Parliamentary questions
Linda Fabiani
2,507 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
30 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-15655 by Rhona Brankin on 11 May 2005, what guidance is given to the police on the classes of persons, other than police offers, authorised to apply restraint to persons in a public place.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive hasnot issued central guidance to the police covering the classes of persons authorisedto apply restraint to persons in a public place. The operational guidance andinstruction given to police officers is a matter for Chief Constables.</…
30 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-6781 by Malcolm Chisholm on 19 May 2005, what the business plan new-build timescales and targets were for each of the existing whole-stock transfer organisations and to what extent new-build start and completion targets have been met.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is asfollows.</p><p>Glasgow Housing Association(GHA) is the only existing whole-stock transfer organisation with plans fornew-build housing.</p><p>A total of 6,00…
24 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the destinations were of graduates from each medical school in (a) 2003 and (b) 2004.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The following tables confirm the destinations of graduates from each medical school in Scotland in 2003 and 2004. The tables show where the first appointments as a pre-registration house officer (PRHO) occurred. The destinations of St Andrews students are not…
24 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-15656 by Mr Tom McCabe on 13 April 2005, whether any work has been carried out in relation to the conditions of employment for staff who were employed in Scottish PPP projects, in all sectors, prior to the agreement with the Scottish Trades Union Con…
Answer · Tom McCabe: The conditions of employmentfor staff who were employed in Scottish PPP projects prior to the introduction of the PPP Staffing Protocol were the responsibility of the respective public sectorprocuring bodies which negotiated these contracts, and also were sub…
23 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the International Development Fund budget has already been spent; how much has already been earmarked for expenditure, and whether it will give a breakdown of these amounts.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The Scottish Executive has made available an international development fund of £3 million per year from 2005-06. The funding criteria and application forms for funding from the International Development budget have recently been launched by the Scottish Execu…
23 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12999 by Allan Wilson on 5 January 2005, how it defines "communities" and whether that definition has been discussed with developers and local authorities.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The provision of community benefit by a developer is not a matter for the Executive. It is not, therefore, for the Executive to define communities.</p>
23 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which members of the voluntary sector strategic funding review steering group and each of its three working groups are volunteers, rather than employees of, or consultants to, the organisations which they represent.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Two members of the strategic funding review working groups are volunteers. None of the steering group are volunteers. In addition, a large number of volunteers attended the consultation road-shows in Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh which contributed towards …
23 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the voluntary sector strategic funding review action plan will be published.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: In partnership with the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), the Scottish Executive is currently working up a detailed action plan to implement the principles identified in the Strategic…
23 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many awards have been granted to each of the agreed participant countries under the Scottish International Scholarship Programme.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish International Scholarship Programme will provide places for 22 international scholars to Scotland in the coming academic year from China (9), India (6), Australia (2), South Africa (2), Singapore (2) and New Zealand (1). Scholarship places are ex…
23 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-6781 by Malcolm Chisholm on 19 May 2005, whether receiving organisations' business plans have been approved in respect of the transfer of stock from each of the seven local authorities that have joined the community ownership housing programme.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows.</p> <p>To date, none of the local authorities on the new Community Ownership Programme has had their receiving organisations’ business plans approv…
23 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-6781 by Malcolm Chisholm on 19 May 2005, what the timescale is for the transfer of stock from each of the seven local authorities that have joined the community ownership housing programme.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows.</p><p>Project plans are submitted toCommunities Scotland by each local authority on the Community Ownership Programme.On the basis of these plans an…
23 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has ever commissioned a Route Action Plan study for any road which is not a trunk road.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: No. All Route Action Plans carriedout by the Executive have been on the trunk road network.</p>
23 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many road traffic accidents there were on the A71 in (a) 2002, (b) 2003 and (c) 2004 in each local authority area and how many fatalities and serious injuries there were in each case.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Data about injury road accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executive using the STATS 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only road accidents in which one or more people were injured: they do not cover damage only acc…
20 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to help universities co-ordinate the recruitment of overseas students.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive contributes towards the funding for Education UK Scotland. This is a sector-led British Council Scotland initiative which aims to promote Scottish education at all levels in overseas markets, and to facilitate co-operation within and be…
20 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what considerations led to the time-limit of two years on the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The commitment to introduce the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme first appeared in the policy statement, New Scots, published in February 2004. The proposal emerged from the work of the project team which was set up in 2003 to develop proposals to pro…
20 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many training seminars for employers it has provided in partnership with Work Permits UK.
