- Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 March 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Salmond on 5 March 2009
To ask the First Minister what discussions the Scottish Government has had about the future of VisitScotland following the withdrawal of funding by the City of Edinburgh Council.
Answer
This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0305-01.htm
- Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 4 March 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what the rebuild cost is for each prison in the prison estate.
Answer
I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:
The Scottish Government Infrastructure Investment Plan 2008, published in March 2008, provides details of the funding and planned investment in the prison estate. This includes the redevelopment of some prisons on existing or new sites and forms part of a rolling programme designed to create a fit for purpose prison estate. During 2008-09 to 2010-11, an average of £120 million per annum will be provided to support this programme.
The rebuild cost for each prison in the prison estate is not available. Typically, the cost of redeveloping an existing prison (with around 700 prisoner places) would be in the region of some £100-130 million depending on the particular site, role of the prison, design, planning considerations, market pricing etc.
- Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 09 February 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 March 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has a strategy to tackle depression.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to providing appropriate care and treatment to those who suffer from depression in line with national clinical guidelines. This is supported by work to put in place integrated care pathways for depression that meet the standards established by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland; the commitment to increase access to psychological therapies in Scotland in line with the evidence base for effective interventions; screening for depression for those with coronary heart disease and diabetes and appropriate treatment; access to online and telephone based cognitive behavioural therapy and self-help for depression; promotion of physical activity as both a treatment for depression to reduce the risk of developing depression, and our target of increasing the range of non-pharmacological responses to depression to reduce reliance on anti-depressants.
- Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 09 February 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 March 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the treatment of depression and other mental health illnesses should, in the first instance, be treated by methods other than prescribed drugs.
Answer
Our objective continues to provide the best and widest treatment options for the service user and clinician in each case. The treatment of depression and other mental illnesses should be based on a clinical assessment of needs and should include medication, therapies or life style changes as appropriate to the circumstances of the individual.
- Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 3 March 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were employed by the Forestry Commission Scotland in each year since 1999.
Answer
Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) was created on 1 April 2003 as a result of the forestry devolution review. The following table shows the staff figures for FCS since that date. It is not possible to provide directly comparable figures prior to 2003, due to the structural changes arising from the review.
| Year | Staff |
| 2007-08 | 1,050 |
| 2006-07 | 1,051 |
| 2005-06 | 1,029 |
| 2004-05 | 1,027 |
| 2003-04 | 1,037 |
- Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 February 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 3 March 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has information on how many Scottish nationals are in prison abroad, broken down by country of imprisonment.
Answer
This information is not available.
- Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 09 February 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 26 February 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that lifestyle advisors should be more involved in the treatment of depression.
Answer
We are committed to supporting people with depression and we recognise that there is good evidence that people respond to a range of different treatments, including medication, therapies, or lifestyle changes, offered in a range of different ways and appropriate to need.
Along with our partners in NHS 24 and NHS boards across Scotland, we have made significant investments in increasing access to psychological therapies and in ensuring screening and appropriate treatment and support via Keep Well health checks. We have also produced guidance on promoting the physical health of those experiencing mental health problems and separate guidance for primary and community care teams on using social prescribing in offering non medical sources of support, through leisure, welfare, education, culture, employment, debt /benefits and other advice.
- Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 09 February 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 26 February 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients were prescribed antidepressant drugs in the last 12 months.
Answer
This information is not held centrally. The information currently available on prescribing of antidepressants can be found on the ISD website:
http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/information-and-statistics.jsp?pContentID=3671&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.
We have a published target to reduce the levels of antidepressant prescribing in Scotland and action continues to expand accessible alternatives to prescribing in those cases where this is appropriate. The clinician in consultation with colleagues and the service user will continue in all cases to decide the best care option for the needs presented.
- Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 09 February 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 26 February 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the treatment of depression and other mental health illnesses should, in the first instance, focus on lifestyle changes rather than medication.
Answer
No. Treatment of depression and other mental illnesses should be based on a clinical assessment of needs and should include medication, therapies, or lifestyle changes as appropriate to the circumstances of the individual.
- Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 09 February 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 26 February 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the proportion of patients prescribed antidepressant drugs in Scotland compared with the rest of the United Kingdom.
Answer
We do not have information on the proportion of patients prescribed antidepressants in Scotland, nor is this available for the rest of the United Kingdom.
We have a published target to reduce the levels of antidepressant prescribing in Scotland and action continues to expand accessible alternatives to prescribing in those cases where this is appropriate. The clinician in consultation with colleagues and the service user will continue in all cases to decide the best care option for the needs presented.
