- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 10 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what priority is given to assisting disabled people in the (a) privately-rented and (b) owner-occupied housing sector.
Answer
Local authorities have a duty under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to assess the needs of people and decide, in the light of the assessment, whether they should arrange any services and, if so, which services. Any decision taken by the local authority’s social work department should be based on a detailed assessment of a person’s care needs taking his or her wishes into account. However, local authorities are also expected to ensure that the resources available are used in the most effective way to meet individual care needs.
Assistance to owners of private sector housing to make their houses suitable for the needs of disabled occupants is given mainly by local authorities through housing improvement grants, funded by Private Sector Housing Grant (PSHG) from the Scottish Executive. Adaptations for disabled people, along with improving houses which fall below the tolerable standard, are ministerial priorities which are taken into account in assessing local authorities’ proposals for PSHG expenditure. It is for local authorities to set local priorities, and information on the priority accorded to privately-rented and owner-occupied housing is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 6 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how much each parliamentary constituency received in lottery funding in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Answer
The distribution of National Lottery funds is a matter for the Lottery Distribution Bodies: Scottish Arts Council, Scottish Screen,
sportscotland, the Big Lottery Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund. The information requested is not held centrally by the Executive.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport maintains an electronic database of National Lottery awards. Details of the total awarded to each constituency area and each local authority area for each Lottery good cause can be obtained through the DCMS website at:
http://www.lottery.culture.gov.uk/search.asp.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 20 December 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged (a) 65 and over and (b) under 65 and in a high risk category have received the flu vaccine this year, broken down by NHS board area, expressed also as a percentage of eligible people in those two categories.
Answer
For those aged 65 and over the provisional vaccine uptake figure by the end of November 2005 NHS board is as follows:
NHS Board | Uptake | % Total Uptake |
Ayrshire and Arran | 38,150 | 52.5 |
Argyll and Clyde | 43,804 | 69.2 |
Borders | 12,396 | 72.7 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 19,590 | 73.3 |
Fife | 43,389 | 74.4 |
Forth Valley | 29,500 | 71.8 |
Greater Glasgow | 93,122 | 69.2 |
Grampian | 57,679 | 71.4 |
Highland | 24,656 | 67.8 |
Lanarkshire | 53,678 | 69.3 |
Lothian | 80,227 | 75.2 |
Orkney | 1,923 | 77.1 |
Shetland | 2,290 | 69.1 |
Tayside | 50,693 | 71.4 |
Western Isles | 3,328 | 58.6 |
Scotland | 554,425 | 69.5 |
Please note that this is an early stage in the vaccination programme and uptake will increase over time.
As stated in the Chief Medical Officer’s letter CMO (2005)7 to NHSScotland, Health Protection Scotland requests general practices to provide an estimation of vaccine uptake in the under 65 year at risk categories, as a once only exercise. However, this information will not be requested until the end of December and will be available mid January.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 20 December 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been carried out into the impact of the closure of community hospitals on the delivery of services.
Answer
Community Hospitals play a key role in treating patients who cannot be cared for at home but who do not require the specialist care provided by acute hospitals. Community hospitals remain a key resource in the delivery of care.
When considering possible closure of any hospitals in their areas, NHS boards are required to undertake public consultations to give as many people as possible the opportunity to be involved in shaping the future of health services in their areas.
Before I am invited to give formal approval to any such closures, the relevant board must provide evidence that the proposed closure will be to the benefit of the local community, and that suitable alternative arrangements are in place, in terms of providing a more efficient, more modern service that properly caters for the needs of patients and staff.
