Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-08826

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 June 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) will consider its position on Zevalin; how long thereafter guidance will be issued on its use, and whether Zevalin, which has a UK and European Commission licence, can be prescribed by NHS Lothian or NHS Borders without first being assessed by the SMC.

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has advised that the manufacturer of this product has not yet submitted a new product submission form to allow them to consider it and make a recommendation.

Any new medicine can legally be prescribed once it has a licence if it is thought to be the most suitable treatment for an individual patient, unless it is the subject of a direction given by Scottish ministers under Section 17N(6) of the Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2004. However, NHSScotland is expected to await the advice from the SMC before making a new medicine routinely available.

Question reference: S2W-08833

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 24 June 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are currently (a) on waiting lists for housing and (b) homeless, broken down by local authority area.

The latest available data on waiting lists for each local authority are published in Table 13 in the Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin (Housing Series) Housing Trends in Scotland: Quarter ending 31 March 2003. This table shows snapshot figures for applicants on housing lists as at 31 March 2003, as well as changes to the lists during 2002-03. The publication can be accessed online through the Scottish Executive housing statistics branch website. Data for 2003-04 will be published in the next quarterly trends bulletin: this is due to be published on 10 August 2004 and will be available via the housing statistics branch website at www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/housing/hsbref.

The latest data on numbers of applicants assessed as homeless under the homelessness legislation by local authority are published in Table 11 in the Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin Operation of the Homeless Persons Legislation in Scotland National and Local Authority Analyses 2002-03. This table shows the number assessed as homeless during 2002-03 (the data are not collected in a format which provides a snapshot figure of the number of homeless applicants at any one point in time). The publication is also available on the Scottish Executive housing statistics branch website. Data for 2003-04 are due to be published in August 2004.

Question reference: S2W-08994

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 24 June 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what concerns it has that the only NHS dental practice in Eyemouth has intimated that it will be withdrawing from the NHS at the end of May 2004 and simultaneously reducing its patient list from 2,000 to 1,000 and whether any funding will be made available to those people, for example on benefits or low wages who may be required to travel considerable distances to access dental treatment.

Question reference: S2W-08992

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 24 June 2004

The information is provided in the table below. Dental practices that ceased providing NHS general dental services for a temporary period only may be included in these figures. For comparison the number of practices in Scotland that have commenced providing NHS general dental services in the same period are also provided.

Number of NHS General Dental Practices in Scotland that Ceased Providing NHS Services¹, Year Ending March

NHS Board Area	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05²
Ayrshire and Arran	4	0	0	0
Borders	0	0	1	0
Argyll and Clyde	2	0	1	0
Fife	2	1	1	1
Greater Glasgow	3	3	2	1
Highland	1	3	2	2
Lanarkshire	1	1	0	0
Grampian	2	1	4	0
Orkney	1	0	0	0
Lothian	2	3	5	1
Tayside	1	2	6	1
Forth Valley	0	2	0	0
Western Isles	0	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0	0	0
Shetland	0	2	0	0
Scotland	19	18	22	6

Source: MIDAS (Management Information and Dental Accounting System).

Notes:

1. Some NHS general dental practices may cease providing NHS services permanently, while some may do so only temporarily. Figures may change, depending on when confirmation is received that a dentist has joined or left a dental list or when such data are collected.

2. Incomplete (data are available for the period 1 April to 15 June 2004 only).

Number of NHS General Dental Practices in Scotland that Commenced Providing NHS Services¹, Year Ending March

NHS Board Area	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05²
Ayrshire and Arran	1	1	0	0
Borders	2	2	1	0
Argyll and Clyde	0	2	8	0
Fife	0	2	0	0
Greater Glasgow	3	3	4	0
Highland	3	2	7	0
Lanarkshire	1	4	0	0
Grampian	2	0	3	1
Orkney	0	0	1	0
Lothian	1	2	3	0
Tayside	2	4	3	0
Forth Valley	2	0	0	0
Western Isles	0	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0	0	0
Shetland	2	2	1	0
Scotland	19	24	31	1

Source: MIDAS (Management Information and Dental Accounting System).

Notes:

1. Some NHS general dental practices may cease providing NHS services permanently, while some may do so only temporarily. Figures may change, depending on when confirmation is received that a dentist has joined or left a dental list or when such data are collected.

2. Incomplete (data are available for the period 1 April to 15 June 2004 only).

Question reference: S2W-08991

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 24 June 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what its statutory obligations are in respect of the delivery of dental provision on the NHS.

It is a duty of the Scottish ministers to secure the provision of general dental services in accordance with Part II of the NHS (Scotland) Act 1978.

It is a duty, under section 25 of the NHS (Scotland) Act 1978, of every health board, in accordance with regulations, to make as respect their area arrangements with dental practitioners under which any person for whom a dental practitioner undertakes in accordance with the arrangements to provide dental treatment and appliances shall receive such treatment and appliances.

Question reference: S2W-08972

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 24 June 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the NHS continuing care criteria are standardised across Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-08971

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 24 June 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the NHS continuing care criteria introduced in 1996 and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Question reference: S2W-08970

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Euan Robson on 24 June 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration has been given during the review of the children's hearings system to how the provisions within the Additional Support for Learning (Scotland) Act 2004 relate to children's panels.

Question reference: S2W-08943

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 23 June 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many police on average are on patrol at any one time.

The deployment of police officers in any force area is a matter for the Chief Constable of the force concerned and information of this nature is not held centrally. However, the number of officers available for deployment has been increasing. As at March 2003, the overall number was at a record level, and our Partnership Agreement contains a commitment not only to increase the numbers on operational duty in every Scottish force but to also to improve on the level of overall police numbers.

Question reference: S2W-08940

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 23 June 2004

The available information on drug offences which were recorded by the police is given in the following table.

Breakdown of Recorded Drugs Offences, 1999-2000 to 2003-2004^P

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04^P
Illegal importation of drugs	7	1	4	3	4
Production, manufacture or cultivation of drugs	106	131	144	205	249
Supply, possession with intent to supply etc. of drugs	8,032	9,024	10,130	9,940	9,284
Possession of drugs	21,776	22,470	26,188	30,510	32,463
Drugs, money laundering related offences	1	0	0	0	0
Drugs, other offences	452	455	284	280	275
Total	30,374	32,081	36,750	40,938	42,275

(P) Please note that data for 2003-04 is provisional.

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