- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 25 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to assist the Borders textile industry and, in particular, cashmere production, in light of recent redundancies at Douglas of Scotland and John Laings of Hawick.
Answer
The Scottish Textiles teamin Scottish Enterprise has a remit to assist the sustainable development andgrowth of the textile industry throughout Scotland, including the Borders. The team works with a numberof partners to deliver a wide range of support measures to address theindustry’s issues such as workforce development, image technical capability andoverseas development. In addition, Scottish Enterprise Borders has provided financialand administrative support to the Cashmere Club which represents 85% of theBorders based cashmere industry over a four year period.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 25 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs have been lost in (a) textiles, (b) tourism, (c) electronics, (d) farming, (e) the public sector and (f) other sectors in the Scottish Borders in each year since 1999.
Answer
Statistics on the number ofjobs lost are not held centrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 25 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12475 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 26 January 2001, how often and on what dates the Scottish Textiles Forum has met since its inception.
Answer
The Forum has met twice ayear since its inception. It met on 4 March 2002,
2 September 2002, 7 March 2003, 5 September 2003, 13 February 2004,
10 September 2004, 28 January 2005 and 23 September 2005.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 24 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many suicides there have been in each NHS board area in each year since 1999, broken down by month and into age groupings.
Answer
Tables presenting the information requested have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 38684).
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents of self harm there have been in each NHS board area in each year since 1999, broken down by month and into age groupings.
Answer
The information requested is shown in the table, Hospital discharges from acute hospitals with a diagnosis of deliberate self-harm, year ending December 1999-2004 a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib number 38627).
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has taken to encourage individuals to have their hearing tested, given that there is typically a 15-year delay between the onset of hearing loss and seeking help, as compared to a four-year gap between sight deterioration and obtaining spectacles, and that hearing impairment can lead to social isolation.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-22096 on 23 January 2006. 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/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what support, financial or otherwise, it is giving to the RNID campaign, “Breaking the Sound Barrier”, and, in particular, to the telephone hearing test.
Answer
The Executive supports this campaign by the Royal National Institute for the Deaf and is keen to work with the RNID to help those with, or who may have, a hearing loss.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the audiology waiting times are in each NHS board.
Answer
This information is not collected by the National Waiting Times Unit as audiology is not a consultant-led service. Information Services Division has developed a data collection system for audiology services which is currently being tested to ensure quality assurance. This will produce centrally collected, validated data for publication.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional audiologists it estimates will be required to meet any increasing demand following the introduction of a telephone hearing test by the RNID, which has been based on a Dutch model and as a consequence of which it is estimated that two or three out of 10 people taking the test will thereafter contact their GP with regard to their hearing.
Answer
The Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID) has indicated to the Executive, based on the experience in the Netherlands, that they expect one in 10 people who take the telephone hearing test may then contact their general practitioner to be referred to an audiologist. There may, therefore, be an increase in referrals across NHSScotland. NHS boards currently have the option of using a private sector national contract to meet audiology needs, and this could be used to meet any increase in demand.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the order of strategic priority is of current and proposed rail developments.
Answer
Our first priority is to implement the major rail infrastructure projects, as set out in the Partnership Agreement, i.e. the rail links to Glasgow and Edinburgh airports, the upgrade at Waverley station, opening the Stirling to Alloa line, the Airdrie to Bathgate line, and the Borders rail link. In addition, we are considering what the rail strategy for the next 15 to 20 years should be. We have consulted on the strategic priorities, commissioned a Scottish Planning Assessment and Network Rail are conducting a Route Utilisation Study. These will provide the building blocks for considering what further rail developments will make the most positive impacts on the economy, society and environment of Scotland in future. We expect to produce the rail strategy in the summer and this will guide the potential investments to be considered for future funding by the Executive in the subsequent Strategic Projects Review. Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area and can be contacted for more information if required.
