Parliamentary questions
Karen Gillon
705 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
5 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in taking forward the Larkhall to Milngavie rail link.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: On 27 August, the Executive announced it would be taking forward the Larkhall to Milngavie rail link in partnership with Strathclyde Passenger Transport (SPT) with the Executive providing £16 million of the £23 million total. The Executive is currently in dis…
5 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in expanding the number of community schools.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Sixty-two projects involving over 400 schools are supported by the New Community School pilot programme at present. Last month we announced that £30.6 million would be provided to local authorities over the next two years to support roll out of the new commun…
5 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to establish a register of pensioners' groups.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with national pensioners' organisations and there are no plans to establish a national register of pensioners' groups.
5 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is giving to New Lanark Conservation Trust in its bid to secure World Heritage Site status for New Lanark.
Answer · Mike Watson: The nomination for New Lanark was prepared by Historic Scotland and submitted to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) by the then First Minister for Scotland, the late Donald Dewar MSP, on behalf of the UK Government …
28 Nov 2001 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to reduce delay and disruption to traffic caused by road works carried out by utility companies.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: A consultation paper <I>Reducing Disruption from Utilities Road Works</I> was issued by the Executive on 23 November 2001 to local authorities, utility companies and other interested parties. Copies of the consultation paper have been placed in SPICe.<P>In pa…
20 Nov 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what grants were allocated indirectly to voluntary organisations in 2001-02 and what the amount of the grant was in each case.
Answer · Jackie Baillie: The Executive has released today, a database on indirect grants to voluntary organisations in 2001-02. A total of £304 million has been awarded, almost £35 million more than was awarded in the previous financial year. Copies are available from the Parliament'…
31 Oct 2001 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to support the staff at DAKS Simpson in Larkhall following the announcement that the factory is to cease manufacturing in spring 2002.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1O-3923 by Alasdair Morrison on 25 October 2001.
30 Oct 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to install carbon monoxide monitors in all homes.
Answer · Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive has no plans to install carbon monoxide detectors in all houses. The Central Heating Programme will provide carbon monoxide detectors for those households who are having gas, oil or solid fuel systems installed.
26 Oct 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what health funding, in addition to the annual budget assignment, was allocated to Lanarkshire Health Board in (a) 1997-98, (b) 1998-99, (c) 1999-2000 and (d) 2000-01.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Lanarkshire Health Board received the following allocations in addition to the general allocation (unified budget from 1999-2000) issued at the start of the financial year.<P><TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=153><TR><TD WIDTH="51%" VALIGN="TOP"…
17 Oct 2001 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with DAKS Simpson in Larkhall and Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire following the announcement that the factory is to cease manufacturing in spring 2002.
Answer · Alasdair Morrison: My officials have been in regular dialogue with both DAKS Simpson and Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire. Wendy Alexander also met GMB and STUC representatives on Monday 22 October 2001 to discuss this issue.
2 Oct 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that wind farms are more widely developed in Scotland.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: We are currently carrying out a final consultation on the detail of the Renewables Obligation (Scotland), or ROS, which we hope to implement from January 2002. The ROS will place a statutory obligation on Scotland's electricity suppliers to provide a specifie…
2 Oct 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in the Clydesdale parliamentary constituency will benefit from its plans to introduce free personal care for the elderly.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: In Scotland, everyone who currently contributes towards the cost of their personal care, whether at home or in a care home setting, will benefit from the introduction of free personal care. There will also be an expansion of personal care services in the comm…
2 Oct 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that parents are consulted in any plans to rationalise schools.
Answer · Jack McConnell: There is a statutory duty on education authorities to consult parents of children who attend schools which are the subject of specific closure or related proposals. The requirements are set out in the Education (Publication and Consultation Etc) (Scotland) Re…
2 Oct 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that there are national guidelines for school rationalisation.
Answer · Jack McConnell: CoSLA has been working on preparation of a code of practice on school closures in response to a recommendation by the Parliament's Education, Culture and Sport Committee. It has, however, recently decided that the issues it was considering could not be satisf…
2 Oct 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to increase the number of children in the Clydesdale parliamentary constituency taking part in weekly physical activity.
