Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-29253

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 1 December 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many midwives graduated in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09 and whether all obtained positions as midwives.

The number of midwives who graduated from Scottish higher education institutions in 2007-09 was 161 and in 2008-09 was 143.

The Scottish Government does not hold statistics on the number of newly qualified midwives who gain employment. However, only 14 newly qualified nurses and midwives required access the one year job guarantee scheme in 2007-08 and 20 accessed the scheme in 2008-09.

The Scottish Government continues to fund the national one year job guarantee scheme, which is intended to ensure that every newly qualified midwife receives the offer of a job either through their own means or with assistance. It is designed to ensure that all newly qualified midwives have the opportunity to build on the clinical experience gained during their pre-registration programme.

Question reference: S3W-29190

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 1 December 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been set aside for contingencies in the contract for the building of the new Southern General Hospital.

The Scottish Capital Investment Manual guidance makes clear that contingencies and optimism bias should be provided for. In the outline business case, these were appropriately calculated and incorporated in to the health board''s affordability envelope. The maximum price received from the successful bidder is within the board''s budget estimates and allows for an adequate contingency provision within the overall affordability envelope.

Question reference: S3W-29252

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 1 December 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many midwives secured employment as midwives following return-to-practice courses in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09.

Question reference: S3W-28959

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 1 December 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether Netcare staff at the Scottish Regional Treatment Centre at Stracathro Hospital will be transferred to the NHS under the transfer of undertakings (protection of employment) regulations (TUPE) following the recent announcement about its return to the NHS.

The issue of whether TUPE rules apply is a legal matter and therefore a matter for NHS Tayside to confirm.

The decision by NHS Tayside to take over the management of Stracathro offers the opportunity for future employment within the NHS for Netcare staff, and for others within the community, with the skills and expertise needed to care for patients. This is one of the positive outcomes achieved by securing future service provision at Stracathro as part of NHS Tayside.

Question reference: S3W-29076

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 27 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) fatal accidents, (b) fatal and serious accidents and (c) accidents of all severities have been recorded on roads across Scotland in each month since May 2007, broken down by road type.

The following tables show the number of injury road accidents on Scottish roads by road type, month and severity.

Fatal accidents in Scotland

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
Roundabout
2007					-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-
2008	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
One Way Street
2007					-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dual Carriageway
2007					5	2	3	4	2	5	6	4
2008	3	4	4	3	6	3	3	1	1	4	7	4
Single Carriageway
2007					21	17	21	25	13	22	15	15
2008	15	12	14	10	18	11	29	13	19	21	19	15
Slip Road
2007					-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Unknown
2007					-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
2008	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-

Fatal and Serious Accidents in Scotland

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
Roundabout
2007					10	3	7	7	2	8	-	6
2008	5	5	4	5	8	5	3	5	7	4	7	3
One Way Street
2007					1	7	3	4	5	2	2	3
2008	3	5	5	3	4	3	2	6	3	8	-	7
Dual Carriageway
2007					29	20	26	30	30	31	36	18
2008	27	29	32	33	32	26	26	24	17	36	41	32
Single Carriageway
2007					162	166	153	164	140	160	165	147
2008	118	151	167	153	189	170	180	181	158	194	181	133
Slip Road
2007					2	-	3	1	2	4	1	-
2008	3	-	-	-	1	3	1	2	2	1	-	-
Unknown
2007					3	4	3	2	5	2	1	-
2008	2	2	-	2	3	3	2	-	3	6	2	3

Total Accidents in Scotland

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
Roundabout
2007					53	43	56	45	41	49	49	43
2008	44	49	48	38	61	40	42	45	43	40	68	50
One Way Street
2007					14	25	20	23	23	26	23	26
2008	28	30	24	18	23	17	19	23	27	32	25	23
Dual Carriageway
2007					170	141	162	182	169	197	175	196
2008	208	165	175	158	143	147	142	167	124	191	170	171
Single Carriageway
2007					842	831	759	834	761	731	809	800
2008	762	769	796	625	726	746	709	852	742	852	750	672
Slip Road
2007					11	9	12	9	10	10	7	9
2008	12	7	14	5	13	12	8	15	11	11	5	15
Unknown
2007					10	7	13	15	18	11	15	11
2008	10	11	11	11	21	19	22	13	28	22	10	24

Question reference: S3W-29075

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 27 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) fatal accidents, (b) fatal and serious accidents and (c) accidents of all severities have been recorded on roads across Scotland in each month since May 2007, broken down by local authority area.

