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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

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Question reference: S2W-04658

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 December 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time was in each NHS board area for a first appointment with a consultant clinical psychologist in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02 and (d) 2002-03.

Question reference: S2W-04568

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2003
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 12 December 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-17513 by Nicol Stephen on 4 September 2001, what the most recent data are on the number of children enrolled for (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each local authority area with a record of needs and what each of these figures represents as a percentage of the total number of pupils in the relevant sector in each area.

The information requested isprovided in following Tables 1 and 2.

Table 1: Number of Pupils with a Record of Needs in Publicly Funded Primary Schools

	September 2001			September 2002
	Total Number of Pupils	Number of Pupils with Record of Needs	Percentage of Pupils with Record of Needs	Total Number of Pupils	Number of Pupils with Record of Needs	Percentage of Pupils with Record of Needs
Scotland	420,521	4,303	1.0%	413,713	4,165	1.0%
Aberdeen City	14,555	195	1.3%	14,082	179	1.3%
Aberdeenshire	20,614	211	1.0%	20,370	207	1.0%
Angus	9,295	110	1.2%	9,323	120	1.3%
Argyll and Bute	7,371	78	1.1%	7,283	87	1.2%
Clackmannanshire	4,342	35	0.8%	4,303	35	0.8%
Dumfries and Galloway	12,391	218	1.8%	12,138	210	1.7%
Dundee City	11,313	165	1.5%	10,990	144	1.3%
East Ayrshire	10,583	65	0.6%	10,340	83	0.8%
East Dunbartonshire	10,216	50	0.5%	10,012	35	0.3%
East Lothian	8,176	47	0.6%	8,050	65	0.8%
East Renfrewshire	8,748	73	0.8%	8,755	55	0.6%
Edinburgh City	28,563	366	1.3%	27,856	227	0.8%
Eilean Siar	2,218	58	2.6%	2,172	64	2.9%
Falkirk	12,465	135	1.1%	12,250	148	1.2%
Fife	29,406	241	0.8%	28,969	266	0.9%
Glasgow City	44,540	255	0.6%	43,572	260	0.6%
Highland	18,434	293	1.6%	18,190	272	1.5%
Inverclyde	7,150	155	2.2%	6,918	130	1.9%
Midlothian	7,226	40	0.6%	6,985	37	0.5%
Moray	7,847	179	2.3%	7,826	190	2.4%
North Ayrshire	12,116	70	0.6%	11,972	63	0.5%
North Lanarkshire	28,866	192	0.7%	28,647	209	0.7%
Orkney Islands	1,745	12	0.7%	1,689	6	0.4%
Perth & Kinross	10,719	160	1.5%	10,665	136	1.3%
Renfrewshire	14,945	177	1.2%	14,606	167	1.1%
Scottish Borders	8,948	140	1.6%	8,915	149	1.7%
Shetland Islands	2,097	25	1.2%	2,069	41	2.0%
South Ayrshire	8,969	113	1.3%	8,763	110	1.3%
South Lanarkshire	26,141	268	1.0%	25,823	280	1.1%
Stirling	7,042	42	0.6%	7,020	50	0.7%
West Dunbartonshire	8,320	35	0.4%	8,103	36	0.4%
West Lothian	15,160	100	0.7%	15,057	104	0.7%

Source: September School Census.

Table2: Number of Pupils with a Record of Needs in Publicly Funded Secondary Schools

	September 2001			September 2002
	Total Number of Pupils	Number of Pupils with Record of Needs	Percentage of Pupils with Record of Needs	Total Number of Pupils	Number of Pupils with Record of Needs	Percentage of Pupils with Record of Needs
Scotland	316,359	4,961	1.6%	316,903	4,860	1.5%
Aberdeen City	10,942	150	1.4%	10,628	159	1.5%
Aberdeenshire	15,308	245	1.6%	15,522	269	1.7%
Angus	7,113	137	1.9%	6,967	129	1.9%
Argyll and Bute	5,590	84	1.5%	5,635	85	1.5%
Clackmannanshire	3,036	79	2.6%	2,966	62	2.1%
Dumfries and Galloway	9,620	263	2.7%	9,666	248	2.6%
Dundee City	8,809	212	2.4%	8,664	185	2.1%
East Ayrshire	8,065	147	1.8%	8,129	126	1.6%
East Dunbartonshire	8,857	37	0.4%	8,846	59	0.7%
East Lothian	5,318	42	0.8%	5,482	45	0.8%
East Renfrewshire	7,344	97	1.3%	7,512	78	1.0%
Edinburgh City	20,016	197	1.0%	20,116	197	1.0%
Eilean Siar	1,948	67	3.4%	1,981	61	3.1%
Falkirk	8,498	121	1.4%	8,654	109	1.3%
Fife	23,032	329	1.4%	22,949	302	1.3%
Glasgow City	29,960	205	0.7%	29,803	226	0.8%
Highland	14,720	350	2.4%	14,749	335	2.3%
Inverclyde	5,682	176	3.1%	5,679	192	3.4%
Midlothian	5,589	34	0.6%	5,659	33	0.6%
Moray	5,715	172	3.0%	5,834	177	3.0%
North Ayrshire	9,092	112	1.2%	9,231	95	1.0%
North Lanarkshire	22,451	197	0.9%	22,398	161	0.7%
Orkney Islands	1,366	12	0.9%	1,460	24	1.6%
Perth and Kinross	7,589	135	1.8%	7,714	164	2.1%
Renfrewshire	11,779	374	3.2%	11,890	356	3.0%
Scottish Borders	6,807	147	2.2%	6,864	169	2.5%
Shetland Islands	1,624	41	2.5%	1,671	39	2.3%
South Ayrshire	7,614	217	2.9%	7,499	203	2.7%
South Lanarkshire	19,898	375	1.9%	19,782	379	1.9%
Stirling	5,751	83	1.4%	5,807	82	1.4%
West Dunbartonshire	6,609	31	0.5%	6,582	27	0.4%
West Lothian	10,617	93	0.9%	10,564	84	0.8%

Source: September School Census.

