Parliamentary questions
Fiona Hyslop
940 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
27 Jun 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the discussions with education authorities, higher education institutions and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council on the expansion of teacher training places will take place, as referred to in its news release SEED244/2003 of 25 June 2003.
Answer · Peter Peacock: Officials are in regular contact with the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council to keep them advised of future requirements for teachers and further discussions with all relevant interests will take place in the course of the summer and autumn.
27 Jun 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce proposals for the training of additional teachers in mathematics and English in order to reduce class si'es in these subjects to 20 in S1 and S2.
Answer · Peter Peacock: Discussions will be held with education authorities as to their requirements for additional teachers. Intakes to teacher training courses are a matter for the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council. The Scottish Executive offers advice to the council on th…
27 Jun 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how training for the additional 2,800 teachers needed to meet its target of 53,000 teachers by 2007 will be funded.
Answer · Peter Peacock: Funding for any additional teachers required by the Partnership Agreement will be delivered through the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council.
18 Jun 2003 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to limit exam appeals of school pupils.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The appeals system for national qualifications is a matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). <P>However, I have been given assurances that the SQA has not introduced a cap or quota on the number of appeals that can be submitted.
16 Jun 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-31988 by Cathy Jamieson on 10 December 2002, on what date the revised guidance to local authorities on school transport safety will be issued.
Answer · Peter Peacock: We now plan to issue the revised guidance this summer.
3 Jun 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Physical Education Review Group is nearing completion of its report; when the review of the entry requirement to the PGCE in Physical Education is likely to begin, and how long the review will take.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The Physical Education Review Group met most recently on 23 and 30 April 2003, when they spent two days working on the recommendations for their report. The group will meet again in the near future to finalise these recommendations. The report is expected to …
22 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether sportscotland, as a statutory consultee, has agreed to development of Meggetland playing fields, Edinburgh.
Answer · Frank McAveety: <B>Sport</B>scotland withdrew their objections to the planning application for the development at Meggetland in 2001.
22 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make a decision on the future of Meggetland playing fields, Edinburgh.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: Planning permission for the residential and sporting developments at Meggetland playing fields was granted on 30 May.
22 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is good practice to submit sensitive planning applications for ministerial decision during an election period.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: The timing of any submission of a planning application to the Scottish ministers is for the relevant local authority. Any submission during an election period would be handled in accordance with the election guidance for Scottish Executive staff. The guidance…
21 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what environmental monitoring is taking place around Fauldhouse, West Lothian.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The information requested is not held centrally. This is an operational matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the local authority.
21 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to safeguard water purity in and around Fauldhouse, West Lothian.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) carries out monitoring of surface water, groundwater, landfill gas and emissions in respect of various waste disposal installations around Fauldhouse. SEPA also samples Breich Water both chemically and biologi…
21 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what analysis of the health profile of the residents of Fauldhouse, West Lothian, it has undertaken, or intends to undertake, and whether it will publish the results of any such analysis.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I understand that this question arises from concerns that landfill sites in the Fauldhouse area might adversely affect the health of the local communities. Research aimed specifically at identifying landfill-related public health effects has provided no compe…
21 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ameliorate any adverse impact of dumping and disposal by landfill of toxic materials around Fauldhouse, West Lothian.
Answer · Ross Finnie: This is an operational matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the local authority. Waste management activities are controlled by the land use planning process, operated by the local authority, and by the landfill permitting process operated…
21 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to assess the environmental impact of dumping and disposal by landfill of toxic materials around West Lothian.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the local authority have responsibilities for the assessment of the environmental impact of such landfilI, for which I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-00355 on 6 June 2003 . All answers to wr…
21 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will direct the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to undertake an assessment of any effect on the environment of dumping and disposal by landfill of toxic materials around Fauldhouse, West Lothian.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Environment Protection Agency makes an assessment of the environmental effects of waste disposal as a matter of course when exercising its regulatory duties in respect of landfill installations.
21 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to safeguard the health of residents of Fauldhouse, West Lothian, in respect of any effects from dumping and disposal by landfill of toxic materials around the village.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the local authority have responsibilities for carrying out a level of monitoring and investigation of waste disposal activities that is appropriate to the level of environmental risk, including the risk of enviro…
21 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will conduct a public inquiry into dumping and disposal by landfill of toxic materials around Fauldhouse, West Lothian, and whether there have been any risks to public health associated with any such dumping and disposal.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The has no plans to conduct a public inquiry into the issue of landfill of toxic materials around Fauldhouse. <P>The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) carries out monitoring of surface water, groundwater, landfill gas and emissions in respect of …
19 May 2003 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the economic impact will be of the delay in the opening of the rail station at Edinburgh Park.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The information requested is not held centrally.
6 Mar 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what it interprets to be extradition, as referred to in the European Union Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA on the European arrest warrant.
Answer · Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-32291 on 16 December 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.u…
6 Mar 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its interpretation is of whether extradition between European Union member states was abolished as a result of the Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA on the European arrest warrant.
Answer · Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-32291 on 16 December 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.u…
19 Feb 2003 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the #5.4 million announced by the Deputy Minister for Justice on 12 December 2002 to help fund firefighters' pensions was transferred from it to fire boards.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The additional £5.4 million funding was incorporated as a redetermination in the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2003, debated in Parliament on 6 February. The additional resources will be distributed before the end of this financial year.
4 Feb 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has earmarked any additional monies to pay the pension provision for retired and retiring police officers and, if so, how much.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The following amounts have been included in police Grant Aided Expenditure calculations to meet pensions expenditure estimated by forces:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=134><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP"> </TD><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TO…
4 Feb 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the pension contributions by serving police officers are, and will remain, sufficient to cover the pension payments made by police forces.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The police pension scheme is funded partly by officers contributions and partly by Grant Aided Expenditure. In the 2002 Spending Review account was taken of estimated costs provided by Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and, as such, sufficient …
4 Feb 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what analysis it has done of the additional costs to police forces of the retirement of police officers over the next five years.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The additional costs of the retirement of police officers over the next three years were looked at as part of the 2002 Spending Review.
4 Feb 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers will retire from each police force in each of the next five years.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The numbers of officers eligible to retire over the next five years, as supplied by Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, are shown in the following table. Information on the number of officers by force is not held centrally.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPAC…
4 Feb 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers in each age band are currently serving in each police force.
Answer · Jim Wallace: This information is not held centrally.
29 Jan 2003 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what research it is undertaking into the cumulative effects of open cast coal mining and landfill on communities.
Answer · Des McNulty: No research is currently being undertaken specifically on this issue although there is completed and on-going work that should assist in assessing the likely cumulative effects of new proposals on communities. Where cumulative effects are likely to have signi…
28 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken under the Close the Gap campaign.
Answer · Margaret Curran: In March 2001 the Scottish Executive launched the Close the Gap Campaign to raise awareness about the gender pay gap in Scotland by working together with unions, enterprise, business and employers. <P>In November 2001, funding of nearly half a million pounds …
28 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27243 by Mr Andy Kerr on 29 July 2002, whether all executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies will have completed an equal pay review by April 2003.
Answer · Andy Kerr: All executive agencies and non-departmental bodies are aware of the requirement set out in the Scottish Executive's Public Sector Pay Guidelines to complete an equal pay review by April 2003. The Scottish Executive expects bodies to adhere to this timetable.
28 Jan 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what alterations were made to pay structures in the NHS as a result of its action under Agenda for Change - Modernising the NHS Pay System.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: None. The proposals for modernising the NHS pay system are currently the subject of consultation with NHS Scotland staff. If agreed, it is proposed that the new pay system will be implemented nationally in October 2004.