Parliamentary questions
Linda Fabiani
2,507 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
6 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many properties in Scotland have been purchased for social renting under the Empty Homes Initiative, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Margaret Curran: The table shows the number of properties the Empty Homes Initiative has helped bring back into use for social rent to date since its inception in 1997, broken down by local authority area. The table excludes 86 properties the initiative has brought back into …
6 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which consultants or other external agencies are currently employed by it, under contract to it, or are otherwise working for it in the field of education.
Answer · Jack McConnell: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-13111.
6 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which consultants or other external agencies have been employed by it, under contract to it, or have otherwise worked for it in the field of education in the last three months.
Answer · Jack McConnell: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-13111.
6 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which consultants or other external agencies have been employed by it, under contract to it, or have otherwise worked for it in the field of education during this scholastic year.
Answer · Jack McConnell: The available information is given in the table. All those listed have either been employed by, under contract to, or have otherwise worked for, the Scottish Executive in the field of education during all or part of the period 1 August 2000, which has been ta…
6 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its definition of "successful balanced communities" is as referred to in paragraph 2 of the Policy Memorandum to the Housing (Scotland) Bill.
Answer · Jackie Baillie: In that particular context, neighbourhoods with a mix of good-quality affordable housing options, in which local people want to live, work and spend their leisure time.
1 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it calculated the figure of 70,000 in its statement regarding the reduction in the number of children living in income poverty contained in news release SE2919/2000.
Answer · Jackie Baillie: The figure referred to was calculated using the headline measure recommended by the Statistical Programme Committee of the European Union - the number of children in households where net income (after housing costs) is below 60% of the GB median.<P>Estimates …
31 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12289 by Mr Jim Wallace on 30 January 2001, when the additional work on the Scottish Prison Service Estates Review will be undertaken and whether the resulting information will be published in a way which facilitates informed public debate.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The additional work is in hand and, when complete, it will be considered by the Executive before being made readily available in a way which facilitates and informs public debate.
30 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many mortgage repossession orders were made in each court district in each quarter of 2000.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The recorded figures for the number of mortgage repossession orders granted in each court district in each quarter of 2000 are shown in the following table:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=445><TR><TD WIDTH="28%" VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT=16><FONT FA…
29 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-6799 by Sarah Boyack on 30 May 2000, whether it has completed reviewing the compliance of Scottish planning law and organisation with the European Convention on Human Rights and, if so, whether any legislation now requires to be amended, in particula…
Answer · Sam Galbraith: The Executive undertook a review of existing planning legislation and concluded that the current planning system, with its inbuilt checks and safeguards, is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights without further amendment.<FONT FACE="Arial" S…
26 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were diagnosed with (a) multiple sclerosis and (b) myalgic encephalomyelitis in (i) 1998, (ii) 1999 and (iii) 2000, broken down by health board.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The information is not available centrally in the form requested. However, information from samples of GP records in practices across Scotland whose population is nationally representative suggest the following numbers of patients with multiple sclerosis and …
26 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on treatment of those suffering from (a) multiple sclerosis and (b) myalgic encephalomyelitis in (i) 1997-98, (ii) 1998-99 and (iii) 1999-2000, broken down by health board.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held centrally.
26 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on research into the treatment of and possible cures for (a) multiple sclerosis and (b) myalgic encephalomyelitis in (i) 1997-98, (ii) 1998-99 and (iii) 1999-2000 and how much is expected to be spent in 2000-01 and 2001-02.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Details of expenditure on all research into the treatment and possible cures for multiple sclerosis (MS) and myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) is not held centrally.<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>Within the Scottish Executive Health Department, the Chief Scientist…
26 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the implications of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights are for rating valuation appeals.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The Executive has considered the compatibility of the current arrangements in respect of valuation appeals as presently contained in the Valuation Appeal Committee (Procedures in Appeals under the Valuation Acts) (Scotland) Regulations 1995, and the Valuation…
26 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the implications of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights are for education appeals.
