- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 March 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether a second permanent Scottish Driving Assessment Service site will be established in the West of Scotland and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-19737 on 22 January 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.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 March 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to meet the increasing patient demand for services provided by the Scottish Driving Assessment Service.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-31998 on 10 March 2010. 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.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 March 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to reduce Scottish Driving Assessment Service waiting times.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-31998 on 10 March 2010. 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.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it is spending to have the University of Sheffield redo its modelling study on minimum unit pricing of alcohol using updated consumption figures from 2008.
Answer
The cost of updating the University of Sheffield minimum price model is £36,272.25 (inclusive of VAT). The cost reflects the considerable amount of work required to integrate consumption data from the Scottish Health Survey 2008 and the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey 2008, data from the 2008-09 Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, mortality figures and alcohol sales data into the model. These data were not available to the University of Sheffield researchers at the time of the original minimum pricing research.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spent on commissioning modelling from the University of Sheffield on the impact of minimum unit pricing of alcohol.
Answer
As indicated in the Financial Memorandum accompanying the Alcohol etc. (Scotland) Bill, the cost of the modelling work undertaken by the University of Sheffield was £63,876.75 (inclusive of VAT).
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason it did not commission modelling from the University of Sheffield on the impact of minimum unit pricing of alcohol on low-income households when offered this at a cost of £7,400.
Answer
The University of Sheffield''s minimum price research proposal provided an option to attempt to model the impact of minimum pricing on low income groups. The Sheffield proposal acknowledged that the small Scottish sample sizes meant that Scottish consumption and purchasing data may have been supplemented with UK-wide information, or the definition of low income relaxed. The proposal further noted that it was unlikely that price elasticity matrices for low income groups would be Scotland-specific, again due to sample size issues. The value of deriving estimates of the potential impact on low income groups in Scotland based on largely non-Scottish data was considered weak. In addition, the decision not to extend the study to low income groups was informed by the findings from the minimum price research carried out by the University Sheffield study for the Department of Health in England. That research suggested the impact of minimum pricing on moderate drinkers was likely to be limited, at around an extra £6 per year (based on a 40p minimum price).
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 March 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 9 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-29774 by Nicola Sturgeon on 13 January 2010, whether the short-life working group on the HAI Reporting Template (HAIRT) led by NHS Scotland has reported; how the HAIRT will change, and when this will be introduced.
Answer
The short-life working group has not yet reported. The revised template is, however, broadly complete and the short-life working group will shortly be consulting infection control experts and Patient Focus Public Involvement groups. The purpose of this consultation process is to ensure that the revised HAIRT is suitable for all NHS boards and is structured in a way which can be understood by the general public. It would not be appropriate for me to advise on the content of the revised HAIRT until this important consultation process is complete. The timing for rolling-out the revised template to NHS boards remains as set out in my answer to S3W-29774.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 March 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 9 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-29949 by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 January 2010, whether the influenza A (H1N1) vaccination programme has now been offered to all children aged over six months and under six years.
Answer
NHS health boards have indicated that all children aged over six months and under five years have now been offered vaccination against influenza A (H1N1). Health boards have been encouraged to continue to vaccinate any eligible children who come forward for vaccination until 31 March 2010.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 9 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on Argyll and Bute Council’s undertaking an equality impact assessment of the council’s proposal to remove local area co-ordinators after the decision to recommend removal has been made.
Answer
I understand that a full equality impact assessment was completed by Argyll and Bute prior to the council meeting on 11 February where the decision to the phased removal of the local area co-ordinators (LAC) posts was agreed.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 9 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Argyll and Bute Council regarding the council’s proposal to apply eligibility criteria retrospectively in removing funding for social work services supporting individuals with complex but low levels of need.
Answer
No such discussion has taken place with Argyll and Bute Council.
All Scottish local authorities agreed to apply National Eligibility Criteria and Waiting Times for the Personal and Nursing Care of Older People as set out in the guidance issued jointly with COSLA on 28 September 2009.
The guidance on National Eligibility Criteria and Waiting Times for the Personal and Nursing Care of Older People delivers on the recommendation arising from Lord Sutherland''s Review of Free Personal and Nursing Care for older people. If a local authority chooses to apply the eligibility criteria framework set out within the guidance to all community care groups, that is a matter solely for that council and is not tied to the agreement between the Scottish Government and council leaders on free personal and nursing care.
Councils have been given no encouragement from the Scottish Government to apply the eligibility criteria framework to other community care groups.