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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: S2W-20318

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 10 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the 270,000 doses of H5N1 strain vaccine which have been ordered will cost.

Question reference: S2W-20323

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 10 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost estimates are for the procurement of vaccines to cover the Scottish population in preparation for a potential flu pandemic.

Question reference: S2W-20319

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 10 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what protection will be given to workers having to undertake culling, incineration and landfilling of birds as a result of any flu pandemic.

Scotland’s Avian Influenza And Newcastle Disease Contingency Plan, which was published on 17 October 2005 and can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/10/17113357/33579,

sets out guidance for people who come into very close contact with birds infected by avian influenza and describes the support that would be given to those involved in disease control including the use of protective equipment.

Question reference: S2W-20373

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 10 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the population will be covered by the current and planned stocks of Tamiflu.

Question reference: S2W-20374

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 10 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many doses and courses of Tamiflu are in stock and how many have been ordered for Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-19934

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 9 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive which prisons (a) undertake and (b) do not undertake body searches of visitors and what protocols or criteria are applied in respect of such searches.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

The searching of visitors andprisons in Scotland is governed by Rule 86A of the Prisons and Young OffendersInstitutions (Scotland) Rules 1994. Prison officers can request that visitorsto prisons remove outer jackets, headgear, gloves and footwear. The visitor canbe requested to open their mouth for a visual examination and officers can carryout a “rub-down” search.

Any more thorough level of searchdeemed necessary would require to be carried out by the police.

Question reference: S2W-19937

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 8 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans are in place to ensure that there is equal access to prenatal diagnostic ultrasound scanning beyond routine dating ultrasound for all pregnant women.

The Scottish Executive are liaisingwith NHS National Services Scotland and NHS health boards to define the resourceimplications, both financial and personnel, and possible timescales for deliveryof the pregnancy screening recommendations contained within the NHS Quality ImprovementScotland health technology assessment report Routine ultrasound scanning before24 weeks of pregnancy which includes a 20 week fetal anomaly scan.

I am committed to the developmentof practice across maternity units in Scotland that is consistent and that all pregnant women receivethe best possible antenatal care based upon professional evidence and advice.

Question reference: S2W-20062

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Duncan McNeil on 8 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the sickness absence levels of its staff have been in each year since the Parliament’s inception and, of these, what proportion were reported as being stress-related.

The information yourequested is set out below. Please note that there is no available data for1999-2000 and 2000-01.

Reporting Year (September – August)	Average Number of Staff in Post	Total Number of Days Sick	Total Average Days Lost Per Person	Number of Days Reported as being Stress-Related	Proportion of Days lost per Person due to Stress-Related Absence
2001-02	465.3	2,993	6.4	3	0.006
2002-03	464	3,869	8.3	62*	0.13
2003-04	497.6	2,704.5	5.4	114**	0.22
2004-05	502.4	3,981.5	7.9	876***	1.7

Notes:

*41 days were reported aswork-related

**63 days were reported aswork-related

***60 days were reported aswork-related

***818 days attributed to sevenindividual long-term sick cases.

Question reference: S2W-19880

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 8 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children aged up to 18 have received no vaccinations in their lifetime.

The information requested is not available for children up to 18 years. Although data is available from 1987 it is not possible to use that for children older than 13 as there are some concerns about the quality of data submitted in the early 1990s.

Children Receiving the Seven Childhood Primary Vaccinations

Year of Birth	Age	Total No. Children²	Completed all Vaccines.		Received at Least One Dose of any Vaccine^3,4,5		Received no Vaccine
Year of Birth	Age	Total No. Children²	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
1991	13	67,479	61,487	91	65,802	98	1,677	3
1992	12	65,802	61,000	93	64,181	98	1,621	3
1993	11	62,709	57,573	92	61,122	98	1,587	3
1994	10	61,676	57,017	92	60,101	97	1,575	3
1995	9	59,774	55,941	94	58,397	98	1,377	2
1996	8	58,825	55,033	94	57,617	98	1,208	2
1997	7	59,323	55,637	94	58,363	98	960	2
1998	6	57,736	54,648	95	57,015	99	721	1
1999	5	55,582	51,537	93	55,061	99	521	1
2000	4	53,987	47,519	88	53,496	99	491	1
2001	3	52,815	46,384	88	52,309	99	506	1
2002	2	51,590	45,181	88	51,138	99	452	1

Source: SIRS, GIRS.

Notes: ISD Scotland.

1. Childhood primary vaccinationscomprise of three doses of Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Polio, Haemophilus Influenzaetype b (Hib), Meningococcal serogroup C (MenC) and one dose of Measles, Mumps, andRubella.

2. Immunisation information issourced from the Standard Immunisation Recall System (SIRS) and from the GrampianImmunisation.

3. Children who have receivedat least one dose of any childhood primary vaccination.

4. Men C was introduced intothe childhood vaccination programme in the autumn of 1999 and therefore is onlyincluded in the analysis from 2000 onwards.

5. Hib was introduced into thechildhood vaccination programme in 1992 and therefore is excluded from the analysisprior to this date.

6. Information shown includeschildren born from 1991 to 2002 i.e. up to the age of 13 years. Figures includechildren moving in/out of Scotland.

7. Information is based on childrenresident in Scotland as at 31 December 2004 and vaccination history at that time.

Question reference: S2W-19879

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 8 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any future vaccines will contain thiomersal or similar heavy metal based preservatives.

The European Medicines Agency(EMEA) will consider marketing authorisation applications for thiomersal-containingvaccines on a case-by-case basis, takinginto account efficacy and public health needs. The EMEA continues to endorse the development of vaccines without, or withreduced levels of, thiomersal. The EMEA acknowledges that during some manufacturingprocesses the use of thiomersal is necessary.