Seòmar agus comataidhean

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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 393 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S2F-02152

Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 2 March 2006

To ask the First Minister when he will next meet the Secretary of State for Scotland.

Question reference: S2O-09153

Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 2 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will instigate a commission to investigate the impact on health of cannabis and other drugs.

The UK Department of Health hascommissioned an evidence based review of research into cannabis and mental healthissues, which is due to be completed in June 2006. The results will be consideredalongside the recommendations of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, whichpublished it’s own report on cannabis in January.

All the evidence to date suggeststhat learning lessons on a UK-wide basis will continue to deliver the greatest benefitsin identifying the impact of cannabis on health.

Question reference: S2W-22734

Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 9 February 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many DNA profiles obtained from DNA samples collected by the police in Scotland and exported to the National DNA Database in England in each year since 1995 have been subsequently removed.

Full statistics are only available for the last seven years and are as follows:

Year	Number of Profiles
1999	5,420
2000	9,185
2001	7,058
2002	20,269
2003	18,075
2004	21,173
2005	29,334

Totals shown are for the years commencing 1 January to 31 December.

The Scottish DNA Database exports copies of all DNA profiles it holds to the National DNA Database but does not export the DNA samples. A DNA sample is the sample that contains the individual’s full DNA which is taken from the individual by means such as a mouth swab. A DNA profile is the numerical sequence derived from a DNA sample by a process which destroys the original sample. It is based on a number of markers from the short-tandem repeat (STR) areas of DNA which do not contain genetically significant information but vary markedly between different people, which is why DNA profiles are effective at distinguishing between different people.

Question reference: S2W-22733

Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 9 February 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many DNA profiles obtained from DNA samples collected by the police in Scotland have been exported to the National DNA Database in England in each year since 1995.

Full statistics are only available for the last seven years and are as follows:

Year	Number of Profiles
1999	26,487
2000	21,728
2001	18,681
2002	38,930
2003	39,047
2004	42,645
2005	49,641

Totals shown are for the years commencing 1 January to 31 December.

The Scottish DNA Database exports copies of all DNA profiles it holds to the National DNA Database but does not export the DNA samples. A DNA sample is the sample that contains the individual’s full DNA which is taken from the individual by means such as a mouth swab. A DNA profile is the numerical sequence derived from a DNA sample by a process which destroys the original sample. It is based on a number of markers from the short-tandem repeat areas of DNA which do not contain genetically significant information but vary markedly between different people, which is why DNA profiles are effective at distinguishing between different people.

Question reference: S2W-22736

Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 9 February 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many DNA profiles obtained from DNA samples taken from juveniles and collected by the police in Scotland and exported to the National DNA Database in England in each year since 1995 have been subsequently removed.

Question reference: S2W-22735

Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 9 February 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many DNA profiles obtained from DNA samples taken from juveniles and collected by the police in Scotland have been exported to the National DNA Database in England in each year since 1995.

This information is not held.

All DNA profiles taken from persons who are arrested or detained in Scotland are removed from both the Scottish DNA Database and the National DNA Database unless the case for which they were taken result in a court conviction. As well as the DNA profiles, any information relating to the person, such as their age, is also removed from database records. It is therefore not possible to identify the age of the persons concerned. The majority of cases involving juveniles do not result in court proceedings.

Question reference: S2W-22738

Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 6 February 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what DNA profiles have been exported to the National DNA Database from Scotland, broken down by ethnic category.

Question reference: S2W-22581

Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 6 February 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will instigate a study into the prevalence of haemochromatosis, given the recognition of the condition as a cause for concern.

The Chief Scientist Office (CSO), within the Scottish Executive Health Department, has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and health care needs in Scotland. It supports research projects of a sufficiently high standard initiated by the research community in Scotland. This role is well known and advertised throughout the healthcare and academic community.

The CSO has no plans to instigate a study on haemochromatosis, but would be pleased to consider research proposals into its prevalence. These would be subject to the usual peer and committee review.

The National Research Register (NRR), a UK wide research database, records two on-going projects and 10 completed projects on the prevalence of haemochromatosis. Details of these projects are available from the NRR, this can be found at the website www.update-software.com/national/.

Question reference: S2W-22737

Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 6 February 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive which companies, in addition to the Police Forensic Science Laboratories in Dundee and Glasgow, now act as suppliers of DNA profiles from DNA samples taken in Scotland to the National DNA Database.

Question reference: S2W-22579

Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by George Lyon on 1 February 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what information is normally recorded in cases where the cause of death is recorded as being alcohol-related.

Every death that occurs in Scotland is registered under the civil registration system which is operated by local councils on behalf of the Registrar General. The information collected and processed through the registration system creates the death registers of Scotland and these can be viewed by any member of the public. A computerised statistical record of the death registration is also created. This is used to answer customer and other enquiries and to produce the statistics that appear in the publications of the Registrar General. The statistical database can provide information at an individual level or data can be grouped together to provide counts for many different demographic or personal variables.

The registration process and the nature of the information that is required to register a death is the same for every death irrespective of the cause (or causes) of death. All causes of death that are recorded by the certifying doctor are coded according to the rules and regulations of the World Health Organization as defined in their publication The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems – Tenth Revision (ICD10).

There is no definitive methodology for deciding if a particular death was alcohol-related. The staff of the Registrar General normally use a pre-determined list of ICD10 codes to identify those causes of death regarded as being most directly the result of alcohol consumption. The list is not exhaustive and indeed the Office for National Statistics have just completed a consultation exercise seeking views or comments on an expansion of the list that they presently use to identify alcohol-related deaths. Depending on the outcome it is likely that Scotland will follow their recommendations for purposes of comparability.

The ICD10 codes that are normally used to answer questions about alcohol-related deaths cover key causes of death that are known to be associated with alcohol and comprise:

F10: Mental and behavioural disorders due to the use of alcohol.

I42.6: Alcoholic cardiomyopathy.

K70: Alcoholic liver disease.