Dorothy-Grace Elder

7 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to S1W-14769 by Susan Deacon on 17 April 2001, what immediate measures will be introduced both to reduce waiting times for a clinical appointment at an audiology department and to ensure that demand for the fitting of hearing aids is met and when its review of audio…

Answer · Susan Deacon: The guidance issued in March and referred to in my previous answer summarised the results of current research and translated this into practical guidance on the design and delivery of services, including the technical aspects of hearing aid fittings and rehab…

7 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures regarding staffing levels in audiology services it will introduce to meet any increase in service demand.

Answer · Susan Deacon: It is a matter for health boards and Trusts to assess and provide for local needs and to determine the staffing levels required for effective service delivery.

7 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action will be taken to ensure that local authorities carry out their duties and responsibilities concerning any contravention of planning permission conditions.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Planning authorities in Scotland have the primary responsibility for taking whatever enforcement action may be necessary, in the public interest, in their administrative area.<P>Failure on the part of the planning authority to take appropriate enforcement act…

7 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action will be taken against companies that contravene environmental notices served on them by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The serving of enforcement and improvement notices is one of a range of options available to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to deal with contravention of licences it has issued. If operators fail to comply with the terms of such notices, fu…

7 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints about noise pollution have been received by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency in each of the past five years.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The responsibilities of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency do not cover noise pollution, which is a matter for local authorities under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Any enquiries that SEPA receive on this matter are passed on to the appropria…

7 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) landfill site and (b) waste transfer station operators have had their operating licences revoked by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency in each of the past five years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: This is a matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. The information requested is not held centrally.

7 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take to alleviate noise pollution at waste transfer stations and landfill sites as a result of vehicles transporting waste through residential and commercial areas.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: This is a matter for local authorities in Scotland. Local authorities, either in dealing with noise as nuisance issues under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 or, in some cases, in their planning authority role, are responsible for any enforcement action …

7 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-15699 by Rhona Brankin on 22 May 2001, how many reports on the illegal dumping of material and fly-tipping were submitted to each procurator fiscal by (a) the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and (b) each local authority in each of the past two…

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Information on numbers of cases that are reported to the procurator fiscal is not held centrally in the format requested. The table gives the latest available information on the number of persons proceeded against and those with a charge proved in Scottish co…

7 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10165 by Sarah Boyack on 25 October 2000, how much in fixed penalty fines for litter offences was raised by each local authority in each of the past five years.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The information requested is not held centrally.

7 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-15699 by Rhona Brankin on 22 May 2001, how many notices have been served on landowners to clear their land of illegally dumped material by (a) the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and (b) each local authority in each of the past five years.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The information requested is not held centrally.

23 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that GPs do not charge for the medical assessments necessary to access certain social security benefits, such as disability living allowance.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The National Health Service (General Medical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 1995 require general practitioners to provide to their patients free of charge medical certificates which are required for Social Security purposes. The Department of Social Securit…

23 May 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive at what time and on what date it was informed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of the first cases of foot-and-mouth disease in England.

Answer · Ross Finnie: A member of the State Veterinary Service informed the Scottish Executive of the first confirmed case of foot-and-mouth disease in England at approximately 9pm on the evening of 20 February 2001.

16 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will investigate the extent of any cutbacks in local authority "best garden" competitions and any other such initiatives which improve the local environment.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Expenditure on such initiatives is a matter for individual local authorities.

11 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many candidates applied for the post of chief executive of visitscotland and what type of qualifications and experience those who were interviewed had.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: 151 candidates applied in response to the newspaper advert which appeared in December 2000 and the initial search. Interviews are still continuing, but I understand that those interviewed so far had experience of running organisations and of marketing.

11 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the firm used to select candidates for the post of chief executive of visitscotland had responsibility for ensuring that the successful candidate had no other conflicting executive commitments.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: This is a matter for visitscotland but I understand that, whilst it is normal practice for recruitment consultants to look into the background of candidates, it is not common practice to place with recruitment consultants a duty to ensure that candidates have…

11 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what brief was given to the firm used to select candidates for the position of chief executive of visitscotland and whether ministers were involved in approving that brief.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The firm concerned was invited to search for candidates capable of fulfilling the role described in my answer to question S1W-15445. Ministers were not involved in approving that brief.

