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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-25064

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 13 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of junior doctors in each NHS board area has reached compliance with the European working time directive.

At the end of May 2009, the percentage of junior doctors, by NHS board, who were already compliant with the Working Time Regulations 1 August 2009 target of an average of 48 hours a week is detailed in the following table.

NHS boards are providing Scottish Government with their figures on a monthly basis. The Working Time Regulations Adviser is working closely with NHS boards to review their action plans for compliance to ensure they are robust enough to enable them to achieve full compliance by the August deadline.

NHS Scotland	May 2009 % Compliant with 48 Hour Target
NHS Tayside	50
NHS Highland	46
NHS Grampian	47
NHS Orkney	100
NHS Shetland	55
NHS Western Isles	0
NHS Borders	27
The State Hospital	100
NHS Forth Valley	54
NHS GG&C	86
NHS Lanarkshire	63
NHS Dumfries & Galloway	46
NHS Ayrshire & Arran	21
NHS Lothian	69
NHS Fife	50
NHS National Health Services	100
Golden Jubilee National Hospital	62
NHS Scotland Total	64

The total NHS Scotland projected figure for Working Time Regulation compliance by 1 August is around 94%.

Question reference: S3W-25072

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 9 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children under the age of 16 have not had the full MMR vaccination.

Question reference: S3W-25073

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 9 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what it regards as the level of effective immunisation derived from having a single or full course of injections of the MMR vaccine.

Question reference: S3W-25074

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 9 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children under the age of 16 it considers are at risk of measles because of either non-vaccination or inadequate response to vaccination.

For children aged less than five, the total number susceptible to measles is estimated at 34,557, or 12% of that total population. This figure is a mixture of children who are not yet eligible for vaccination, those who have not been vaccinated, and those who have made an inadequate response to the vaccine. This figure does not include any children aged less than one year as a proportion of these children will be protected by maternal antibodies.

For children aged over five, all of whom will have been routinely offered two doses of MMR, the total number susceptible is 54,851, or 8% of that total population. This figure relates to those who have not been vaccinated and those who will have made an inadequate response to the vaccine.

Question reference: S3W-25076

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 6 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with local authorities (a) as part of the concordat or (b) separately to ensure the mapping of illegal lending in each local authority area.

Illegal money lending (lending without a credit licence) is a breach of the consumer credit legislation which is reserved to the UK Government. The UK Government funds specialist units to tackle illegal money lending. The Scottish team has no formal partnership arrangements with local authorities, but does inform them before they work in an area, and local Trading Standards officers may accompany them when a search warrant is executed.

Illegal moneylenders prey on some of the most vulnerable people in society and cause immense misery. It has always proved very difficult to bring them to justice.

Question reference: S3W-25001

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of GP practices in each NHS board has signed up to provide extended hours.

The percentage of GP practices signed up to provide extended hours in each NHS board area is illustrated in the following table:

NHS Board	Percentage Signed Up
Ayrshire and Arran	78
Borders	44
Dumfries and Galloway	94
Fife	46
Forth Valley	84
Glasgow	66
Grampian	61
Highland	68
Lanarkshire	51
Lothian	61
Orkney	64
Shetland	50
Tayside	51
Western Isles	83

Question reference: S3W-25348

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reasons Community Food and Health (Scotland) has a policy of not accepting applications for funding by email or fax.

Community Food and Health (Scotland) (CFHS) received over 200 applications to its small grant scheme this year, many from small community groups. Only one of these came by email and none by fax.

CFHS do not accept faxed applications as large parts are often ineligible. In addition, most applications arrive in the two days before the deadline and available fax facilities would not cope with this high demand.

CFHS do not accept email applications since hard copy signatures from the applicant and a suitable referee are required. Electronic signatures are not acceptable since most of the applicants are unable to encrypt their signature or would use a personal (rather than company) email address to send in applications.

Hard copy signatures are submitted to check the validity of the applicant and ensure that no applicant is disadvantaged for a lack of access to suitable technology. The scheme is open for around 10 weeks every year.

CFHS have run the small grants scheme since 1997 and review the scheme annually to fit operational requirements, ensure a uniformity of approach and that community groups have adequate time to consult with their members or communities on the proposed project.

Question reference: S3W-25176

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the Review of Mobile Communication Devices as Potential Reservoirs of Nosocomial Pathogens in The Journal of Hospital Infection, what steps it has taken to include the regular testing and decontamination of mobile phones, other mobile devices, static phones and computer keyboards as part of the healthcare-acquired infection hygiene measures.

We welcome this research report, which is a helpful study and adds to the body of knowledge that we continually gather around Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI). Good hand hygiene and a safer and cleaner patient environment are key in reducing the spread of infection and we remain focused on tackling these areas. Infection control policy on mobile communication devices and other such equipment is a matter for each NHS board.

Our zero tolerance policy to non hand hygiene compliance by staff has been adopted by all NHS boards. This is supported by our new and more comprehensive hand hygiene awareness raising campaign and the recent increase in monitoring of compliance from quarterly to bi-monthly.

The National Cleaning Services Specification which NHS boards are measured against was recently revised and the important changes that have been made to the framework will help to drive down infections, drive up standards and reassure patients about the cleanliness of their environment.

We are also supporting this work by providing £5 million of additional annual funding to NHS boards to employ 600 extra cleaners across the NHS.

Question reference: S3W-25177

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 2 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what post-release support is offered to prisoners following a successful appeal against a miscarriage of justice.

Local authorities have a statutory duty under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to provide voluntary throughcare which consists of advice, guidance and assistance to people who request such a service within 12 months of their release from custody, including those released following an appeal against conviction and/or sentence.

Further to this, the Miscarriage of Justice Organisation Scotland (MOJOS) has received funding under section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 since 1 April 2005. The grant for 2009-10 is £66,000. The grant funds MOJOS to provide a one-stop service to assist clients to gain access to benefits, housing, health services, and to provide access to counselling, reintegration and financial advice. Priority is given to supporting individuals who have had their case referred to the High Court by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, individuals released by the High Court following such a referral and individuals coming from other UK jurisdictions in similar circumstances who intend to settle in Scotland.

Question reference: S3O-07456

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 25 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is confident that it will, in this parliamentary session, fulfil the pledge in the SNP manifesto to ensure that every pupil has two hours of quality PE each week delivered by specialist PE teachers.