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 533 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S4W-01224

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 14 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many homes in each local authority area are served by water supply systems containing lead pipes.

The only data held centrally on how many homes are served by water supply systems containing lead pipes is taken from the Scottish House Condition Survey. As this information is taken from a survey it will have an associated uncertainty around each estimate.

The estimate for the number of homes which are served by water supply systems with visible lead supply pipes for the period 2007-09 is contained in the following table.

Table 1: Number and percentage of homes which are served by water supply systems visibly containing lead pipes

	Number of homes	As a percentage of all homes
Scotland	38,300	1.6%
Aberdeen City	1,400	1.4%
Aberdeenshire	800	0.8%
Angus	1,300	2.6%
Argyll and Bute	300	0.8%
Clackmannanshire	100	0.4%
Dumfries and Galloway	1,100	1.7%
Dundee City	1,500	2.3%
East Ayrshire	-	-
East Dunbartonshire	200	0.4%
East Lothian	1,400	3.4%
East Renfrewshire	900	2.5%
City of Edinburgh	11,400	5.2%
Eilean Siar	-	-
Falkirk	300	0.5%
Fife	700	0.5%
Glasgow City	4,200	1.5%
Highland	400	0.4%
Inverclyde	100	0.4%
Midlothian	800	2.2%
Moray	700	1.8%
North Ayrshire	900	1.5%
North Lanarkshire	1,100	0.7%
Orkney Islands	-	-
Perth and Kinross	1,300	2.1%
Renfrewshire	900	1.1%
Scottish Borders	1,900	3.6%
Shetland Islands	-	-
South Ayrshire	1,200	2.4%
South Lanarkshire	2,000	1.4%
Stirling	500	1.4%
West Dunbartonshire	700	1.6%
West Lothian	-	-

Notes:

“-“ Estimate below 100 or no data available

These estimates are likely to be an underestimate of the true number of homes with water supply systems containing lead piping.

Source: Scottish House Condition Survey 2007-09

Question reference: S4W-00991

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the use of methadone by the NHS.

Decisions on the type of treatment to prescribe are for individual clinicians, in discussion with their clients and in line with national and local guidelines.

Any review of methadone would be part of the continual review of the Scottish Government’s national strategy the Road to Recovery. This long term strategy, its impact and success requires review from both within and out with Government.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-00789 on 24 June 2011. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/MAQASearch/QAndMSearch.aspx.

In order to do this effectively and sustainably the Scottish Government established the Drugs Strategy Delivery Commission (DSDC) in 2009 to give expert advice on the impact and progress of the strategy.

In addition to the work of the DSDC, we recognise that the Strategy is a product of political consensus and so it was right that the Scottish Government requested and led a parliamentary debate in September 2010, to hear the challenge and consensus of all political parties. Additionally briefing in parliament from the, then, Minister for Community Safety, Fergus Ewing MSP, was offered to all MSPs, as well as individual briefings for all party leaders, in March 2011.

The Scottish Government also has a national indicator to decrease the number of estimated problem drug users in Scotland by 2011, and 2009-10 prevalence estimates which will be reported in December this year.

In 2009 we committed to a HEAT target that states that by March 2013, 90 per cent of clients will wait no longer than 3 weeks from referral received to appropriate drug or alcohol treatment that supports their recovery. We are well on our way to achieving this target. In June 2011 we reported that approximately 94% of clients offered an appointment for assessment were offered a date which fell within the reporting period and was within 4 weeks of referral. And that approximately 96% of those offered an appointment for treatment were offered a date within 4 weeks of the date a care plan was agreed.

The Scottish Government has invested significant resources to enhance the Scottish Drugs Misuse Database (SDMD) to include the collection of follow-up and outcomes based information from clients as they progress through their treatment pathway.

The analysis and reporting of this information (expected by December 2012) will provide us with some key answers to the numbers of people in drug treatment in Scotland (by treatment type); and provide an opportunity for additional analysis which will inform our understandings of people’s journeys through drug treatment (for particular cohort groups), the effectiveness of different types of treatment (including length of time) and the outcomes that individuals are achieving (e.g. around accommodation, family, employment/training, drug use and offending).

So far from the SDMD we note that since 2007 more and more people are coming in to treatment (35,430 recorded entries into treatment, 2007-08 – 2009-10).

The Scottish Government remains committed to providing Parliament with regular updates on the implementation and impact of Road to Recovery for the review and challenge of MSPs. We want to continue to work with parties across the Parliament to build on and reinforce the consensus this important approach.

Question reference: S4O-00109

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 30 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley benefits from the Scottish Government's focus on cities as engines of growth.

Question reference: S4O-00080

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will improve flood risk management in Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley.

Question reference: S3W-40258

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 14 March 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS prescription pre-payment certificates have been purchased in each year since 2007-08, broken down by NHS board area.

Question reference: S3W-39340

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 February 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to reduce waiting times for the Scottish Driving Assessment Service.

Question reference: S3O-12928

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to improve complaints handling in the NHS.

The Patient Rights (Scotland) Bill, currently being scrutinised by the Parliament, introduces a legal right to complain. It will give every NHS patient in Scotland the right to give feedback or comments, or raise concerns or complaints about the healthcare they have received.

We will review the complaints handling process as we develop the directions, regulations and guidance associated with the bill to identify areas for improvement and strengthen support available to patients.

Question reference: S3W-37869

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 9 December 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what alternative services are available to patients with scoliosis who cannot be treated by the national scoliosis service within the 12-week national standard.

There are very few centres in the UK able to undertake specialised scoliosis surgery. The Scottish specialist spinal deformity service has made significant progress in reducing its overall waiting times, but there continue to be extended inpatient waiting times. It is not possible to offer the treatment elsewhere within the United Kingdom within a shorter wait. Average waiting times in specialist centres in England also extend beyond waiting time guarantees, and currently there is no capacity available within English NHS providers to accept referrals for patients from Scotland. We will therefore continue to focus on reducing waiting times in Scotland.

Question reference: S3W-37838

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 8 December 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how it measures whether there have been changes in the number of pupils participating in sport at (a) primary and (b) secondary school.

A new active schools monitoring system, introduced in 2008-09, which records physical activities and sport within individual primary and secondary school plans. Active schools managers are responsible for recording the data. The information collated includes the number of opportunities for children and young people to take part in sport and physical activity but excludes all curricular activity. As a result, it is difficult to compare data collected pre 2008-09 to subsequent collections.

Question reference: S3W-37841

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 8 December 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in providing pupils with access to two hours of physical education per week.

Local authorities report that 1,167 primary schools throughout Scotland (55%) are delivering at least two hours physical education. This is supported by HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) who found year on year improvement in delivery of two hours physical education in primary schools - 32% of 237 schools inspected in 2007-08, 42% of 231 schools inspected in 2008-09 and 59% of 264 primary schools inspected in 2009-10.

85 schools throughout Scotland (23%) are delivering at least two hours physical education across S1 to S4. Seventeen authorities reported that they are either delivering or plan to deliver at least 2x50 or 55 minute periods of core physical education across S1 to S4. This is supported by HMIE who found that 60% of 60 schools inspected in 2009/10 are delivering at least 2x50 or 55 minute periods of physical education across S1 to S4. Further information can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/Schools/HLivi/PE.