Parliamentary questions

Linda Fabiani

2,507 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to institute a statutory right of secondary transfer for former council house properties which have been transferred under whole stock transfer.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: We have no plans to institute a statutory right of secondary transfer for former council properties which have been transferred under whole stock transfer.

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what role tenants have in the local application of community ownership.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows. Tenants play a vital role in the application of community ownership. The landlord’s governance process must ensure that the arrangements for…

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what definition of community ownership it uses in respect of community-owned housing.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I would refer the member to the definition which was given to the Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee in September 2000 by the then Minister for Communities, Wendy Alexander. Community ownership is a way of empowering tenants, maxi…

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many sexually-transmitted disease clinics there are in each NHS board area, giving (a) staffing levels, (b) consulting hours per week and (c) average waiting time for an appointment and (d) the ratio of consulting hours to head of population.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The information requested is not available centrally.

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there have been cutbacks in the provision of sexually-transmitted disease clinics within the NHS Lanarkshire area since 1999.

Answer · Andy Kerr: No.

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many sexually-transmitted disease clinics there are in the NHS Lanarkshire area, giving (a) staffing levels, (b) consulting hours per week and (c) average waiting time for an appointment.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The information requested is not available centrally.

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many orthopaedic surgeons are employed and how many vacancies there are in each NHS board area.

Answer · Andy Kerr: NHS Scotland employed 146.6WTE (whole-time equivalent) Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery Consultants at September 2004. This represents an increase of 10.6WTE consultants since September 1999. The vacancy rate for vacancies over six months has remained stable ov…

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is confident that the six-month waiting time target for in-patient and day care treatment to be implemented from December 2005 will be achieved by orthopaedic departments.

Answer · Andy Kerr: NHS board chairs have assured me at the recent annual review meetings that they will deliver the six months waiting times commitment for in-patient and day case treatment by December 2005. NHSScotland has made excellent progress in reducing waiting tim…

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-14460 by Mr Tom McCabe on 14 March 2005, when the construction procurement manual will be published.

Answer · Tom McCabe: Further changes to the proposed guidance were necessitated by a planned amendment to UK procurement regulations to reflect a recent European Court of Justice ruling. The guidance is about to be handed over to web publishers and we expect that the construction…

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many graduates it expects to apply for the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme in each of the next five years.

Answer · Tom McCabe: We have not set targets for the numbers applying to the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme. However, we will be monitoring the scheme carefully.

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to expand the Fresh Talent initiative to allow graduates from previous years to apply.

Answer · Tom McCabe: Under the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme, graduates have up to 12 months to apply following the completion of their studies. This means that those who completed their studies up to 12 months before the scheme was launched on 22 June 2005 are eligibl…

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what advantage a graduate applying for a visa under the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme will have over other similar graduates who do not apply through the scheme.

Answer · Tom McCabe: Graduates under the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme will be able to stay in Scotland for up to two years following graduation. They will be able to work during that period without the need for a work permit.

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria were applied in the selection of a winning bid for the tender for the Scottish Intelligence Database.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: All bids were assessed on the basis of the following weighted criteria: User Functionality (35%), Technical (25%), Timescales (5%), Training (5%) and Price (30%).

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether ministers were involved in the decision to award the final contract for the Scottish Intelligence Database.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The decision to award the contract was made by Strathclyde Police on behalf of the Scottish Police Service and was approved by Strathclyde Joint Police Board. Ministers were not involved in the decision making process.

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which police force led the exercise, on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the Scottish Police Service, of inviting tenders for the Scottish Intelligence Database system.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Strathclyde Police.

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Intelligence Database system was installed and operational within budget.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The original capital budget for developing and installing the Scottish Intelligence Database (SID) system was £5.8 million, excluding vat. Annual running costs were estimated to be £1.3 million. Expenditure to December 2004, when SID was operational across Sc…

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Intelligence Database system was operational on time.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Yes.

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Intelligence Database system was installed on time.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Yes.

5 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that public procurement policies were adhered to during the tendering process for the Scottish Intelligence Database system in 2001.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The procurement was carried out in full accordance with European Union procurement rules under the Open Procurement procedures. This included advertising in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).

2 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any national scheme which allows the issuing of temporary disabled persons' parking badges for the use of people visiting Scotland.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The Blue Badge Scheme is a European-wide disabled parking scheme. Reciprocal arrangements exist between EU countries whereby EU badges are recognised in the UK. If a visitor is from a non-reciprocal country, then it is at the discretion of the local council a…

2 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any national scheme which allows the issuing of temporary disabled persons' parking badges for the use of temporarily disabled people.

Answer · Tavish Scott: There is currently no national scheme for the issuing of temporary Blue Badges for the use of temporarily disabled people. Blue Badges are currently issued for three years only. I am pleased to advise that temporary badges will be introduced for people with a…

2 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what legislation provides for the issuing of temporary disabled persons' parking badges by local authorities.

Answer · Tavish Scott: There is currently no provision for the issue of temporary Blue Badges. However, following the Blue Badge Review of 2002, I am pleased to advise that temporary badges will be introduced for people with a clearly defined temporary mobility impairment which is …

26 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-16855 by Malcolm Chisholm on 6 June 2005, when the report and action plan on race equality will be published.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have recently received the final recommendations from my officials about how the review of race equality work should be taken forward. In early October I intend to set out my vision and intentions for taking forward work in this area.