Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21251 on 18 March 2009. 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/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

There is no published data for the last three months. The latest cervical screening published data is complete up to 31 March 2008. Data on the number of smear tests processed are available, on the Information Services Division website at http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/1673.html.

No weaning programmes for tube-fed infants equivalent to the one provided in the Kinderpsychosomatik ward in the Graz Children''s Hospital are provided by the NHS in Scotland.

It is the opinion of some professionals that there is insufficient evidence of the potential benefits of the Graz model or of its outcome in different clinical situations to determine whether it is appropriate for an infant or child to be referred.

In Scotland, weaning infants and children off tube feeding takes place in paediatric units using a multi-disciplinary approach involving paediatricians, paediatric dietitians, speech and language therapists and psychologists. Treatment is based on the individual needs of the infant or child and their family.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-20839 on 4 March 2009. 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/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

There are two routes by which an NHS patient can go abroad for treatment in certain European countries. The long established E112 scheme, when the NHS agrees to treatment abroad and pays for it beforehand and, following a judgement in the European Court of Justice in 2006, under Article 49 (of the European Treaty which guarantees the rights of service users to access services) where the patient pays for their treatment and is reimbursed by the NHS once it has been carried out. However, in both scenarios, prior authorisation is required from the relevant NHS board responsible for the provision of the patient''s health care.

Guidance was issued to NHS boards in October 2007, which sets out the considerations that should be taken into account in deciding whether it is appropriate to authorise treatment abroad and, if so, by which route.

In more general terms, there are proposals for a cross-border health care directive, which, amongst other things, would codify the Article 49 case law.

With regard to compulsory purchase and compensation, Scottish ministers may act as a confirming authority, or as promoter. The main users of compulsory purchase powers are Transport Scotland, and local authorities. Other bodies with compulsory purchase powers include utility companies (water, gas and electricity), Scottish Enterprise, Historic Scotland and railway undertakings. Where Scottish ministers act as the confirming authority, they are not provided with information relating to the costs of the compensation paid to parties affected by the compulsory purchase. This information is accordingly not available centrally.

The local authorities or the Valuations Office Agency may be able to provide assistance in this matter.

With regard to compulsory purchase and compensation, Scottish ministers may act as a confirming authority, or as promoter. The main users of compulsory purchase powers are Transport Scotland, and local authorities. Other bodies with compulsory purchase powers include utility companies (water, gas and electricity), Scottish Enterprise, Historic Scotland and railway undertakings. This would require an assessment of each order submitted over the past 10 years in Transport, Education, Planning, Housing and Historic Scotland. A breakdown of each individual order is not centrally held and would only be possible to obtain by incurring disproportionate cost.

With regard to compulsory purchase and compensation, Scottish ministers may act as a confirming authority, or as promoter. The main users of compulsory purchase powers are Transport Scotland, and local authorities. Other bodies with compulsory purchase powers include utility companies (water, gas and electricity), Scottish Enterprise, Historic Scotland and railway undertakings. Where Scottish ministers act as the confirming authority, they are not provided with information relating to the costs of the compensation paid to parties affected by the compulsory purchase. This information is accordingly not available centrally.

The information requested is not held centrally. I understand, however, that siporex was used in the construction of houses in Livingston and in Edinburgh.

There are variations in the number of cycles of IVF and ICSI treatment provided by NHS boards in Scotland. We provided NHS boards with an update on eligibility criteria in 2007, and recently wrote to all boards asking them for an update on implementation of the updated access criteria in their area.