Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-34039

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 8 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the incidence of newly diagnosed breast cancer has been in (a) Scotland, (b) NHS Forth Valley and (b) NHS Lanarkshire in each year since 2004, also broken down by data zone.

Data on the incidence of breast cancer is available for Scotland and NHS board by calendar year at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=i_cancer_breast.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

The most recent calendar year for which complete numbers of registrations are available is 2007. It is not possible to provide information broken down by data zone as this may compromise patient confidentiality.

Question reference: S3W-34041

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 8 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the incidence of newly diagnosed mesothelioma has been in (a) Scotland, (b) NHS Forth Valley and (c) NHS Lanarkshire in each year since 2004, also broken down by data zone.

Data on the incidence of mesothelioma are available for Scotland and NHS board by calendar year at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=i_cancer_lung_mesothelioma.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline (by selecting mesothelioma from the drop down menu).

The most recent calendar year for which complete numbers of registrations are available is 2007. It is not possible to provide information broken down by data zone as this may compromise patient confidentiality.

Question reference: S3W-34042

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 8 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the incidence of newly diagnosed cancers of the digestive system has been in (a) Scotland, (b) NHS Forth Valley and (c) NHS Lanarkshire each year since 2004, also broken down by data zone.

Data on the incidence of oesophageal, stomach and colorectal cancer are all available for Scotland and NHS board by calendar year at: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/183.html (under the Cancer Statistics section).

The most recent calendar year for which complete numbers of registrations are available is 2007. It is not possible to provide information broken down by data zone as this may compromise patient confidentiality.

Question reference: S3W-33883

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prescriptions were dispensed by the NHS in each of the last 10 years, expressed as an average per person.

Question reference: S3W-33735

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 1 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33341 by Stewart Stevenson on 29 April 2010, what limits are placed on its ability to change the terms of the passenger railway franchise in Scotland by the Scotland Act 1998 and other UK legislation.

Scottish ministers were given responsibility by the Railways Act 2005 to specify and procure passenger services in Scotland in accordance with EU and UK legislation but with flexibility to meet their requirements.

Changing the terms of a franchise within the duration of the current franchise is covered by variations to this agreement set out in schedule 19 and paragraph 1.3 sets out the limits placed on the contracting parties in this respect.

A copy of the ScotRail Franchise Agreement is in the Scottish Parliament''s Information Centre (Bib. number 37777) and the Public Register version of the Franchise Agreement is available on Transport Scotland''s website: http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/rail/rail-franchise/public-register/contents.

Question reference: S3W-33562

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 25 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether part of its More Choices, More Chances strategy is designed to assist young adults who have recently left special education.

Our More Choices, More Chances strategy aims to assist all young people to move into positive and sustained destinations.

Specifically, through 16+ Learning Choices we are ensuring every young person has an appropriate offer of post-16 learning before leaving school or any subsequent episode of learning. This is a universal model, but gives particular attention to those who require additional support for their learning.

Every local authority in Scotland is implementing 16+ Learning Choices and has committed to universal delivery by this December.

Question reference: S3W-33563

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 25 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals who have left special education are not in (a) employment, (b) education or (c) training, also expressed as a percentage, and what the comparable figures are for those who have left mainstream education.

Question reference: S3W-33561

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 25 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what specific support is available to young adults who have recently left special education.

The Additional Support for Learning Act (2004) makes provision for improving the transition from school for young people leaving special education, and mainstream education, with a view to ensuring that there is a continuum of support available to them.

There is a statutory duty on appropriate agencies - Skills Development Scotland, NHS boards, colleges, local authority education departments and other local authority services - to assist with preparation, planning and support for transition from school for those young people with additional support needs. This should take place 12 months prior to the student leaving school.

Within the Scottish Government''s More Choices More Chances Team, a new post is focusing on supporting local authorities and their partners to implement the Additional Support for Learning Act.

Question reference: S3W-33342

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 30 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the future of the east coast franchise in Scotland.

Officials have regular dialogue with Department for Transport (DfT) on matters relating to cross border franchises.

In relation to the proposals for the introduction of a new East Coast timetable in May 2011, I wrote to Lord Adonis on 25 November 2009 setting out the Scottish Government''s position that an overall diminution of cross border services would be unacceptable.

I also wrote to Lord Adonis on 18 March in response to DfT''s consultation exercise on the re-letting of the Intercity East Coast Franchise late in 2011. My response sets out this Government''s position to the proposed specification for re-letting the Intercity East Coast Franchise. The strategic aims underpinning this advice set our requirement that any future franchise would:

Maintain the important links within Scotland at a level no less than currently provided by East Coast Main Line Company;

Enhance connectivity between the main centres of business on each side of the Border served by this route for the mutual benefit of the Scottish and UK economies, and

Effect a modal shift towards rail from less sustainable modes of transport by making rail more competitive with these other modes, in particular by increasing the frequency of service and reducing end-to-end travel times.

Question reference: S3W-33341

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 29 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to change the terms of the passenger railway franchise in Scotland.

The current franchise agreement contains a variation mechanism which will allow changes/additions to the franchise terms during the contract''s duration. Included within the variation mechanism is the requirement to determine the effects of the change which is assessed based on the impact on revenue, costs and performance.

A copy of the ScotRail Franchise Agreement is in the Scottish Parliament''s Information Centre (Bib. number 37777) and the Public Register version of the Franchise Agreement is available on Transport Scotland''s website: http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/rail/rail-franchise/public-register/contents.

The Scottish Government is responsible for the specification of the next franchise contract, which is due to commence in 2014.

Chamber and committees