Parliamentary questions
Christine Grahame
3,532 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many briefings were held between Scottish ministers and (a) the Director General of the Security Service, MI5, and (b) other directors from the Security Service from 3 May 2006 to 2 May 2007.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to thequestion S3W-2049 answered on 26 July 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.se…
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many briefings have been held between Scottish ministers and (a) the Director General of the Security Service, MI5, and (b) other directors from the Security Service since 3 May 2007.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Ministers arebriefed by the Security Service on matters relevant to Scotland asand when appropriate. In line with established practice it would not beappropriate to comment further on operational matters relating to the Security Service.</p>
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) residential, (b) nursing and (c) mentally infirm elderly people’s care beds have been available in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area and showing the total annual cost of providing the beds in each category.
Answer · Shona Robison: The number of beds availablein Care Homes for older people is given in the following table. Care Homes forolder people will cater for older people with varying levels of need includingnursing care and dementia. Beds are not categorised as (a) residential, (b)…
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many clinical psychologists have been employed in child and adolescent mental health teams in each NHS board area in each year since 2002.
Answer · Shona Robison: The information requested isnot available centrally. However information on clinical staff employed inChild and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in NHS Scotland in 2005 canbe found in Workforce Planning for Specialist Child and Adolescent MentalHealt…
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many planned admissions for inpatient and day case treatment have been cancelled in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information on plannedadmissions for in-patient and day case treatment that have been cancelled forthe years ending 31 March 2003 to 2006 by NHS board is shown in the followingtable. Data for the year ending 31 March 2007 is not yet complete.</p><p>Table 1: C…
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many detoxification beds for drug misusers have been available in each NHS board area in each year since 1999.
Answer · Shona Robison: The specific informationrequested is not available routinely.</p><p>Some information on thenumber of detoxification beds for drugmisusers may be contained within alcoholand drug action team corporate action plans. These can be accessed on the DrugMisuse Infor…
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications for disclosure checks have been processed by Disclosure Scotland in each week since 1 April 2004 and what the average processing time has been.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Disclosure Scotland canprovide this information on a monthly basis. Since April 2004 the number ofapplications and the average turnaround time for correctly completedapplications where there was no need to gather information from police forcesis set out in th…
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive on what percentage of applications to Disclosure Scotland for disclosure checks no charge was levied in (a) each year since its establishment and (b) each of the last six months.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The cost of disclosurechecks for volunteers working in the voluntary sector with children and adultsat risk is met by Scottish Ministers. The following table sets out the numberand percentage of applications to Disclosure Scotland for which ScottishMinisters …
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications to Disclosure Scotland for disclosure checks have been returned to the applicants due to errors in (a) each year since its establishment and (b) each of the last six months, expressed also as a percentage of the total number of applications in each category of disclo…
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Disclosure Scotland hasbeen recording application returns since April 2004. They do not gatherinformation separately for the different levels of check. The availableinformation is provided in the following table.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3…
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of applications to Disclosure Scotland have fallen outwith the turnaround times stipulated by each service agreement for (a) basic, (b) standard and (c) enhanced disclosures in (i) each year since its establishment and (ii) each of the last six months.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Disclosure Scotlandmeasures performance for Basic applications, and for standard and enhancedapplications against a service level agreement target of 14 calendar days.</p><p>The information requested isset out in the following table.</p><table border=1 cellsp…
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications there have been to Disclosure Scotland for (a) basic, (b) standard and (c) enhanced disclosures in (i) each year since its establishment and (ii) each of the last 12 months.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: It is not possible toprovide separate figures for standard and enhanced disclosures. The informationthat is available is set out in the following table.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 width=393> <thead> <tr> <td width=121 nowrap rowspan=2 v…
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what average time is taken by Disclosure Scotland to respond to applications for disclosure checks.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: At week ending 15 July 2007, theaverage turnaround time for correctly completed applications where there was noneed to gather information from police forces was 6.9 days.</p>
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of hospital administration was for each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The amount spent by each NHSboard since 1999 on hospital administration is included in the following table.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 width=569> <thead> <tr> <td width=131 nowrap rowspan=2 valign=top> <p>Table 1:</p> </td> <td wi…
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of GP practices in each NHS board prescribe methadone.
Answer · Shona Robison: The table shows thepercentage of GP practices (by NHS board area) that prescribed methadonehydrochloride for the year ending 31 March 2007.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td width=301 valign=top> <p>NHS Board</p> </td> …
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times are for residential (a) drug and (b) alcohol detoxification treatment in each NHS board.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to thequestion S3W-1465 answered on 19 July 2007. Please note that parliamentaryquestion S3W-1465 asked about ‘residential rehabilitation services’ rather than“residential detoxification treatment”. Data on both these options are collatedin…
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all overseas engagements carried out by ministers in each year since 2002 and the costs of each visit.
