Parliamentary questions
Linda Fabiani
2,507 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
15 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what analysis it has carried out in respect of the Empty Homes Initiative.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: In September 1999, the ScottishExecutive commissioned a detailed evaluation of the Empty Homes Initiative fromCaledonian Economics Ltd, in association with Arneil Johnston. The evaluationreport was published by the Scottish Executive in February 2001.</p>
15 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11414 by Mr Tom McCabe on 9 November 2004, when it will publish guidance on procurement strategies.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The guidance on procurement strategies will be published as part of a construction procurement manual which substantially amends and supersedes the existing construction client pack. It is expected that this will be available by May 2005.</p>
15 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of staff in its procurement division is working on major capital projects other than PFI/PPP, detailing each project.
Answer · Tom McCabe: There are 13% of staff compliment in the building division of the Scottish Procurement Directorate (SPD) and 13% of staff compliment in the Procurement Operations branch of SPD advising on major capital projects. This represents a total of nine projects; seve…
15 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many major capital procurement projects it is working on, broken down by procurement method.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Atpresent, there are 40 major capital projects (defined as projects with an estimatedvalue of at least £5 million) being undertaken by core Scottish Executive Departments.</p><p>The breakdown of projects byprocurement method is 29 conventional contracts, 10 a…
15 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many mortgage repossessions there have been in each year since 1980, broken down by sheriff court district and, of these, how many were of properties sold under (a) right to buy and (b) rent to mortgage in each year since the schemes were introduced.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally. The Scottish Court Service does not have information which identifies the number of repossessions either for Scotland as a whole or by sheriff court district.</p>
15 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what responsibilities registered social landlords have in relation to area renewal and the wider action agenda.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:</p><p>We are keen to encourage registered social landlords (RSLs) to maximise the positive impact they can have on communities beyond the provision…
15 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how frequently local housing strategies should be updated.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to reply. Her response is as follows:</p><p>Local housing strategies setout a view of the local housing system for a period of at least five years.</p><p>Local authorities are requiredto s…
15 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what role local authorities have in the provision by registered social landlords of new build housing and housing regeneration in their areas following the submission and approval of local housing strategies.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:</p><p>Guidance on the preparation ofLocal Housing Strategies produced for local authorities suggests that Strategiesshould identify the broad pictur…
15 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many local authorities have submitted a local housing strategy and how many of these have been approved.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to reply. Her response is as follows:</p><p>All 32 local authorities have submitted a local housing strategy to Communities Scotland for assessment. All have been assessed and Communities…
15 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have applied to take over the development funding function for their area from Communities Scotland and which local authorities have had such applications approved, showing each implementation date.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to reply. Her response is as follows.</p><p>Glasgow City and the City of Edinburgh have had their business cases approved and now manage the development funding programmes in their areas.…
11 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its staff have been seconded from it to other organisations since May 2004 and to which organisations these staff have been seconded.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Since May 2004, 58 staff havebeen seconded from the Scottish Executive to a variety of organisations in the public, voluntaryand academic sectors. These include 13 people to Europe and overseas; 14 to othergovernment departments; 16 to other public bodies; fo…
11 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its staff have been seconded to it from other organisations since May 2004 and from which organisations these staff have been seconded.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Since May 2004, 101 staff have been seconded from other organisations to the Scottish Executive. Of these 23 have been seconded from local authorities; 32 from NHS; 18 from other public bodies; 15 from other government departments; nine from the private secto…
11 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of police officers in the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency (SDEA) is from an ethnic minority, broken down by rank.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is shown in the following table.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p> </p> </td> <td> <p align=center>Percentage of SDEA Police Officers from an Ethnic Minority</p> <p align=center>(%)</…
11 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of police officers in the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency (SDEA) is female, broken down by rank.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is shown in the following table.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p> </p> </td> <td> <p align=center>Percentage of SDEA Police Officers who are Female</p> <p align=center>(%)</p> </td…
11 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of police officers from an ethnic minority leave within two years of joining the service.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-14423 on 22 February 2005. Allanswers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’swebsite, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/…
