Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S1O-02598

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Hamilton North and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2000
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 30 November 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will conduct tests similar to those being carried out at Newcastle General Hospital into a new drug treatment for mesothelioma patients.

Question reference: S1W-08077

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Hamilton North and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 June 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 29 November 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7398 by Susan Deacon on 14 June 2000, whether it will detail by (a) health board and (b) hospital, the incidence of burkholdaria cepacia in each of the last ten years, showing the number of fatalities and the age groups of those affected.

The Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health (SCIEH) have provided data on the incidences of Burkholderia Cepacia over the last ten years split by health board, reporting laboratory, and grouped by age. Most laboratories are located within the diagnosing hospital.

The Centre received no reports of fatalities as a result of this infection. The General Register Office for Scotland has confirmed that Burkholderia Cepacia is recorded as the cause of death in an 18 year old girl who died in Gartnavel General Hospital in 1996.

The data are listed in the table below:-

Year	Health Board	Laboratory Reporting	No. of Cases	Age Group (Years)	Total
1990	Ayrshire & Arran Greater Glasgow	Crosshouse HospitalRoyal Hospital for Sick ChildrenVictoria InfirmaryRoyal Infirmary	2 1 1 1	0-4 <1 year 65+ 40-44	5
1991	Ayrshire & Arran Greater Glasgow Highland	Crosshouse Hospital Victoria Infirmary Western Infirmary Raigmore Hospital	1 1 1 1 1 1	<1 month 35-39 50-54 50-54 30-34 15-19	6
1992	Ayrshire & Arran Grampian Tayside	Crosshouse Hospital Foresterhill Perth Royal Infirmary	1 1 1 1 1	45-49 65+ 65+ 15-19 65+	5
1993	Ayrshire & Arran Argyll & Clyde Forth Valley Greater Glasgow Lanarkshire Lothian	Crosshouse HospitalRoyal Alexandra HospitalFalkirk & District Royal InfirmaryStobhill General HospitalWestern Infirmary HairmyresRoyal Infirmary	1 1 1 1 1 1 1	65+ 15-19 < 1 month 30-34 Unknown 65+ 25-29	7
1994	Ayrshire & Arran	Crosshouse Hospital	2	< 1 month 15-19	2
1995	Ayrshire & Arran Grampian Lanarkshire Lothian	Crosshouse Hospital Foresterhill Law Hospital Royal Infirmary	1 1 1 1 1 1	35-39 40-44 65+ 65+ 15-19 55-59	6
1996	Ayrshire & Arran Argyll & Clyde Greater Glasgow Lanarkshire Lothian	Crosshouse Hospital Royal Alexandra Hospital Stobhill General Hospital Law Hospital Royal Infirmary	1 1 1 1 1	55-59 < 1 year 65+ 40-44 65+	5
1997	Ayrshire & Arran Greater Glasgow Highland Lanarkshire Lothian	Crosshouse Hospital Royal Infirmary Raigmore Hospital Law Hospital Royal Infirmary	1 1 1 2 1	65+ 55-59 0-4 65+ 60-64	6
1998	Ayrshire & Arran Forth Valley Greater Glasgow Lanarkshire	Crosshouse Hospital Falkirk & District Royal InfirmaryStobhill General HospitalWestern InfirmaryMonklands Hospital	1 2 1 1 1	60-64 Unknown 65+ 50-54 65+	6
1999	Greater Glasgow Lothian	Royal Hospital for Sick ChildrenSouthern General HospitalStobhill General Hospital Royal InfirmaryWestern General Hospital	2 1 1 1 1	0-4 65+ 60-64 65+ <1 year	6 TOTAL 54

Question reference: S1O-02560

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Hamilton North and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 23 November 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any additional resources are being made available for the ambulance service in Lanarkshire.

The Scottish Ambulance Service is funded to provide services across Scotland. This year's allocation is £94.3 million - up £4.1 million on last year.The allocation includes £500,000 specifically for 20 more frontline staff in Glasgow, and a further £485,000 to train 75 more paramedics across Scotland.Areas round Glasgow will benefit from deployment of extra frontline staff in the south and east of the city. And of course the ambulance service regularly reviews performance in all health board areas, including Lanarkshire, to ensure that it is providing the services people need.

Question reference: S2O-00797

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Hamilton North and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Sunday, 12 November 2000
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 20 November 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what reviews have taken place of the likely impact of the Working Time Directive on the road haulage industry.

Question reference: S1W-10912

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Hamilton North and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 November 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jackie Baillie on 6 November 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the Equality Strategy.

Question reference: S1O-02245

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Hamilton North and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 September 2000
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 14 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-5761 by Rhona Brankin on 13 April 2000, how work to take forward the role of sport in promoting social inclusion has progressed.

Question reference: S1W-09261

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Hamilton North and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 8 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list by (a) local authority area and (b) parliamentary constituency all sites of historic battles maintained by it, its agencies or other Scottish public bodies and whether there are any plans to add new sites to this list.

There is no central list of battlefield sites. Historic Scotland is currently giving consideration to drawing up a register although there is a lack of evidence to identify the precise location of many battlefields and few physical remains survive.

