- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 9 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) women and (b) men aged (i) 16 to 34, (ii) 35 to 54 and (iii) 55 and over are estimated to have no natural teeth.
Answer
The answer is provided in the following table:
Table 1. Percentages of (a) women and (b) men aged (i) 16 to 34, (ii) 35 to 54 and (iii) 55 and over are estimated to have no natural teeth.
| | Percentage |
| Age Group | Women | Men |
| 16-34 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| 35-54 | 3.5 | 2.8 |
| 55+ | 34.0 | 24.4 |
Source: Scottish Health Survey 2008.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 8 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how the number of epilepsy specialist nurses compares with the figure recommended by the Joint Epilepsy Council of the UK and Ireland.
Answer
According to the most recent staff survey published by the Information Services Division (ISD) of NHS National Services Scotland, there were 17 Epilepsy Specialist Nurses (ESNs) in post in NHSScotland at 30 September 2009.
The Joint Epilepsy Council recommends a target of 1 ESN per 100,000 population, which would give a figure of some 50 ESNs for Scotland.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 4 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the habitats regulations apply to the National Renewables Infrastructure Plan and, if so, what consideration was given to the implications of the plan on Natura 2000 sites.
Answer
The Scottish Government will be working with Scottish Enterprise who will be undertaking the necessary environmental assessment work including screening, to identify the need for an appropriate assessment of the developing National Renewables Infrastructure Plan, should it have any likely significant effects on Natura 2000 sites.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 3 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the National Renewables Infrastructure Plan is a qualifying plan under the terms of the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer
Officials from the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise have discussed the matter and do consider the National Renewables Infrastructure Plan to be a qualifying plan under the terms of the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005. An assessment of the plan, as per the requirements of the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 will be progressed in line with preparation of Stage 2 of the National Renewables Infrastructure Plan.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 3 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what communication it has had with Scottish Enterprise regarding the application of the provisions of the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 to the National Renewables Infrastructure Plan.
Answer
There have been a number of meetings with Scottish Enterprise in recent months by Scottish Government Ministers and officials on the development of the National Renewables Infrastructure Plan. Officials from the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise met on Tuesday 9 February 2010 to specifically discuss the provisions of the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 and how they may apply to the developing National Renewables Infrastructure Plan.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 3 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what communication it has had with Scottish Enterprise regarding the application of the habitats regulations to the National Renewables Infrastructure Plan.
Answer
The Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise are in ongoing discussion on a suitable approach to any assessment which may be required under the habitats regulations.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is to see an epilepsy specialist in each NHS board area.
Answer
Most patients referred by their GP to a specialist for epilepsy will be referred to a neurology consultant. The median waiting time for a first outpatient neurology consultation following a GP referral for the year ending 31 December 2009 by NHS board of treatment is provided in the following table.
| NHS Board of Treatment* | Median Wait(Days) |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 60 |
| Borders | 60 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 40 |
| Fife | 53 |
| Forth Valley | 73 |
| Grampian | 52 |
| Greater Glasgow and Clyde | 55 |
| Highland | 56 |
| Lanarkshire | 81 |
| Lothian | 44 |
| Orkney | 60 |
| Tayside | 56 |
| Western Isles | 53 |
| NHSScotland | 56 |
Source: ISD Scotland, New Ways Data Warehouse.
Notes: *Neurology services are not provided by NHS Shetland. Patients on the island requiring this services will be referred to another board.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what waiting time targets specific to epilepsy are in place.
Answer
Most patients with epilepsy have their treatment in a primary care setting. Those who require to be referred or treated in a hospital setting will be covered by our current targets of 12 weeks for both a first outpatient consultation and for inpatient and day case treatment. NHSScotland has effectively delivered both these targets since the end of March 2009 “ a year ahead of schedule.
The Scottish Government has set NHSScotland a challenging whole journey waiting time target from referral to treatment of 18 weeks by the end of December 2011.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 1 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how many epilepsy specialist nurses there are, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
Information on staff in post in NHSScotland is published annually by National Services Scotland, Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland, as part of the workforce census as at 30 September each year. Data for clinical nurse specialists by specialty, NHS region and NHS board is available at
http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5352.html - cns.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 29 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 12 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the value for money in allowing local authorities to invest in the capital equipment necessary to carry out a time-limited food waste collection service without continuing or evaluating the project.
Answer
All local authorities were aware of the fact that this was a trial and was not meant to be a long-term arrangement, investments were made on this understanding. Scottish Government continues to work with COSLA and local authorities to identify how best to roll-out food waste collections based on local circumstances and needs. Scottish Government is aware that some local authorities have already implemented food waste collections with others planning to do so. Of the six trial authorities five are still continuing to provide a food waste collection service.