As far as we are aware, no research has been carried out into the impact of community hospital closures on the delivery of services.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 19 December 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many home help clients there were in each local authority area in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answer
The number of home care clients that received a service in the last week of March each year, by local authority area, for each of the last five years is in the following table:
Local Authority | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
Aberdeen City | 3,001 | 2,779 | 2,514 | 2,904 | 2,862 |
Aberdeenshire | 1,828 | 1,867 | 1,874 | 1,939 | 2,107 |
Angus | 1,804 | 1,740 | 1,778 | 1,810 | 1,839 |
Argyll and Bute | 927 | 957 | 965 | 1,060 | 1,078 |
Clackmannanshire | 656 | 648 | 680 | 700 | 814 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 2,015 | 1,755 | 2,048 | 2,050 | 2,047 |
Dundee City | 2,445 | 2,166 | 1,886 | 1,870 | 2,115 |
East Ayrshire | 1,311 | 1,361 | 1,444 | 1,706 | 1,750 |
East Dunbartonshire | 986 | 1,013 | 1,029 | 1,172 | 1,128 |
East Lothian | 1,195 | 1,267 | 1,128 | 1,423 | 1,553 |
East Renfrewshire | 765 | 939 | 884 | 965 | 1,050 |
Edinburgh, City of | 5,969 | 5,958 | 6,084 | 5,963 | 5,672 |
Eilean Siar | 779 | 768 | 765 | 765 | 744 |
Falkirk | 2,281 | 2,098 | 2,010 | 2,006 | 2,169 |
Fife | 5,858 | 5,629 | 6,082 | 6,875 | 7,294 |
Glasgow City | 8,802 | 8,789 | 9,040 | 9,102 | 9,223 |
Highland | 2,748 | 2,670 | 3,055 | 2,957 | 2,764 |
Inverclyde | 1,146 | 1,255 | 1,104 | 1,137 | 1,298 |
Midlothian | 1,256 | 1,113 | 1,084 | 1,201 | 1,168 |
Moray | 1,063 | 1,119 | 1,205 | 1,360 | 1,430 |
North Ayrshire | 1,490 | 1,301 | 1,491 | 1,692 | 1,503 |
North Lanarkshire | 2,895 | 3,408 | 4,370 | 4,394 | 4,371 |
Orkney Islands | 442 | 516 | 428 | 511 | 505 |
Perth and Kinross | 1,477 | 1,532 | 1,618 | 1,559 | 1,187 |
Renfrewshire | 2,542 | 2,098 | 2,169 | 1,814 | 1,947 |
Scottish Borders | 1,491 | 1,553 | 1,686 | 1,724 | 1,604 |
Shetland Islands | 722 | 553 | 545 | 529 | 555 |
South Ayrshire | 1,203 | 1,298 | 1,471 | 1,723 | 1,735 |
South Lanarkshire | 2,445 | 2,326 | 2,568 | 2,709 | 3,158 |
Stirling | 881 | 1,015 | 848 | 982 | 944 |
West Dunbartonshire | 1,558 | 1,647 | 1,834 | 2,065 | 2,108 |
West Lothian | 1,552 | 1,408 | 1,579 | 1,319 | 1,372 |
Scotland | 65,533 | 64,546 | 67,266 | 69,986 | 71,094 |
These figures are taken from the H1 Home Care Survey, carried out by the Scottish Executive Health Department, Analytical Services Division each year.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 19 December 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities use local produce so far as it is available in the provision and preparation of school meals.
Answer
The Executive does not hold detailed information on the use of local produce by local authorities. However, a recent informal survey of Hungry for Success coordinators found that 60% of local authorities had sourced products locally, and a further 31% were considering this.
In addition, a number of Scottish schools have been involved in the Food for Life initiative, which promotes the use of local and organic produce. One of the first schools in Scotland to become a Food for Life school was Hurlford Primary School in East Ayrshire, which recently won the Soil Association Food for Life School of the Year Award.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 19 December 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has concerns in respect of the provision of frozen meals on wheels and what monitoring it carries out of the effect of such meals on the well-being of elderly people.
Answer
The assessment of an individual’s care needs is a matter for each local authority. The Scottish Executive has issued guidance to authorities and the NHS on single shared assessment and care management. An authority’s decision to provide meals on wheels, whether frozen or not, can be based on its assessment of the individual’s care needs, and the meals will be provided as part of a package of care drawn up in the light of that assessment. The individual’s care plan, and the monitoring arrangements for managing that care, should provide the appropriate support according to the individual’s needs. Meals can also be accessed as a single service without assessment if the person does not require a package of care. The monitoring of services is a matter for each local authority.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 19 December 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have a policy of preparing school meals in-house so far as practicable.
Answer
The Executive does not hold detailed information about local authority policies on this issue. However, we know that practice varies widely between authorities and schools regarding cooking facilities in particular. Some authorities – such as Borders – are focussing their efforts on on-site cooking, whilst others – such as Clackmannanshire – are investing substantially in centralised cooking. The situation is further complicated by factors such as split-site schools sharing facilities.
The emphasis of Hungry for Success is on the quality of the food prepared for pupils, and local authorities have discretion over the best way to achieve this in their areas. Where any problems resulted from the way in which food is prepared, whether on site or off site, these would be reported upon by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 14 December 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what data it has on the socio-economic background of people taking up the flu vaccine and where this data can be accessed.
Answer
This information is not centrally available.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 14 December 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged (a) 65 and over and (b) under 65 and in a high risk category received the flu vaccine in each year from 1999 to 2004, broken down by NHS board area, expressed also as a percentage of eligible people in those two categories.
Answer
The information you requested is as follows:
(a) I refer the member to the answer question S2W-19772 on 28 October 2005. 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. Data is only available from the year 2000.
(b) This information is not centrally held.