Parliamentary questions

Cathy Peattie

299 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

13 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions have been undertaken in each year since 2000 where requests for legal aid have been made by persons appearing in district courts and it has been specified that the applicants had disabilities which would prevent them from understanding proceedings but legal aid has b…

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Information on the number ofcases procurators fiscal prosecuted since 2000 is given in the response the answer to question S3W-2143 on 13 August 2007. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facilityf…

13 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions in district courts have been undertaken in each year since 2000 and in how many cases procurator fiscals decided not to prosecute, also broken down by region.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The available information isgiven in the following table. Statistics on the number of district court cases closedas no further proceedings are not identifiable from the information held centrally.Persons Proceeded Against1in District Courts,…

13 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests for legal aid have been made by people appearing in district courts where it was specified that the applicants had a disability which would prevent them from understanding proceedings in each year since 2000 and, of these, how many have been refused, also broken down by …

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Information on the disabilitiesof applicants for legal aid is not recorded centrally. The application form forsummary criminal legal aid questions whether the accused is able to understand theproceedings or to state his own case because of his age, inadequate…

13 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests for legal aid have been made by persons appearing in district courts in each year since 2000 and, of these, how many have been refused, also broken down by region.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Table 1 provides thenumber of applications for summary criminal legal aid in district courts and thenumbers of refusals in each year since 2000.Table 1: Numberof applications for summary criminal legal aid in district courts since 2000<table borde…

13 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests for legal aid have been made where it was specified that the applicants had a disability which would prevent them from understanding proceedings in each year since 2000 and, of these, how many have been refused, also broken down by region.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Information on the number ofapplications for the four main types of legal aid - advice and assistance, civillegal aid, summary criminal legal aid and solemn criminal legal aid - from thosewith a disability is not collected centrally.

13 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests for legal aid have been made in each year since 2000 and, of these, how many have been refused, also broken down by region.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The information onapplications and refusals for all types of legal aid, except solemn criminal legalaid, is collected centrally by the Scottish Legal Aid Board.Solemn criminal legalaid is granted by the court and data relating to applications and refus…

29 Jun 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure that people with asthma have access to Xolair, in light of draft guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to recommend Xolair for the treatment of severe allergic asthma.

Answer · Shona Robison: The National Institute for Healthand Clinical Excellence (NICE) draft single technology appraisal (STA) on Xolairdoes not constitute the Institute’s formal guidance and the draft recommendationsmay change following consultation.NICE STA guidance does n…

15 Mar 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what communication it has had from local authorities or joint council bodies regarding the development of a waste incinerator in the Forth Valley area.

Answer · Ross Finnie: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-32410 on 28 March 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’swebsite the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.…

15 Mar 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to the development of a waste incinerator in the Forth Valley area.

15 Mar 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans for the development of a waste incinerator in the Forth Valley area.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Executive itself has no plansto develop a waste incinerator in the Forth Valley area.The local authorities in the Forth Valley area (Clackmannanshire, Falkirk and Stirling Councils) submitted a StrategicOutline Case which included suggested infrast…

27 Feb 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the next steps will be now that the Antonine Wall has been nominated as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: A decision on whether to acceptthe nomination of the Antonine Wall will be taken by the World Heritage Committee,a United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) committee,in summer 2008. The nomination, including an associated management…

21 Feb 2007 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to extend the availability of NHS dentistry.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: We are taking further steps toreward those high street dentists who give their patients access to NHS treatment.Dentists in deprived areas acrossScotland will be invited this week to apply for a deprived area allowance, equivalentto the existing remote…

7 Feb 2007 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take in respect of enterprise and transport to mark European Year of Equal Opportunities.

Answer · Allan Wilson: The Scottish Executive welcomesthe “European Year of Equal Opportunities for All” and plans to organise a seriesof events under this banner over the course of 2007, in addition to the significantwork it already undertakes to promote equality and tackle discri…

8 Dec 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what grants were awarded under section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 in 2005-06 for the provision of services to disabled people, broken down by organisation receiving the grant and showing (a) the purpose of the grant and (b) the amount awarded.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Table 1 gives details of thesection 10 core funding grants awarded in 2005-06 to organisations which provideservices to disabled people. Core funding grants are for running and headquartercosts.Table 2 gives details of thesection 10 project funding awa…

27 Sep 2006 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the report on the written consultation, focus group discussions and survey of public attitudes and awareness on the Partnership Agreement review of NHS prescription charges for people with chronic health conditions and young people in full-time education or training.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: I expect the final report onthe public consultation phase of the review to be submitted to ministers in thecourse of this month, with a view to publication before the end of the year.

