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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: S4O-03209

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how Scotland's universities will benefit from the EU's €80 billion Horizon 2020 programme.

Question reference: S4O-03134

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 23 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making toward reaching its zero waste aspiration.

The ambitious actions in the Zero Waste Plan and Safeguarding Scotland’s Resources strategy are transforming waste into an economic asset, improving the competitiveness of our economy and reducing the cost burden of waste on Scottish businesses.

The 2012 Waste (Scotland) Regulations continue to bringing about a transformation in recycling services to households and businesses, for example with over 1 million household now having access to a food waste collection service.

We are also one year into the new Resource Efficient Scotland service, with thousands of organisations across Scotland accessing this unique service that is driving down the cost of wasted energy, water and materials.

Question reference: S4W-20568

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the unadjusted median wait in days for (a) cataract, (b) tonsillectomy, (c) endoscopy of the upper gastrointestinal tract, (d) bypass surgery, (e) angiography, (f) varicose surgery, (g) hernia repair, (h) hip replacement and (i) knee replacement procedures in (i) Scotland, (ii) England and (iii) Wales.

The ONS report 'United Kingdom Health Statistics 2010' compares comparable figures waiting times for common procedures in 2005-06 to 2009-10. These common procedures include (a) cataract, (b) tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, (c) endoscopy of the upper gastrointestinal tract, (d) bypass surgery, (e) angiography, (f) varicose surgery, (g) hernia repair, (h) hip replacement and (i) knee replacement procedures.

Scottish Government commissioned an update to the statistics published in by ONS for data up to 2012-13 for Scotland, England and Wales. Statistics on the median waiting time for cataract, tonsillectomy, endoscopy of the upper gastrointestinal tract, bypass surgery, angiography, varicose surgery, hernia repair, hip replacement and knee replacement procedures in Scotland, England and Wales from 2005-06 to 2012-13 are presented in the following tables.

Waiting times are not adjusted for self-deferrals or periods of patient-induced or medical suspension.

Median waiting time in days (unadjusted) in Scotland, England and Wales from 2005-06 to 2012-13:

Cataract Surgery

Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy

Endoscope of Upper Gastro Intestinal Tract

2005-06

Scotland	97	93	35
England	68	101	31
Wales	69	167	33

2006-07

Scotland	69	93	34
England	69	113	27
Wales	70	189	30

2007-08

Scotland	50	79	26
England	64	78	23
Wales	76	150	29

2008-09

Scotland	45	59	23
England	56	55	21
Wales	91	110	33

2009-10

Scotland	56	54	27
England	57	57	22
Wales	88	91	34

2010-11

Scotland	58	50	26
England	57	59	23
Wales	62	82	36

2011-12

Scotland	62	49	24
England	57	62	22
Wales	73	87	36

2012-13

Scotland	56	52	20
England	59	62	22
Wales	94	87	36

Bypass Surgery

Angiography

Varicose Surgery

2005-06

Scotland	47	33	141
England	65	62	134
Wales	105	71	174

2006-07

Scotland	55	34	103
England	68	55	126
Wales	107	67	217

2007-08

Scotland	48	24	90
England	65	41	88
Wales	154	48	153

2008-09

Scotland	53	20	82
England	54	28	63
Wales	106	43	113

2009-10

Scotland	37	20	68
England	45	28	65
Wales	84	37	83

2010-11

Scotland	39	21	63
England	45	31	69
Wales	119	35	79

2011-12

Scotland	36	22	68
England	53	33	67
Wales	173	42	88

2012-13

Scotland	37	26	57
England	56	34	65
Wales	135	49	92

Hernia Repair

Hip Replacement

Knee Replacement

2005-06

Scotland	91	156	165
England	97	158	168
Wales	107	257	297

2006-07

Scotland	79	122	125
England	96	148	155
Wales	116	219	241

2007-08

Scotland	71	99	104
England	73	107	113
Wales	98	171	180

2008-09

Scotland	67	90	91
England	54	75	77
Wales	85	119	120

2009-10

Scotland	61	78	81
England	55	77	79
Wales	80	101	105

2010-11

Scotland	58	71	72
England	58	80	83
Wales	84	156	125

2011-12

Scotland	59	73	77
England	61	82	87
Wales	94	164	187

2012-13

Scotland	54	67	68
England	59	77	82
Wales	99	170	177

Sources: ISD Scotland, HES England, NHS Wales Informatics Service.

