Christine Grahame

14 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many investigations into fraud were carried out by police forces in each year since 1999, broken down by constabulary.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The available information is given in the following table.</p> <p >Number of Crimes of Fraud Recorded by the Police by Police Force Area, 1999-2000 to 2006-07</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td valign=bottom > <p align=left …

6 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-7395 by Richard Lochhead on 5 December 2007, when regulations in respect of the transportation of puppies pursuant to the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 will be laid and whether they will be subject to affirmative or negative procedure.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Draft regulations which will require puppy and kitten dealers to be licensed by local authorities will be laid in Parliament shortly after the Easter recess. These draft regulations will need to be approved by resolution of the Parliament before they can be m…

3 Mar 2008 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many interns have been allocated parliamentary IT accounts in each year since 2003.

Answer · Alex Johnstone: All IT accounts created for interns are sponsored by a member and categorised on the IT systems as MSP staff. The total number of interns commencing employment at the Parliament in each year since 2003 is detailed in the table below:</p> <table border=1 cel…

3 Mar 2008 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body why the current IT service operated by Logica CMG is not a stable platform for remote users of parliamentary IT accounts and when the service will become stable and reliable.

Answer · Alex Johnstone: </b> The remote access service offered by the SPCB to provide access to key IT systems from locations other then the Holyrood building has recently been experiencing intermittent problems. The problems have led to some users of the service being unable to log…

3 Mar 2008 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when the issues associated with lack of IT capacity, specifically the service related to remote access, will be resolved.

Answer · Alex Johnstone: </b> The remote access service offered by the SPCB to facilitate connection from locations other than the Holyrood building has recently been experiencing intermittent problems. An interim solution was brought online on Friday 7 March to alleviate the problem…

3 Mar 2008 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how it monitors the performance of the Parliament’s IT contract managed by Logica CMG.

Answer · Alex Johnstone: The contract with Logica is managed under the Scottish Parliament's Contractor Performance Management (CPM) scheme, as was the contract with the previous supplier. The CPM model used enables the Scottish Parliament and Logica to meet their obligations under t…

3 Mar 2008 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether the rate of reported IT problems by parliamentary account users has increased or decreased since Logica CMG was awarded the contract for managing the Parliament’s IT service and, if so, how this compares in percentage terms with the same period for the previous …

Answer · Alex Johnstone: </b> On 1 January 2008, Logica CMG took over contractual responsibility for the running of the IT Services defined by the IT Infrastructure and Support Services Contract.</p> <p >The IT Helpdesk receive calls relating to all IT services offered by the Busine…

3 Mar 2008 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many IT incidents have been recorded where parliamentary account users have been unable to log on remotely from home or constituency offices due to problems associated with lack of capacity on parliamentary servers.

Answer · Alex Johnstone: </b> IT incidents have been categorised since December 2005. The table below shows the number of IT incidents logged with the Helpdesk per month where the user has been unable to connect to the Parliament remotely due to capacity issues.</p> <table border=1…

3 Mar 2008 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many parliamentary account users reported problems to the IT Helpdesk while logging on remotely from home or constituency office via the citrix log-on service from (a) 1 January to 29 February 2008 and (b) 1 January to 28 February 2007.

Answer · Alex Johnstone: </b> During the period 1 January to 29 February 2008, 185 parliamentary IT account users contacted the IT Helpdesk regarding the remote access service. During the period 1 January 2007 to 28 February 2007, 213 parliamentary IT account users contacted the Help…

29 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents have been recorded by Scottish Ambulance Service of falsifying records which have reduced ambulance response times in each year since 2001.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Ambulance Service is not aware of any such incident.</p>

25 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents of bullying in schools were recorded by education authorities in each year since 1999, also broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The information requested is not held centrally. Education authorities and schools decide how incidents of bullying should be monitored and recorded.</p>

25 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many road traffic accidents involving military vehicles (a) took place and (b) were reported to police forces in Scotland in each year since 1997, also broken down by constabulary.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government however some data will be available from the Ministry Of Defence.</p>

25 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many separate incidents of nuclear contamination in Scotland have been reported to authorities in each year since 1988.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: This information is not held centrally.</p>

19 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses in the public sector were suitable for families with more than one family member with a disability in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: The number of public authority dwellings classified as suitable for people with disabilities can be accessed through the on-line Housing Statistics for Scotland information resource at <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regen…

18 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost to the public purse has been of the police investigation leading to charges of perjury against Tommy Sheridan, Rosemary Byrne and Graeme McIver.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally and is a matter for Lothian and Borders Police.</p> <p >In any event, it would not be appropriate, for operational reasons, to disclose information about on-going police investigations.</p>

12 Feb 2008 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when it will next meet and whether, at that meeting, it will consider whether Ronald Rae's Lion of Scotland should be located outside the Parliament building.

