Parliamentary questions
Christine Grahame
3,532 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
15 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it provides (a) to Capability Scotland and (b) towards the costs of schools such as Westerlea School in Edinburgh.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive is providing direct funding to Capability Scotland in 2002-03 as set out in the table:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=604><TR><TD WIDTH="39%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>Project/Purpose</TD><TD WIDTH="13%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>Amount</TD…
14 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what role rail services will play in the provision of rural transport, in the light of paragraphs 2-9 in section B of the report by the Scottish National Rural Partnership, Implementing Services in Rural Scotland: A Progress Report.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive's consultation paper <I>Strategic Priorities for Scotland's Passenger Railway</I>, published in November 2000, included our priorities for rail services in rural Scotland.<P>In particular, the paper outlined the Executive's expectation …
14 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Inclusive Learning Network for children with special educational needs announced by the Minister for Education and Young People on 14 January 2003 will be expanded to enable all local authorities to become part of the scheme.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Inclusive Learning Network is a discrete project, ending in March 2004, funded via the Executive's Special Educational Needs Innovation Grants Programme for the voluntary sector. There are no current plans to extend it beyond the six local authorities inv…
14 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what period the #150,000 announced by the Minister for Education and Young People on 14 January 2003 for the Inclusive Learning Network for children with special educational needs will cover.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Inclusive Learning Network was formally launched on 14 January 2003. The Equity Group were awarded £150,000 to take forward this project within the period June 2002 to March 2004. Funding is paid through the Special Educational Needs Innovation Grants Pro…
14 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities will be included in the Inclusive Learning Network for children with special educational needs announced by the Minister for Education and Young People on 14 January 2003; how much each local authority will receive from the #150,000 announced for the network, and w…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Inclusive Learning Network project is funded through the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Innovation Grants Programme, which is paid to the voluntary sector in support of good practice and new ideas in SEN provision. The Equity Group has been awarded £150,…
13 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultations it had with the Home Secretary with regard to the changes in gun laws that would impact on the Scottish judiciary's exercise of judicial discretion prior to the (a) announcement of the proposal for a minimum sentence for the illegal possession of a firearm and (b) meet…
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive has been engaged in regular and continuing discussions with the Home Office on a wide range of firearms issues, including the recently announced proposals to combat gun crime. The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland was rep…
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has responded formally to the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, and, if so, whether it will make copies of its response publicly available.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Executive responded to the Audit Scotland report<I>, Youth Justice in Scotland</I> on 5 December 2002. The news release containing this response, SEED 153/2002, is available at <A HREF="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/pages/news/2002/12/SEED153.aspx">http://ww…
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its new national youth justice standards, as referred to by the Minister for Education and Young People on 5 December 2002 in its press release SEED153/2002.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The <I>National Standards for Scotland's Youth Justice Services</I> report was published on 19 December 2002. It is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 25683) and on the Scottish Executive website at:<P><A HREF="http://www.scotland.gov…
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to recruit retired staff, sessional staff and train other professionals to deal with young people who offend, in the light of the finding in paragraph 219 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: We are currently in the second phase of the Care in Scotland <I>Life Changing Work</I> campaign launched in October 2002. The campaign deals with all areas of social care, which includes young people who offend. In June 2002 I announced new funding of £400,00…
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the statement in paragraph 204 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that, because the costs of custody in young offenders institutions are met by the Scottish Prison Service and the local authority meets the costs of secure accommod…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Audit Scotland has made no recommendations on this point.<P>Where a child has been sentenced to be detained under section 205 or section 208 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, the place and conditions in which the child is detained are subject to …
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the statement in paragraph 203 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that "local authorities complain that there are too many separate funding sources, that they appear uncoordinated and too much time is required to make applications…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Executive is actively looking at ways of achieving more integrated funding streams, following the Spending Review 2002, as part of its general drive towards more integrated services for children and young people.
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive in the light of the statement in paragraph 190 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that "information about the progress of young people under supervision of local authorities is limited", what data it has and what action it has taken, or plans to take, to…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Information on young people on a supervision requirement is held locally by local authorities. On 19 December, we allocated £3 million to local authorities to invest in IT to improve the information on and assessment of young people who offend.
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what data it has on the number of young people in residential and secure units and young offenders institutions that have mental health difficulties and on the staffing provision in such units and institutions, as referred to in paragraph 166 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with off…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: In 2001-02 there were two admissions to secure care for children with a clinically diagnosed mental health illness. In the same year, 103 young people with a clinically diagnosed mental health illness were admitted to residential accommodation. <P>Many young …
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the statement in paragraph 163 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that "there is no national information about the number of children in residential schools".
