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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-02494

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.

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.htm

Some 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.

Question reference: S2W-02499

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.

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.

Question reference: S2W-02495

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.

Question reference: S2W-02501

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.

Question reference: S2W-02456

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.

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.

Question reference: S2W-02363

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.

Question reference: S2W-02364

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.

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.

Question reference: S2W-02315

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.

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 2003^P.

NHS Board	Median Wait (Days)
NHS Board	30 June 2000	30 June 2001	30 June 2002	30 June 2003^P
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.

Question reference: S2F-00160

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 4 September 2003

To ask the First Minister what concerns the Scottish Executive has with regard to the delivery of cancer services.

Question reference: S2W-01903

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 1 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive where the Care Commission report on Glenview Young People's Unit, Galashiels, dated 29 May 2003, can be accessed.