- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 May 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 25 May 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has issued any guidance to Scottish police forces as to the format in which accident statistics should be kept.
Answer
Police forces do not normally collect statistical information on accidents. The exception is road accidents that involve personal injury. Road Accidents Scotland 1998, published by the Scottish Executive and available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, describes how the information may be collected.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 24 May 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many local authorities have appointed Home Safety Officers.
Answer
I understand that 10 local authorities have appointed officers with specific responsibility for home safety on a full-time or part-time basis.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 24 May 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to require local authorities to provide minimum standards and a common access route to funding in respect of the provision of disabled aids and adaptations, and whether it has any plans to standardise charging policies of local authorities with regard to the provision of disabled aids and adaptations.
Answer
The Joint Future Group, which I chair, is examining how equipment services can be better managed. We will be considering a wide range of aspects relevant to the question.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 May 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 23 May 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to make cycling safer for children.
Answer
The Scottish Executive provides funding to the Scottish Road Safety Campaign to enable it to develop road safety education initiatives. Following a review of the Scottish Cycle Training Scheme by the campaign, the written training materials were revised and a new training video made. The new training pack was launched on 27 March, and has been issued to all Road Safety Units in Scotland. The pack will assist in the delivery of high quality cycle training. It will be followed shortly by a new Safer Cycling Guide for Parents designed to inform parents on how to keep their children safe when cycling. In addition, the campaign is considering the development of a "training the trainers" guide, which will be aimed at Road Safety Officers and will ensure a basic standard of training for all volunteer trainers.
The publications How to run Safer Routes to School (issued to all schools and local authorities in Scotland in December 1999) and Cycling by Design (issued to all local authorities in March 2000) together provide practical advice on the creation of safe environments for cyclists, the latter concentrating particularly on children.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 May 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 23 May 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to support a national subsidised public transport fare scheme for young people aged 16 and 17.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has no plans to support such a scheme. Local authorities have powers under section 93 of the Transport Act 1985 to provide concessionary fares for certain categories of person, including young people aged over 16 and under 18 who are undergoing full-time education. These powers are discretionary and it is for individual authorities to determine their concession travel arrangements for eligible categories of person.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 18 May 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards the appointment of a permanent Scottish Parliament Commissioner for Administration and what the timescale is for the associated consultation.
Answer
An initial consultation paper is being prepared to seek views on issues to be addressed in framing the Act of the Scottish Parliament which will put in place permanent arrangements for investigating complaints of maladministration. Work on this paper is nearing completion and it should be published before the summer recess. A period of around three months will be allowed for responses. This will be followed by a second consultation, probably including a draft Bill, setting out detailed proposals based on the outcome of the initial consultation.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 18 May 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will liaise with the new Health Technology Board for Scotland regarding the adequacy of disabled aids and adaptations provided by local authorities and health boards.
Answer
The Health Technology Board for Scotland is independent of the NHS Management Executive and decisions on its programme of work rests with the Chairman, Dr Angus Mackay, and his board members.
The Rehabilitation Technology Services Advisory Group (ReTSAG), chaired by the Scottish Executive and including representatives from the five main rehabilitation technology centres in Scotland as well as users of the service, is continually examining the provision of aids and equipment and are currently looking at a number of areas of service provision which may lead to proposals for assessment being put to the Health Technology Board.
Copies of the remit and membership of ReTSAG and the report of the Implementation Working Group for the Health Technology Board are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 25 February 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 9 May 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4078 by Susan Deacon on 18 February 2000, when it expects the Coronary Heart Disease Task Force to complete its risk-benefit analysis on the placement of defibrillators in public buildings.
Answer
I refer to my answer to question S1W-6357.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 8 May 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any proposals to reduce waiting times for treatment, particularly for oral medicine and anxiety/hypnosis treatment, at Glasgow Dental Hospital.
Answer
An action plan is already in place to address pressures on oral medicine. On 30 March, the Trust Board approved the appointment of an additional Consultant which should lead to considerable improvement in the waiting times for oral medicine over the next 12 months.Currently, one Dental Practitioner is operating two anxiety and hypnosis clinics per week. Once the additional Consultant is employed, it is hoped that this service will be expanded to five sessions per week.I understand from the Trust that there are also Dental and General Medical Practitioners trained in medical and dental hypnosis to whom patients can be referred.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 2 May 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to issue guidelines to all health boards to ensure a national system of availability and access to new medical products.
Answer
A Health Technology Board for Scotland was established on 1 April to act as a single focus for advice to the NHS in Scotland on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of new technologies, including drugs.
