- 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 Michael Matheson on 28 June 2012
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the judgement in Italy in the case of Valentino Bocca relating to MMR inoculations and autism.
Answer
The judgement in Italy reflects the opinion of a judge on the specific facts of this single case and should not be seen as a precedent for any other case. The judgement does not alter the scientific position that there is no credible scientific evidence to show that MMR vaccine is a cause of autism. 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.
- 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 Michael Matheson on 28 June 2012
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the use of the MMR vaccine following the recent judgement in Italy in the case of Valentino Bocca relating to MMR inoculations and autism.
Answer
The Scottish Government bases vaccination policy on the independent expert advice provided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. The view of the JCVI is that there is overwhelming scientific evidence that MMR does not cause autism.
In March a judge presiding over a case in Rimini Italy decided to award compensation to the parents of a nine year old boy on the basis that a vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) had caused autism. This decision reflects the opinion of a judge on the specific facts of this single case and should not be seen as a precedent for any other case.
The judgement of the court in Italy does not alter the scientific position and there are no plans to undertake further research nor to change MMR immunisation policy as a result of this Italian court decision.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 08 June 2012
-
Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 21 June 2012
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-38227 by Richard Lochhead on 17 December 2010, how many times it has replaced regulations affecting the farming and agricultural sector with new versions rather than add to existing regulations since May 2007.
Answer
The majority of regulation impacting on Scotland’s farmers and land managers comes from Europe and, to ensure they fully meet their obligations under the terms of the Scotland Act, Scottish Ministers must implement relevant EU rules. Since 2007 a total of 164 SSIs have been made in the broad area of agriculture replacing or revoking 107 previous SSIs.
Scottish Government is actively trying to reduce the burden of bureaucracy on Scotland's rural land managers. The SEARS (Scotland's Environmental and Rural Services) initiative has delivered a reduction of more than 8,000 visits and inspections to date. We have also appointed Brian Pack OBE to lead a review considering how to reduce the red tape associated with farming and fulfil our commitment to help farmers free up time for farming. Scottish Government is also pressing for greater simplification in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) negotiations currently underway in Europe.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 May 2012
-
Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 12 June 2012
To ask the Scottish Executive what improvements have been made to rail services serving (a) Perth and Kinross, (b) Fife and (c) Stirling since May 2011.
Answer
In December 2011, two additional services each way were introduced on the Highland Main line between Glasgow (connections at Perth from Edinburgh) and Inverness. All these services call at Stirling.
New services were also introduced in December 2011 between Glasgow and Dundee. This increased the number of services between Glasgow and Perth calling at Stirling and also improved the frequency of calls at Gleneagles.
Changes to two services in the morning peak between Dundee and Fife to Edinburgh were introduced in December 2011. This also included a replacement service for the 0735 Cross Country Service between Dundee and Edinburgh withdrawn in May 2011 and for the 0754 Kirkcaldy to Edinburgh service withdrawn in December 2011. Further changes are being developed for delivery in the autumn 2012 concerning a South Fife commuter service.
Class 170 diesel trains used on Edinburgh via Fife to Dundee/ Perth/ Aberdeen routes are currently undergoing both internal and external refurbishment works to be completed by late 2013.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 May 2012
-
Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 12 June 2012
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Network Rail since 1 January 2012 regarding improvements to Perth railway station.
Answer
Transport Scotland regularly meets with representatives of Network Rail to discuss a range of station improvement schemes. Discussions since 1 January 2012 included progress on planned enhancements to improve access within Perth railway station.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 May 2012
-
Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 12 June 2012
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33199 by Stewart Stevenson on 12 May 2010, on what 20 roads the highest number of (a) accidents and (b) fatalities has been recorded in each of the last five years.
Answer
The following tables provide the statistics requested and are ranked by accidents per km of road.
|
Injury Road Accidents
|
Fatalities
|
|
|
Road
|
Number of Injury Road Accidents
|
per km of Road
|
Road
|
Number of Road Accident Fatalities
|
per km of Road
|
|
A8
|
308
|
3.90
|
A726
|
5
|
0.10
|
|
A761
|
81
|
2.57
|
A90
|
17
|
0.07
|
|
M8
|
224
|
2.56
|
A8
|
5
|
0.06
|
|
A726
|
92
|
1.89
|
A84
|
3
|
0.06
|
|
A814
|
112
|
1.69
|
A6105
|
3
|
0.06
|
|
A89
|
97
|
1.64
|
A947
|
4
|
0.06
|
|
A803
|
78
|
1.41
|
A76
|
5
|
0.05
|
|
A81
|
78
|
1.35
|
A96
|
9
|
0.05
|
|
A71
|
144
|
1.30
|
A75
|
8
|
0.05
|
|
A73
|
78
|
1.24
|
M8
|
4
|
0.05
|
|
A7
|
145
|
1.10
|
A71
|
5
|
0.05
|
|
A1
|
91
|
1.04
|
A97
|
4
|
0.04
|
|
A90
|
244
|
1.01
|
A95
|
4
|
0.04
|
|
A77
|
130
|
0.86
|
A9
|
17
|
0.04
|
|
A92
|
109
|
0.74
|
A82
|
10
|
0.04
|
|
A82
|
183
|
0.67
|
A91
|
3
|
0.04
|
|
A70
|
78
|
0.64
|
A701
|
4
|
0.04
|
|
A96
|
101
|
0.60
|
A72
|
3
|
0.04
|
|
A85
|
86
|
0.57
|
A92
|
4
|
0.03
|
|
A9
|
236
|
0.54
|
A77
|
4
|
0.03
|
Source: Scottish Government STATS 19 Return.