3 May 2001 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer what policies the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has to encourage the employment on its staff of deaf and hard of hearing people.

Answer · David Steel: The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body is an equal opportunities employer and is firmly committed to providing equal opportunities for all of our staff irrespective of age, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, race, colour, religion, nat…

3 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11746 by Malcolm Chisholm on 5 March 2001, whether it plans to make hospital-acquired infections a notifiable cause of death.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The recording of the cause of death is a matter for the certifying doctor with guidance from the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS). In coding causes of death for statistical purposes, GROS uses the World Health Organisation's <I>International Statis…

3 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to encourage the employment of deaf and hard of hearing people in public services.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive's recruitment policy complies with the UK Government's Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and does not discriminate against disabled people when they are applying for a job or are in employment. This includes those who are deaf or hard …

3 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to ensure that all hospital consultants and other staff are given deaf awareness training.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-15598 on 17 May 2001.

3 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive Scottish Executive what action it intends to take to improve general practitioner and hospital services for deaf people, and in particular to address any problems in relation to deaf and hard of hearing people leaving appointments unsure of what is wrong with them due to a lack of visual …

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Executive is committed to ensuring that all patients are enabled to be full partners in making decisions about their own care. NHS boards and Trusts are expected to ensure that arrangements are in place to meet the communication needs of people who are de…

3 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to alleviate social exclusion among deaf people.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive is committed to promoting social inclusion and equality of opportunity for all the people of Scotland. The <I>Equality Strategy</I> published last year, set out our plans for mainstreaming equality into policy development and service de…

2 May 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to investigate changing the name of visitscotland back to the Scottish Tourist Board.

Answer · Alasdair Morrison: No.

24 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has to ensure that farm animals are killed with the minimum of distress in compliance with the Restrictions on Pithing (Scotland) Regulations 2001 (SSI 2001/73).

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Food Standards Agency enforces these Regulations.<P>I am advised by the agency that officials were aware of the need for urgent guidance to address the important issues of animal welfare and operator safety. Detailed guidance notes developed by the Humane…

24 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has studied the Irish Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation's aid schemes to farmers and specifically the grants made available for farms to create shops, cafes or other tourist attractions and whether it plans to adopt a similar scheme to assist farmers in Scotland after…

Answer · Ross Finnie: It is already a well-established policy objective for the Executive to provide financial support to farming and crofting families for the creation of new income-generating enterprises, or the expansion of existing diversified businesses. Grant schemes have be…

24 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis the Lord Advocate made a Reference to the High Court of Justiciary on the judgement by Sheriff Margaret Gimblett at Greenock Sheriff Court to acquit three Trident protesters in October 1999.

Answer · Colin Boyd: The Reference was made on the basis of the criterion in section 123 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, namely that points of law had arisen in relation to the charges. The first 20 paragraphs of the Opinion of the High Court of Justiciary, a copy …

18 Apr 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what new plans it has to combat drug dealers following the anti-drugs march on 1 April 2001.

Answer · Iain Gray: The Executive's drugs strategy includes the creation of the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency in June 2000, which has seized over £17 million worth of drugs and made over 116 arrests to date. The Executive is also supporting the proposed UK Proceeds of Crime B…

2 Apr 2001 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliament Information Centre is adequately staffed and which subject areas do not have an assigned researcher.

Answer · David Steel: The Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) has a complement of 41 posts. This includes 20 staff in the information services team (which includes reference, resources and document supply services) and 20 in the research team, 18 of whom are responsible…

2 Apr 2001 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer how many vacant posts within the Scottish Parliament Information Centre involve work in the subject areas of land, environment, ecology, agriculture and animal experiments.

Answer · David Steel: Researchers within the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) each have responsibility for providing research services across a range of subject areas. These 18 subject specialists currently work in pairs, with each pair covering one of the following …

2 Apr 2001 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer how many vacant posts there currently are in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Answer · David Steel: The Scottish Parliament Information Centre has a complement of 41 posts, seven of which are vacant as at 17th April 2001. Candidates have been appointed to four of these posts; the recruitment process is under way to fill a further two posts; the remaining va…