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: S2O-11591

Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 11 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it gives to guided busway development across Scotland.

Capital resources amounting to£35 million in 2006-07 and 2007-08 have been allocated to regional transportpartnerships towards their transport priorities, which could include the provisionof guided busways.

The West Edinburghguided busway which opened in December 2004 was funded from the closed Public TransportFund to the extent of £6.6 million.

The recently published Bus ActionPlan will aim to deliver a step change in the provision of bus services. It willfeature a review of Scottish government funding mechanisms to ensure that resourcesare directed at improving the quality and reliability of services and at enhancingbus infrastructure, including bus passenger priority measures such as guided busways.

Question reference: S2W-30748

Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2006
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it gives to guided busway developments.

Question reference: S2W-30281

Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 15 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how the allocation of IVF treatment is prioritised by NHS boards.

Question reference: S2W-30283

Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 15 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is issued to NHS boards on the provision of IVF treatment.

Question reference: S2W-30282

Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 12 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is issued to NHS boards on the prioritisation of services.

Question reference: S2W-29464

Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Elish Angiolini on 16 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been recovered by the Civil Recovery Unit and the Criminal Confiscation Unit and what their running costs have been since introduction.

Between the Proceeds of CrimeAct 2002 coming into force and 30 September 2006, being the latest available figures,a total of £4,100,000 has been recovered by the Civil Recovery Unit.

The total annual running costsfor the three financial years from 2003 through to April 2006, representing thelatest figures available, including staff and case related costs, amount to £2,905,000.

The Criminal Confiscation Unitwas responsible for the administration of restraint and criminal confiscation proceedingsunder the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. That unit was merged with the Fraud and SpecialistServices Unit in June 2004 to create the Financial Crime Unit. The Financial CrimeUnit now forms part of the National Casework Division at Crown Office. Separaterunning costs in respect of the administration of the Proceeds of Crime Act arenot available, as the Financial Crime Unit and now the National Casework Divisionhave significant additional responsibilities, including, the preparation and prosecutionof serious and complex fraud, money laundering and organised crime cases.

The total sum subject to confiscationorders since the introduction of the Criminal Confiscation Unit is, to 30 September 2006, £7,057,000.

The running costs of the CriminalConfiscation Unit/Financial Crime Unit for the three financial years from 2003 throughto April 2006 amount to £2,921,000.

Question reference: S2W-29162

Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 15 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is giving to sufferers of cyclical vomiting syndrome.

Question reference: S2W-29280

Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 7 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is for a GP appointment in NHS Lothian and what action it is taking to reduce this time.

The information requestedis not available centrally.

The Scottish Executive’starget is that anyone contacting their GP practice should have guaranteed accessto a GP, nurse or other healthcare professional within 48 hours.

For the year 2005-06,NHS boards reported (nationally) that over 99% of practices demonstrated compliancewith Health Department requirements for this guarantee. This compares to 97% in2004-05. NHS Lothian reported 100% compliance for both 2004-05 and 2005-06.

Information on thetarget and the guidance issued to NHS boards is available publicly from the 48 HourAccess website http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd/48houraccess.

Question reference: S2W-28918

Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 30 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on reducing waiting times for non-emergency MRI scans.

Information on waiting timesfor MRI scans is not currently available.

Work is well advanced to developand implement a data collection system for waiting times for key diagnostic testsand procedures, including MRI scans. Central data collection is now underway andit is expected that provisional information will be published before the end of2006.

In June 2005, I announced a maximumnine-weeks waiting time target for eight key diagnostic tests, including MRI scans.This commitment will come into effect from the end of 2007. Meantime, NHSboards are working to reduce diagnostic waiting times for patients through serviceredesign, investment in capacity and more efficient working to ensure that the targetis met.

Question reference: S2W-28919

Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 30 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any evidence that waiting times for MRI scans are due to excessive numbers of referrals by GPs.

All requests for MRI scans madeby clinicians, including GPs, are reviewed by experienced radiology staff - normallya consultant – before a scan is carried out to ensure clinical appropriateness.This is designed to ensure that scans are carried out in response to appropriaterequests while minimising unnecessary use of diagnostic resources. The ScottishExecutive has no evidence to indicate that MRI scans are being carried out unnecessarilyor that waiting times are being extended due to inappropriate referrals. The Executive’spublished target for the NHS is that MRI scans, together with other key diagnosticprocedures, must be carried out within nine weeks of referral by the end of 2007.The NHS is making progress towards achieving this target.