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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-16890

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 July 2001
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 28 August 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio of GPs to patients is in each health board area.

The ratio of GPs to patients in each health board area is shown in the following table.

Ratio of GPs to patients¹, by Health Board (As at 1 October 2000)

	Ratio of GPs to Patients
Scotland	1:1510
Argyll & Clyde	1:1415
Ayrshire & Arran	1:1539
Borders	1:1351
Dumfries & Galloway	1:1254
Fife	1:1528
Forth Valley	1:1494
Grampian	1:1543
Greater Glasgow	1:1600
Highland	1:1104
Lanarkshire	1:1728
Lothian	1:1586
Orkney	1:806
Shetland	1:1179
Tayside	1:1529
Western Isles	1:953

Source: General Medical Practitioner Database, ISD Scotland.Notes:1. Based on WTE of unrestricted principals and their equivalents in PMS practices, including vacant posts.

Question reference: S1W-17148

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 July 2001
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 22 August 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how many oncologists are employed in each health board area and what the ratio of these to population is in each area.

Cancer services in Scotland are delivered by clinicians working within managed clinical networks. The number of oncologists employed in any health board area and the ratio of these to population is therefore not an indicator of the level of patient access to these highly specialised services.The following table provides information on consultant oncologists employed within the areas covered by the three Regional Network Groups. The table should be read in conjunction with the notes.Consultant Medical and Clinical Oncologists: as at 30 September 2000^p

Headcount and Rate per 100,000 Population, by Regional Network Group

	Headcount			per 100,000 Population
	Total	Medical Oncologists	Clinical Oncologists	Medical Oncologists	Clinical Oncologists
Scotland	52	14	38	0.3	0.7
North²	14	4	10	0.3	0.8
West³	22	5	17	0.2	0.7
South East⁴	16	5	11	0.4	0.8

Notes:

1. Source: Staff - Medical and Dental Census from payroll, ISD Scotland; Mid-Year Population Estimates at 30 June - Registrar General for Scotland.

2. The North of Scotland Regional Network Group covers the following health board areas: Grampian, Highland, Orkney, Shetland, Tayside and Western Isles.

3. The West of Scotland Regional Network Group covers the following health board areas: Argyll & Clyde, Ayrshire & Arran, Forth Valley, Greater Glasgow and Lanarkshire.

4. The South East Scotland Regional Network Group covers the following health board areas: Borders, Dumfries & Galloway, Fife and Lothian.5. The staffing data shown is provisional and is the value on 30 September 2000. This may not necessarily represent average staffing levels throughout the year.

Question reference: S1W-17248

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 July 2001
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 21 August 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current average waiting time is for an appointment to see a dermatologist in (a) each health board area and (b) Scotland as a whole.

The median waiting time for a first out-patient appointment with a Consultant in Dermatology, following referral by a General Medical Practitioner, in the year ended 30 June 2001, by health board of residence, is provided in the table.

NHS Scotland: Median Waiting Times For A First Out-patient Appointment With A Consultant In Dermatology, Following Referral By A General Medical Practitioner, By Health Board Of Residence: Year Ended 30 June 2001.

Health Board	Median Wait (days)¹
Argyll and Clyde	62
Ayrshire and Arran	91
Borders	68
Dumfries and Galloway	31
Fife	61
Forth Valley	114
Grampian	120
Greater Glasgow	56
Highland	44
Lanarkshire	60
Lothian	71
Orkney	43
Shetland	45
Tayside	29
Western Isles	35
Scotland	60

Source: ISD, Scotland.Notes:1. Provisional.

Question reference: S1W-17249

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 July 2001
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 21 August 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are currently on waiting lists to see dermatologists in (a) each health board area and (b) Scotland as a whole.

Information on waiting lists is collected centrally only for hospital in-patient/day case treatment.The number of patients on the in-patient/day case waiting list in the specialty of dermatology on 31 March 2001, by health board of residence, is given in the table.

NHS Scotland: Number Of Patients on In-patient/Day Case Waiting List in Specialty Of Dermatology On 31 March 2001, By Health Board of Residence.

Health Board Of Residence	Number Of Patients
Argyll and Clyde	88
Ayrshire and Arran	10
Borders	0
Dumfries and Galloway	0
Fife	3
Forth Valley	0
Grampian	17
Greater Glasgow	1
Highland	15
Lanarkshire	1
Lothian	9
Orkney	0
Shetland	0
Tayside	1
Western Isles	3
Scotland	148

Source: ISD, Scotland.

Question reference: S1W-17250

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 July 2001
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 21 August 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what the provision of dermatologists is in each health board area, expressed (a) numerically and (b) per capita.

The information requested is shown in the following table, which should be read in conjunction with the notes below. In particular, the figures do not reflect directly the availability of dermatology services, because in many instances doctors employed in one health board area also provide service in another. It should also be noted that at March 2001 the number of posts for Specialist Registrars currently training for a Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training (CCST) in dermatology was increased from 14 to 17, a rise of 21% in the last year. Further information on the current Specialist Registrar establishment is contained in NHS HDL(2001) 63, which was published on 30 July 2001. A copy of this is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. no. 15193).

