Scottish Executive

Cancer

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a ministerial statement on cervical cancer screening in Scotland.

Nicola Sturgeon: There is no ministerial statement planned on cervical cancer screening.

Central Heating Programme

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many central heating units under the central heating programme were fitted from May 2007 to May 2008.

The Executive has supplied the following corrected answer:

Stewart Maxwell: Between 1 June 2007 and 31 May 2008, 15,329 central heating systems were installed.

Dentistry

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the data reported at NHS board level in the 2007 National Dental Inspection Programme are also available at community health partnership (CHP) level.

Nicola Sturgeon: The data reported at NHS board level in the 2007 National Dental Inspection Programme is not available at Community Health Partnership level.

The data collected in 2006-07 relating to primary 1 children is available at CHP level as part of the CHP Health and Wellbeing profiles via the Scotpho.org.uk website. In interpreting the date it should be kept in mind that not all health boards completed the inspection that year.

Fisheries

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether inshore fisheries groups will have a conservation as well as a commercial fisheries focus.

Richard Lochhead: Inshore fisheries groups (IFGs) will enable commercial inshore fishermen to participate on an inclusive, transparent and consensual basis in the management of Scottish inshore fisheries balancing competing sectoral interests with wider environmental and socio-economic interests.

A key requirement of an IFG is the production and implementation of a management plan in line with the overarching objectives for inshore fisheries as set out in Strategic Framework for Inshore Fisheries in Scotland. These include an environmental objective to reflect the need to integrate conservation issues into fisheries management.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that all the appropriate interests will be represented on inshore fisheries groups and what means it has at its disposal to seek changes to the membership of such groups if it believes that all relevant interests are not appropriately represented.

Richard Lochhead: Inshore fisheries groups (IFGs) will enable commercial inshore fishermen to participate on an inclusive, transparent and consensual basis in the management of Scottish inshore fisheries balancing competing sectoral interests with environmental and socio-economic priorities.

All inshore commercial fishermen operating in an IFG’s area will be eligible for membership of that IFG. As much will be learned from experience, Scottish ministers and the Scottish Inshore Fisheries Advisory Group will regularly review the operation of IFG pilots to ensure that they fulfil their role and are properly inclusive.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive in what ways recreational sea anglers should have the opportunity to contribute to the work of inshore fishery groups.

Richard Lochhead: An Inshore fisheries group must liaise with and take proper account of all relevant interests in its area. We would expect this to include the recreational sea angling sector, where locally appropriate.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will include sea anglers within the membership of inshore fisheries groups.

Richard Lochhead: Membership of an inshore fisheries group (IFG) is open to commercial fishermen who operate in the IFG area. An IFG must liaise with all relevant stakeholders, such as recreational sea anglers, as it develops its management plan. Where locally appropriate, we would expect recreational interests to be included formally within the IFG’s advisory group, which exists to provide expert advice to the IFG and to provide the necessary checks and balances to ensure robust management plans that accord with wider environmental, social, economic and management objectives.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that recreational sea angling interests are part of inshore fishery group advisory arrangements.

Richard Lochhead: An inshore fisheries group’s (IFG’s) advisory group is made up of a range of expert bodies and stakeholders, such as Fisheries Research Services, the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency and environmental interests. The advisory group supports the work of the IFG, providing technical expertise and ensuring that all relevant stakeholders have an opportunity to contribute to the IFG’s work. We would expect an advisory group to include recreational sea angling interests, where locally appropriate.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what means it has at its disposal to seek changes to the membership of advisory groups to inshore fisheries groups if it believes that all relevant interests are not appropriately represented.

Richard Lochhead: The role of the advisory group for an inshore fisheries group (IFG) will be that of supporting the decision-making processes of the executive committee by providing the necessary scientific and technical advice and ensuring that wider interests are taken into account. The advisory group will consist of representation from the statutory bodies with the relevant expertise and key stakeholders. Other bodies and locally relevant stakeholders such as other fishing interests as well as business or community interests may also be invited to join the advisory group depending on the IFG local circumstances.

As much will be learned from experience, Scottish ministers and the Scottish Inshore Fisheries Advisory Group will regularly review the operation of IFG pilots to ensure that they fulfil their role and are properly inclusive.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what caused the outbreaks of clostridium difficile at the Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow in October 2007 and June 2008 and how many patients contracted the disease in each case.

Nicola Sturgeon: The cause of the outbreak in October 2007 could not be determined. The Outbreak Control team is currently reviewing the circumstances of the most recent outbreak at the Victoria Infirmary and a full report will be compiled. Six patients were affected in October 2007 and I understand that a further six patients were affected in the most recent outbreak, one of whom died on 24 June 2008. We are advised by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde that clostridium difficile was a contributory factor in the patient’s death.

Housing

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the inherited unsustainable commitments referred to in the Minister for Communities’ announcement of Housing Association Grant allocation on 30 May 2008.

Stewart Maxwell: The inherited unsustainable commitments referred to in the Affordable Housing Investment Programme announcement are commitments made to pay out Housing Association Grant (HAG) at levels per home which had increased in real terms by 35% in the four years between 2002-03 to 2006-07. The challenge of meeting the 2012 target on homelessness and also of meeting our aspiration to increase the supply of new affordable homes mean that continuing to approve HAG subsidies at this level is not sustainable.

Livestock

Ian McKee (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of lambs raised in Scotland were slaughtered in Scottish slaughter houses in the last year for which figures are available.

Richard Lochhead: In 2007, between 45% and 50% of lambs born in Scotland were slaughtered in Scottish abattoirs.

NHS 24

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the number of (a) full-time and (b) part-time staff who have worked for NHS 24 since inception and what percentage are (a) male and (b) female.

Nicola Sturgeon: The latest information available is set out in the following table:

NHS 24 Staff Head Count

Source: Scottish Workforce Information Standard Service.

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff employed by NHS 24 are on a salary of (a) under £20,000, (b) £20,000 to £30,000, (c) £30,001 to £40,000 and (d) over £40,000 and what percentage of each category are female.

Nicola Sturgeon: The detailed information requested is currently being collated and I will write to the member as soon as the information is available. A copy will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 46122)

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Petitions

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when the Parliament’s e-petition comments section will again be operational.

Alex Fergusson: We have been informed by the supplier of the e-petitions system that difficulties have arisen with the e-petition system due to problems with the hardware that runs the system. Part of this is due to the overwhelming volume of traffic being experienced on the system.

These difficulties have resulted in performance issues which have meant that in order to keep the main part of the system running, the discussion forum has been disabled on a temporary basis.

A technical solution has been identified by the supplier and discussions are taking place on the supply, cost and timeframe for implementation of the solution which will see full functionality restored as quickly as possible.