The following table shows the number of injury road accidents by severity in each Scottish local authority, by month.

Fatal

Local Authority	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
2007
Total					26	20	25	29	16	27	21	19
Aberdeen City					1	-	-	1	-	1	1	-
Aberdeenshire					3	-	3	4	1	3	3	2
Angus					1	2	-	1	2	-	1	1
Argyll and Bute					1	-	2	2	2	1	-	1
Clackmannanshire					-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Dumfries and Galloway					2	-	2	-	1	1	-	2
Dundee City					-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
East Ayrshire					-	1	1	3	-	-	-	-
East Dunbartonshire					-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
East Lothian					-	1	-	1	-	-	1	1
East Renfrewshire					-	-	-	1	-	-	1	1
Edinburgh, City of					2	1	1	-	-	-	-	-
Falkirk					1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Fife					2	-	1	1	-	1	1	-
Glasgow City					1	1	-	1	-	2	3	2
Highland					3	4	1	3	1	6	1	3
Inverclyde					-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-
Midlothian					1	2	-	-	-	-	1	-
Moray					1	-	1	1	-	-	-	-
North Ayrshire					-	-	1	-	-	-	1	1
North Lanarkshire					2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Perth and Kinross					2	1	1	3	-	1	-	1
Renfrewshire					-	-	1	-	-	1	1	1
Scottish Borders					2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1
Shetland Islands					-	1	1	-	-	-	2	-
South Ayrshire					-	-	1	1	1	-	1	1
South Lanarkshire					-	2	1	-	2	3	-	-
Stirling					-	-	-	2	1	1	-	-
West Dunbartonshire					-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
West Lothian					1	-	2	2	2	2	-	-
2008
Total	20	16	18	14	25	14	32	14	20	26	27	19
Aberdeen City	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1
Aberdeenshire	1	1	1	1	4	1	3	-	5	1	1	2
Angus	2	1	1	-	2	1	2	-	1	-	1	1
Argyll and Bute	1	1	-	1	1	-	2	-	1	1	1	1
Clackmannanshire	1	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Dumfries and Galloway	1	-	1	1	1	-	2	1	1	-	-	1
Dundee City	-	-	1	-	-	1	-	-	1	1	-	-
East Ayrshire	1	1	1	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	1
East Dunbartonshire	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
East Lothian	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
East Renfrewshire	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Edinburgh, City of	-	1	1	2	1	1	-	-	2	4	1	-
Eilean Siar	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Falkirk	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	2
Fife	2	1	1	1	-	-	-	1	1	1	5	-
Glasgow City	1	1	2	2	1	1	3	-	1	1	2	-
Highland	1	1	1	1	1	4	5	3	2	5	3	3
Inverclyde	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	-
Midlothian	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
Moray	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	2	-	-
North Ayrshire	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	-	1	1
North Lanarkshire	-	1	-	-	6	1	-	1	-	1	-	1
Orkney Islands	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Perth and Kinross	1	1	2	-	3	2	-	1	-	1	2	-
Renfrewshire	2	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	2	-	1
Scottish Borders	1	-	1	1	1	-	1	-	1	-	3	-
South Ayrshire	-	1	-	-	1	-	1	-	-	1	1	1
South Lanarkshire	3	1	2	-	-	-	5	1	2	-	-	1
Stirling	-	1	-	1	-	-	1	1	-	1	-	-
West Dunbartonshire	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
West Lothian	-	2	1	1	1	-	-	1	-	1	2	-

