- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 18 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2F-849 by Mr Jack McConnell on 29 April 2004 (Official Report, c 7931-7932), how many meetings have been held to discuss the application forms; when and where such meetings took place; who chaired the meetings; who was invited to attend the meetings and who represented Scotland; whether there are any minutes of these meetings, and who was selected to draft the forms and why.
Answer
There have been a number of meetingsbetween officials of the four UK administrations since the announcement of the schemein August 2003 concerning fundamental aspects that have a bearing on the applicationforms. Draft application forms prepared by the Macfarlane Trust were discussed ata meeting on 26 March 2004 which was also attended by representatives of HaemophiliaSociety, the Scottish Haemophilia Groups Forum, the Hepatitis C Trust, the MacfarlaneTrust, the Primary Immunodeficiency Association, Capital C, and Haemophilia Wales.A representative from the Haemophilia Society of Northern Ireland was invited butwas unable to attend.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Euan Robson on 18 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it will make available for a Scottish equivalent of the Department for Education and Skills' Early Support Pilot Programme.
Answer
We are not at this time making specific funding available in this way.
I refer the member to the answer given to S2W-7978 on 18 May 2004, for how we are tackling the parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 18 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the General Medical Council was consulted with regard to the forms for application to the Skipton Trust.
Answer
The General Medical Council wasnot consulted.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 18 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of those infected with hepatitis C through contaminated blood products have died since the publication of the Health and Community Care Committee's 17th Report 2001 (Session 1) Report on Hepatitis C (SP Paper 398).
Answer
This information is not heldcentrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 18 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to encourage and recruit more specialised social workers for deaf and hard of hearing people.
Answer
More social workers are beingtrained. There was a 25% increase in qualifying social workers in 2003, and thesenumbers will increase by a further 33% over the next two years. The Social WorkServices Inspectorate is significantly increasing investment in training over thenext three years and is keen to work closely with all service providers, includingthose who work with people who are deaf or hard of hearing, to improve trainingof staff.
The Sensory Impairment ActionPlan, launched by the Scottish Executive in January 2004 recognises the importance of having trainedstaff available to work with people who are deaf and hard of hearing, and is nowtaking the work of the Action Plan forward to address the needs identified.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 18 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many specialised social workers there are for deaf and hard of hearing people, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
This information is not heldcentrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 18 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what improvements in training in deaf awareness for social workers there will be when single shared assessment is fully implemented and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 comes into force.
Answer
The Sensory Impairment ActionPlan, launched in January 2004 recognises the importance of improving training forstaff who provide services for people with a sensory impairment, including thosewho are deaf or hard of hearing, and the Scottish Executive is now taking the work of theAction Plan forward to address issues, including training for social work and otherstaff.
We would expect local authoritiesto abide by the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act when it comesinto force.
We would expect the focus ona person-centred approach in single shared assessment to improve understanding ofindividual’s needs. Councils will determine their training needs in the light of the Scottish Executive’s guidance on single shared assessment.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Euan Robson on 18 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what best practices it is learning from the Department for Education and Skills' Early Support Pilot Programme and how these are informing processes and services in Scotland.
Answer
We will publish an IntegratedEarly Years Strategy later this year and we will consider any lessons when theyemerge from the Early Support Pilot Programme.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 13 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many primary schools have been closed in each year since 1999, stating which closures required ministerial consent, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The number of local authority primary schools closed in each of the calendar years concerned is shown in table 1 below. The table includes schools that have merged to form new schools in the local area and also, in a small number of cases, where a separate educational unit has closed and then been integrated into a school. The information is derived from the annual Scottish Executive Education Department school opening and closing exercise.
Local Authority | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
Aberdeen City | 1 | 1 | | | 1 |
Aberdeenshire | 1 | 1 | | | 1 |
Angus | | 2 | 1 | | |
Argyll and Bute | 1 | | | | 1 |
Dumfries and Galloway | | 2 | | 3 | 1 |
Edinburgh City | 1 | | | 4 | 4 |
Eilean Siar | | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
Fife | | | | | 2 |
Glasgow City | 1 | | | 6 | |
Highland | | 3 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
Moray | | 3 | | | |
North Lanarkshire | 2 | 5 | | | |
Orkney | | 1 | | | |
Scottish Borders | | 1 | | | |
West Lothian | | | 1 | | |
Closures for which the Consent of Ministers was Required
Angus | St Vigean’s Primary School | Closed 2001 |
Argyll and Bute | Portnahaven Primary School | Closed 1999 |
Dumfries andGalloway | Westerkirk Primary School | Closed 2000 |
All Soul’s RC Primary School | Closed 2002 |
Laurieston Primary School | Closed 2002 |
St Cuthbert’s RC Primary School | Closed 2002 |
Corsock Primary School | Closed 2003 |
Eilean Siar | Manish Primary School | Closed 2000 |
Dunskellar Primary School | Closed 2002 |
Highland | Loch Choire Primary School | Closed 2000 |
Moray | Boharm Primary School | Closed 2000 |
Glenrinnes Primary School | Closed 2000 |
West Lothian | Abercorn Primary School | Closed 2001 |
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 April 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 12 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps will be taken to reduce the figure of 77% of blind or partially-sighted people who live alone and are in poverty, as referred to in the Royal National Institute of the Blind's report, Unseen: Neglect, isolation and household poverty amongst older people with sight loss.
Answer
Although welfare benefits area reserved matter, the Executive is committed to improving the services for blindand partially sighted people in Scotland and has recently launched its Eye Care Review which willpromote better integration of services within the NHS, and between the NHS and otheragencies.
It has also begun working withother bodies on implementing the recommendations in the Sensory Impairment ActionPlan which will address the community care needs of people who are blind, deaf ordeafblind. The action plan was written in consultation with the Royal National Instituteof the Blind, The Scottish Council on Deafness and Deafblind Scotland.