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The statement in the Audit Scotland report reads in full:<P>There is no national information about the numbers of young people in residential schools where offending is one of the difficulties that needs to be tackled.<P>The Executive publishes annually figur…
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the statement in paragraph 139 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that "a serious problem is the lack of throughcare and aftercare" and "prisoners serving less than four years are not subject to statutory aftercare and may receive…
Answer · Hugh Henry: We have recognised the need for improved throughcare and aftercare of prisoners in a major new policy development based on the Tripartite Group's report, <I>Developing the Service.</I> The report, which is to be published later this month, identifies young of…
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many women under the age of 21 received (a) a custodial sentence, (b) a community penalty, (c) a monetary penalty and (d) any other penalty in (i) 1999-2000, (ii) 2000-01, (iii) 2001-02 and (iv) 2002-03 to date.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The information available, which relates to calendar years, is given in the following table.<P>Females Aged Under 21 With a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts, by Type of Sentence, 1999-2001<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=285><TR><TD WIDTH="50%"…
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the finding in paragraph 93 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that out of a sample of 17 procurator fiscal offices, the number of cases involving an accused aged under the age of 21 on which no proceedings were taken ranged from…
Answer · Elish Angiolini: Variations of outcomes across the country are not necessarily indicative of inconsistency of approach, but instead reflect an appropriate response to local circumstances and offending behaviour, as well as, most importantly, the individual circumstances of ea…
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the statement in paragraph 81 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that some children's panel members and reporters had reservations about the capability of children's hearings to deal with persistent offenders in part due to a lack…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Ministers have made clear that tackling persistent young offenders effectively is a priority. The fast-track children's hearing pilots which will begin soon will deal specifically with this group by offering a guaranteed place on an appropriate programme to h…
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the statement in paragraph 58 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that "the data, as currently recorded, do not indicate the number of cases where the reporter's decision is influenced by non-availability of resources, but it is li…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Decisions by Reporters and Children's Hearings should be based solely on what is in the best interests of children. It is for other agencies to provide the resources to implement those decisions.
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the statement in paragraph 44 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that "data on the number of young people committing offences, being warned, referred to the children's hearings system or the procurator fiscals are poor" and what c…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Children's Reporter Administration has successfully implemented major changes to the collection and classification of data since May 1999. The Referrals Administration Database is now fully operational across Scotland. It records all children ref…
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive why there is no uniformity across police forces as to what constitutes an informal or a formal warning; whether these warnings are recorded at force level, as recommended by the ad hoc Ministerial Group on Youth Crime, and why only five out of the eight police forces could provide annual …
Answer · Jim Wallace: Action point 6 of <I>Scotland's Action Programme to Reduce Youth Crime 2002</I>, which we announced in summer 2002, was to develop a Scotland-wide system of cautions/warnings. At the time, we recognised that there were variations across Scotland in the approa…
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of placing young offenders in residential care have been in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02 and (d) 2002-03 to date.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The following table provides information on the cost of placing in secure accommodation young people who have been sentenced by the courts to be detained under sections 205 or 208 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLP…
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies there are for children's services social workers in (a) Scotland and (b) each local authority.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-30873 on 19 November 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: <A HREF="http://www.scottish.parliament.…
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which of the 38 recommendations contained in the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, it has accepted; how it has prioritised these, and what action it has taken, or plans to take, in respect of them.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Twenty-seven of the 38 recommendations are being implemented. We are in agreement with a further six recommendations and we are developing proposals to take these forward. Recommendations 26, 27, 30, 31 and 36 require further consideration.
10 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will report on the recent outbreak of disturbances at HM Prison Shotts in the light of the meeting between the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice and the Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service.
Answer · Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-33286 on 21 January 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: <A HREF="http://www.scottish.parliament.u…
9 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact on poverty of paragraph 20342, "Averaging the hours", of amendment 5 of February 2002 to the Department for Work and Pensions' Decision Makers' Guide, whereby many seasonal workers will not be able to claim jobseeker's allowance, and what represen…
Answer · Margaret Curran: Amendments to the <I>Decision Makers' Guide</I> are the responsibility of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The DWP has informed me that no amendment was made to paragraph 20342 of this guide in February 2002.
7 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional costs have been incurred to the public purse since the closure of Peebles Sheriff Court.
Answer · Jim Wallace: No information is held centrally on any additional costs arising since the closure of Peebles Sheriff Court. Given the low level of business transacted in the sheriff court any additional costs are unlikely to be significant.
7 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30468 by Mr Jim Wallace on 10 October 2002, what stage the discussions between Scottish Borders Council and the Scottish Court Service have reached and when it expects (a) those discussions to be concluded and (b) the consultation paper on the future…
Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Court Service to respond. His response is as follows.<P>The discussions between the Scottish Court Service and Scottish Borders Council on the possible use of the court buildings in Rosetta Road for cou…
19 Dec 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32033 by Patricia Ferguson on 18 December 2002, what legal advice it seeks regarding the boundaries of the devolved responsibilities of the Parliament before seeking the agreement of the Parliament, through a Sewel motion, that the UK Parliament legi…
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: By long-standing convention, the general policy of the Scottish Executive is that it does not disclose legal advice or whether it has taken legal advice.
11 Dec 2002 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what contingency plans it has to support fishing communities in the event of a ban on cod fishing.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The Executive remains committed to ensuring a viable future for the communities that depend on the Scottish fishing industry and we will not agree to a ban on cod fishing. In the context of the cuts that are being proposed, the Executive would have a key role…