- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 September 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 23 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are in place for the funding of (a) free personal care for patients registered with cross-border practices where the practice and the majority of patients are located in Scotland and (b) drugs for patients who live in England but are registered with a Scottish practice.
Answer
(a) The concept of free personal and nursing care only appliesto those who would normally pay for, or towards, such care in community settings.After a care needs assessment by the socialwork department in the area where the person lives, eligible people assessed asrequiring personal care at home are not charged for that care. A payment of either£145 or £210 is provided towards the care costs of eligible people living in a carehome. The medical practice where a person is registered has no relevance here, and
(b) Unified budget allocations, which includeprescribing costs, take into account the number of patients registered with GP practicesin the area of the health board concerned, irrespective of the patient's countryof residence.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 September 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 23 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-776 and S1W-30468 by Cathy Jamieson on 23 June 2003 and Mr Jim Wallace on 10 October 2002, what the reasons are for delay in issuing the consultation paper on the future of Peebles Sheriff Court following the feasibility study on the refurbishment being issued to interested parties.
Answer
It would not have been appropriateto issue a consultation paper on the closure of Peebles Sheriff Court and the transferof business to another court, while discussions were continuing on the potentialto deliver court services from another building in Peebles.
The detailed discussions betweenthe Scottish Court Service and the Scottish Borders Council on the use ofcouncil buildings at Rosetta Road for court hearings has resulted in an outlineagreement which will be submitted to elected members for their approval.
If the council’s approval isgiven it will no longer be necessary to transfer the court business from Peeblesand the consultation process previously envisaged would no longer be required. However,it would remain the intention of the Scottish Court Service to involve local interestedparties in discussion on the delivery of court services from the Rosetta Roadbuilding.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 September 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 23 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many practice pharmacists there are, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer
Information on NHS pharmacistsemployed at 30 September each year is published on the web pages of the Informationand Statistics Division of NHSScotland, in section A of Workforce Statistics atthe following address:
http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/isd/NHSiS_resource/Workforce/workforce_statistics.htmSome pharmacists are employedby NHS trusts not for dispensing medicinebut to advise and support GP practices. The tables on these pages identify numbers of pharmacistsemployed by individual NHS trusts as well as by NHS board areas. However, they donot separately identify practice pharmacists within these overall numbers.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 September 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 23 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28903 by Mr Jim Wallace on 18 September 2002, why the process of review of Sheriff Court facilities in Peebles has not been completed; when it will be completed, and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.
Answer
The Scottish CourtService has been involved in detailed discussions with the Scottish Borders Councilon the use of the council premises at Rosetta Road, Peebles, for court hearings. Considerationhad to be given on how best to accommodate the needs of the court within an importanthistoric building, as well as the wider implications for the delivery ofcouncil services in Peebles. Outline agreement has now been reached between officialson a way forward. Should this agreement receive the approval of the council’s electedmembers, the necessary planning consents will be sought and works instructed withthe intention of returning hearings of the Sheriff Court and District Court to Peeblesat an early stage.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 September 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 23 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the current average waiting time is for a first appointment with a paediatric occupational therapist, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
The information requested isnot held centrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 September 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 23 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to questions S1W-28460 and S1W-28894 by Mr Jim Wallace on 11 September 2002, whether it will consider funding the building of a joint courthouse and police station in Peebles in light of the current police stations not complying with the terms of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
Answer
Responsibility for such a developmentlies with the Scottish Borders Council, the Scottish Court Service and Lothianand Borders Police, each of which has a capital budget to deploy in accordance withits own priorities.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 22 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many safety camera sites in the Scottish Borders comply with the conditions of the safety camera scheme; whether the conditions of the scheme are mandatory, and what variation of these conditions it will make so that speed cameras can be sited on the entry to, and egress from, Borders towns and villages where local people indicate that this would resolve their concerns over speeding by through traffic.
Answer
The rules of the Scottish SafetyCamera Programme require safety camera partnerships to identify the areas wherecameras are to be located by identifying road casualty clusters and then surveyingthese sites to investigate if the problem is related to speed. The programme requiresthat the majority of sites conform to statistical criteria on accidents althoughthe rules do permit limited flexibility. In principle, that flexibility could allowa camera to be erected where it would not be otherwise justified by the number ofaccidents, but that should only be after other road calming options have been considered.The overarching aim of the programme is to reduce road casualties and that is whyit is so closely tied to those sites with the greatest history of speed-relatedaccidents.
There are currently 33 fixedand 18 mobile safety camera partnership sites within the Scottish Borders Councilarea. The mobile sites all conform to the criteria for the programme. The fixedcameras were all established prior to the programme being launched and not all ofthese meet the standard criteria. However, they have been retained within the programmeon the basis of the permitted partnership flexibility.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 September 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 16 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-537 by Peter Peacock on 18 June 2003, whether it will consider funding special educational needs centrally if the costs of a young person's additional needs exceed any agreed national total and, if so, whether it will develop appropriate systems to allow for applications for a review of such funding by a relevant local authority, the Executive or a representative of the young person.
Answer
We have no plans to changethe current funding arrangements for special educational needs.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 September 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 16 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual cost to local authorities has been of special educational needs funding for each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
Information on local authoritynet expenditure on special educational needs is available for the period 1997-98to 2001-02. This information is provided in the table.
