- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 26 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has examined the report of the study carried out by the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health in Finland which states that the mortality rate for women asociated with abortions is three times the rate for women associated with childbirth and what comparative figures it has for Scotland.
Answer
The Executive is aware of the existence of this study. All UK health departments are advised on issues relating to abortion by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which will take all good quality published studies into account in the next review of the college’s evidence-based good practice clinical guideline on the care of women seeking induced abortion.
Abortion, both medical and surgical, is a very safe procedure and deaths following abortion are extremely rare. In the UK it is a requirement that all maternal deaths should be subject to confidential enquiry and all health professionals have a duty to provide the information required. Reports on such enquiries are published on a UK basis.
The triennial report on Confidential Enquires into Maternal Deaths in the UK for the period 2000 to 2002, the last figures available, showed that three maternal deaths associated with termination of pregnancy were reported out of approximately 590,000 abortions performed. This works out at a rate of approximately five deaths per million abortions, compared with 53 deaths per million births.
- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 August 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 9 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-17992 by Mr Andy Kerr on 15 August 2005, why, in light of the mandatory requirement for NHS bodies to carry out trawl procedures, it did not give a positive response to the question.
Answer
As question S2W-17992 asked “whether it is general practice for the availability of NHS land and property to be trawled …” and the response indicated that it is a mandatory requirement of current guidance. I believe that I provided a positive response.
- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 August 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 6 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-17992 by Mr Andy Kerr on 15 August 2005, what monitoring of mandatory trawl procedures it undertakes.
Answer
In return for the operational independence holding bodies now have in respect of property transactions, they are monitored on their implementation of the procedures contained in the NHSScotland Property Transactions Handbook. The Scottish Executive does not undertake any monitoring of individual transactions including, for example, compliance with mandatory trawl procedures as this is a function of the audit process conducted within each holding body.
Audit Committees are responsible for the oversight of the internal audit programme and are responsible for reporting to health boards.
NHSScotland holding bodies are required to submit to the department annual monitoring reports which provide an overview of each holding body’s performance in managing property transactions completed that year and which highlight instances where the procedures detailed in the Property Transactions Handbook have not been followed. This would include instances where trawl procedures have not been undertaken in accordance with the handbook and if appropriate actions have not been agreed between the internal auditor and the board to remedy such a situation then the department would intercede to ensure that procedures are put in place to ensure compliance with the Property Transactions Handbook.
- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 6 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Scottish towns or cities have twinning links with other EU towns or cities.
Answer
This information is not held centrally. We are, however, placing on our website (
www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/International-Relations) details of known bilateral links provided by Scottish local authorities to the Scottish Executive. These details are also being placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 37353).
- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 6 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding Scottish towns and cities have attracted in each of the last five years from EU funding available for encouraging contact through twinning arrangements and what proportion of sums paid to the United Kingdom as a whole this represents.
Answer
This information is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 6 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding each EU country has received for town-twinning support in each of the last five years and what proportion of the United Kingdom's share has been allocated to Scotland.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-18479 on 6 September 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 6 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what total sum has been available to all EU countries from the EU budget for town-twinning support in each of the last five years.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-18479, answered on 6 September 2005. All answers to written PQs are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 6 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what financial support it has provided in each of the last five years to encourage links between Scottish and EU citizens through town-twinning arrangements
Answer
Information on the European Commission town-twinning budget is not held by the Scottish Executive. The budget is administered by the Commission’s Directorate-General for Education and Culture. The Scottish Executive has not provided separate financial support for town-twinning.
- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 July 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 15 August 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what changes to planning conditions were made following the sale of Ayr County Hospital in June 1999.
Answer
This is a matter for NHS Ayrshireand Arran as successor body to Ayrshire and Arran Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. The informationrequested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 July 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 15 August 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is general practice for the availability of NHS land and property to be trawled for possible disposal to other public bodies.
Answer
It is a mandatory requirementof the NHSScotland Property Transactions Handbook that NHSScotland bodies carryout trawl procedures, in accordance with departmental guidance, to identify anyrelevant interest in a property and to deal direct with any prospective purchaserwho expresses such an interest.
Departmental guidance, whichmirrors that contained in the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM), requires NHSScotlandbodies to carry out a trawl of Scottish Executive departments and sponsored bodies.The trawl process is now administered by Executive’s Property Advice Division whichcirculates details electronically of those properties identified as surplus to requirementfor operational purposes.
Where an interest is noted thereare detailed guidelines contained withinthe SPFM on a mechanism for dealing with the price at which the property shouldtransfer that is economical, transparent and fair and which is designed to avoidpublic bodies incurring unnecessary costs in relation to property that is alreadyheld within the public sector.