Answer · Tricia Marwick: The SPCB met on 5 March, and considered an offer of loan of Ronald Rae's Lion of Scotland.</p>

11 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many redundancies have been recorded in the (a) textiles, (b) agricultural, (c) electronics, (d) service and (e) tourism industries in (i) the Scottish Borders and (ii) Scotland, expressed both in real terms and as a percentage of the populations of (A) the Borders and (B) Scotland, i…

Answer · Jim Mather: Statistics on the number of redundancies in Scotland are not held centrally. However, table 1 provides information on the number of employee jobs in the textiles, agriculture, electronics, service and tourism industries in the Scottish Borders in each year si…

11 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8921 by Mr Frank Mulholland QC on 7 February 2008, whether the protocol between the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the Electoral Commission relates specifically to the Scottish parliamentary and local government elections held i…

Answer · Frank Mulholland: on 7 February 2008, whether the protocol between the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the Electoral Commission relates specifically to the Scottish parliamentary and local government elections held in May 2007 and no other elections held i…

8 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-30197 by Mr Andy Kerr on 6 December 2006, how many (a) patients with a diagnosis of cardiomyopathy and (b) deaths from cardiomyopathy there were in each year from 1999, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is presented in tables 1 and 2.</p> <p >(a) Table 1: Number of patients discharged from hospital where a diagnosis of cardiomyopathy was involved, by NHS board of residence 1999-2007.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding…

8 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8921 by Frank Mulholland QC on 7 February 2008, whether the protocol between the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the Electoral Commission, specifically relates to the Scottish parliamentary and local government elections of May 2…

Answer · Frank Mulholland: on 7 February 2008, whether the protocol between the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the Electoral Commission, specifically relates to the Scottish parliamentary and local government elections of May 2007.</a></p> <p align=right >(<a na…

5 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations ministers will make to the relevant authorities to introduce the “sco” abbreviation as standard for official email addresses for all Scottish public bodies in place of “gov.uk” or “scottish.parliament.uk”.

Answer · John Swinney: We are giving careful consideration to the issues that would be raised by the introduction of the sco abbreviation so that, should the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) call for proposals for new generic top-level domain names, the S…

5 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8918 by Kenny MacAskill on 4 February 2008, what discussions it has had with the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police regarding initiating investigations of criminality related to breaches of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000…

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: on 4 February 2008, what discussions it has had with the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police regarding initiating investigations of criminality related to breaches of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, under section 17(1)(b).</a></p>…

5 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8918 by Kenny MacAskill on 4 February 2008, what sanctions are in place for police forces that fail to meet their obligations to investigate criminality related to breaches of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, under section 1…

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: on 4 February 2008, what sanctions are in place for police forces that fail to meet their obligations to investigate criminality related to breaches of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, under section 17(1)(b).</a></p> <p align=right…

29 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what scientific advice it has sought regarding the proposed major development of a large poultry farm in the Scottish Borders which will be situated below the flight path of a number of species of migratory birds.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: This planning application has been notified to Scottish ministers who are currently considering whether or not it should be called in for their own determination or cleared back to the council. No scientific advice has been sought.</p>

29 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are employed in the poultry industry, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Information on the total number of people employed throughout all parts of the poultry industry is not available in the Scottish Government.</p> <p >Information is available from the June Agricultural Census on the number of people working on specialist poul…

29 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what preparations are being considered to deal with any major outbreak of avian flu originating from large-scale poultry developments.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Preparations are already in place to deal with any outbreak of avian influenza. These preparations include on-going surveillance of wild birds and domestic poultry, a contingency plan to be activated in the event of an outbreak, and supporting infrastructure …

29 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what role the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has in monitoring large-scale poultry developments and planning requests that lie in the path of migratory birds.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is fully responsible for animal health and welfare and planning policies in Scotland. Given that GB is a single epidemiological unit, the Scottish Government works in liaison with Defra and the Welsh Assembly Government to co-ordinate …

29 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many proposed large-scale poultry developments that lie in the migratory path of birds known to carry the avian flu virus have been notified to Scottish ministers.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Large-scale poultry developments are dealt with through the local authority planning consents process, and there are no additional requirements for these to be notified to Scottish ministers. All poultry keepers with 50 or more birds are legally required to s…

28 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to bringing Scotland’s eight police forces together under one structure.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The government currently has no plans to reduce the number of police forces in Scotland. We are, however, committed to delivering change and improvements that make sense for Scotland. We will consider carefully the recommendations contained in the Justice Com…

28 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many official protocols have been agreed between the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and government agencies and departments responsible for administering justice in Scotland in each year since 1999 and what the protocols are.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: Eleven formal protocols have been agreed between the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Services (COPFS). These protocols are:</p> <p >ACPOS/COPFS Protocol on Disclosure of Evidential Material…