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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: S3W-21328

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 6 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are in place to support patients waiting in one hospital for treatment or examination in another hospital.

There are a number of reasons, why patients may require treatment outwith their own health board area, for example when a service is provided on a regional or national basis. These patients will be required to be seen or treated within national maximum waiting times standards.

Guidance to NHS boards, issued in preparation for the introduction of New Ways of defining and measuring waiting times on 1 January 2008, makes clear that when treatment cannot be provided locally and a patient needs to travel elsewhere, the patient should be made aware of this as early as possible, preferably when the decision to refer or treat is made. This helps ensure that the patient is part of the decision-making process. The guidance also states that when a patient has to travel, appropriate transport arrangements for the patient (and relative/carer if necessary), should be resourced by the patient''s health board.

Question reference: S3W-21327

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 6 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it holds on the availability of cardiology services in each general hospital in each NHS board area.

The most relevant information which is held centrally is the data on the availability of staffed beds by speciality and hospital, including cardiology and coronary care units. This information can be found on the website of the Information Services Division (ISD) of NHS National Services Scotland:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=Costs_Hospital_Profile_2008.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

The most recent data are from 25 November 2008, but do not allow for identification of the cardiology activity which is also delivered under the heading of general medicine.

Additional Information on coronary heart disease is available on ISD''s Coronary Heart Disease website www.isdscotland.org/isd/2123.html.

Question reference: S3W-20538

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 2 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many direct rail services connect London and Scotland each day.

Rail services between London and Scotland on Cross Border routes are operated by Virgin Trains and National Express East Coast (NXEC) under franchises awarded by the Department for Transport (DfT). The exception is the Caledonian Sleeper services which are provided under the franchise awarded to First ScotRail by the Scottish Government.

The number of services operated is specified in the Service Level Commitments agreed by train operating companies and DfT. I understand that there are 32 daily services connecting Scotland and London on Monday to Thursday (with three more NXEC services on the East Coast on Fridays).

Full and updated details of weekend services can be found at the National Rail Enquiries website http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/.

Question reference: S3W-20537

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 2 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many passengers have used the Caledonian Sleeper service departing from (a) London and (b) Scotland in each month since 1999.

The information requested is not held in the format requested and the information that is held on sleeper passenger numbers is from 2004-05 and not 1999 as requested. This is due to the fact that First ScotRail has operated the current Franchise since October 2004 and rail powers transferred to Scottish ministers from October 2005.

The table gives the total sleeper journeys (thousands) for each four week period, each year, from 1 April 2004. The figures are given in rail industry periods. This gives the total for all Caledonian Sleeper routes which consist of the Highlander routes (operating between London and Fort William/Inverness/Aberdeen) and the Lowlander routes (operating between London and Glasgow/ Edinburgh).

Year/ Period	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
2004-05	1,838	1,701	1,695	1,669	1,849	1,784	1,796	1,837	1,922	1,470	1,612	1,799	1,651
2005-06	1,881	1,804	1,791	1,779	1,900	1,931	1,889	1,924	2,024	1,575	1,731	1,879	1,773
2006-07	1,872	1,823	1,814	1,752	2,047	2,013	1,951	1,991	2,093	1,584	1,767	1,927	1,829
2007-08	1,885	1,907	1,913	1,898	2,082	2,085	2,064	2,066	2,154	1,693	1,850	2,085	2,171
2008-09	1,923	2,088	2,073	1,913	2,171	2,109	2,012	2,100	2,217	1,753

Question reference: S3W-20582

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 26 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the expected demand range of (a) oil and (b) gas for the Scottish economy in 2020.

Volume 5 of the Scottish Energy Study, published in November 2008, contains a set of predictions for possible energy related supply and demand trends up to 2020. In particular, table 12 of the report shows the overall demand projections disaggregated by fuel type up to 2020.

The report can be found on the Scottish Government website at the following location:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/11/14093227/0.

Question reference: S3W-20757

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 19 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what the minimum fostering allowance is in each local authority area.

Question reference: S3W-20539

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 13 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many direct flights connect London and Scotland each day.

Information on the number of direct flights connecting London and Scotland each day is set out in the following table:

Information for week 9-15 February 2009 in Current Timetables

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
London to Scotland	75	88	117	103	109	111	115
Scotland to London	78	87	118	103	107	111	111
Total flights London/Scotland/London	153	175	235	206	216	222	226

Question reference: S3O-05891

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 12 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty’s Government regarding its recapitalisation of the banking sector and any impact that this might have on Scottish Government spending.

Question reference: S3W-20552

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 11 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are circumstances under which Scottish ministers can exercise discretion on whether a defendant is held on remand and, if so, what they are.

Question reference: S3W-20217

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 9 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times requests for the extradition of American citizens to Scotland have been refused and for what crimes extradition was sought in each case.