- Asked by: Mr Lloyd Quinan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 29 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32391 by Mr Frank McAveety on 15 January 2003, when comprehensive information on the number of people now recognised as having an autistic spectrum disorder will be available centrally.
Answer
There are no specific plans to collect this information centrally at present. A project to evaluate the effectiveness of the National Special Needs System (SNS) and to discover how effectively the needs of relevant children (aged zero to 19) and their families are being met is, however, under way. This is funded by the Clinical Resource and Audit Group (CRAG) and is addressing data recording issues within SNS and other similar local systems, focussing on five indicator conditions one of which includes autism. It is intended that the results of this project will indicate how effective data recording is for children with special needs in Scotland. The IM & T strategy for NHSScotland includes the objective that every board/trust should have SNS available by 2004. SNS is currently implemented in eight NHS boards/trusts throughout Scotland.
- Asked by: Mr Lloyd Quinan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 29 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32391 by Mr Frank McAveety on 15 January 2003, what formula it used to determine from sample information nationally that greater numbers of people are being recognised as having autistic spectrum disorder.
Answer
Information about greater numbers of people recognised as having autistic spectrum disorder was not derived from sample information nationally. The Public Health Institute of Scotland's Autistic Spectrum Disorders Needs Assessment Report reported that most recent studies have found higher prevalence rates than previous studies, but no formal work has been done to identify the prevalence of autistic spectrum disorder amongst adults.
- Asked by: Mr Lloyd Quinan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 29 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-33061 by Mr Frank McAveety on 21 January 2003, whether there will be any financial implications of the revised proposal for a national service network for people with autistic spectrum disorders.
Answer
The financial implications of the revised proposal for a national service network for people with autistic spectrum disorders have still to be clarified by the Scottish Society for Autism and the National Autistic Society.
- Asked by: Mr Lloyd Quinan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 29 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32391 by Mr Frank McAveety on 15 January 2003, how it defines "relatively uncommon conditions".
Answer
National information from general practice is currently estimated from a sample of GP practices covering around 8% of the Scottish population only (the CMR - Continuous Morbidity Recording - practices). GPs participating in CMR reported that less than 0.02% of their patients were seen for autistic spectrum disorder during 2001. This number is too small to provide a basis for deriving national estimates that are sufficiently precise for the task of identifying trends over the few years during which CMR data has been available or for producing the projected figures requested.
- Asked by: Mr Lloyd Quinan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to withdraw infant vaccines that contain mercury in the light of the recent report by the UK medicines information service and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer
The Committee on Safety of Medicines has advised that, with the exception of hypersensitivity reactions that typically include skin rashes or local swelling at the site of injection, there is no evidence of harm from the levels of thiomersal (which contains ethylmercury) contained in vaccines. Further studies, and the advice of the World Health Organisation, are consistent with this finding. The benefits of immunisation outweigh any potential risks of vaccination due to sensitivity from thiomersal. However, to reduce avoidable exposure to mercury in general, it has been agreed, on a European-wide basis, that even though there is no evidence of toxicity, as a purely precautionary measure, thiomersal should be phased out over time. The Executive, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) endorse this decision. Manufacturers are being encouraged to phase out the use of thiomersal in vaccines as a purely precautionary measure. It is anticipated that thiomersal-free vaccines will be considered for provision in the routine childhood immunisation programme after they have been licensed for use in the UK and have demonstrated that they are as effective in protecting children against the real risk presented by vaccine-preventable diseases as the vaccines that are currently used.The only vaccines, used routinely in the childhood immunisation programme, that contain thiomersal in the final products, are the diphtheria, tetanus and wholecell pertussis (DTwP) vaccine and the combined diphtheria and tetanus vaccine (Td). The current expert advice is that DTwP is the most effective of DTP vaccines currently available in the UK.
- Asked by: Mr Lloyd Quinan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 21 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made with the establishment of a Scottish Centre for Learning Disabilities, as recommended in The same as you? A review of services for people with learning difficulties.
Answer
On 21 March 2001, the Scottish Executive announced the award of £1.5 million to set up a Centre for Learning Disability in Scotland. The Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability was formally launched on 5 October 2001.
- Asked by: Mr Lloyd Quinan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 21 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made with the establishment of a national service network for people suffering from an autistic spectrum disorder, as recommended in The same as you? A review of services for people with learning difficulties.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is considering a revised proposal for a national service network for people with autistic spectrum disorders, which has been submitted by the National Autistic Society and the Scottish Society for Autism.
- Asked by: Mr Lloyd Quinan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 21 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-14176 by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 March 2001, how much of the additional #36 million to improve services for people with learning disabilities was allocated to specific services for families affected by autistic spectrum disorders.
Answer
Information about the use of change funds for 2001-02 is available on the learning disability review website at
www.scotland.gov.uk/ldsr. Local authorities were not asked to specify how much of the change funds were allocated to services for families affected by autistic spectrum disorders. However, some areas have identified spending on services including short breaks, employment, joint training and specialised support staff for people with autism. The audit of services to be carried out as recommended by the Public Health Institute of Scotland's
Autistic Spectrum Disorders Needs Assessment Report will also include information about current expenditure in relevant agencies.
- Asked by: Mr Lloyd Quinan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 20 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what opportunities there are for the continued funding of projects that have been assessed as successful at the conclusion of their funding periods under the New Futures Fund.
Answer
Delivery of the New Futures Fund is the responsibility of the Enterprise Networks who are currently assessing the options.
- Asked by: Mr Lloyd Quinan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 20 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking under phase 2 of the New Futures Fund to ensure the effective transition to mainstream or any other source of funding for projects at the conclusion of their funding period.
Answer
Delivery of the New Futures Fund is the responsibility of the Enterprise Networks who are currently assessing the options.