Substantial parts of the sites of the following historic battles lie on land owned by the National Trust for Scotland:

Historic Battle	Local Authority Area	Parliamentary Constituency
Bannockburn (1314)	Stirling	Stirling
Killiecrankie (1689)	Perth and Kinross	North Tayside
Glenshiel (1719)	Highland	Ross, Skye and Inverness West
Culloden (1746)	Highland	Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber

Historic Scotland has in its care the mediaeval Stirling Bridge, the successor to the earlier bridge where the battle of that name took place in 1297. It is located in the local authority area and parliamentary constituency of Stirling.

In addition, the site of the Massacre of Glencoe of 1692 lies on land owned by the National Trust for Scotland. This lies within the local authority area of Argyll and Bute and the parliamentary constituency of Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber.

Question reference: S1W-08076

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Hamilton North and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 June 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 25 August 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to introduce legislation to limit the height of trees, such as Leylandii hedges, in urban settings.

The Executive is currently considering the subject of high hedges. A consultation paper was issued on 12 January 2000, seeking views on the extent of problems they cause; and on whether existing remedies are sufficient to deal with any problems experienced or whether additional measures should be considered. The closing date for responses was 31 March. Responses are currently being evaluated so that the Executive can consider what action, if any, may be appropriate.

Question reference: S1W-08430

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Hamilton North and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 30 June 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 14 July 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail the number of dwellings by council tax band in each local authority.

The table below shows the number of dwellings by council tax band in each local authority area.

Number of properties on the Valuation List at 6 September 1999
Valuation Band ranges	Band A	Band B	Band C	Band D	Band E	Band F	Band G	Band H	Total
Scotland	600,808	576,854	353,302	266,645	264,479	128,134	85,820	10,059	2,286,101
Aberdeen City	21,837	27,629	17,127	10,501	12,204	7,175	6,331	669	103,473
Aberdeenshire	20,923	15,411	12,676	14,311	15,906	9,161	5,698	396	94,482
Angus	15,536	12,106	6,344	6,933	5,702	1,827	884	140	49,472
Argyll & Bute	8,098	9,372	9,278	5,358	6,438	3,266	2,156	205	44,171
Clackmannanshire	6,516	6,897	1,683	2,014	2,360	839	555	36	20,900
Dumfries & Galloway	11,513	22,399	10,198	8,624	8,627	3,593	1,699	147	66,800
Dundee City	34,305	16,167	6,560	7,054	4,988	1,463	688	48	71,273
East Ayrshire	27,355	9,603	3,729	4,868	4,401	1,686	385	33	52,060
East Dunbartonshire	1,307	3,876	7,936	6,952	10,618	6,074	5,444	437	42,644
East Lothian	1,176	9,071	13,398	4,676	4,588	3,091	2,512	409	38,921
East Renfrewshire	1,435	5,054	3,736	5,799	7,735	5,643	5,295	569	35,266
Edinburgh, City of	26,232	44,806	39,141	29,827	32,181	19,946	17,215	3,067	212,415
Eilean Siar	4,996	3,629	2,592	1,316	682	115	32	6	13,368
Falkirk	22,776	18,609	5,493	6,723	6,391	2,309	974	38	63,313
Fife	42,464	47,516	19,004	15,931	17,320	7,525	4,159	359	154,278
Glasgow City	91,255	73,815	57,685	33,124	20,560	7,312	4,402	600	288,753
Highland	19,956	22,309	19,132	14,504	13,637	5,483	2,593	285	97,899
Inverclyde	23,940	4,501	2,536	2,560	2,875	1,466	1,037	161	39,076
Midlothian	1,091	11,725	9,613	3,677	3,763	1,652	1,057	140	32,718
Moray	12,088	9,951	5,496	4,972	3,916	1,221	435	106	38,185
North Ayrshire	21,823	18,223	5,840	5,534	7,049	2,187	866	45	61,567
North Lanarkshire	56,417	35,907	15,222	11,309	10,585	3,630	1,184	40	134,294
Orkney Islands	3,010	2,580	1,775	1,284	742	152	15	2	9,560
Perth & Kinross	9,241	14,519	10,175	8,453	9,697	5,133	3,590	503	61,311
Renfrewshire	17,217	25,496	11,652	8,570	8,882	4,661	2,566	191	79,235
Scottish Borders	16,383	12,434	5,955	4,824	4,901	3,092	2,363	323	50,275
Shetland Islands	3,305	1,763	2,391	1,376	857	148	28	2	9,870
South Ayrshire	7,423	12,359	7,851	7,214	8,399	4,079	2,446	218	49,989
South Lanarkshire	37,952	29,394	21,698	15,591	13,251	6,162	3,570	255	127,873
Stirling	6,849	8,194	3,710	3,335	5,320	4,112	3,769	494	35,783
West Dunbartonshire	8,788	17,919	6,967	3,970	4,014	1,093	370	25	43,146
West Lothian	17,601	23,620	6,709	5,461	5,890	2,838	1,502	110	63,731

Source: As reported by authorities on statistical return CTAXBASE (99) .

Data are numbers of dwellings on the Valuation list for the councils on 6 September 1999.

Question reference: S1O-02034

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Hamilton North and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 29 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether palliative care will be an integral part of strategies for cancer care and the care of those with chronic and progressive illnesses.