Question reference: S4W-20569

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 9 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the number of qualified nurses there are in (a) Scotland and (b) England per head of population.

Information on the number of qualified nurses in (a) Scotland and (b) England per head of population is as follows:

(a) NHS Scotland employed 40,088.1 whole time equivalent (wte) qualified nurses as at 31^st December 2013. The latest available mid-year population estimate for 2012 is 5,313,600 (General Register Office for Scotland). There are 7.5 qualified nurses per 1,000 population or 0.008 per head of population.

(b) NHS England employed 290,520.7 wte qualified nurses as at 31 December 2013. The latest available mid-year population estimate for 2012 is 53,493,700 (Office of National Statistics). There are 5.4 qualified nurses per 1,000 population or 0.005 per head of population.

Scotland has 2.1 wte more qualified nurses per head of population than England.

Question reference: S4W-20593

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2014
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Alex Neil on 4 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-18890 by Alex Neil on 8 January 2014, when it will make an announcement on the proposed way forward in relation to its consideration of no-fault compensation for patients who have been harmed as a result of clinical treatment.

We are committed to ensuring that any patients harmed as a result of poor clinical treatment have access to redress in the form of compensation, where this is appropriate, without the need to go through lengthy court processes. We are today publishing our response to the public consultation on the recommendations of the review group chaired by Professor Sheila Mclean, which reaffirms our commitment to continue to work towards developing a system that is fair to patients and staff.

We will now be exploring the complexities of the scope, shape and development of a no-fault compensation scheme in Scotland. Importantly, consideration will also be given to how such a scheme could more effectively contribute to patient safety, learning and improvement and how it links with and supports safe disclosure of adverse events and aligns with the NHS complaints and claims procedure.

We will consult on draft proposals for the scheme once the further scoping work outlined above has been completed.

Question reference: S4O-03031

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how the Scottish Welfare Fund supports vulnerable families in Glasgow and across the country.

Question reference: S4O-02987

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 March 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Question reference: S4W-19390

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 21 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have received support from the Help to Buy (Scotland) scheme, broken down by local authority area of (a) applicant and (b) property purchased.

The following table sets out the number of sales under the Help to Buy (Scotland) scheme by local authority as of 14 February 2014. The data available records properties purchased in each local authority area.

Local Authority	Number of Sales
Aberdeen	22
Aberdeenshire	9
Angus	1
City of Edinburgh	36
Clackmannanshire	3
Dumfries and Galloway	5
Dundee	11
East Ayrshire	9
East Dunbartonshire	7
East Lothian	5
East Renfrewshire	6
Falkirk	16
Fife	29
Glasgow City	14
Highland	8
Inverclyde	2
Midlothian	18
Moray	8
North Ayrshire	4
North Lanarkshire	27
Perth and Kinross	8
Renfrewshire	19
Scottish Borders	2
South Ayrshire	4
South Lanarkshire	28
Stirling	4
West Dunbartonshire	6
West Lothian	11
Total	322

Question reference: S4W-19389

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 21 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications the Help to Buy (Scotland) scheme has received, broken down by applicant's local authority.

The number of applications as at 31 January, were as follows:

Local Authority	Number of Applications
Aberdeen	57
Aberdeenshire	128
Angus	12
City of Edinburgh	118
Clackmannanshire	16
Dumfries and Galloway	19
Dundee	35
East Ayrshire	36
East Dunbartonshire	61
East Lothian	36
East Renfrewshire	11
Falkirk	63
Fife	106
Glasgow City	84
Highland	87
Inverclyde	9
Midlothian	120
Moray	31
North Ayrshire	16
North Lanarkshire	154
Perth and Kinross	57
Renfrewshire	83
Scottish Borders	13
South Ayrshire	26
South Lanarkshire	148
Stirling	24
West Dunbartonshire	41
West Lothian	92
Total	1683

Question reference: S4O-02908

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what lessons it can learn from the results of the recent UK Commission's Employer Skills Survey in relation to its youth work strategy.