Answer · Jack McConnell: Guidance on the curriculum recommends one hour's physical exercise per week for all pupils up to the age of 16. The Scottish Executive has encouraged schools to promote physical exercise in recent years through a range of <B>sport</B>scotland initiatives whic…
2 Oct 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is for a routine ophthalmology appointment.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Provisional figures for the year ending 30 June 2001 show that the median waiting time for a first out-patient appointment with a consultant in ophthalmology, following referral by a general medical practitioner, was 64 days.
2 Oct 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to reduce ophthalmology waiting times in the Clydesdale parliamentary constituency.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive set out in <I>Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for</I> <I>change</I> our commitment to work with NHSScotland to reduce waiting through increased investment and improved working practices. Reducing waiting times is a prior…
20 Sep 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to improve the interface between primary and secondary education.
Answer · Jack McConnell: I announced on 20 September that I intend to revise the current system of assessment to ensure that a coherent integrated system is in operation in both primary and secondary schools. A key issue is the transition between primary and secondary school and the …
19 Sep 2001 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in enabling initial teacher training to be undertaken by distance learning.
Answer · Jack McConnell: All teacher education courses must be accredited by the General Teaching Council for Scotland and approved by Scottish ministers. In order to be given approval courses must comply with the Guidelines for Courses of Teacher Education in Scotland. <P ALIGN="JUS…
13 Sep 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to increase training opportunities for classroom assistants.
3 Aug 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress the Scottish Qualifications Authority has made towards delivery of the 2001 examination results.
Answer · Jack McConnell: The Scottish Qualifications Authority provides me with regular updates on its progress towards delivery of the exams diet and candidates' results. I have today written to you in your role as Convenor of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee with a summar…
20 Jun 2001 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made with the New Strategy for Golf Tourism.
Answer · Alasdair Morrison: VisitScotland have prepared an update paper on progress with implementing the golf tourism strategy. The paper, which gives information on golf development, service delivery, promotion and research and monitoring is available on the tourism industry website, …
10 May 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are planned to increase public transport access to Edinburgh from towns and villages which do not have connections.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The provision of local bus services is a matter for the commercial judgement of individual bus operators and for local authorities where they identify a social need. The Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 provides local authorities with a toolkit of options to imp…
2 May 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how the level of funding available to (a) Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, (b) Lanarkshire Primary Care NHS Trust and (c) Lanarkshire Health Board in (i) 1999-2000 and (ii) 2000-01 compared to that available in each of the previous seven years.
Answer · Susan Deacon: SEHD allocate funds to health boards. It is then for the health boards to decide what healthcare services are needed for their resident populations and commission services accordingly with their local and other NHS Trusts. The information about the amount of …
29 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the number of people donating bone marrow.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Officials are liaising with colleagues in Department of Health in England over the setting up of workshops to look at ways of improving recruitment and broadening the range of ethnic groups currently on the registries. Representatives from the bone marrow reg…
29 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what contingency plans are in place to deal with any foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in South Lanarkshire.
Answer · Ross Finnie: Based on the action taken in Dumfries and Galloway and the results achieved, we are confident that a similar operation could be implemented should further outbreaks occur in any other part of Scotland. The aims and priorities for action would be as outlined i…
29 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that children in the workforce are not exploited.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Existing legislation and regulations already cover matters such as the ages at which children can work, the length of time they can work, and the types of work that they can undertake. Most recently we laid the Children (Protection at Work) (Scotland) Regulat…
29 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of (a) primary 1, (b) primary 2 and (c) primary 3 children in Clydesdale were in class si'es of 30 or more in (i) 1996-97, (ii) 1997-1998, (iii) 1998-1999, (iv) 1999-2000 and (v) 2000-01.
Answer · Jack McConnell: Class size information was first collected through the School Census in 1997 and the results of the 2000-01 Census are not yet available. The information which is available is set out in the tables below. Substantial resources have been made available through…
29 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of children in Clydesdale took up a pre-school nursery place in (a) 1996-97, (b) 1997-98, (c) 1998-99, (d) 1999-2000 and (e) 2000-01.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Information on the number of children attending pre-school education is not available on a constituency basis. However, the number and percentage of children receiving publicly funded pre-school education in South Lanarkshire Council area in the spring term o…
26 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to receive the full business case for the Larkhall to Milngavie rail extension.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive received the full business case from Strathclyde Passenger Transport on 19 March and is considering it as a matter of urgency.