- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 25 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate is of the prevalence of mental health problems in school-age children and what research is currently being undertaken in this field.
Answer
A Scottish Executive co-funded GB survey into mental health of children and adolescents showed approximately 10% with a mental disorder. No significant geographic differences were shown.
The results of the survey are being used to inform future planning of services and areas of research that could further assist in the best organisation of child and adolescent services, screening and support. The Scottish Executive is funding three separate studies into mental health problems amongst school-age children. £225,000 has been awarded for research into adolescent psychiatry outpatient services, adolescent depression in schools and adolescent psychosis. A further 18 projects are under way in NHS Trusts in Scotland on child and adolescent mental health problems.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 September 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Donald Dewar on 21 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive when the First Minister will reply to my letter of March 2000 regarding comments made in the Parliament on 2 March 2000.
Answer
I have replied today.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 August 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 21 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hectares of (a) greenfield and (b) brownfield land have been owned by each local authority in each of the past four years.
Answer
Information is not held centrally on greenfield land. The table below gives the amount of local authority owned vacant and derelict land in each local authority area. Information is not yet available for 1999.Local Authority Owned Vacant and Derelict Land
1,2,3 by Local Authority Area (in hectares), 1996, 1997 and 1998
| 1996 | 1997 | 1998 |
Aberdeen City | 28 | 25 | 254 |
Aberdeenshire | 21 | 21 | 14 |
Angus | 34 | 32 | 31 |
Argyll & Bute | 9 | 8 | 8 |
Clackmannanshire | 6 | 6 | 7 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 185 | 20 | 19 |
Dundee City | 147 | 1476 | 151 |
East Ayrshire | 325 | 325 | 29 |
East Dunbartonshire | 23 | 23 | 22 |
East Lothian | 37 | 32 | 30 |
East Renfrewshire | 11 | 12 | 12 |
Edinburgh, City of | 42 | 45 | 46 |
Eilean Siar | 5 | 1 | 1 |
Falkirk | 124 | 115 | 84 |
Fife | 100 | 98 | 91 |
Glasgow City | 714 | 731 | 711 |
Highland | 1567 | 1567 | 1567 |
Inverclyde | 21 | 17 | 21 |
Midlothian | 958 | 64 | 60 |
Moray | 18 | 186 | 186 |
North Ayrshire | 29 | 41 | 38 |
North Lanarkshire | 249 | 215 | 171 |
Orkney Islands | 8 | 5 | 6 |
Perth and Kinross | 3 | 3 | 15 |
Renfrewshire | 32 | 28 | 32 |
Scottish Borders | 13 | 18 | 18 |
Shetland | 0 | 0 | 0 |
South Ayrshire | 29 | 32 | 33 |
South Lanarkshire | 151 | 140 | 139 |
Stirling | 105 | 1056 | 101 |
West Dunbartonshire | 48 | 54 | 50 |
West Lothian | 1195 | 1195 | 1195 |
Scotland | 2,427 | 2,364 | 2,260 |
Notes:
1. Figures may not sum due to rounding errors.
2. Sites covering less than 0.1 ha are excluded.
3. The Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey includes only that vacant land which is either located within an urban settlement (with a population of 2,000 or more) or which is located within 1km of such settlements, which would commonly be considered as having the characteristics of urban vacant land.
4. Data are for 1997.
5. Data are for 1995.
6. Data are for 1996.
7. Data are for 1993.
8. Data are for 1994.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 August 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 21 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to increase the number of visits by socially excluded people to museums and galleries.
Answer
The Scottish Executive encourages the National Museums and Galleries to ensure increased public access by including the provision of additional grants specific for that purpose. The National Cultural Strategy shows a key aim to increase public access and states no intention to change statutory free admission to local authority museums and galleries. In addition, the National Cultural Strategy confirmed the Executive's intention to provide the sum of £2 million a year to enable the National Museum of Scotland to abolish charges at the Royal Museum and the Museum of Scotland from 1 April 2001. In relation to the non-national museums and galleries, the Scottish Museums Council, funded by the Scottish Executive, is developing a social inclusion strategy which will assist museums to consider ways to increase visits by socially excluded people.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 19 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made by the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service's Effective Use of Blood Group in assessing the large variation in blood usage by clinicians with similar specialities treating similar cases, in some cases in the same institutions, as outlined in 1999 Health in Scotland.
Answer
Initial data presented by the group, which concentrated on one specialty, has resulted in changes in transfusion policy and ordering practices. This has led to a reduction in the number of units of blood used. The programme is now being extended to other specialties and work is in hand to improve the quality of data collected with a view to providing routine clinical information on transfusion practices.
The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service and the Clinical Audit and Resource Group are also jointly funding a three-year study to evaluate the role of the clinical nurse specialist in developing and implementing transfusion protocols and guidelines.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 19 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure that clients are not pursued by different sheriff officers for council tax arrears from different years owed to the same council.
Answer
I would refer you to the joint CoSLA/Scottish Executive Report It Pays to Pay and to my answer to question S1W-4296 to Des McNulty of 23 February. Individuals who are being pursued by different sheriff officers can arrange payment terms on the consolidated debt.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 19 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in introducing a more strategic approach to council tax debt recovery which would avoid multiple, simultaneous actions against debtors for several years of debt and provide more flexible and reliable payment options.
Answer
I would refer you to the joint CoSLA/Scottish Executive Report It Pays to Pay and to my answer to question S1W-4296 to Des McNulty of 23 February.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 19 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking, in partnership with local government, to ensure that there is negotiation of council tax debts prior to implementation of formal debt recovery procedures.
Answer
I would refer you to the joint CoSLA/Scottish Executive Report It Pays to Pay and to my answer to question S1W-4296 to Des McNulty of 23 February. I would encourage anyone having difficulty with their council tax payments to discuss with their council what flexibilities are available.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 19 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to promote an ethos in schools which facilitates recognition of mental health problems in young people.
Answer
The Scottish Executive believes that all schools should be Health Promoting Schools which instil a sense of social responsibility, respect and care for self, tolerance and understanding and respect and care for others. The Executive also supports the Scottish School Ethos Network.
The new Health Education 5-14 guidelines for schools, which will be published soon, cover three interconnected themes. One of these, emotional health, explores emotions, feelings and mental health and how these affect us and our relationships.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 25 August 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 15 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital beds there are in each health board area per thousand population.
Answer
The following table shows the number of available staffed beds in NHS Hospitals in each health board area per 1,000 population for the year ending 31 March 2000. The figures, which cover all specialties, are provisional.NHS Staffed Beds per 1,000 Population, Year Ending 31 March 2000
Health Board | Beds per 1,000 Population |
Argyll & Clyde | 7.62 |
Ayrshire & Arran | 5.74 |
Borders | 6.44 |
Dumfries & Galloway | 6.70 |
Fife | 5.66 |
Forth Valley | 6.71 |
Grampian | 6.82 |
Greater Glasgow | 7.83 |
Highland | 6.82 |
Lanarkshire | 6.37 |
Lothian | 5.80 |
Orkney | 4.40 |
Shetland | 5.20 |
Tayside | 8.00 |
Western Isles | 9.00 |
Scotland | 6.77 |
Differences in the number of NHS staffed beds per 1,000 population between health boards reflect a number of factors including the healthcare needs of different populations and the fact that some hospitals provide treatment to patients from other health board areas.