Note: Each sub-table lists only 20 roads, therefore, in some cases, other roads may have the same numbers of injury road accidents, or fatalities, as the last road shown in a particular sub-table. For example, the A77 was not the only road which had four fatalities in 2006.
|
Injury Road Accidents
|
Fatalities
|
|
Road
|
Number of Injury Road Accidents
|
per km of road
|
Road
|
Number of Road Accident Fatalities
|
per km of road
|
|
A8
|
261
|
3.31
|
A8011
|
3
|
0.42
|
|
A761
|
76
|
2.41
|
A752
|
3
|
0.24
|
|
M8
|
193
|
2.21
|
A76
|
7
|
0.08
|
|
M74
|
85
|
1.62
|
A96
|
5
|
0.08
|
|
A89
|
92
|
1.56
|
M8
|
6
|
0.07
|
|
A814
|
101
|
1.53
|
A828
|
3
|
0.06
|
|
A803
|
72
|
1.30
|
A1
|
5
|
0.06
|
|
A1
|
103
|
1.17
|
A8
|
4
|
0.05
|
|
A71
|
126
|
1.13
|
A82
|
13
|
0.05
|
|
A90
|
248
|
1.02
|
A77
|
7
|
0.05
|
|
A7
|
118
|
0.90
|
A90
|
11
|
0.05
|
|
A77
|
135
|
0.89
|
A970
|
5
|
0.04
|
|
A82
|
228
|
0.84
|
A83
|
6
|
0.04
|
|
A92
|
114
|
0.77
|
A85
|
5
|
0.03
|
|
A70
|
80
|
0.66
|
A9
|
13
|
0.03
|
|
A96
|
109
|
0.65
|
A93
|
5
|
0.03
|
|
A85
|
94
|
0.62
|
A92
|
4
|
0.03
|
|
A702
|
76
|
0.57
|
A71
|
3
|
0.03
|
|
A75
|
79
|
0.51
|
A75
|
4
|
0.03
|
|
A9
|
217
|
0.49
|
A702
|
3
|
0.02
|
|
Injury Road Accidents
|
Fatalities
|
|
Road
|
Number of Injury Road Accidents
|
Injury Road Accidents
|
Road
|
Number of Road Accident Fatalities
|
per km of road
|
|
A8
|
203
|
2.57
|
A749
|
3
|
0.25
|
|
M8
|
224
|
2.56
|
A721
|
6
|
0.13
|
|
A89
|
87
|
1.47
|
A847
|
3
|
0.13
|
|
M74
|
73
|
1.39
|
B9022
|
3
|
0.12
|
|
A814
|
90
|
1.36
|
A904
|
3
|
0.10
|
|
A803
|
75
|
1.35
|
M8
|
8
|
0.09
|
|
A71
|
144
|
1.30
|
A947
|
5
|
0.08
|
|
A1
|
93
|
1.06
|
A96
|
4
|
0.06
|
|
A78
|
72
|
1.05
|
A91
|
5
|
0.06
|
|
A90
|
252
|
1.04
|
A92
|
6
|
0.06
|
|
A7
|
136
|
1.03
|
A98
|
4
|
0.05
|
|
A68
|
83
|
0.84
|
A8
|
3
|
0.04
|
|
A92
|
108
|
0.73
|
A90
|
9
|
0.04
|
|
A82
|
181
|
0.67
|
A82
|
10
|
0.04
|
|
A77
|
98
|
0.65
|
A71
|
4
|
0.04
|
|
A70
|
79
|
0.65
|
A9
|
15
|
0.03
|
|
A85
|
96
|
0.63
|
A75
|
5
|
0.03
|
|
A96
|
105
|
0.63
|
A85
|
4
|
0.03
|
|
A702
|
70
|
0.53
|
A1
|
2
|
0.02
|
|
A9
|
183
|
0.42
|
A68
|
2
|
0.02
|
|
Injury Road Accidents
|
Fatalities
|
|
Road
|
Number of Injury Road Accidents
|
per km of road
|
Road
|
Number of Road Accident Fatalities
|
per km of road
|
|
A8
|
204
|
2.58
|
B9080
|
3
|
0.23
|
|
M8
|
184
|
2.10
|
A74
|
2
|
0.16
|
|
A761
|
61
|
1.93
|
A977
|
3
|
0.11
|
|
A726
|
74
|
1.52
|
A199
|
3
|
0.07
|
|
A89
|
84
|
1.42
|
A96
|
4
|
0.06
|
|
A814
|
90
|
1.36
|
M74
|
3
|
0.06
|
|
A90
|
263
|
1.08
|
M8
|
5
|
0.06
|
|
A71
|
108
|
0.97
|
A76
|
4
|
0.04
|
|
A77
|
131
|
0.87
|
A835
|
4
|
0.04
|
|
A1
|
76
|
0.87
|
A90
|
9
|
0.04
|
|
A7
|
110
|
0.83
|
A75
|
5
|
0.03
|
|
A82
|
198
|
0.73
|
A95
|
3
|
0.03
|
|
A92
|
107
|
0.72
|
A77
|
4
|
0.03
|
|
A96
|
107
|
0.64
|
A70
|
3
|
0.02
|
|
A68
|
61
|
0.62
|
A7
|
3
|
0.02
|
|
A70
|
68
|
0.56
|
A82
|
6
|
0.02
|
|
A85
|
84
|
0.55
|
A68
|
2
|
0.02
|
|
A702
|
73
|
0.55
|
A93
|
3
|
0.02
|
|
A93
|
86
|
0.49
|
A9
|
7
|
0.02
|
|
A9
|
207
|
0.47
|
A702
|
2
|
0.02
|
|
Injury Road Accidents
|
Fatalities
|
|
Road
|
Number of Injury Road Accidents
|
per km of road
|
Road
|
Number of Road Accident Fatalities
|
per km of road
|
|
A8
|
187
|
2.37
|
A730
|
3
|
0.41
|
|
M8
|
190
|
2.17
|
A92
|
8
|
0.07
|
|
A761
|
62
|
1.96
|
A78
|
5
|
0.07
|
|
A89
|
89
|
1.50
|
B862
|
3
|
0.06
|
|
A803
|
73
|
1.32
|
