- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 24 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 6 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children under 14 were sent to Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 2005 from Scotland.
Answer
Between 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2007, fourScottish children were seen at Stoke Mandeville. As there have been no newreferrals of Scottish children to Stoke Mandeville since 1994, each of the fourchildren concerned received a short-stay review of their rehabilitation care,rather than a full initial assessment, resulting in nine admissions in totalfrom Scotland to the unit.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 6 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to legislate to ban the use of snares.
Answer
The Scottish Executive recentlycarried out a public consultation exercise on whether or not snaring should be bannedin Scotland. Analysis of the responses is currently underway andI expect to make an announcement to Parliament after summer recess.
The non-confidential responsescan be viewed on the Executive website at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/Recent/Q/Page/4.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners have escaped or absconded from prison in each of the last five years for which figures are available, broken down by prison, and, of these, how man, remain at large.
Answer
The number of absconds and escapes for the period requested can be obtained from the Scottish Prison Service annual reports published at:
http://www.sps.gov.uk/default.aspx?documentid=67e156ce-a4c9-49f5-a526-0dab421427f6.
The number of prisoners still at large (18) is detailed in the following table.
| Establishment | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
| Barlinnie | | | | | 1 |
| Open Estate | | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| Total | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
The following is the original answer (published on 6 June 2007); see below
The number of absconds and escapes for the period requested can be obtained from the Scottish Prison Service annual reports published at:
http://www.sps.gov.uk/default.aspx?documentid=67e156ce-a4c9-49f5-a526-0dab421427f6.
Number of Prisoners Still at Large
| Establishment | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
| Aberdeen | | | | | 1 |
| Barlinnie | | | | | 1 |
| Open estate | | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| Total | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 6 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of eligible cancer patients in the west of Scotland are being treated with Herceptin; how this compares with other regions of Scotland, and what steps it will take to (a) end any area-based disparity and (b) monitor the outcome of any such action.
Answer
Information on the use of specificdrugs in individual patients or patient groups is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 6 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take in conjunction with NHS Ayrshire and Arran to establish a community casualty facility within the three towns area of Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Stevenston in North Ayrshire.
Answer
NHS Ayrshire and Arran is responsiblefor service change proposals and for maintaining high quality healthcare servicesfor all residents of its area, within available resources. I have made clear thatwe will reverse the previous decision on accident and emergency services at Ayr Hospital, andI outlined in my statement to the Parliament on 6 June 2007 the steps needed togive effect to this commitment.
As I said, our aim is to ensurethat these steps are taken as quickly as possible, consistent with proper considerationand good decision making, and that other elements of service development proposedby the board also move ahead as quickly as possible. I am not aware of any currentproposals by the board to establish a community casualty facility within the threetowns area.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers to be the reason that applications to fill vacant head teacher posts have declined in recent years and what action it will take to encourage more applications for such vacancies.
Answer
The recruitment of head teachers is a matter for local authorities asemployers, however the changing demographics of the teaching profession and thesocietal expectations of public sector leaders will both have been contributoryfactors in changing levels of applications for head teacher posts.
All head teachers andprospective head teachers need to demonstrate they are performing in line withthe standard for headship (SfH).). The most common means of demonstratingperformance in line with the SfH is via the Scottish Qualification for Headship(SQH). The 2006 teacher census shows that there were 310 non head teachers whohad gained the SQH compared with 248 in 2005. There were also another 390 onthe programme.
The Scottish Executiveprovides local authorities with £4 million a year to help teachers achieve theSfH and also funds more general leadership programmes and activities tosupplement funding which local authorities target to this area.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to phase out Standard Grade examinations, in line with action taken in East Renfrewshire and the private sector.
Answer
As part of our manifesto commitmentto provide leadership in promoting the Curriculum for Excellence agenda, we willconsider how the future qualifications system should be structured to best meetthe needs of all Scottish students. This will include consideration of future arrangementsat SCQF levels 4 and 5 (Standard Grade Credit and General/Intermediate 1 and 2).
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact its policy of inclusion is having on mainstream pupils and whether it will undertake a re-assessment of its policy and, if so, when.
Answer
The Scottish Executivecommissioned the Scottish Centre for Research in Education to evaluate theimpact of the legislation. Their report, which was published in 2006, found noevidence that mainstreaming has a negative effect on pupil attainment and that,with proper preparation and support, inclusion is beneficial for all.
We are committed to ensuringthat all children receive the support they need in our schools and we will takewhat steps are necessary to ensure we achieve this. These steps includeconsideration of an inquiry into the operation and implementation ofmainstreaming policy.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 6 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to direct monies saved by any generic substitution of branded drugs into the provision of drugs for the treatment of cancer, such as Herceptin.
Answer
NHS boards are able to deploytheir overall revenue allocations to the best advantage of their local population.This includes any savings resulting from generic prescribing.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources have been provided to the police to detect and deter migrant criminals from entering Scotland following the enlargement of the European Union in 2007.
Answer
The police budget for2007-08 is over £1 billion. Chief constablesare responsible for planning the use of the resources available to them to deliver the full range of policingactivities including dealing with the detection and deterrence of migrantcriminals from other member states.
