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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-21935

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 23 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths from cancer there were in each former European parliamentary constituency in each of the 10 years prior to the Chernobyl incident, broken down by NHS board area.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-21936 on 23 January 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The following tables provide the absolute number of deaths from cancer between 1 January 1976 and 25 April 1986 by former European parliamentary constituency and NHS Board.

Deaths from Cancer¹Between 1 January 1976 and 25 April 1986, by Former European Parliamentary Constituency and NHS Board

Former European Parliamentary Constituency and NHS Board		1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981
Scotland		13,394	13,170	13,690	13,907	13,695	13,937
Central Scotland		1,525	1,556	1,542	1,607	1,622	1,762
	Ayrshire and Arran	206	187	205	181	180	207
	Forth Valley	317	333	300	354	301	367
	Greater Glasgow	45	39	60	39	49	46
	Lanarkshire	957	997	977	1,033	1,092	1,142
Glasgow		2,757	2,626	2,799	2,727	2,632	2,749
	Greater Glasgow	2,757	2,626	2,799	2,727	2,632	2,749
Highlands and Islands		1,007	920	942	986	986	1,045
	Argyll and Clyde	181	166	168	192	194	176
	Grampian	180	162	163	172	159	183
	Highland	469	425	452	464	446	508
	Orkney	40	44	34	37	50	47
	Shetland	44	39	38	38	45	42
	Western Isles	93	84	87	83	92	89
Lothians		1,754	1,783	1,852	1,903	1,852	1,729
	Lothian	1,754	1,783	1,852	1,903	1,852	1,729
Mid Scotland and Fife		1,556	1,495	1,599	1,554	1,623	1,597
	Fife	831	774	890	847	850	832
	Forth Valley	304	290	301	280	332	310
	Tayside	421	431	408	427	441	455
North East Scotland		1,647	1,659	1,726	1,732	1,735	1,690
	Grampian	936	972	1,023	1,027	1,022	1,011
	Tayside	711	687	703	705	713	679
South of Scotland		1,500	1,551	1,515	1,616	1,595	1,668
	Ayrshire and Arran	533	537	526	510	559	581
	Borders	254	293	280	312	250	290
	Dumfries and Galloway	362	372	337	417	383	400
	Lanarkshire	171	163	158	180	181	180
	Lothian	180	186	214	197	222	217
West of Scotland		1,599	1,526	1,658	1,733	1,596	1,637
	Argyll and Clyde	907	899	975	1,028	945	966
	Ayrshire and Arran	195	170	186	183	175	187
	Greater Glasgow	497	457	497	522	476	484
Not known		49	54	57	49	54	60

Former European Parliamentary Constituency and NHS Board		1982	1983	1984	1985	1986 (part)
Scotland		14,077	14,210	14,299	14,455	4,715
Central Scotland		1,728	1,768	1,727	1,822	574
	Ayrshire and Arran	232	201	211	206	68
	Forth Valley	354	407	390	388	125
	Greater Glasgow	56	49	42	61	9
	Lanarkshire	1,086	1,111	1,084	1,167	372
Glasgow		2,598	2,694	2,651	2,624	823
	Greater Glasgow	2,598	2,694	2,651	2,624	823
Highlands and Islands		1,061	1,048	1,095	1,144	380
	Argyll and Clyde	211	188	218	200	71
	Grampian	174	181	204	203	65
	Highland	487	499	506	554	183
	Orkney	56	49	41	56	9
	Shetland	47	52	44	45	20
	Western Isles	86	79	82	86	32
Lothians		1,816	1,839	1,882	1,877	638
	Lothian	1,816	1,839	1,882	1,877	638
Mid Scotland and Fife		1,622	1,662	1,619	1,700	525
	Fife	883	876	866	899	258
	Forth Valley	293	333	327	382	126
	Tayside	446	453	426	419	141
North East Scotland		1,761	1,727	1,746	1,791	582
	Grampian	1,047	1,071	1,018	1,058	358
	Tayside	714	656	728	733	224
South of Scotland		1,658	1,711	1,722	1,723	577
	Ayrshire and Arran	597	581	619	635	189
	Borders	312	315	312	322	102
	Dumfries and Galloway	343	415	400	375	146
	Lanarkshire	188	193	183	183	59
	Lothian	218	207	208	208	81
West of Scotland		1,790	1,715	1,802	1,723	601
	Argyll and Clyde	1,048	990	1,054	1,019	361
	Ayrshire and Arran	222	202	221	206	70
	Greater Glasgow	520	523	527	498	170
Not known		43	46	55	51	15

Note: 1. International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes:

1976 - 1978: ICD8, 140 - 208.

1979 - 1986: ICD9, 140 - 208.

Question reference: S2W-21920

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 23 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been registered homeless in the Scottish Borders in each year since 1999.

