Christine Grahame

21 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what weekly payment is made to 16 to 18-year-olds who are living independently, are not in full-time education and not entitled to jobseekers allowance, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Robert Brown: The information requested is not held centrally.</p>

21 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what supported accommodation is currently available for 16 to 18-year-olds who are not entitled to jobseekers allowance but who are living independently, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Robert Brown: The information requested is not held centrally.</p>

21 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding was allocated to social work departments to provide allowances for 16 to 18-year-olds in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Robert Brown: Prior to 1 April 2004, 16 to 18-year-old care leavers received benefits from the Department of Work and Pensions. In addition, local authorities had the power, through sections 29 and 30 of The Children (Scotland) Act 1995, to provide discretionary allowances…

21 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23721 by Lewis Macdonald on 18 March 2002, which local authorities have concessionary travel schemes for (a) children aged under 16, (b) 16 to 18-year-olds in full time education courses and (c) 16 to 18-year-olds who are not on full time education c…

Answer · Tavish Scott: The information requested isprovided in the following table. Concessionary travel for young people is a discretionarymatter for local authorities. All 16 local concessionary travel schemes give concessionsto disabled young people under the age of 18 if they m…

16 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how long Monaghan Middlebrook Mushrooms at Drem in East Lothian sourced labour from gangmasters and when it claims that it ceased to do so.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The specific information requestedis not available.</p>

16 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made since the Minister for Environment and Rural Development’s letter to me of 2 June 2005 regarding the employment of immigrant workers at Monaghan Middlebrook Mushrooms at Drem in East Lothian and its enquiries regarding compliance with agricultural wages legisla…

Answer · Ross Finnie: Analysis of the information gathered during the inspection of pay records for May 2005 at Monaghan Middlebrook Mushrooms, Drem, East Lothian, on 6 June 2005 showed that some workers were being underpaid.</p> <p>As a result, the employing agencies supplying st…

14 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children with learning difficulties were excluded from school in each year since 1999, broken down by (a) local authority, (b) primary school and (c) secondary school.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive does not hold this information from 1999. This breakdown of information has only been collated from 2004.</p> <p>Please see the following table:</p><p>Number¹ Exclusions Amongst Pupils with a Learning Difficulty², …

14 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many reports were made to the police in each year since 1999 in which the alleged victim was an adult with learning difficulties, broken down by category of offence.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is not held centrally.</p>

14 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many successful prosecutions have taken place in each year since 1999 in which the alleged victim was an adult with learning difficulties, broken down by category of offence.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is not held centrally.</p>

14 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions have taken place in each year since 1999 in which the alleged victim was an adult with learning difficulties, broken down by category of offence.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The statistics available on prosecutionsdo not include information on victim characteristics.</p>

14 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many reports were made to the police in each year since 1999 in which the alleged victim was an adult with learning difficulties, broken down by sheriff court district.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The recorded crime statisticscollected centrally do not include information on victim characteristics.</p>

14 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many successful prosecutions there have been in each year since 1999 in which the alleged victim was an adult with learning difficulties, broken down by sheriff court district.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The statistics available on convictionsdo not include information on victim characteristics.</p>

14 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions there have been in each year since 1999 in which the alleged victim was an adult with learning difficulties, broken down by sheriff court district.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The statistics available on prosecutionsdo not include information on victim characteristics.</p>

14 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many foster carers there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Robert Brown: The information requested isnot held centrally.</p><p>However, the ScottishExecutive is currently collating information about the number of foster carersand any shortfall of foster carers in each local authority area in order toevaluate the impact of the extr…

14 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been in foster care in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Robert Brown: The numbers of looked after children in foster care on the 31 March each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area, are shown in the following table.</p> <p>Number of Children Looked After by Foster Carers on the 31 March</p><table border=1 cellspa…

14 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it issues to local authorities in respect of transitional arrangements for vulnerable children moving from foster care to adult status.

