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: S1W-18351

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 September 2001
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 15 October 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how many men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in each year since 1990.

The table shows the number of men diagnosed with prostate cancer in each year from 1990 to 1997, the most recent year for which cancer registration data are available :

Year of registration	Numbers of cases
1990	1,341
1991	1,350
1992	1,429
1993	1,725
1994	1,796
1995	1,876
1996	2,060
1997	1,905

1998 registrations are provisional but currently stand at 1,784. Incidence is slightly inflated in 1996 due to the introduction of a standard definition of incidence data across Scotland.

Question reference: S1W-18353

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 September 2001
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 15 October 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how many consultant urologists were in post in (a) 1995 and (b) 2000 and how many it expects to be in post in 2005.

Information on the number of consultant urologists in post in 1995 and 2000 is shown in the following table, which should be read in conjunction with the notes. This shows an increase of 33.3% for Headcount and 32.3% for Whole Time Equivalent during this period.

Robust projections on the number of consultant urologists that will be in post in 2005 are not available centrally. It is a matter for each NHS board to assess and provide for local needs and to determine the staffing levels required for effective service delivery.

Number of Consultant Urologists in post in 1995 and 2000

	1995	2000
Headcount	36	48
WTE	36.0	47.6

Notes:

1. Source: Information and Statistical Division.

Question reference: S1W-18354

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 September 2001
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 15 October 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is a centre of excellence in Scotland for the treatment of prostate cancer.

Question reference: S1W-18352

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 September 2001
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 15 October 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it anticipates that increased life expectancy will result in an increase in the number of patients being diagnosed with prostate cancer and, if so, what plans it has made to address this increase, particularly in terms of the number of consultant urologists.

The numbers of men diagnosed with prostate cancer is expected to increase, due to the increased numbers of men in the older age groups.

It is a matter for NHS boards to assess and provide for local needs, including the numbers of staff required for effective service delivery. For medical workforce planning, the number of higher specialist training posts available in Scotland is regularly adjusted to meet the projected number of new consultants needed.

Question reference: S1W-18462

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 21 September 2001
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 15 October 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current average waiting time is for restorative dental treatment at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

In the year ended 31 March 2001, the median waiting time for a first out-patient appointment with a Consultant in Restorative Dentistry at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary was 118 days.

Restorative dental treatments carried out within the Hospital and Community Health Service settings are primarily undertaken on an out-patient basis, and information on waiting times for such treatments is not held centrally. At Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, no patient was admitted from the waiting list for in-patient or day case treatment in the specialty of Restorative Dentistry in the year ended 31 March 2001.

Question reference: S1W-17981

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 September 2001
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 8 October 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the staff of the Cairngorms National Park will include individuals with expertise in wildlife ecology, conservation, landscape and experience of other national parks or similar areas.

It will be for the Cairngorms National Park Authority to determine the qualities required of park staff. However, to ensure it meets the park's statutory aims:of conserving and enhancing the natural and cultural heritage of the area; of promoting sustainable use of the natural resources of the area; of promoting understanding and enjoyment (including enjoyment in the form of recreation) of the special qualities of the area by the public, of promoting sustainable economic and social development of the area's communities, andthe authority will no doubt seek to employ personnel with skills and competencies appropriate to these aims.

Question reference: S1W-17982

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 September 2001
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 8 October 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-17272 by Sarah Boyack on 24 August 2001, how much allowance for expenditure on subsidised bus services is included within the general local government finance settlement allocations in the current financial year, broken down by local authority.

No allowance is specifically ear-marked for expenditure on subsidised bus services within the local government finance settlement. However, provision is made for this area of expenditure within each council's total grant allocation. It is for each council to determine its total expenditure on these services. Councils budgeted expenditure on subsidised bus services in the current year is shown in the following table:

	Budget Estimates 2001-02 (£000)
Aberdeen, City	41
Aberdeenshire	1,310
Angus	556
Argyll and Bute	1,763
Clackmannanshire	486
Dumfries and Galloway	1,901
Dundee	658
East Ayrshire	541
East Dunbartonshire	669
East Lothian	552
East Renfrewshire	441
Edinburgh, City	-484
Eilean Siar	1,116
Falkirk	1,608
Fife	1,237
Glasgow	4,238
Highland	1,112
Inverclyde	617
Midlothian	598
Moray	430
North Ayrshire	642
North Lanarkshire	2,219
Orkney	199
Perth and Kinross	1,040
Renfrewshire	1,666
Scottish Borders	935
Shetland	653
South Ayrshire	801
South Lanarkshire	1,188
Stirling	967
West Dunbartonshire	337
West Lothian	1,245
Scotland	31,282

Question reference: S1O-03861

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 September 2001
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 27 September 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with NHS staff and their representatives regarding NHS pay modernisation and what progress has been made on this matter.

Question reference: S1W-17978

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 07 September 2001
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 20 September 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the #9.4 million limit on the amount of public money which Highlands and Islands Enterprise is authorised to spend on the Cairn Gorm funicular railway is breached by Highlands and Islands Enterprise's undertaking in the agreement under section 75 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1987 (former section 50) that it may choose to dismantle and remove the funicular and buildings and reinstate the site and, if so, whether Highlands and Islands Enterprise will be directed to remove this undertaking from the agreement.

Question reference: S1W-17979

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 September 2001
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 20 September 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how much Highlands and Islands Enterprise estimates it would cost to carry out its undertaking under section 75 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1987 (former section 50) to dismantle and remove the Cairn Gorm funicular railway and buildings and reinstate the site.