13 Jul 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) fires, (b) hoax calls, and (c) false alarms other than hoaxes have been recorded in educational establishments in each of the last ten years in each fire authority area.

Answer · Hugh Henry: This information is not heldin the format requested.The number of fires in educationalestablishments in the last ten years, for which figures are available, is shownin the following table by fire and rescue service area.<table border=1 cellspacing…

13 Jul 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many fire appliances would be sent to an educational establishment in response to (a) an automatic fire alarm alone and (b) a 999 call in each fire authority area.

Answer · Hugh Henry: This information is not heldcentrally.The weight of response to anyincident is an operational matter for the Chief Officer of the fire and rescue authority.

2 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken in response to the recommendations of the report of the Working Group on Hate Crime.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: A number of the recommendationsmade by the Working Group have resulted in action being taken. For example, since1 April this year the Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2004 has offered thepossibility that some of those at risk from hate crime may benefit fr…

2 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish a response to the recommendations of the report of the Working Group on Hate Crime.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-26481 on 19 June 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.…

1 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a progress report on the activities of the Working Group on Hate Crime since October 2004.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Working Group on Hate Crimewas set up by ministers to consider improvements, including legislation, which mightbe made to deal with crimes based on hatred towards social groups. The group’s report,published on 8 October 2004, makes 14 recommendations impa…

1 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the reasons for any delay in payment of Scottish Prison Service performance-related pay for 2004-05 and when it anticipates that such payment will be made.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron,Chief Executive of the Scottish PrisonService to respond. His response is as follows:I refer the member to thequestion S2W-26453 answered on 19 June 2006. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parl…

1 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the progress of Scottish Prison Service nurses’ salary negotiations, including on the reasons for any delay in concluding negotiations, on currently arranged negotiating meetings and on the anticipated timescale for conclusion of negotiations.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:The start of formal negotiationsneeded to await the Scottish Executive pay remit and analysis of the details of the Agenda for Change…

24 May 2006 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it has carried out, or intends to carry out, tests to determine whether the Parliament building poses any respiratory problems to those who work in or visit it.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: We are not currently aware of any conditions within the Scottish Parliament building which would present respiratory problems to those whooccupy or visit it. The building management system controls ventilation,temperature and fresh air input, based on the aut…

24 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any concerns that local authorities do not take seriously the link between poor housing conditions and health risks for people with respiratory problems and what action it intends to take to ensure that local authorities consider the respiratory health needs of thei…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive is notaware of any such concerns. The announcement of the Scottish Housing Quality Standardin February 2004 makes clear our intention that all social rented housing in Scotland shouldbe free from dampness and condensation and also be en…

24 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that people with asthma have healthy working environments.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executiveestablished the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives 2005. The remit of the centre includes the promotion of the health and wellbeing of employees andof safe and healthy workplaces.The centre incorporates theSafe and Healthy …

24 May 2006 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give an update on the development of the national languages strategy and its arrangements for consulting Scots language organisations on this matter.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: A draft of the National Languages Strategy is in preparation within the ScottishExecutive. I expect that we shall publish the strategy after the summer recess,enabling Scots language organisations amongst others to comment on our proposedapproach.

10 May 2006 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to protect vulnerable children living in households where drugs are being abused.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I am very aware of the potentiallydevastating effects of parental drug misuse on vulnerable children. Children’s safetymust be a priority for all agencies involved in working with drug misusers. HiddenHarm – Next Steps was published on 8 May 200…

5 Apr 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many calls were made to each fire and rescue service in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The number of calls made to thefire and rescue services are shown in the following table.<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 width=632> <tr> <td width=129 valign=top>   </td> <td valign=top> 1995 …

5 Apr 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) incidents and (b) fires were attended by each fire and rescue service in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The number of fires and incidentsattended by the fire and rescue services is shown in the following tables.Incidents<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td width=160 valign=top>   </td> <td v…

5 Apr 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many firefighters were injured in operational incidents within the fire and rescue service in each of the last 10 years, broken down by service area.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The number of firefighters injuredin operational incidents is shown in the following table.<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 width=621> <thead> <tr> <td width=160 valign=top>   </td> <td valign=top> <p align=…