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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-08351

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 2 June 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with COSLA in relation to the nursery nurses dispute.

Question reference: S2W-08353

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 2 June 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the projections are for the number of GPs who will need to be employed directly by NHS boards for the provision of primary medical services.

The Primary Medical Services(Scotland) Act 2004 places NHS boards under a new duty to provide, or secure the provisionof, primary medical services. It is a matter for NHS boards to determine whetheror not general medical practitioners will need to be employed directly for the provisionof these primary medical services.

A key factor in reaching suchdecisions will be how boards intend to re-provide out-of-hours services. They arecurrently developing their plans in this area and therefore information is not yetavailable on this matter.

Question reference: S2W-08356

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 2 June 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take in response to initial reports from Agenda for Change early implementers regarding the impact on NHS staff earnings.

Initial findings from the earlyimplementer sites in England and the four project sites in Scotland arecurrently being fed into a UK review of Agenda for Change being carried out in partnershipwith the relevant trades unions. This review is due for completion this summer.

We liaise regularly with thefour Scottish project sites and members of the Scottish Pay Reference and ImplementationGroup to address any issues arising from the work they are undertaking.

Question reference: S2W-08354

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Frank McAveety on 2 June 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it will make available to ensure that young people in Wishaw have access to skatepark facilities.

Responsibility for ensuring theprovision of local leisure facilities such as skateparks lies with local authorities.However, the Executive made available to local authorities Quality of Life fundingfor the three years to 2005-06 totalling £180 million. This funding was to be committedto projects under two themes, one of which is children and young people. A numberof local authorities have committed some of their allocation towards skatepark projects.

Funding for skatepark facilitiesis also available from the Lottery Sports Fund administered by sportscotland.Applications for funding are considered against set criteria and other competingbids. Further information on the Lottery Sports Fund can be found on sportscotland’swebsite at www.sportscotland.org.uk.

Question reference: S2W-08348

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 2 June 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions the Minister for Finance and Public Services has had with the Minister for Education and Young People about making resources available in addition to the current Education Department's budget to support the establishment of a national framework for nursery nurses' pay and conditions.

Question reference: S2W-08349

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 2 June 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Deloitte and Touche with regard to the selection of workers to be made redundant at TransBus International in Falkirk.

Since entering administrationmatters concerning the day to day operation of TransBus have been the responsibilityof the administrators Deloitte and Touche. This includes responsibility for theemployees and for establishing redundancy selection criteria. It would thereforenot have been appropriate for the Scottish Executive to be involved in discussionsregarding the selection of workers being made redundant.

Question reference: S2W-08261

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 26 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the amount of affordable social housing in the central region and, in particular, whether any discussions have taken place between it and South Lanarkshire Council on the issue, especially relating to East Kilbride.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her reply is asfollows:

Communities Scotland isin regular discussion with South Lanarkshire Council and neighbouringauthorities about the provision of affordable social housing. South LanarkshireCouncil has recently submitted its local housing strategy as a basis foridentifying priorities for future housing provision, and this strategy iscurrently being assessed. During 2004-05 Communities Scotland expect to approve242 new affordable homes in South Lanarkshire funded from its developmentprogramme.

Question reference: S2W-08186

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 25 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the exact geographical locations were of each laboratory-confirmed case of measles in (a) 2002 and (b) 2003.

Within the constraints of medicalconfidentiality and the need to avoid the inadvertent identification of individualpatients, the information is as follows:

2002

There was a total of four laboratory-confirmedcases, with: three in Fife, and one in Lothian

2003

There was a total of 15 laboratory-confirmedcases, with: three in Greater Glasgow, three in Tayside, four associated with Argylland Clyde, one in an island board, and four others in temporary accommodation.

Question reference: S2W-08184

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 25 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7671 by Malcolm Chisholm on 5 May 2004, whether it will provide further details of the scientific research and evidence to support the statement that the DTwP-Hib vaccine has been demonstrated to give more effective protection against whooping cough (pertussis) than the DTaP-Hib alternative, specifying the author, journal of publication and where the research was conducted.

The reasons for preferring highquality DTwP products over DTaP vaccine for primary immunisation are fully exploredin the paper Overview of Recent Clinical Trials of Acellular Pertussis Vaccines(Miller E) published in Biologicals (1999) Vol. 27; 79-86. This paper, whichis a review of trials conducted in Sweden, Italy, Senegal and Germany, identified that “with the exception of the five componentvaccine, acellular vaccines are less efficacious than a good whole cell vaccine”.At present, five component acellular vaccines are not available in the UK.

Question reference: S2W-08106

Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 21 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive by what statutory authority it permits the charging of road tolls on the A87 at the Plock of Kyle and how this is consistent with the prohibition on tolling in Inverness-shire granted by William I, King of Scots, in perpetuity in 1180.