A737
|
2
|
0.05
|
|
A814
|
87
|
1.31
|
A1
|
4
|
0.05
|
|
A90
|
255
|
1.05
|
A830
|
3
|
0.05
|
|
A71
|
116
|
1.04
|
A947
|
3
|
0.05
|
|
A7
|
115
|
0.87
|
A811
|
2
|
0.04
|
|
A1
|
71
|
0.81
|
A71
|
4
|
0.04
|
|
A96
|
121
|
0.72
|
A96
|
6
|
0.04
|
|
A77
|
105
|
0.69
|
A72
|
3
|
0.04
|
|
A92
|
100
|
0.68
|
A9
|
15
|
0.03
|
|
A85
|
80
|
0.53
|
A719
|
2
|
0.03
|
|
A82
|
140
|
0.51
|
A85
|
5
|
0.03
|
|
A70
|
61
|
0.50
|
A698
|
2
|
0.03
|
|
A702
|
61
|
0.46
|
A90
|
5
|
0.02
|
|
A9
|
183
|
0.42
|
A83
|
3
|
0.02
|
|
A93
|
73
|
0.41
|
A82
|
5
|
0.02
|
|
A83
|
59
|
0.37
|
A75
|
2
|
0.01
|
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 May 2012
-
Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 June 2012
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to prevent those not actively farming from being able to claim agricultural subsidies.
Answer
Since 2009, the Scottish Government has improved the existing links between activity and payments in respect of the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS).
In relation to the Single Farm Payment (SFP) we have been lobbying hard at both UK and European level for a change to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) rules that would ensure SFP only goes to active farmers. This has been recognised in the European Commission’s draft regulations for the future CAP which includes a clause that would allow us to set a minimum activity level on the type of land that is commonly used by inactive farmers.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 May 2012
-
Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 June 2012
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of people in (a) Tayside and (b) Fife has access to an NHS dentist.
Answer
As at 31 March 2012, the most recent date for which statistical information is available, the percentage of people registered with a dentist for NHS General Dental Services in (a) Tayside is 75.9% and (b) Fife is 70.0%
This information is published on the ISD website and can be viewed by following this link http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Dental-Care/Publications/index.asp#705.
Source: ISD website.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 May 2012
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 6 June 2012
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Scottish Ambulance Service since 1 January 2012 regarding the number of ambulances stationed in Highland Perthshire.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that the Scottish Ambulance Service continues to provide safe, efficient and effective services to patients across Scotland, as such Scottish Government ministers and Officials are in regular dialogue with the service on a range of issues. However, the provision of ambulance services in specific localities across Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish Ambulance Service and there have been no specific discussions about the number of ambulances stationed in Highland Perthshire.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 May 2012
-
Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 7 June 2012
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the recently published Audit Scotland report, The National Fraud Initiative in Scotland.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 7 June 2012