Answer · Linda Fabiani: The information you have requestedhas been published and is available on the Scottish Executive website:</p><p><ahref="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/topics/Government/international-relations">www.scotland.gov.uk/topics/Government/international-relations</a>.</p>…
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many dentists have provided NHS dental services in each year since 1999, expressed also as a percentage of all dentists and broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Shona Robison: The number of dentists(headcount) who have provided NHS general dental services, broken down by NHSboard, is shown in the following table. It is not possible to express thesenumbers as a percentage of all dentists, as information on dentists who provideonly p…
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many dental practices have ceased providing NHS dental services in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Shona Robison: Theinformation requested is provided in the following table.</p><p class=BODYOFLETTER>Numberof Practices that Ceased Providing NHS General Dental Services<sup>1,2</sup> inthe Years Ending 31 March 2000-2007</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 width…
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of computer misuse there have been in each of its departments since 1999, broken down by category of misuse, and how many of these cases resulted in disciplinary action.
Answer · John Swinney: Since 1999 and until May2007 there have been 178 recorded breaches of the Scottish Executive IT Code ofConduct in core departments by Scottish Executive staff. There have been nocases of misuse recorded since May 2007. The recorded breaches are broken downby …
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many staffed hospital beds there have been in each category of care in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested isgiven on the ISD Scotland website: <ahref="http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/3425.html">http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/3425.html</a>.</p>
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug-related deaths there have been in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board area and expressed per 100,000 head of population.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The following figures werecompiled by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS). The figures areexpressed as number of drug-related deaths and the rate per 100,000 head of population.</p><p>Drug-RelatedDeaths<sup>1</sup> in Scotland, Numbers and Rates N…
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many failure to appear warrants have been issued in each of the last five years, broken down by sheriff court district.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The available information isgiven in the following table. The figures exclude fines enquiry and initiatingwarrants.</p><p>Failure to AppearWarrants Issued by Sheriff Court, 2001-02 to 2005-06</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td…
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average length of sentence for crimes of indecency has been in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) main offence and (b) sheriff court district.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The available information isgiven in the following table. Average sentence lengths based on relativelysmall total number of cases can be expected to fluctuate from year to year. </p><p>Persons Convictedof Crimes of Indecency in Scottish courts, by Main Offenc…
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it plans to make for the responsibility for official flag stations in Scotland to be devolved to Scottish ministers.
Answer · Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Government believes that all such matters should be the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish ministers. There are no immediate plans to make representations on this issue.</p>
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to encourage the flying of the Saltire throughout Scotland all year round.
Answer · Linda Fabiani: I refer the member to thequestion S3W-2022 answered on 26 July 2007. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at:</p><p><ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/…
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it will make to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, whose responsibility covers official flag flying, to remove the rule that the department applies with regard to the flying of the Saltire and the Union flag when flown together that the Saltire must never be…
Answer · Linda Fabiani: The union flag is flown outside Scottish Government buildings on 18 dates a year by Royal Command. The Saltire flies outside Scottish Government buildings throughout the year.</p> <p >The Scottish Government believes that the Saltire is Scotland''s national …
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will issue guidance to all non-departmental public bodies for which it has responsibility to encourage them to fly the Saltire as the principal flag above those of their properties for which there is an existing flagpole.
Answer · Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Government has, since June 2001, distributed its flag flying guidance to all non-departmental bodies for which it has responsibility. The guidance advocates that the Saltire should be flown every day.</p>
10 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to fly the Saltire permanently over governmental buildings for which it has responsibility.
Answer · Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Government doesfly the Saltire at all its buildings. The flag flying guidance has, sinceSeptember 2005 stated that “The Saltire should now be flown every day.”</p>
9 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were on the sex offenders’ register in each of the last five years.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The number of sex offendersrecorded by the Scottish Police Services Authority as being registered withScottish Police Forces in the last five years is shown in the following table. </p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td width=132…
9 Jul 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its staff have been (a) seconded from, (b) transferred from, (c) seconded to and (d) transferred to other UK departments in each year since 1999.
Answer · John Swinney: Temporary movement betweenUK Government departments is defined as a loan rather than a secondment. Thenumbers loaned from and to and transferred from and to the Scottish Executiveto other UK Government Departments are contained in the following table.Addition…