Dermatology Staff Employed by NHS Scotland by Health Board Whole Time Equivalent at 30 September 2000^p

	WTE				WTE per 100 000 population
	Total	Consultants	Training Grades	Other Grades	Total	Consultants	Training Grades	Other Grades
Scotland	95.9	44.5	39.1	12.3	1.9	0.9	0.8	0.2
Argyll & Clyde	6.4	2.0	3.0	1.4	1.5	0.5	0.7	0.3
Ayrshire & Arran	4.9	3.0	1.0	0.9	1.3	0.8	0.3	0.2
Borders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dumfries & Galloway	1.2	1.0	-	0.2	0.8	0.7	-	0.1
Fife	3.8	1.6	1.0	1.2	1.1	0.5	0.3	0.3
Forth Valley	2.5	2.0	-	0.5	0.9	0.7	-	0.2
Grampian	9.4	3.6	5.7	0.1	1.8	0.7	1.1	0.0
Greater Glasgow	26.2	11.3	13.6	1.4	2.9	1.2	1.5	0.2
Highland	2.9	2.0	-	0.9	1.4	1.0	-	0.5
Lanarkshire	10.5	4.8	3.0	2.6	1.9	0.9	0.5	0.5
Lothian	13.9	6.4	4.6	2.9	1.8	0.8	0.6	0.4
Orkney	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shetland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tayside	14.0	6.7	7.2	0.1	3.6	1.7	1.9	0.0
Western Isles	0.0	-	-	0.0	0.2	-	-	0.2

Notes:1. Source: Medical and Dental Census, ISD Scotland; Registrar General for Scotland.2. Staffing information at 30 September 2000 is provisional.3. Training grades comprise house officers, senior house officer, registrars, senior registrars and specialist registrars.4. Other grades comprise associate specialists, staff grades, hospital practitioners and para. 94 appointments.5. Rates per 100 000 population are based on 2000 population mid-year estimates as at 30 June. Population data is obtained from the Registrar General for Scotland.6. The WTE per population rate does not take into account those doctors who see patients from outwith their health board area as part of agreed service provision.7. The information shown is the value on 30 September 2000 and does not necessarily represent average staffing levels throughout the year.

Question reference: S1W-17092

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 July 2001
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 15 August 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what incentives it plans to offer to encourage farmers' sons or daughters to remain in the industry.

There are specific grant schemes operating across Scotland to support farmers and their immediate families in developing and sustaining farm incomes. The schemes provide valuable assistance to farming families in supporting diversification opportunities, both within and outwith agriculture, broadening and sustaining farm incomes. More generally, we are working with the industry and Scottish Enterprise to ensure that farming families have access to expert advice to support and develop their business and technical skills to ensure that they find more ways of making a living within their communities.

Question reference: S1W-17091

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 July 2001
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 15 August 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to offer farmers early retirement schemes.

In preparing the Scottish Rural Development Plan, we consulted widely on whether to introduce an early retirement scheme for farmers. In light of that consultation, we concluded against the introduction of a scheme and concentrated resources instead on measures which would help to sustain the industry. We continue to work closely with the industry to develop a range of measures to assist the recovery from Foot and Mouth and I will be considering all proposals which emerge during these discussions.

Question reference: S1W-17094

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 July 2001
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 15 August 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail all available public sources of (a) further and (b) higher education student support.

Information is not held centrally on all available public sources of further and higher education student support. A variety of sources of public funding are available to Scottish students, and students studying in Scotland, depending on the type, level, mode and place of study. Bodies from whom public funding is available include the Scottish Executive, Further Education Colleges, Higher Education Institutions, Local Authorities, the Further and Higher Education Funding Councils, the United Kingdom Research Councils, United Kingdom Government Departments and the European Commission. A wide range of public sector bodies also provide support to students from public funds in their capacity as employers.

The Scottish Executive has published information on the support available for students in higher education through the Student Awards Agency for Scotland. Copies of the booklets have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre. In addition to detailing the funding available from SAAS, these booklets also highlight the main additional sources of support. In further education, information on the discretionary support provided by each institution is published by each Further Education college.

In cases where applicants are not eligible for the support payable by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, advice is always provided about other types of support which may be available to them. These include Career Development Loans, discretionary bursaries from Local Authorities and Individual Learning Accounts.

Question reference: S1W-16754

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 July 2001
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 9 August 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any fisheries projects will be abandoned or reduced as a result of the recent budget announcement and, if so, which specific projects will be affected.

Question reference: S1W-16969

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 July 2001
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 8 August 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown by constituency and parliamentary region or by the most appropriate available geographical area of the location of the holders of the first 100,000 individual learning accounts.

The Executive's target of 100,000 Individual Learning Accounts (ILAs) was achieved on 11 June 2001. The nearest date for which ILAs are broken down geographically is for the period ended 30 June. The following details are provided below by Local Enterprise Company (LEC) area:-

LEC Areas	No. of ILAs Opened
Argyll & Islands	1,265
Ayrshire	8,678
Borders	2,455
Caithness & Sutherland	1,148
Dumfries & Galloway	3,563
Dunbartonshire	7,285
Fife	10,563
Forth Valley	4,042
Glasgow	12,508
Grampian	13,651
Inverness & Nairn	1,849
Lanarkshire	7,889
Lochaber	672
Lothian & Edinburgh	17,922
Moray/Badenoch/ Strathspey	1,896
Orkney	532
Renfrewshire	8,206
Ross & Cromarty	1,071
Shetland	343
Skye & Lochalsh	490
Tayside	9,003
Western Isles	601
Unassigned	372
Total (Scotland)	116,004