Answer · Tom McCabe: We have not undertaken any training seminars with Work Permits UK. However, we have recently appointed a Senior Business Development Executive on secondment from Scottish Enterprise who will play an important part in setting out our strategic framework to rai…
20 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many migrants from EU accession countries have settled in Scotland as a result of the Fresh Talent initiative.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Information on the number of migrants from EU accession countries who have settled in Scotland is not available. While the most recent Accession Monitoring Report indicates that over 10,000 migrants from the EU accession countries have registered to work in S…
20 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive who will have responsibility for operating the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Home Office will administer the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme. The Executive will monitor the scheme, and will publish reports on its website.</p>
20 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether non-European Economic Area nationals who completed an HND at a Scottish college of further education will be entitled to join the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Non-European Economic Area nationals who completed an HND at a Scottish college of further education will be entitled to apply to the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme.</p>
20 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the details of the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme have been finalised with the Home Office and, if so, whether the Executive will publish these details and, if not, when it expects these details to be finalised.
Answer · Tom McCabe: We have been working closely with the Home Office on finalising the arrangements for the implementation of the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme, including the draft changes to the Immigration Rules required to implement the scheme. The Home Office are…
20 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many scholarships for overseas students have been granted under the Fresh Talent initiative for the coming academic year.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish International Scholarship Programme will provide places for 22 international scholars to Scotland from China (9), India (6), Australia (2), South Africa (2), Singapore (2) and New Zealand (1).</p> <p>Under the Dare to be Digital competition we ha…
20 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it has targeted tourists as potential in-migrants under the Fresh Talent initiative.
Answer · Tom McCabe: In taking forward the Fresh Talent initiative, we recognise that tourists who have a good experience whilst in Scotland are more likely to consider, or recommend, Scotland as a great country to live and work. We are therefore putting in place a range of measu…
20 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have so far been attracted to Scotland by the Fresh Talent initiative.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Fresh Talent is a long-term initiative, and measuring its overall success will take time. However, there are some more immediate evaluations that will give us some useful data.</p> <p>For example:</p><p>We will know how many people successfully apply to live …
20 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is discussing with Her Majesty's Government the possibility of extending the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme to graduates from non-Scottish UK academic institutions.
Answer · Tom McCabe: We are not, and have no plans, to discuss such an extension with Her Majestys Government.</p>
20 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to improve non-Scots' first impressions of Scotland.
Answer · Tom McCabe: On 13 May 2005 the Scottish Executive published Councillor Eric Milligan’s report on <i>First Impressions of Scotland</i> that had been commissioned by Scottish ministers in 2004. The Executive also published ministers’ response to the report which forms an a…
20 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers the Fresh Talent initiative to be sufficient to address any problems it has identified with Scotland's demographic situation.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Fresh Talent initiative aims to provide an additional pool of talent to support the long term economic and cultural growth of Scotland. The initiative is one of a range of measures we are taking to further invigorate our economy. The Fresh Talent initiati…
29 Apr 2005 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what its recruitment policy is in relation to nationality.
Answer · Duncan McNeil: The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has no nationality restrictions in relation to its recruitment policy. Applicants must, however, possess the legal entitlement to reside and work in the UK.</p>
29 Apr 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the recruitment policy of it and its agencies is in relation to nationality.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The civil service nationality rules are a reserved matter. There are restrictions on the nationalities of persons who are eligible to apply for posts in the civil service, and the Civil Service Management Code states what these restrictions are. The Scottish …
22 Apr 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to nominating a Scottish city as a candidate to be the location of the headquarters of the European Gender Institute.
Answer · Tom McCabe: No consideration has been given to nominating a Scottish city to date. Discussions regarding the financing of the European Institute for Gender Equality are still on-going and this is affecting all future plans to set up the institute. When these are resolved…
22 Apr 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to encourage European institutes to establish headquarters in Scotland; which institutes it has tried to attract, and where it has encouraged them to locate.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The siting of EU agencies, institutes and other such bodies is determined within EU processes. The input of the UK, as the Member State, into that process is reserved and ultimately a matter for the UK Government. The Executive is in regular contact with UK …