Margaret Smith

25 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will allocate increased funding for respite care in the community for people with complex care needs and a high dependency on care services.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I refer the member to the answer to S2W-10132, on 16 November 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.se…

6 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to review conveyancing law to address the number of parties withdrawing from property deals prior to the conclusion of missives and the level of &#147;ga'umping&#148; in Edinburgh.

Answer · Hugh Henry: There are no plans to review conveyancing law in Scotland. The Executive has no evidence that the incidence of parties withdrawing from property deals prior to the conclusion of missives is widespread, nor are there grounds to believe that “gazumping” is a pa…

23 Jun 2004 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the future of the Royal Highland Show showground.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive acknowledges the policy position set out in the UK White Paper “The Future of Air Transport” (December 2003) which requires the relocation of the Royal Highland Show showground by around 2013 (or earlier if that would be more suitable) …

26 May 2004 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it is supporting young carers.

Answer · Tom McCabe: All the agencies involvedshould focus on early identification of young carers and protecting them fromundertaking inappropriate caring roles. Effective multi-agency support shouldbe available, where that is needed. To underpin this general approach, the Execu…

27 Apr 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made with the establishment of the Skipton Fund.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I would refer you to the answer given to S2F-849 on 29 April 2004 which is available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:</p><p><ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search">http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/w…

26 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) parents and their children; what issues it has identified in respect of such needs, and how they are being addressed.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: The Scottish Executive is actively engaged with Scotland’s LGBT communities. We are funding the development ofconsultation mechanisms with the communities and through these we are developingour understanding of the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgen…

26 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will report on how work is progressing in its equal opportunities pilot areas, highlighting what stage each pilot area is at and what steps it is taking to address any problems and blockages in meeting the desired outcomes in each pilot area.

Answer · Margaret Curran: Work on the equal opportunitiespilot areas is on-going and results will be made available in due course. It is intended that the Executive will be reporting onmainstreaming and equality work, including the pilot areas, later this year.</p>

26 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what provision is made in young offender institutions for the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual people who may have special needs or issues because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron,Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond.  His response is as follows:</p><p>The needs of prisoners inthese groups are met through the SPS personal officer system and the SPSsentence management process.</p>

26 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to increase the classroom space available at the Scottish Police College.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The college has responded toincreasing student numbers in recent years by rationalising existing accommodationand by hiring portable accommodation units and will continue to do so.</p>

26 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many probationers and other officers are required to share a room at the Scottish Police College with (a) one and (b) more than one other person and when the college will be in a position not to have to require anyone to share a room.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The number of probationer studentsrequired to share bedroom accommodation varies according to demand at any giventime. The college has 434 bedrooms available for students, of which 232 are capableof double occupancy. Over the past three years, the average bed…

26 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to address overcrowding in residential accommodation at the Scottish Police College.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Strong demand for training atthe college means that probationers may be required to share bedroom accommodation.The college is presently undertaking an accommodation options review to examinehow the increased demand may be met.</p>

26 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what provision is made in adult prisons for the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual prisoners, or people on remand, who may have special needs or issues because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron,Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>The needs of prisoners inthese groups are met through the SPS personal officer system and the SPSsentence management process.</p>

12 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty's Government concerning the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels.

Answer · Allan Wilson: None. This is a matter forthe UK Government.</p><p>The Global FlywayConference, hosted jointly by the UK and Netherlands, is to be held in Edinburgh next month. I amaware from the draft programme that some discussion is intended on theconservation of the alba…

3 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in respect of the prosecution of racially aggravated crime.

Answer · Elish Angiolini: The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service continues to be committed to the robust prosecution of racially aggravated crime in Scotland. In the financial year 2002-03, the police reported 1,819 cases involving racially aggravated harassment and behaviour …

26 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what opportunities exist for the development of skills in (a) young offender institutions and (b) all prisons.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron,Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is asfollows:</p><p>(a) Young OffendersInstitutions:</p><p>The Scottish Prison Servicedelivers a wide range of basic, core and life skills programmes through apa…

25 Feb 2004 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to increase the availability of affordable housing in urban Scotland.