Fatal and serious

Local Authority	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
2007
Total					207	200	195	208	184	207	205	174
Aberdeen City					7	6	6	7	6	5	11	5
Aberdeenshire					14	15	14	16	8	16	24	12
Angus					7	11	3	5	7	2	8	11
Argyll and Bute					6	2	7	5	6	2	4	6
Clackmannanshire					1	-	-	1	-	4	3	-
Dumfries and Galloway					15	17	16	12	7	7	8	12
Dundee City					4	2	3	5	6	6	8	2
East Ayrshire					2	6	1	4	2	5	1	1
East Dunbartonshire					2	2	3	2	2	2	2	2
East Lothian					4	4	3	5	3	2	4	2
East Renfrewshire					-	-	-	4	1	-	2	2
Edinburgh, City of					13	16	16	16	21	14	15	18
Eilean Siar					-	1	-	1	-	1	3	1
Falkirk					6	6	5	4	7	4	-	3
Fife					14	10	13	12	9	13	10	5
Glasgow City					13	20	12	12	23	37	25	17
Highland					15	12	17	21	11	11	8	12
Inverclyde					2	3	1	1	2	5	3	3
Midlothian					7	5	2	3	5	1	10	5
Moray					7	3	5	5	4	2	2	3
North Ayrshire					1	1	5	1	2	5	6	1
North Lanarkshire					10	8	5	9	8	9	9	11
Orkney Islands					-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-
Perth and Kinross					14	9	13	10	10	9	3	9
Renfrewshire					6	3	3	3	1	4	6	7
Scottish Borders					10	9	15	8	6	5	8	3
Shetland Islands					-	1	2	1	-	-	2	1
South Ayrshire					10	3	3	5	2	2	5	4
South Lanarkshire					7	13	8	10	9	17	7	6
Stirling					4	5	7	7	6	6	5	1
West Dunbartonshire					3	2	1	1	3	1	1	2
West Lothian					3	5	6	12	6	9	2	7
2008
Total	158	192	208	196	237	210	214	218	190	249	231	178
Aberdeen City	7	9	8	11	12	9	11	16	8	13	6	6
Aberdeenshire	12	15	21	18	20	21	17	19	25	13	14	11
Angus	8	8	5	1	6	6	6	4	3	5	9	9
Argyll and Bute	6	1	8	7	8	6	9	11	8	10	7	8
Clackmannanshire	2	1	1	3	2	1	2	4	1	2	3	-
Dumfries and Galloway	8	7	11	6	12	5	9	9	10	7	3	7
Dundee City	3	4	6	4	6	7	6	7	4	4	9	2
East Ayrshire	1	5	9	4	5	7	9	2	5	5	2	5
East Dunbartonshire	-	2	1	-	2	4	4	-	3	1	5	2
East Lothian	2	2	1	3	2	-	3	-	1	4	1	1
East Renfrewshire	-	2	3	-	4	1	1	3	2	5	1	3
Edinburgh, City of	12	11	13	17	18	12	15	15	14	22	23	13
Eilean Siar	3	1	-	-	2	1	1	-	1	3	2	-
Falkirk	8	10	5	9	4	9	4	1	5	4	3	8
Fife	5	13	10	9	8	8	6	5	13	10	15	6
Glasgow City	12	26	29	35	28	14	23	20	23	36	32	33
Highland	7	9	7	4	8	14	17	13	8	14	12	9
Inverclyde	1	2	3	3	6	3	1	3	5	6	2	1
Midlothian	1	3	5	2	6	2	4	2	-	-	4	3
Moray	2	3	7	5	5	5	3	2	4	5	2	1
North Ayrshire	5	5	3	1	3	6	5	8	5	3	5	5
North Lanarkshire	10	9	9	11	15	7	4	10	3	6	10	5
Orkney Islands	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	1	1	4	2	-
Perth and Kinross	10	8	5	5	10	11	14	13	7	11	8	6
Renfrewshire	5	4	9	4	4	7	4	9	4	9	6	5
Scottish Borders	5	5	8	10	6	7	8	9	8	4	10	6
Shetland Islands	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	2	-	-
South Ayrshire	2	5	3	1	6	3	6	5	5	10	4	3
South Lanarkshire	10	9	8	10	12	8	11	13	8	15	13	11
Stirling	5	3	3	5	5	16	5	4	3	7	6	5
West Dunbartonshire	1	4	2	3	1	2	2	3	1	4	2	-
West Lothian	5	6	5	5	9	8	4	7	1	5	10	4

