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: S3W-36633

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 26 October 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has undertaken to reduce the number of young driver deaths between 9 pm and 6 am.

Scotland''s Road Safety Framework to 2020, published in June 2009, identifies drivers aged 17 to 25 as a priority area for the Scottish Government and its partners. The framework sets out a number of commitments to address young driver safety one of which is a commitment to conduct a public debate on young driver issues, including graduated licences the legislation for which is reserved to the UK Government.

Transport Scotland is in the final stages of awarding a contract to facilitate the debate. At the end of the process we will be better placed to consider what further measures could be undertaken to reduce the number of fatalities and casualties among young drivers.

Question reference: S3W-36634

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 26 October 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives are in place to deter young people from driving between 9 pm and 6 am.

Through Road Safety Scotland, the Scottish Government has produced a number of road safety education resources and publicity initiatives which refer to the implications relating to driving at night. These include, Crash Magnets, a resource for young people aged 14 to 18; Learning to Drive, an information booklet for parents and teenagers; and Just One Distraction, an integrated marketing campaign.

The legislation for introducing restrictions on night time driving is reserved but, in our response to the Driving Standards Agency consultation in 2008, we highlighted that there is strong support amongst the road safety community in Scotland for regulated driving for new drivers.

Transport Scotland is in the final stages of awarding a contract to facilitate a national debate on young drivers issues. At the end of the process we will be better placed to consider what future initiatives, related to night time driving, may be required.

Question reference: S3W-36742

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 26 October 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Parliament was informed that there would be no operator of last resort for ferry services and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Question reference: S3W-36741

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 26 October 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the provision of an operator of last resort for ferry services.

Question reference: S3W-36740

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 26 October 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason there is no operator of last resort for ferry services, given that there are operators of last resort for rail services and other UK and Scottish public services subject to competitive tender.

Question reference: S3W-36745

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 October 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many consultants are in receipt of merit awards in categories (a) A+, (b) A and (c) B, broken down by NHS board.

The information requested can be found at Appendix H of the latest report of the Scottish Advisory Committee on Distinction Awards at: www.shsc.scot.nhs.uk/shsc/default.asp?p=71.

For ease of reference, the information at 30 September 2009 is as follows:

NHS Board Area	A+	A	B	Total
	No.	No.	No.	No.
Ayrshire and Arran	0	3	8	11
Borders	0	1	2	3
Dumfries and Galloway	0	1	5	6
Fife	1	1	8	10
Forth Valley	0	3	9	12
Grampian	7	22	41	70
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	16	61	124	201
Highland	0	6	9	15
Lanarkshire	0	3	9	12
Lothian	21	38	84	143
National¹	2	8	14	24
Orkney	0	0	0	0
Shetland	0	0	0	0
Tayside	6	19	46	71
Western Isles	0	0	0	0
Total	53	166	359	578

Note:¹Includes consultants working in National Organisations e.g. NHS National Services Scotland (operating name for the Common Services Agency), NHS Education, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, NHS Health Scotland, The State Hospitals Board for Scotland and Golden Jubilee National Hospital.

Question reference: S3W-36744

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 October 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many consultants are in receipt of merit awards, broken down by NHS board.

The information requested can be found at Appendix H of the latest Annual Report of the Scottish Advisory Committee on Distinction Awards (SACDA) at www.shsc.scot.nhs.uk/shsc/default.asp?p=71.

SACDA''s figures relating to overall consultant numbers are based on data extracted from the Scottish Workforce Information Standard System database and not those subsequently published by Information and Statistics Division.

For ease of reference, the information as at 30 September 2009 is as follows:

NHS Board Area	Total
Ayrshire and Arran	11
Borders	3
Dumfries and Galloway	6
Fife	10
Forth Valley	12
Grampian	70
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	201
Highland	15
Lanarkshire	12
Lothian	143
National¹	24
Orkney	0
Shetland	0
Tayside	71
Western Isles	0
Total	578

Note: ¹ includes consultants working in National Organisations e.g. NHS National Services Scotland (operating name for the Common Services Agency), NHS Education for Scotland, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, NHS Health Scotland, The State Hospitals Board for Scotland and Golden Jubilee National Hospital.

Question reference: S3W-36746

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 October 2010

The cost of consultants'' distinction awards over the last four financial years, broken down by NHS board is detailed in the following table.

	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Board	£000	£000	£000	£000
Ayrshire and Arran	302.5	319.1	338.0	496.4
Borders	95.0	95.7	81.5	135.4
Dumfries and Galloway	175.5	200.2	204.6	243.8
Fife	337.0	382.8	405.1	434.8
Forth Valley	361.9	410.6	409.2	514.6
Golden Jubilee National Hospital	0.0	0.0	86.0	126.4
Grampian	3,079.8	2,891.2	3,181.3	3,441.8
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	8,575.1	8,803.6	9,372.7	9,619.8
Health Scotland	34.6	34.8	62.3	99.3
Highland	561.6	591.8	665.8	722.9
Lanarkshire	492.7	472.9	544.6	498.6
Lothian	6,094.6	6,314.1	7,110.6	7,302.0
National Education Scotland	324.4	350.7	451.7	535.2
National Services Scotland	153.4	261.1	302.4	292.1
Orkney	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Shetland	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Tayside	2,767.5	2,965.7	3,138.4	3,354.0
The State Hospitals Board for Scotland	11.6	34.8	71.2	72.2
Western Isles	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland*	11.6	34.8	35.6	72.2
Scottish Prison Service*	23.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Totals**	23,401.8	24,163.9	26,461	27,961.5

Notes:

*Although not NHS boards, the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland and the Scottish Prison Service employ or have employed consultants who are in receipt of distinction awards.

**May vary slightly to those published previously due to the rounding of individual totals in this table.

Question reference: S3W-36547

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 13 October 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many companies expressed an initial interest in tendering for the Gourock to Dunoon ferry service.

Question reference: S3W-36551

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 30 September 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are (a) legislative, (b) financial or (c) administrative constraints impeding the immediate awarding of the contract for the Gourock to Dunoon ferry service.

(a) Under the terms of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006, a contract for the Gourock to Dunoon ferry service can only be awarded when the procurement process has been concluded. Various steps in that process have still to be completed.

(b) There are no financial constraints in respect of the awarding of the contract for the Gourock to Dunoon ferry service.

(c) Administratively, it would not be possible to award a contract immediately, since the procurement process has yet to be completed.