11 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of female police officers leave within two years of joining the service.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to question S2W-14422 answered on 22 February 2005. All answersto written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.s…
11 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of police officers leave within two years of joining the service.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer to S2W-14421 on 22 February 2005 . Allanswers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’swebsite, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.searc…
11 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of recruits to police training from an ethnic minority leave before the completion of the training.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The percentage of recruits who leave before the end of their training is not held centrally but is likely to vary from year to year. In 2003-04 there were 15 ethnic minority recruits to the Scottish Police Service. In the same year, one ethnic minority recrui…
11 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of female recruits to police training leave before the completion of the training.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The percentage of recruits who leave before the end of their training is not held centrally but is likely to vary from year to year. In 2003-04 there were 306 female recruits to the Scottish Police Service. In the same year, 11 female recruits (equivalent to …
11 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of recruits to police training leave before the completion of the training.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The percentage of recruits who leave before the end of their training is not held centrally but is likely to vary from year to year. In 2003-04 there were 966 recruits to the Scottish Police Service. In the same year, 34 recruits (equivalent to 3.5% of the nu…
9 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty's Government regarding the viability of Customs and Excise operations in Scotland following the reductions in civil service numbers and, in particular, regarding border security and coastal protection.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive has regular contact with the UK Government and HM Customs and Excise on a range of issues. At an operational level, the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency and Scottish police forces work closely with a number of UK law enforcement agencie…
9 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty's Government regarding the viability of the Department for Work and Pensions' operations in Scotland following cuts in civil servant numbers.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the Department for Work and Pensions on a variety of issues including the impact of the Department’s service delivery plans.</p>
9 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty's Government regarding the viability of the Inland Revenue's operations in Scotland following reductions in civil servant numbers and, in particular, the degree of confidence that the Inland Revenue has regarding its ability to apply the 3% va…
Answer · Tom McCabe: InlandRevenue’s operations in Scotland are a matter for Inland Revenue since its functions area reserved matter.</p><p>The Scottish Executive’s Draft Budget 2005-06, published in October 2004, stated that the Executivehad agreed with the Inland Revenue that t…
9 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty's Government regarding job losses among civil servants in Scotland as a result of savings made by HM Treasury.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive has been involved in the Cabinet Office discussions regarding a UK corporateapproach for the redeployment of civil service staff in order to minimise the levelof potential compulsory redundancies arising from efficiency and relocation p…
9 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the powers will be of the proposed Scottish Human Rights Commission and whether these will be limited to devolved matters.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive has statedthat the Scottish Human Rights Commission will be able to investigate and reporton generic or sectoral human rights issues in relation to public policy. The Executive’spreferred approach is that to support that investigatory f…
9 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive who has general responsibility for ensuring compliance in Scotland with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The courts are responsible for enforcing compliance with Convention rights. Under the terms of the Human Rights Act 1998, all public authorities are required to act in a way that complies with the European Convention on Human Rights. Individuals whose rights …
9 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to protect the Convention rights of those individuals who may be unable to protect these rights for themselves.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive has actedin a number of areas to protect those who may be unable to protect themselves, especiallyby introducing legislation such as the Adults With Incapacity Act (Scotland)2000, the Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001, and the P…
9 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 obliges it to act to prevent breaches of Convention rights.
Answer · Hugh Henry: Section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 makes it unlawful for public authorities, including the Scottish Executive, to act in a way which is incompatible with a Convention right. It therefore places a legal obligation on the Scottish Executive not to act in su…
9 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether section 100 of the Scotland Act 1998 imposes a duty on it to ensure that the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights are not breached in Scotland.
Answer · Hugh Henry: Section 100 of the Scotland Act does not impose such a duty. The purpose of this section is to ensure that, so far as possible, there is compatibility between the Scotland Act and the Human Rights Act 1998 with regard to who would have title and interest to b…
9 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what classes of person are entitled to use physical restraints such as handcuffs.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: In certain types of employment, violent incidents feature as a regular and inevitable part of the work and there is a need to use physical restraint to prevent self-harm, violence to staff or property being damaged. Employmentwhere restraint equipment is used…