All Severities

Local Authority	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
2007
Total					1,100	1,056	1,022	1,108	1,022	1,024	1,078	1,085
Aberdeen City					36	38	31	25	38	31	39	43
Aberdeenshire					56	60	49	56	50	53	61	61
Angus					28	29	22	22	24	20	31	23
Argyll and Bute					26	18	21	24	35	27	20	24
Clackmannanshire					6	4	5	6	5	8	13	3
Dumfries and Galloway					54	46	41	36	35	29	39	46
Dundee City					21	20	18	22	26	28	21	20
East Ayrshire					13	34	21	17	19	20	11	15
East Dunbartonshire					14	11	11	15	12	8	15	18
East Lothian					19	18	16	23	18	18	19	14
East Renfrewshire					12	6	7	13	11	7	10	8
Edinburgh, City of					113	106	111	127	107	101	114	113
Eilean Siar					4	4	4	7	2	2	5	3
Falkirk					24	22	24	30	23	23	30	26
Fife					51	48	47	53	45	45	54	56
Glasgow City					144	140	136	146	142	169	176	158
Highland					55	49	66	65	56	39	37	57
Inverclyde					16	17	16	17	10	19	20	21
Midlothian					18	19	17	19	19	13	21	23
Moray					19	14	23	14	17	11	13	17
North Ayrshire					13	23	23	28	21	20	23	22
North Lanarkshire					76	58	51	62	62	68	62	63
Orkney Islands					2	2	4	1	3	2	2	1
Perth and Kinross					42	35	41	42	31	38	18	26
Renfrewshire					39	34	29	43	29	36	35	40
Scottish Borders					32	26	41	21	26	21	36	27
Shetland Islands					4	3	3	5	2	1	6	10
South Ayrshire					38	26	20	24	16	24	21	15
South Lanarkshire					55	64	46	61	52	63	61	62
Stirling					24	28	27	29	21	25	12	19
West Dunbartonshire					16	21	15	18	24	15	15	16
West Lothian					30	33	36	37	41	40	38	35
2008
Total	1,064	1,031	1,068	855	987	981	942	1,115	975	1,148	1,028	955
Aberdeen City	28	47	35	43	47	44	49	60	39	53	32	35
Aberdeenshire	45	52	76	45	56	63	64	58	60	61	60	52
Angus	28	26	26	13	25	20	19	18	29	24	35	23
Argyll and Bute	19	24	18	19	27	29	29	30	22	31	16	24
Clackmannanshire	10	3	7	8	5	3	8	14	5	11	7	4
Dumfries and Galloway	42	30	39	26	38	39	27	38	37	39	32	32
Dundee City	29	20	23	20	22	23	23	29	17	17	27	20
East Ayrshire	23	16	29	12	16	17	27	20	16	19	23	11
East Dunbartonshire	9	13	10	9	12	12	12	8	15	18	15	7
East Lothian	18	16	13	23	11	15	24	19	17	17	8	12
East Renfrewshire	5	11	14	9	11	6	7	7	9	13	9	8
Edinburgh, City of	101	107	110	96	91	109	92	131	119	124	106	98
Eilean Siar	6	7	5	2	10	4	3	3	5	6	5	4
Falkirk	26	31	35	25	19	26	20	32	23	21	19	33
Fife	41	54	54	36	52	43	39	48	62	49	57	40
Glasgow City	141	150	164	118	125	99	114	134	131	156	154	162
Highland	50	39	41	35	53	63	58	77	53	43	38	36
Inverclyde	22	15	16	20	23	10	8	9	17	18	19	17
Midlothian	17	29	26	17	20	13	19	13	16	15	17	18
Moray	13	19	22	14	16	14	15	16	23	17	11	14
North Ayrshire	31	27	15	17	16	21	16	21	23	20	28	13
North Lanarkshire	75	47	66	53	57	48	45	49	37	64	53	48
Orkney Islands	3	3	5	-	2	3	-	2	3	7	3	5
Perth and Kinross	36	31	25	22	26	35	31	38	35	43	21	32
Renfrewshire	39	26	34	25	29	27	27	36	21	45	36	27
Scottish Borders	41	24	26	28	34	38	34	36	26	41	33	22
Shetland Islands	-	3	1	1	2	1	2	1	2	3	1	3
South Ayrshire	21	22	7	14	17	22	17	26	16	18	21	19
South Lanarkshire	75	54	54	46	55	53	44	58	42	67	61	58
Stirling	26	16	23	22	25	34	25	26	12	29	24	23
West Dunbartonshire	12	14	13	9	11	10	13	11	10	20	13	12
West Lothian	32	55	36	28	34	37	31	47	33	39	44	43