The numbers of applications and persons assessed as homeless under the homelessness legislation by Scottish Borders Council are shown in the following table.

Number of Applications and Persons Assessed as Homeless by Scottish Borders Council: 2000-01 to 2004-05

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
Applications	370	380	350	388	598	467
Number of persons	720	760	810	714	1,213	811

Source: HL1 returns by local authorities to the Scottish Executive Development Department Analytical Services Division (Housing Statistics).

Notes:

1. All applications within period assessed as homeless.

2. Some households may have applied several times during the period, and will be counted more than once.

3. Children are included in the number of persons.

4. Data prior to 2002 are estimates and rounded to the nearest 10 for local authority level.

Question reference: S2W-22138

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 23 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the fitting of speed governors to vehicles by manufacturers in order to reduce speeding.

Question reference: S2W-22096

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what support, financial or otherwise, it is giving to the RNID campaign, “Breaking the Sound Barrier”, and, in particular, to the telephone hearing test.

Question reference: S2W-22095

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the audiology waiting times are in each NHS board.

Question reference: S2W-22100

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents of self harm there have been in each NHS board area in each year since 1999, broken down by month and into age groupings.

Question reference: S2W-22098

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has taken to encourage individuals to have their hearing tested, given that there is typically a 15-year delay between the onset of hearing loss and seeking help, as compared to a four-year gap between sight deterioration and obtaining spectacles, and that hearing impairment can lead to social isolation.

Question reference: S2W-22093

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 23 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the order of strategic priority is of current and proposed rail developments.

Our first priority is to implement the major rail infrastructure projects, as set out in the Partnership Agreement, i.e. the rail links to Glasgow and Edinburgh airports, the upgrade at Waverley station, opening the Stirling to Alloa line, the Airdrie to Bathgate line, and the Borders rail link. In addition, we are considering what the rail strategy for the next 15 to 20 years should be. We have consulted on the strategic priorities, commissioned a Scottish Planning Assessment and Network Rail are conducting a Route Utilisation Study. These will provide the building blocks for considering what further rail developments will make the most positive impacts on the economy, society and environment of Scotland in future. We expect to produce the rail strategy in the summer and this will guide the potential investments to be considered for future funding by the Executive in the subsequent Strategic Projects Review. Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area and can be contacted for more information if required.

Question reference: S2W-22094

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-10217 by Malcolm Chisholm on 29 September 2004, how the £20 million was allocated to each NHS board; how the allocations were applied, and what impact these had on waiting times for audiology appointments.

The following table details the breakdown of the funds allocated to modernise and improve audiology services:

	2003–04	2004–05	2005-06	Totals
Argyll and Clyde	226,000	587,000	633,000	1,446,000
Ayrshire and Arran	201,000	357,000	324,000	882,000
Borders	39,000	115,000	146,000	300,000
Dumfries and Galloway	80,000	265,000	125,000	470,000
Fife	39,000	147,000	309,000	495,000
Forth Valley	111,000	125,000	234,000	470,000
Grampian	181,000	771,000	458,000	1,410,000
Greater Glasgow	699,000	1,177,000	1,064,000	2,940,000
Highland	108,000	264,000	311,000	683,000
Lanarkshire	336,000	395,000	478,000	1,209,000
Lothian	451,000	329,000	378,000	1,158,000
Orkney	7,000	0	97,000	104,000
Shetland	5,000	0	75,000	80,000
Tayside	246,000	623,000	344,000	1,213,000
Western Isles	38,000	81,000	65,000	184,000
NHS Education for Scotland	100,000	463,000	0	563,000
Totals	2,867,000	5,699,000	5,041,000	13,607,000

The direct allocations to each NHS board area for 2003-06 cover expenditure on accommodation, information technology, digital hearing aids and training of staff to use the modernised patient journey.

In addition there has been expenditure of £1,264,000 on national staff training events and other central staff costs.

Final allocations to boards for 2006-07 have yet to be decided.

Waiting times have been reduced in most NHS boards. An important part of the modernisation agenda is focussed on monitoring and encouraging the reduction in waiting times and providing support to boards where required.

Question reference: S2W-22073

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 23 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of the extent of the litter on the roadside verges of the A1 between Haddington and Newcraighall and, if so, what communications it has had with Amey Highways Ltd in this regard.

Amey Infrastructure Services is required to clear litter from the A1 special road between Old Craighall Roundabout and Haddington in accordance with the standards laid down in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the associated Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse. Transport Scotland and the independent Performance Audit Group are not aware of any significant issues regarding litter on this section of the A1 trunk road and no specific communications have been made with Amey on this matter. The Performance Audit Group’s recent inspection on 12 January 2006 did not highlight any accumulations of litter on the section of the A1 under Amey’s control.

The A1 between Old Craighall Roundabout and Newcraighall is not a trunk road and litter clearance is therefore a matter for the local roads authority.

Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more information if required.