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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: S1W-04469

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 27 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3568 by Susan Deacon on 11 February 2000, why the waiting times for coronary artery bypass grafts and other cardiac surgery vary widely between health boards and what it will do to reduce both waiting times and the level of variance.

The variations between Health Boards in waiting times for coronary artery bypass surgery and other cardiac surgery are the result of a number of different factors, of which the severity of disease in individual patients is a key factor.

It is for clinicians to determine the priority to be assigned in any given case. Those who need surgery on an emergency or urgent basis may never be on the waiting list at all. The Coronary Heart Disease Task Force has drawn up standard criteria for the management of patients awaiting cardiac surgery, based on clinical need. These will ensure that patients on the waiting list are managed actively and the system will respond appropriately, especially if there is any deterioration in a patient's condition.The Task Force is working with cardiologists throughout Scotland to draw up common referral practices and is developing the concept of a national Managed Clinical Network for cardiac surgery. These initiatives, together with the work to establish national maximum waiting times for cardiac surgery, will help to overcome any geographical bias, while enhancing equity of access to services.

Question reference: S1W-05161

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 27 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list those local authorities (a) who have a low forecast level of capital receipts raising capacity and whose net capital allocation has been adjusted up and (b) who have a high forecast level of capital receipts raising capacity and whose net capital allocation has been adjusted down, showing the capital allocations before and after adjustments for each local authority in the years 1999-2000 and 2000-01.

The information requested is shown in the table below. The allocations for 2000-01 are provisional.

	1999-	2000	2000	-2001
	Base formula allocation	Formula Allocation adjusted for receipts	Base formula allocation	Formula allocation adjusted for receipts
Council	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s

Aberdeen City	7269	6660	8035	6319
Aberdeenshire	7875	8184	8749	8368
Angus	4451	4873	4887	5204
Argyll & Bute	8564	9695	9552	10272
Clackmannanshire	2621	2814	2761	2874
Dumfries & Galloway	7240	8051	7900	8596
Dundee City	6369	6221	7024	6994
East Ayrshire	4569	4937	5017	5251
East Dunbartonshire	4392	4076	4812	4553
East Lothian	4026	4351	4445	4404
East Renfrewshire	3707	4005	4040	4251
Edinburgh (City of)	15632	14338	17563	16590
Eilean Siar	8306	9250	8947	9619
Falkirk	5159	4619	5661	5945
Fife	11740	11315	13159	13598
Glasgow City	26597	24797	30012	28827
Highland	14906	15597	16339	17241
Inverclyde	5325	5565	5864	6216
Midlothian	3475	3403	3790	3619
Moray	3991	4106	4369	4415
North Ayrshire	6613	7024	7415	7767
North Lanarkshire	11397	10458	12696	12137
Orkney Islands	3373	3653	3475	3681
Perth & Kinross	6513	6816	7348	7546
Renfrewshire	7116	7075	7862	8086
Scottish Borders	5797	5128	6366	6979
Shetland	0	0	0	0
South Ayrshire	4343	4696	4764	4457
South Lanarkshire	11271	11425	12590	12065
Stirling	4309	3899	4695	4544
West Dunbartonshire	3898	4192	4244	4382
West Lothian	5295	4917	5845	5429
SCOTLAND TOTAL	226139	226139	250228	250228

Question reference: S1W-04306

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 27 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will implement self-financing pay awards, similar to those in local authorities, in 2000-01 for staff under its own direct responsibility.

Question reference: S1W-05178

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 27 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the specific grant allocation was for local government in 1999-2000, and what it will be in 2000-01, in real terms.

Question reference: S1W-04744

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 23 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the financial indebtedness is of each local authority relating to the total interest charges incurred for paying invoices after the due date to (a) all firms and (b) firms employing fewer than 50 people, since the introduction of the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

Question reference: S1W-05163

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jackie Baillie on 22 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive why the funding for the rough sleepers initiative in Argyll and Bute will fall from #274,880 in 2000-01 to #114,480 in 2001-02.

Question reference: S1W-05164

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jackie Baillie on 22 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive why the funding for the rough sleepers initiative in Renfrewshire will fall from #165,394 in 2000-01 to #103,181 in 2001-02.

Question reference: S1W-05149

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 22 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive why Lanarkshire Health Board failed to meet its guarantee under the Patients' Charter of nine months wait for cataract removal in over 115 cases during 1999 and what additional resources will be made available to enable Lanarkshire Health Board to fulfil the Patients' Charter guarantee in future.

The Patients Charter guarantee of nine months for cataract surgery was breached during 1999 following the discovery of a cluster of cases of the eye infection "endophthalmitis" at Stonehouse Hospital. Routine operations were suspended while investigations were carried out to identify common characteristics of all such cases and to examine infection control procedures. The service was resumed in September 1999.

In 1998-99 Lanarkshire Health Board invested an additional £266k in improving local ophthalmological services and consequently adequate resources are in place to deal with the current backlog and to sustain compliance with Charter guarantees.

A further ophthalmologist is due to take up post on 1 May and this combined with the momentum created by the full restoration of cataract surgery means that no patient should breach the Charter guarantee by the end of this year.

Question reference: S1W-05165

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jackie Baillie on 22 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive why the funding for the rough sleepers initiative in Glasgow will fall from #682,251 in 2000-01 to 'ero in 2001-02.

Funding for new RSI projects in Glasgow will be determined in the light of the conclusions of the Glasgow Strategy Review Team which is developing a comprehensive strategy for addressing rough sleeping in the city. I expect the review team to provide advice by Easter. In the meantime current RSI projects in Glasgow have been allocated continuation funding until the end of June 2000 but no decisions have been taken for the period from July 2000 to 2001-02.

Question reference: S1W-05162

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jackie Baillie on 22 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive why the funding for the rough sleepers initiative in South Lanarkshire will fall from #661,919 in 2000-01 to #430,819 in 2001-02.