Answer · Jack McConnell: Education legislation gives a statutory right of appeal against local authority decisions about placing requests, exclusion and certain aspects of the recording process for children with special educational needs. We have no reason to believe that this legisl…
12 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive why question S1W-10593 lodged on 24 October 2000 has not been answered.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: PQ S1W-10593 was answered today.
11 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive why question S1W-10426 lodged on 18 October 2000 has not been answered.
Answer · Henry McLeish: Question S1W-10426 was answered today.
11 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation it has undertaken with trade unions representing the staff at the Scottish Qualifications Authority over working conditions at that institution.
Answer · Jack McConnell: This is an operational issue for the Scottish Qualifications Authority. I have asked the Chair to reply to you and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre.
11 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the criteria according to which entitlement to assistance under its central heating initiative will be determined.
Answer · Jackie Baillie: The criteria will be published shortly.
11 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to address any problems of stress and low staff morale at the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
Answer · Jack McConnell: SQA's statement of how it intends to implement the recommendations of the Deloitte and Touche report (available from the Parliament's Reference Centre, bib. no. 9778) sets out a number of actions which are intended to address the problem of low morale. These …
11 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that the Scottish Qualifications Authority staff who worked through the recent problems at that organisation will not lose any time off in lieu leave that they have built up during that period.
Answer · Jack McConnell: This is an operational issue for the Scottish Qualifications Authority. I have asked the Chair to reply to you and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre.
11 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff working days have been lost at the Scottish Qualifications Authority through stress-related illnesses in the past year.
Answer · Jack McConnell: This is an operational issue for the Scottish Qualifications Authority. I have asked the Chair to reply to you and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre.
11 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how the Scottish Qualifications Authority's definition of a qualified marker is determined.
Answer · Jack McConnell: This is an operational matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority. I have asked the Chair to reply to you.
11 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the Scottish Qualifications Authority's definition is of a qualified marker.
Answer · Jack McConnell: This is an operational matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority. I have asked the Chair to reply to you.
11 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that the Scottish Qualifications Authority has sufficient numbers of adequately qualified markers available to deal with the examination scripts which will be submitted for the 2001 diet of examinations.
Answer · Jack McConnell: My answer to question S1W-12484 indicated that, following a review of remuneration, the SQA intends to increase fees for markers and other appointees in 2001 by 50%. The Executive will fund these increases in full, at a cost of approximately £3 million. SQA's…
5 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests for information it has received under the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information.
Answer · Jim Wallace: Details of the number of requests received under the <I>Code of</I> <I>Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information</I> during the period 1 July to 31 December 1999 were provided in my answer to question S1W-5908. I have today placed in the Parliament…
5 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it foresees any difficulties arising in relation to proposed freedom of information legislation as it would apply to cross-border public authorities.
Answer · Jim Wallace: No. The proposed Scottish freedom of information legislation will not apply to cross-border public authorities. These bodies will be subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
5 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average time taken to answer written parliamentary questions was in each month of 2000.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Information is not available in the form requested. However, the following table provides information on the time taken to answer written parliamentary questions in the first 9 months of 2000. This information is taken from the audits of written parliamentary…
5 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for further involvement of private sector service providers in prisons.
Answer · Jim Wallace: I have now received the Scottish Prison Service Estates Review and have asked for some additional work to be undertaken. No decisions will be made on it, including the involvement of the private sector, until this follow-up work is completed and after the opp…
5 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what analysis it is undertaking of student poverty and its effects on academic performance.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive is not currently undertaking any analysis of the various factors which may affect academic performance.
18 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10881 by Mr Jack McConnell on 30 November 2000, when the Chairman of the Scottish Qualifications Authority will reply to me.
Answer · Jack McConnell: The Chairman of the Scottish Qualifications Authority wrote to you on 21 December and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (bib. no. 10320).