Question reference: S2O-00932

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 11 December 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the statement in The Scotsman on 3 December 2003 by a Scottish Executive spokeswoman that the Borders rail line is among its rail priorities and that “the money is in place to start these projects going” represents a firm commitment to provide its #110 million contribution required for the line.

Question reference: S2W-04563

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 December 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how many clinical psychologists who specialise in the care of elderly people there were in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board area.

The following tables show wholetime equivalent (WTE) and headcount of clinical psychologists with a targetclient age group covering older adults (age >65 years) by NHS board area for2001 and 2002. The WTE figures adjust the headcount figures to take account ofpart time staff.

Informationfor earlier years is not available centrally.

Clinical Psychologists (WTE) Employed in Psychology Servicesfor Clients/Patients Aged 65 and Over in NHS Scotland in 2001 and 2002, byHealth Board Area.

Health Board	Clinical Psychologists (WTE) as at 30 September 2001	Clinical Psychologists (WTE) as at 30 September 2002
Argyll and Clyde	0.6	0.8
Ayrshire and Arran	0.8	0.8
Borders	0.0	0.0
Dumfries and Galloway	0.9	0.9
Fife	2.1	2.5
Forth Valley	0.0	0.0
Grampian	1.0	0.0
Greater Glasgow	2.5	4.5
Highland	0.0	0.0
Lanarkshire	0.3	1.3
Lothian	3.1	2.7
Orkney	0.0	0.0
Shetland	0.0	0.0
Tayside	1.0	1.0
Western Isles	0.0	0.0
Scotland Total	12.3	14.5

Clinical Psychologists(Headcount) Employed in Psychology Services for Clients/Patients Aged 65 and Overin NHS Scotland in 2001 and 2002, by Health Board Area.

Health Board	Clinical Psychologists (Headcount) as at 30 September 2001	Clinical Psychologists (Headcount) as at 30 September 2002
Argyll and Clyde	2	2
Ayrshire and Arran	1	1
Borders	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	1	1
Fife	4	5
Forth Valley	0	0
Grampian	1	0
Greater Glasgow	3	6
Highland	0	0
Lanarkshire	1	2
Lothian	4	3
Orkney	0	0
Shetland	0	0
Tayside	1	1
Western Isles	0	0
Scotland Total	18	21

Source: ISD/NES (NHSEducation Scotland) Psychology Workforce Project.

Question reference: S2W-04564

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 December 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pharmacists who specialise in the care of elderly people there were in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board area.

This information is notcentrally available.

Information on numbers ofNHS pharmacists employed at 30 September each year is published on the webpages of the Information and StatisticsDivision of NHSScotland, in section A of "Workforce Statistics" atthe following address:

http://www.isdscotland.org/workforce

The tables onthese pages identify numbers of pharmacists employed by individual NHS trustsas well as by NHS board areas. However, they do not separately identify numbersof pharmacists who specialise in the care of elderly people.

Question reference: S2W-04566

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2003
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 11 December 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to the supplementary questions to question S2O-862 by Cathy Jamieson on 27 November 2003, what the timetable is for the proposed future bill on animal welfare and whether any such proposed legislation will affect the transportation of young companion animals.

The Scottish Executive planto introduce an Animal Health and Welfare Bill to the Parliament during Session2004-05. It is not currently intended to legislate on the transportation ofyoung companion animals in this bill as new regulations on the transportationof animals are currently being considered by the European Council. The ScottishExecutive is in the UK negotiating team in Brussels and we hope to secure aprohibition on the commercial movement of puppies and kittens younger than eightweeks unless accompanied by their mother.

Question reference: S2W-04559

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 December 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures will be taken to address malnutrition among hospital patients, in particular the 40% found to be either malnourished on admission or who became malnourished during their stay in hospital, as referred to in Audit Scotland's report Catering for Patients.

Question reference: S2W-04560

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 December 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS trusts comprise (a) the 68% who have not put in place targets for food wastage reduction and (b) the 44% who do not regularly monitor their wastage levels and what steps will be taken to introduce a 10% food wastage reduction target, as referred to in Audit Scotland's report Catering for Patients.

Question reference: S2W-04558

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 December 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS trusts comprise the 30% that do not have a validated nutritional screening tool, as referred to in Audit Scotland's report Catering for Patients.

Details of the report are amatter for Audit Scotland.

The Malnutrition UniversalScreening Tool (MUST) was launched on 19 November 2003 by the British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition(BAPEN). MUST is the first universal screening tool for all types of adultpatients in all health care settings.

NHS Quality ImprovementScotland (NHSQIS) issued new clinical standards for Food, Fluid and NutritionalCare in Scotland on 19 September 2003. The standards requirethat when a person is admitted to hospital an assessment, using a validatedscreening tool, is carried out. The new standards and the availability of thenew tool will help ensure more effective screening in Scottish hospitals.

Question reference: S2W-04527

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2003
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 10 December 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been (a) allocated and (b) spent in each local authority on the grading of pavements in public areas to improve access for disabled people to shops and other public amenities, in each year since 1999.