- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the maximum fine is for those convicted of selling tobacco products to underage customers.
Answer
The maximum finefor those convicted of selling tobacco to underage customers shall not exceedlevel 4 on the standard scale which currently equates to £2,500.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS staff have been evaluated as not matching any of the national job matching profiles, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) health profession.
Answer
This level of detailis not held centrally. However, from information to hand I can confirm that in theregion of 7% of the NHSScotland staff covered by Agenda for Change do not matchto existing job profiles and therefore require to fill out a job analysis questionnaireas part of the assimilation process.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the new banding grades under Agenda for Change, showing the comparative grades in each health profession and broken down by NHS board.
Answer
It was the view of the Scottish Pay Reference and Implementation Group (SPRIG), the partnership groupwhich oversaw the introduction of the new system, that an exercise to make availableinformation about overall job evaluation outcomes across Scotland would only have real merit once the implementation processhad been concluded. Whilst we are not in a position to present this data currently,I can confirm that this is actively being taken forward.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) verbal and (b) written warnings were issued by trading standards officers to establishments suspected of selling tobacco products to underage customers in each year since 2000, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
Data on the numberof (a) verbal and (b) written warnings issued by trading standards by local authorityarea is not held by the Scottish Government. However, we do hold information onthe number of local authorities which issued warnings for underage tobacco salesfrom 2000 to 2006 and the available information is given in the following table.
| Year/Period | Total Amount of Local Authorities that Issued Warnings | Amount of Local Authorities that Did Not Issue Warnings | Unknown |
| 2000-01 | 23 | 9 | 0 |
| 2001-02 | 25 | 6 | 1 |
| 2002-03 | 26 | 5 | 1 |
| 2003-04 | 27 | 4 | 1 |
| 2004-05 | 24 | 5 | 3 |
| 2005-06 | 22 | 8 | 2 |
Since 2006 the ScottishGovernment has been working with the Society for Chief Officers of Trading Standardsin Scotland in order to record the level of test purchasing for age restricted goodsbeing undertaken by local authorities in Scotland. The data collected does not specifically include information on the numberof warnings issued for underage tobacco sales and it is therefore not possible togive a figure for 2006-07.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average length of time taken by NHS job matching panels is from receiving a job analysis questionnaire from NHS staff to evaluating individual staff members under the new Agenda for Change pay scale bandings.
Answer
Job analysis questionnaireswould not go to matching panels but rather to evaluation panels. Matching panelsmatch job descriptions to national profiles. We do not collect data centrally onthe time taken by either evaluation panels or matching panels. The Agenda for Changesystem was agreed in partnership at a UK level between NHS employers, trades unionsand professional organisations and the UK Health Departments. All sides recognisethe benefits of the new system and the operation of evaluation and matching panelsis a matter which is addressed locally through NHS boards and staff-side representativesworking in partnership.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how NHS job matching panels, established under Agenda for Change, are monitored and audited to ensure best value.
Answer
Spend on job matchingpanels is not audited centrally. NHSScotland is committed to the introduction ofAgenda for Change as quickly and efficiently as possible and it is for each NHSboard to monitor each part of the process to ensure best value is achieved. In thisregard, the Audit Committee Handbook provides guidance to NHS boards on good practice.It makes clear that boards should have internal controls established to give reasonableassurance that assets are safeguarded, waste and inefficiency is avoided, that reliablefinancial information is produced and that value for money is continuously sought.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS staff are involved in operating and administering job matching panels, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
This information isnot held centrally. The Agenda for Change system was agreed in partnership at aUK level between NHS employers, trades unions and professionalorganisations and the UK Health Departments. All sides recognise the benefits of the new system and the operation and administration of job matching panels is amatter which is addressed locally through NHS boards and staff-side representativesworking in partnership.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many cremations there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by crematorium and expressed also as a percentage of deaths in each year.
Answer
This informationis not held centrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many crematoria there are in Scotland; where these are located, and when they became operational.
Answer
This informationis not held centrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-1239 by John Swinney on 13 July 2007, whether there is a mechanism for local authorities to apply for specific funding for burial facilities such as crematoria and, if so, which local authorities have applied for such funding in each year since 1999.
Answer
There is noseparate mechanism for local authorities to apply for specific funding. the Scottish Government provides general financial support for Scotland’s local authorities’ core services, including burialgrounds and crematoria, but it is the responsibility of each individual localauthority to allocate its total resources, including the locally collectedcouncil tax, on the basis of local needs and priorities.
In 2007-08, thecore local government funding provided by the Scottish Government will amountto over £8.7 billion.