Question reference: S3W-29005

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what firms were involved in bidding for the contract to build the new Southern General Hospital.

Five potential bidders participated in a pre-qualifying questionnaire process from which three were short-listed on the basis of their demonstrative ability to construct a healthcare project of this scale and complexity.

The five bidders were:

Balfour Beatty Group Limited

Brookfield Europe LP

FCC Elliot Healthcare Ltd

Laing O''Rourke Construction Limited

Miller Construction UK Ltd.

The evaluation of the pre-qualification questionnaire identified the following three bidders to be taken forward to the tender stage of the project:

Balfour Beatty Group Limited

Brookfield Europe LP

Laing O''Rourke Construction Limited.

Question reference: S3W-28893

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pregnant women have been provided with free fruit since May 2007.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-28892 on 25 November 2009, which refers to the broadening out of our commitment to support pregnant women. The aim of the broader commitment is to allow health boards to put in place strategic measures to reach a much wider audience of women, and then deliver those through for example: interventions by health professionals related to nutrition, including breastfeeding and weaning; maternity units achieving Baby Friendly Initiative status, ensuring that everyone who is entitled to claim for Healthy Start vouchers which can be exchanged for fruit, vegetables, fresh milk or infant formula at registered retailers do so, and ensuring that all sectors with a contribution to make in this area, e.g. community groups, pre school and voluntary sector are fully involved.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Question reference: S3W-28892

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how it is meeting the SNP manifesto commitment to provide pregnant women with free fruit.

In June 2008, we published Healthy Eating Active Living: An action plan to improve diet, increase physical activity and tackle obesity. This included a commitment to broaden out the pledge to provide free fruit to pregnant women and pre-school children using the model of market-led pregnancy cards from the major supermarkets, to encompass maternal and infant nutrition generally and not limited to specific models.

In September 2008, I announced support of £19 million of new money available to NHS health boards over the period 2008-11 to improve the nutrition of women of childbearing age, pregnant women and children under five in disadvantaged areas. The broad criteria within which NHS boards have been asked to work include increasing uptake of the healthy start scheme, to ensure that everyone who is eligible to claim vouchers to exchange for fresh fruit, vegetables, milk and infant formula does so; supporting work on increasing breastfeeding rates and investing in training for health professionals. Years one and two of that funding have already been allocated to NHS boards. Details of the allocation were outlined in CEL 36 (2008) Nutrition of women of childbearing age, pregnant women and children under five in disadvantaged areas, which can be found at:

http://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/mels/CEL2008_36.pdf.

Question reference: S3W-28885

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how much is being spent on providing services for carers.

Support to local carers'' services is a matter for local authorities and health boards to determine on the basis of their local priorities.

Local authorities'' net revenue expenditure on support for carers, including respite care, in 2007-08 (latest figures available) was £117.034 million, compared with £100 million in 2006-07.

The Scottish Government has provided area health boards and the Scottish Ambulance Service with £9 million between 2008-11 to develop and implement Carer Information Strategies. We have provided local authorities with over £4 million as part of the local government settlement to provide an extra 10,000 respite weeks. We have provided over £400,000 to fund three Young Carer Festivals, which provide young carers from all over Scotland with a break from caring. We are funding three young carer initiatives this year through a £200,000 grant to a national carer organisation. We have funded other initiatives including three carer training pilots. The Scottish Government supports national carers organisations through grants made under section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. Over the next three years we are committed to awards totalling nearly £100,000 to five organisations.

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