Total Net Expenditure1on Special Education 1997-98 to 2001-02
| 1997-98 (£000) | 1998-99 (£000) | 1999-2000 (£000) | 2000-01 (£000) | 2001-02 (£000) |
Scotland | 179,640 | 194,066 | 219,236 | 235,800 | 258,304 |
Aberdeen City | 7,910 | 8,479 | 9,172 | 9,678 | 10,555 |
Aberdeenshire | 8,668 | 9,873 | 11,230 | 11,978 | 13,402 |
Angus | 3,070 | 3,533 | 3,850 | 3,885 | 4,011 |
Argyll and Bute | 1,996 | 1,853 | 3,134 | 3,351 | 4,034 |
Clackmannanshire | 2,367 | 2,454 | 2,528 | 2,997 | 3,277 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 7,897 | 8,366 | 8,819 | 9,022 | 9,608 |
Dundee City | 6,727 | 7,848 | 8,215 | 8,316 | 9,450 |
East Ayrshire | 4,393 | 4,519 | 4,678 | 6,308 | 6,666 |
East Dunbartonshire | 2,639 | 3,095 | 3,682 | 3,872 | 4,564 |
East Lothian | 2,058 | 2,343 | 2,835 | 2,388 | 2,022 |
East Renfrewshire | 3,039 | 2,721 | 2,823 | 3,176 | 3,195 |
Edinburgh City | 11,209 | 12,275 | 13,427 | 14,518 | 16,502 |
Eilean Siar | 1,301 | 1,534 | 1,775 | 1,863 | 2,169 |
Falkirk | 6,161 | 6,994 | 8,897 | 10,933 | 11,308 |
Fife | 16,299 | 14,898 | 21,103 | 17,965 | 18,269 |
Glasgow City | 23,291 | 26,982 | 29,096 | 33,058 | 36,478 |
Highland | 10,289 | 11,457 | 12,678 | 14,201 | 16,112 |
Inverclyde | 2,387 | 2,577 | 2,963 | 2,905 | 2,731 |
Midlothian | 3,077 | 3,226 | 3,607 | 3,356 | 3,780 |
Moray | 3,854 | 4,148 | 4,352 | 5,078 | 5,595 |
North Ayrshire | 3,782 | 4,182 | 4,546 | 5,059 | 5,233 |
North Lanarkshire | 11,137 | 11,663 | 13,754 | 15,040 | 16,451 |
Orkney Islands | 1,024 | 910 | 1,073 | 1,114 | 1,247 |
Perth and Kinross | 3,427 | 3,144 | 3,594 | 4,121 | 4,308 |
Renfrewshire | 4,420 | 4,756 | 5,525 | 5,843 | 6,642 |
Scottish Borders | 3,378 | 3,860 | 4,616 | 5,426 | 6,100 |
Shetland Islands | 626 | 1,505 | 1,556 | 1,763 | 2,461 |
South Ayrshire | 2,339 | 2,321 | 2,458 | 2,637 | 2,182 |
South Lanarkshire | 10,718 | 11,037 | 11,286 | 12,614 | 14,930 |
Stirling | 3,120 | 3,182 | 2,721 | 3,729 | 4,340 |
West Dunbartonshire | 2,621 | 3,447 | 3,801 | 3,799 | 4,559 |
West Lothian | 4,416 | 4,884 | 5,439 | 5,806 | 6,122 |
Source: As reported by local authorities on the Statistical ReturnLFR 1 for Education.
Note:
1. Revenue contributionsto capital and support services costs have been apportioned across each servicearea, relative to expenditure on operating costs. This has been done individuallyfor each authority, with the Scotland total representing the sum of all 32 authorities.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 01 September 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times are for appointments with audiology and ear, nose and throat departments in each of the last four years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
Information on waiting timesfor a first out-patient appointment with a consultant, following GP referral,is collected at specialty level only. Audiology is a sub-specialty of ear, noseand throat.
The median waiting times fora first out-patient appointment with a consultant in the specialty of ear, noseand throat, following GP referral, in each NHS board area, for the last fouryears is given in the table.
NHSScotland: Median WaitingTimes for a First Out-patient Appointment Following Referral by a GeneralMedical/Dental Practitioner in the Specialty of Ear, Nose and Throat, by NHSBoard Area of Residence, in the Years Ended 30 June 2000, 30 June 2001, 30 June 2002 and 30June 2003P.
NHS Board | Median Wait (Days) |
30 June 2000 | 30 June 2001 | 30 June 2002 | 30 June 2003P |
Argyll and Clyde | 43 | 44 | 53 | 69 |
Ayrshire and Arran | 42 | 56 | 56 | 48 |
Borders | 85 | 59 | 53 | 34 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 42 | 59 | 70 | 51 |
Fife | 69 | 42 | 69 | 89 |
Forth Valley | 46 | 53 | 62 | 62 |
Grampian | 70 | 74 | 80 | 84 |
Greater Glasgow | 60 | 70 | 68 | 77 |
Highland | 37 | 49 | 57 | 46 |
Lanarkshire | 66 | 77 | 89 | 95 |
Lothian | 55 | 52 | 52 | 56 |
Orkney | 28 | 42 | 35 | -1 |
Shetland | 42 | 40 | 42 | 50 |
Tayside | 56 | 80 | 74 | 57 |
Western Isles | 38 | 57 | 37 | -1 |
Scotland | 55 | 59 | 66 | 67 |
PProvisional.
Source: ISD Scotland,SMR00.
Note:
1. Information not shown dueto small numbers.