities assess the requirement for housing land, they will be guided by a number of considerations relevant to the circumstances of their area. These may include: the availability of or need for schools, shops, places of worship and recreational facilities; or whether existing facilities could be sustained through additional housing.
- 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 Wendy Alexander on 23 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of (a) male and (b) female residents of working age are in employment in each local authority area.
Answer
Figures on employment rates for men and women by local authority area are publicly available from the NOMIS database. Staff at the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) are ready to help access this information.
- 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 Wendy Alexander on 23 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to reverse the decline of 16% in the number of new business start-ups from 1998 to 1999.
Answer
Fluctuations in the number of business starts are heavily influenced by conditions in the broader economy. The Scottish Executive has established a
Framework for Economic Development that highlights a range of policies to secure economic development. Growth picked up in the second quarter, while independent forecasters expect that growth will be above trend next year.
In addition, we have a number of measures aimed to help people setting up new businesses: improvements to the Scottish Enterprise Network through the establishment, from July, of a single brand Small Business Gateway offering an extremely important package of core measures that improve on the quality and consistency of public sector support for new and small businesses in the Scottish Enterprise area; work by Scottish Enterprise to review the Business Birth Rate Strategy to further encourage entrepreneurship and start-ups - including from non-traditional sources, like women and youth; and the continuation of local events under the Personal Enterprise Campaign, including shows in deprived areas. In addition new start-ups with growth potential also have access to support from the £12 million Business Growth Fund and our national mentoring scheme - Business Mentoring Scotland.
- 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 23 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce legislation to ensure that owners are required to regularly inspect their buildings to ensure their safety thereof.
Answer
There are no plans to introduce such legislation.
- 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 22 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive Scottish Executive whether the Voluntary Charter on Smoking in Public Places has been disseminated and what systems of monitoring and evaluation have been put in place to measure the effectiveness of the charter in Scotland.
Answer
The
Scottish Voluntary Charter on Smoking in Public Places is in the process of being extensively disseminated to the membership of the Charter signatories: the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, the Scottish Tourism Forum, the British Hospitality Association and the Brewers and Licensed Retailers Association of Scotland. This process is due to be completed by January 2001.
Detailed arrangements for monitoring the impact of the Charter in co-operation with Charter signatories have still to be agreed. However, monitoring is likely to be through an exercise similar to the independent Survey of Smoking in Public Places which was published on 11 May. A copy is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre.
A copy of the Scottish Voluntary Charter on Smoking in Public Places pack, which was distributed, will also be made available in the Parliament's Reference Centre.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 22 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what cost benefit analysis has been undertaken, in partnership with the NHS in England and Wales where appropriate, into the use of newer, safer, more effective medicines rather than older, less expensive drugs which may have a poorer safety profile and a lower level of patient compliance.
Answer
No cost benefit analysis can be attempted in global terms to make the comparison between more recently introduced products which claim to be safer, against established products.
A cost benefit analysis or other economic analyses can only be done to compare two or more treatments for a given use. There are a number of units providing such analysis on behalf of the NHS, including units based within Scotland.In addition, publications such as the Scottish Medicines Resource Bulletin and its English and Welsh equivalents give advice to prescribers on choice of treatment, but are not full economic assessments of the subject.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 22 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it provides on treating schi'ophrenia and other mental illnesses with resperidone, olan'apine and quetiapine rather than older medicines such as chlorproma'ine.
Answer
The use of risperidone, olanzapine and quetiapine for the treatment of schizophrenia and other mental illness depends on the clinical judgement of the clinician concerned. It is for each health board to determine its prescribing policy on drugs, including risperidone, olanzapine and quetiapine, taking into account advice from local drug and therapeutic committees.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 20 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards the development of a meningitis B vaccine.
Answer
Research is under way to find an effective vaccine against meningitis Group B. Candidate vaccines have been developed and the Department of Health has funded phase 2 trials of these vaccines via the Centre for Applied Microbiological Research. The department is also investigating Group B vaccines in collaboration with the Dutch national vaccine manufacturer.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 November 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 17 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what encouragement it is giving to the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council to increase support for pharmaceutical sciences.
Answer
The Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992 specifically prevents Ministers from directly interfering in the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council's funding of particular institutions or subject areas. The Scottish Executive's guidance to the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council sets a broad policy framework and leaves the council appropriately free to exercise its discretion through its teaching and research funding streams.
Pharmacology is within the council's Science teaching funding subject group and Pharmacy is within the Other Health and Welfare teaching funding subject group. The Science teaching funding subject group is prioritised by Scottish Executive guidance, which means that there are restrictions on transfers of council-funded places for teaching out of this priority area into other subjects.
As for all other research funding subject areas, no specific priority is attached to Pharmacology and Pharmacy by the council.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 November 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 17 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to cut any red tape for overseas companies wishing to invest in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Executive seeks to reduce any unnecessary bureaucratic burden affecting any company within Scotland.
