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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 2702 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S4W-04606

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) DePuy XL ASR hip replacements and (b) ASR hip resurfacing implants there have been in each year since 2003, broken down by parliamentary (i) region and (ii) constituency.

Question reference: S4W-04954

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what inspections Healthcare Improvement Scotland carries out of businesses offering teeth whitening.

Question reference: S4W-04953

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is legal in Scotland for teeth whitening to be offered commercially by people not registered with the General Dental Council.

Question reference: S4W-04955

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any inspection body has taken action against a business undertaking teeth whitening.

Question reference: S4W-03514

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will routinely test for phenazepam as part of the monitoring of deaths where (a) drug and (b) drug and alcohol abuse is suspected.

Question reference: S4W-03515

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made toward replacing all transfats with polyunsaturated fats.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-02252 on 5 September 2011. 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Additionally, evidence from years one and two of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey shows that consumption of total trans fatty acids is considerably below the maximum level of 2.0% of energy for all age groups and is currently estimated to be, on average 0.8%. Intakes range from 0.7% of energy in young children to 0.9% of energy in older adults. The levels of trans fats from artificial sources has reduced in recent years and this has resulted in a relative increase in the contributions to intake of trans fats derived from natural sources.

As far as possible, the removal of industrially produced trans fatty acids (IPTFA) should not be accomplished by increasing saturated fat in products. Replacement of IPTFA with mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids is preferable from a health perspective. However, the choice of fat used to replace IPTFA will depend on the nature of the product and the function of the fat in that product.

Question reference: S4W-03512

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 19 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has asked the Scottish Pollution Control Coordinating Committee to examine the problems created by noise and vibration from freight trains at night.

Question reference: S4O-00617

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the consequences of the proposed reduction in the college student support budget.

Question reference: S4W-03513

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with (a) Health Protection Scotland, (b) the Food Standards Agency and (c) the Royal Environmental Health Institute on any (i) risks arising from and (ii) management of future outbreaks of E. coli in light of the emergence of a new strain in Germany in 2011.

Health Protection Scotland (HPS), in liaison with the Scottish Government, the Food Standards Agency, the Royal Environmental Health Institute for Scotland and other relevant stakeholders, is currently drafting a VTEC (Vero cytotoxin-producing E. coli) Action Plan for Scotland. This plan makes specific reference to the risks associated with foods such as sprouting seeds, which may result in infection with E. coli O104 (the strain involved in the 2011 Germany outbreak). The VTEC Action Plan will address the changing epidemiology of VTEC, and following publication the Action Group will continue to meet on a regular basis to assess the risk of novel VTEC strains, including E. coli O104.

Separately HPS is currently revising guidance on the public health management of verotoxin-producing E. coli (VTEC), which includes a brief section on the E. coli O104 strain. However, the public health management of all VTEC infections remains the same, irrespective of strain i.e. early detection and management of cases in order to prevent large outbreaks and severe clinical sequelae in those who are infected.

Question reference: S4W-03516

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-02259 by Michael Matheson on 14 September 2011, whether it will provide an update on how many cases of verotoxin producing bacterial infection have been identified in Scotland in 2011 and how many cases were identified in (a) 2004, (b) 2005, (c) 2006, (d) 2007 and (e) 2008.

Health Protection Scotland receives laboratory notifications of culture positive cases of VTEC (verotoxigenic Escherichia coli) bacterial infection. These are defined as:

All culture positive cases of Escherichia coli O157, and

All culture positive cases of verotoxigenic E. coli of non-O157 serogroups (known as non-O157 VTEC).

The figures requested are as follows:

Year reported to HPS	Culture positive E. coli O157 cases*	Culture positive Non-O157 VTEC cases
2011**	255	24
2008	241	25
2007	243	19
2006	244	18
2005	172	11
2004	209	7

Notes:

*Although a very small proportion (less than 3%) of E. coli O157 organisms cultured from humans have no detectable verotoxin-producing genes, national guidance on the Public Health Management of VTEC (see http://www.documents.hps.scot.nhs.uk/about-hps/hpn/vtec.pdf) requires that these cases be managed as VTEC, because organisms may lose VT genes during infection and so this finding cannot be taken to indicate that the original source was non-verotoxigenic.

**Figures for 2011 are provisional.