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: S2W-09671

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Duncan McNeil on 28 July 2004

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what plans it has to make the new Parliament building smoke-free.

Question reference: S2W-09616

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 28 July 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many drivers were prosecuted in each of the last five years for driving under the influence of illegal drugs.

Figures for prosecutionsinvolving drugs alone are not available. However, the total number of offencesof driving while unfit through drink or drugs in the years 1998 to 2002, thelatest five year period for which information is currently available, is givenin the following table.

Offence of Driving While UnfitThrough Drink or Drugs Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts, 1998-2002

Year	Number
1998	508
1999	533
2000	572
2001	621
2002⁽¹⁾	770

Note: Recording delays meanthat offences which were not proved may be under-stated in the total foroffences proceeded against.

Question reference: S2W-09615

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 13 July 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many drivers were arrested and charged in each of the last five years for driving under the influence of illegal drugs, broken down by police force area.

Question reference: S2W-09028

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 June 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what types of transport have been used for patient travel by each NHS board since 1999, giving the cost and percentage of usage of each type of transport in each year.

Question reference: S2W-08584

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 10 June 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8162 by Cathy Jamieson on 25 May 2004, whether there is still funding available from the sum referred to in the answer for security improvements to places of worship and what plans it has to make further funding directly available to places of worship that either did not receive any of the original funding or require further strengthening of their security provisions.

The funding referred to inthe answer given to question S2W-8162 was made available as one off funding in thelight of the events of 11 September 2001. All monies were allocated in 2002 and the fund wasclosed to further applications. The Community Safety Partnership AwardProgramme distributes £4 million each year between the 32 local authorities.This can be used for local community safety or crime prevention priorities asidentified by the local authority community safety partnership.

Question reference: S2W-08162

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 25 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-1992 by Cathy Jamieson on 22 April 2004, whether funding will be made directly available to places of worship for security improvements.

Question reference: S2W-08173

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 25 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to use saliva swabs to determine the effect of passive smoking on people who work in bars and restaurants where smoking is permitted in some or all areas within the establishment.

Question reference: S2W-08167

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 25 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans are in place to ensure that every person who requires drugs for fertility treatment receives a fair and equal service across Scotland and that best practice in this area amongst NHS boards becomes normal practice in all boards.

The report of ExpertAdvisory Group on Infertility Services in Scotland (EAGISS) was published inFebruary 2000. This report provides a robust evidence base for the managementand delivery of infertility services in NHS Scotland.

One of the principaloutcomes of this work was to produce eligibility criteria for accessing NHSfunded assisted conception. To ensure equity of access to treatment, NHS boards have been asked to implement the report asexisting resources allow and bearing in mind local and national priorities.

Fordetails of these criteria, you can access a copy of the Expert Group’s reportat:

http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/Publications/ME/eagiss.pdf

The prescription offertility drugs is an integral part of infertility treatment. The expert groupnoted that where couples meet the eligibility criteria and are accepted forNHS-funded IVF, then health board funding should cover the total costs of theIVF cycle including the costs of the drugs required for ovarian suppression andsubsequent super-ovulation.

Question reference: S2W-08027

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 18 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have been prescribed beta interferon or glatiramer acetate for the treatment of multiple sclerosis in each year since 1998, broken down by NHS board.

The information is not held centrally in the form requested. The information available to the Executive, which was collected on an informal basis, is given in the table. The information is given on a national basis in order not to disclose information that may relate to an individual patient.

Date	Number of Patients in Scotland Treated with Beta Interferon or Glatiramer Acetate
December 1999	181
October 2000	254
April 2002	350 (approximately)

A UK-wide risk-sharing scheme for the treatment of eligible patients with multiple sclerosis began on 6 May 2002. The scheme allows beta interferon and glatiramer acetate to be prescribed on the NHS to patients who meet criteria developed by the Association of British Neurologists. The Sheffield University School for Health and Related Research (ScHARR) is responsible for collecting and analysing information on health outcomes for patients who receive treatment under the scheme. At the end of April 2004, there were approximately 850 patients in Scotland receiving treatment with beta interferon or glatiramer acetate.

Question reference: S2W-08028

Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 18 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have waited to be assessed to determine if they would benefit from beta interferon or glatiramer acetate for the treatment of multiple sclerosis in each year since 1998, broken down by NHS board.

This information is not heldcentrally. The question of whether an individual patient might benefit from treatmentwith beta interferon or glatiramer acetate is a matter for the clinical judgementof the specialist concerned, informed by advice and evidence about its use. Clinicaldecisions regarding the treatment of individual patients’ are not available centrally.

The UK-wide risk-sharing schemefor beta interferon and glatiramer acetate allows these treatments to be prescribedon the NHS to patients who meet criteria developed by the Association of BritishNeurologists (ABN). The guidance which explained the scheme, Health Department Letter(2002)6, which is available from the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number20653), estimated that the total number of patients in Scotland whofall within the ABN guidelines might be in the range 1,300 to 1,560.