Chamber and committees

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.

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Question reference: S4W-08592

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-08223 by Michael Matheson on 28 June 2012, whether it will review the safety of the MMR vaccine and hold an inquiry into the management of the immunisation programme.

The Scottish Government has no plans to review the safety of the MMR vaccine, or hold an inquiry into the management of the Scottish childhood immunisation programme.

There remains no credible scientific evidence to suggest that MMR vaccine is a cause of autism, and no basis on which to commission new research or a re-appraisal of existing evidence.

We will continue to take advice on immunisation issues from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), and on safety issues from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Question reference: S4W-08594

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review the evidence of the merits of the inclusion of the mumps vaccine element of Merck’s MMR 11 vaccine.

The Scottish Government does not plan to review the composition of the MMR 11 vaccine. As with all vaccination programmes, the Scottish Government relies on independent expert advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

The mumps component of the MMR vaccine has been used in MMR vaccines in Scotland and the UK more generally since 1988. The efficacy of the component is well understood. Expert advice to healthcare professionals (within the Immunisation Against Infectious Disease publication) states that a single dose of mumps containing vaccine confers between 61% and 91% protection against mumps. A single dose of MMR vaccine is around 64% effective against mumps, with two doses required to produce satisfactory protection against measles, mumps and rubella.

Question reference: S4W-08591

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-08222 by Michael Matheson on 28 June 2012, whether it will review the use of epidemiological studies as proof of the safety of the MMR vaccine.

The Scottish Government has no plans to review the use of epidemiological studies as proof of the safety of the MMR vaccine. We will continue to monitor new emerging data on an ongoing basis, and continue to consider the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

There remains no credible scientific evidence to suggest that MMR vaccine is a cause of autism, and no basis on which to commission new research or a re-appraisal of existing evidence. A wide range of large epidemiological studies, performed over more than a decade in a variety of countries, have consistently found no link between MMR and autism. Independent experts agree that an association between MMR and autism is purely coincidental.

Question reference: S4W-08593

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the case in the USA under the whistleblower statute in which two scientists previously employed by Merck allege that the company engaged in fraud to hide the fact that the mumps element of the MMR vaccine is not as effective as the company claims.

Question reference: S4W-08596

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government when a review was last carried out of the MMR vaccine in Scotland.

A review of issues around MMR vaccination in Scotland was carried out by an expert group in 2001-02. A report of the group was published in April 2002 and this is available on the Scottish Government website.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) reviews all vaccines within the Scottish childhood immunisation programme on an ongoing basis. Scottish Government Senior Medical Officers have observational status on the group.

Question reference: S4W-08595

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how much NHS boards have spent purchasing Merck’s MMR 11 vaccine in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S4W-08465

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 27 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive which broadband exchanges in Perth and Kinross are planned for an upgrade in (a) 2012 and (b) 2013.

Upgrading of BT exchanges, such as those in Perth and Kinross, is a matter for BT.

BT’s press release of 13 September 2011 confirms that the Perth exchange is scheduled to be upgraded to provide Superfast (fibre-based) broadband services during 2012. BT has not yet made any Superfast broadband announcements in the Perth and Kinross region for 2013.

http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/ShowArticle.cfm?ArticleID=11C1C9A8-997C-4A1F-9876-D36365E64F33

BT’s press releases of 21 July 2011, 22 December 2011 and 22 May 2012 confirm that the Pitlochry, Scone and Stanley exchanges are scheduled to be upgraded to provide Wholesale Broadband Connect services (up to 20 Mbps over the existing copper network) by spring 2013.

http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/Showarticle.cfm?ArticleID=13F4100B-2DC0-470E-80F0-CD6047CE3F71,

http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/Showarticle.cfm?ArticleID=D06889A3-786C-444A-A558-18973F883497, and

http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/Showarticle.cfm?ArticleID=D600C102-CFE6-479F-A58C-D647D371D508.

Question reference: S4W-08601

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 27 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what benefits the Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Project will bring to (a) Stirling, (b) Dunblane and (c) Alloa.

Question reference: S4W-08466

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 25 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Perth and Kinross Council regarding broadband upgrades since the publication of Scotland’s Digital Future - Infrastructure Action Plan.

Since publication of Scotland’s Digital Future – Infrastructure Action Plan on 31 January 2012, the Scottish Government has been in dialogue with Perth and Kinross Council on its broadband plan for the region; this has included one meeting at official level on 30 March.

As we progress with implementation of the Step Change 2015 Programme, over the summer, we will continue our dialogue with the council to identify local priorities for the Perth and Kinross region. We will be holding a series of workshops and one-to-one meetings with local government to progress this work and will engage with Perth and Kinross Council as part of this process.

Question reference: S4W-08225

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 10 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what work will take place to improve the A9 between 1 July 2012 and 1 January 2017.

The timetable for the dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness was announced by Alex Neil, Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment, on 26 June 2012. It identifies packages of design and development work with the objective of being ready to start construction by 2015-16.

The timetable can be viewed at:

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/files/documents/projects/A9_Dualling_Perth_to_Inverness_-_Programme_-_June_2012.pdf

In addition, Transport Scotland has programmed over £26 million of routine safety, improvement and maintenance works between 2012 and 2015.