Answer · Margaret Curran: TheExecutive is engaged in a dialogue with key stakeholders about affordablehousing. This is essential to ensure the right action is taken in future toensure that affordable housing of the right size, tenure, type, and quality isprovided in the right places i…

2 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Scottish Qualifications Authority will review fees paid to markers.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Markers’ fees are reviewedannually by the SQA in October for the following year’s examinations round. Thepayment of markers’ fees is an operational issue and as such is a matter for theSQA.</p>

13 Jan 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to regulate the storage of gas cylinders on, and close to, domestic premises.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: Regulations are set out in <i>PartF (Combustion appliance installations and Storage of liquid and gaseous fuels) </i>ofthe Technical Standards for compliance with the Building Standards (Scotland)Regulations 1990. These apply mandatory requirements for the co…

8 Jan 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on alternative dispute resolution and other mediation services in each of the last four years, broken down by department.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Information is not availablein the format requested.</p><p>There are a variety ofalternative dispute resolution processes, including direct negotiation,arbitration, mediation and conciliation, and the use of Ombudsmen andregulators. The Executive has recently…

8 Jan 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to encourage the use of alternative dispute resolution by its departments, the NHS and other government bodies.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Executive supports inprinciple the use of alternative dispute resolution where feasible andappropriate. It is a matter for each individual department and public body todetermine what use to make of alternative dispute resolution.</p>

8 Jan 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to reduce the number of road deaths and casualties.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Executive is addressingroad safety through a combination of engineering, enforcement and education.</p><p>TheExecutive has set targets for a 40% reduction in the number of people killedand seriously injured in road accidents and a 50% reduction in those f…

8 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what work it is carrying out to develop a definition of a neighbourhood that would be useful for the purposes of calculating the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive is not developing a strict definition of neighbourhood for use in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SMID). Rather as part of the ScottishNeighbourhood Statistics (SNS) project work has been progressed to develop asmall area “s…

8 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether data collected for the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation is available on a four-digit postcode basis.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The data collected for the interimScottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2003 was received at ward level. It istherefore not available at four-digit postcode level.</p>

8 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish a breakdown of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation on a four-digit postcode basis and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The interim Scottish Indexof Multiple Deprivation 2003 was based on ward geography and therefore the relativeranking is not available by postcode. The ward geography was chosen as some keydata sources were only readily available at this level and also because…

26 Nov 2003 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what analysis it has made of the effectiveness of the Red Hook Community Justice Center in New York and the potential for the application of a similar scheme in Scotland.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: TheExecutive is aware of Red Hook project and we are currently considering whetherit would bring added benefits to what we are already doing in Scotland.</p>

20 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that children reach their full potential in education.

Answer · Peter Peacock: There are a range of partnershipcommitments that focus on helping young people to realise their potential. Theseinclude:</p><p>increasingteacher numbers targeted at reducing class sizes in S1 and S2 in Maths andEnglish;</p><p>reviewingthe curriculum to increa…

19 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the courts will be involved in decisions about tagging released offenders.

Answer · Hugh Henry: Section 40 of the CriminalJustice (Scotland) Act 2003 provides that where a person is releasedfrom custody on licence, Scottish ministers may include a remote monitoringcondition in the licence. In the great majority of cases such a condition wouldbe inserted…

10 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether patients are able to be prescribed anti-TNF drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis and, if so, whether the prescription of such drugs is based solely on clinical need.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The use of these treatmentsdepends on the clinical judgement of the specialist concerned. Data on drugsdispensed in hospital or in hospital-based clinics are not available centrally.</p><p>Where NHS QualityImprovement Scotland or the Scottish Medicines Consor…

10 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the use of early intensive behavioural intervention for children with autism and whether it has any plans to give greater financial support to local authorities to fund programmes of such intervention.

Answer · Peter Peacock: There is no standardtreatment for Autistic Spectrum Disorder. A variety of interventions andteaching methods is used, including applied behavioural analysis.</p><p>The Scottish Executive provides funds to local authorities for education provision, includingin…

7 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made towards decreasing waiting times for the fitting and supply of hearing aids.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive is committedto improving audiology services, including reducing waiting times, acrossNHSScotland. A co-ordinated audiology modernisation programme is currentlyunder way, and we are investing almost £20 million over five years from 2002-07to ensu…