Answer · Robert Brown: Regulations and guidance onthe support and assistance for young people leaving care in Scotlandcame into force on 1 April 2004. In addition, the Scottish Executive commissionedmaterials to assist local authorities in carrying out this duty effectively.These w…

14 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been given to local authorities to provide supported accommodation in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Local authorities are not given a specific budget for supported accommodation. The spending review 2004 invested £1.2 billion over three years in housing support services through the Supporting People programme to local authorities for vulnerable people, and …

14 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what supported accommodation facilities have been provided for adults with learning difficulties in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not heldcentrally. Since 2003-04 statistics have been collected on the number ofclients with learning disabilities receiving housing support under theSupporting People programme, but no records are kept on the number of separatesupported a…

14 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many vulnerable adults have been in supported accommodation in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Over 170,000 clients received housing support services in 2004-05 in various types of accommodation including mainstream housing, sheltered housing, special housing and supported accommodation. The following table gives figures for those in supported accommod…

9 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it has had met, and what discussions it has had with, the Fuel Poverty Forum regarding fuel price rises.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive Fuel Poverty Forum meets quarterly to work collectively towards delivering the Scottish Executive fuel poverty target. Fuel prices are reserved to the UK Government and as such have not constituted a formal agenda item. However the Foru…

9 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on what dates the Fuel Poverty Forum has met since its inception.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Fuel Poverty Forum met on 24 February 2003, 17 June 2003, 17 September 2003, 16 December 2003, 30 March 2004, 15 June 2004, 15 September 2004, 7 July 2005 and 4 October 2005.</p>

9 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many child sex offenders currently held in prison have been assessed as being at medium risk of repeat offending upon release.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-23113 on 15 March 2006. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the…

9 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many child sex offenders currently held in prison have been assessed as being at high risk of repeat offending upon release.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>A Sex Offender Audit took a snapshotof prisoners in custody on 18 May 2005. It indicated that of 321 prisoners identified as Schedule1 sex …

9 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many sex offenders currently serving a determinant sentence have been assessed as being at (a) high risk and (b) medium risk of (i) reoffending and (ii) repeat offending upon release.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>A Sex Offender Audit took a snapshotof prisoners in custody on 18 May 2005. It indicated that there were 402 determinate sentenceprisoners …

9 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners categorised as predatory paedophiles and given a determinant sentence were released in each year since 1999.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>“Predatory paedophiles” is nota term used to disguise either Schedule 1 offenders or sex offenders and thereforenot identified by the Scott…

9 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many social work assistants there have been in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

Answer · Robert Brown: The number of social work assistants working in each local authority is available in the <i>Staff Of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services</i> publications. Between 1999 and 2004 (the latest year for which information is available) the number of socia…

7 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies there are for social workers, broken down by grade and local authority area.

Answer · Robert Brown: The latest vacancy figures for local authority social workers, broken down by grade and local authority area, are published on the Scottish Executive website at:</p> <p><a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/02/06165620/0">http://www.scotland.g…

7 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in respect of the 2002 Scottish House Condition Survey, how many households would be considered to be in fuel poverty if council tax benefit was not included in the calculation of income.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Analysis of the 2002Scottish House Condition Survey shows that, in 2002-03, 305,000 households wouldbe considered as being in fuel poverty if council tax benefit was not includedin the calculation of income. That is an additional 19,000 households bycompariso…

7 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in respect of the 2002 Scottish House Condition Survey, how many households with children under five would be considered to be in fuel poverty if (a) the higher heating regime defined in the 1996 survey report was applied and (b) fuel prices rose by (i) 5%, (ii) 10%, (iii) 15%, (iv) 20% …

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: If the higher heating regimeused in the 1996 Scottish House Condition Survey report had been used tocalculate fuel poverty for the 2002 report the number of households withchildren under five considered to be in fuel poverty would be 11,000. Theeffects on thi…

7 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why, for the purposes of calculating the number of households in fuel poverty, households with children under five are no longer considered by the Scottish Household Survey to require a higher heating regime.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: the Scottish House Condition Survey used the definitions of satisfactory heatingused in the Fuel Poverty Statement.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>