Parliamentary questions
Nora Radcliffe
316 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
9 Sep 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive on which dates since May 1997 (a) ministers, (b) its officials and (c) officials from Scottish Natural Heritage have met Aberdeenshire Council to discuss proposals for the Cairngorms National Park.
Answer · Allan Wilson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29091. All answers to written PQs are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at <A HREF="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa">http://www.scottish.…
9 Sep 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive on which dates since May 1997 (a) ministers, (b) its officials and (c) officials from Scottish Natural Heritage have met Moray Council to discuss proposals for the Cairngorms National Park.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The Executive holds no central record of such discussions. Local authorities and the Executive have, however, been involved in a number of groups convened by the Cairngorms Partnership and others to discuss the proposed National Park and related issues.<P>Spe…
9 Sep 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive on which dates since May 1997 (a) ministers, (b) its officials and (c) officials from Scottish Natural Heritage have met The Highland Council to discuss proposals for the Cairngorms National Park.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The Executive holds no central record of such discussions. Local authorities and the Executive have, however, been involved in a number of groups convened by the Cairngorms Partnership and others to discuss the proposed National Park and related issues.<P>Spe…
3 Sep 2002 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer what discussions the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has held with the City of Edinburgh Council and local bus companies regarding public transport options and traffic management to ensure adequate transport links for visitors to and from the new Parliament building at Holyrood.
Answer · David Steel: The City of Edinburgh Council gave a presentation to the Holyrood Progress Group on 6 November 2001 outlining their proposals for public access to the Holyrood area of the city, including access to the new Parliament building. Precise details concerning actua…
9 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what preparations are being made for the implementation of the EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Executive is liaising with the UK Government and other devolved administrations on how best to implement the draft directive. We will not be able to announce any proposals until the terms of the draft directive have been finalised, and industry and other …
7 Aug 2002 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer how many members of the public have visited the Parliament in each year since May 1999.
Answer · David Steel: The total from May 1999 to July 31 2002 is 292,218. This breaks down by year and category as:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=606><TR><TD WIDTH="16%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>Year </TD><TD WIDTH="9%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>Visitor Centre</TD><TD WIDTH="25%" VA…
19 Jul 2002 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met representatives of the Strategic Rail Authority and what issues were discussed.
Answer · Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the Strategic Rail Authority on wide range of issues.
28 Jun 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what public transport options it anticipates will serve the new Scottish Parliament and whether a new railway station at Abbeyhill will be one option under consideration.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Local transport projects within Edinburgh are a matter for the City of Edinburgh Council.
29 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to The Future for Scotland's Waters - Proposals for Legislation, whether it will give a breakdown of the (a) #1.5 billion of possible benefits and (b) #840 million of estimated costs.
Answer · Allan Wilson: As we said <I>in The Future of Scotland's Waters - Proposals for Legislation</I>, it is difficult to predict the costs and benefits of our proposals because these will be determined by the outcome of the river basin management planning process that the Water …
28 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to deliver the trunk road improvements identified in NESTRANS' integrated transport strategy for north east Scotland, the Modern Transport System.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive is taking action to progress two of the top priority trunk road projects contained within NESTRANS' transport strategy, the Modern Transport System (MTS).<P>1. A multi-modal STAG assessment of the Balmedie to Tipperty stretch of the A90…
17 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to the Department of Trade and Industry on its recent consultation paper Energy Policy: Key Issues for Consultation relating to (a) energy efficiency, (b) renewable energy and (c) energy in transport.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answer given to S1W-26000 on 29 May 2002.
14 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scotland has met the 50% target for the recovery and recycling of waste under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997.
Answer · Ross Finnie: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-25847 on 14 May 2002.
14 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how its personal care and social education policies will seek to tackle homophobia and homophobic attitudes.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive is committed to looking at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues as part of its wider work on mainstreaming equality and promoting equal opportunities.<P>Following a meeting with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) com…
14 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much public money was spent providing sexual health services targeted at, and accessible to, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people in each of the last two years and how much is proposed to be spent in the current year, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: The information requested is not held centrally.
14 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much public money was spent on youth work provision targeted at, and accessible by, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people in each of the last two years and how much is proposed to be spent in the current year, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is not held centrally.
10 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it recommends procedures to local authorities for monitoring homophobic bullying of pupils, students or staff in educational establishments; what any such recommended procedures are, and which local authorities have anti-bullying polices and procedures in place that cover homophob…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive does not currently recommend procedures to local authorities for the monitoring of incidents of bullying which may be considered to be homophobic in nature. <P>The Scottish Executive does recommend that all education authorities and sch…
10 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to tackle homophobic bullying of students or staff in (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) tertiary educational establishments.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive condemns bullying of any sort and in any sector of education.<P>All schools should develop, in consultation with all members of the school community, a clear anti-bullying policy. As a matter of good practice we would expect schools to …
10 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what policies and plans it has to reduce the incidence of suicide and self-harm among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people who may be having difficulty coming to terms with their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: In October 2001, I launched the Executive's consultation document, a <I>National Framework for the Prevention of Suicide and Deliberate Self-Harm in Scotland</I>. The framework aims to guide action to address suicide and deliberate self-harm. We received over…
10 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to ensure that YouthLink Scotland and other publicly-funded organisations will develop youth work provision targeted at, and accessible to, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people.
Answer · Hugh Henry: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-25800.
10 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to ensure that locally accessible youth work and support provision is available to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people throughout Scotland.
Answer · Hugh Henry: YouthLink Scotland will be undertaking a mapping exercise in the coming year to establish what youth work provision exists for all young people across Scotland. The Executive and others will be able to use this information to inform future policy on youth wor…
10 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to ensure that the special needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are taken into consideration as part of the consultation process on Vital Voices - Helping Vulnerable Witnesses Give Evidence.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Justice Department officials involved in the consultation are in contact with organisations representing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in order to arrange a meeting to discuss their particular issues and concerns. We are also keen to have …
10 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many students graduated from higher education institutions with a postgraduate certificate of education qualification in (a) chemistry, (b) physics, (c) biology and (d) all other subjects in each of the last five years.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The following table shows how many students graduated from higher education institutions with a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) qualification in chemistry, physics, biology and all other subjects from 1996-97 to 2000-01:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=…
10 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many acceptances there were for postgraduate certificate of education courses in (a) chemistry, (b) physics, (c) biology and (d) all other subjects at higher education institutions in each of the last five years.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Figures on acceptances to Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses in each of the last five years are not available.<P>The following table shows how many entrants there were to PGCE courses in chemistry, physics, biology and all other subjects at …
10 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications there were to higher education institutions for postgraduate certificate of education courses in (a) chemistry, (b) physics, (c) biology and (d) all other subjects in each of the last five years.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The following table shows how many applications there were to higher education institutions (HEIs) for Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses in chemistry, physics, biology and all other subjects from 1997-98 to 2001-02:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING…
24 Apr 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources will be made available to enable local authorities to carry out their regulatory responsibilities under the statutory regime of contaminated land.
Answer · Allan Wilson: A great deal of polluted land has been inherited from past generations when little or no consideration was given to the impact of our actions on the environment. Today's announcement will help to address this legacy.<P>We have allocated £4.5 million capital r…
17 Apr 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received the report prepared by the Canadian seed authorities on the possible causes of GM contamination of hybrid oil seed rape exported to the UK in the spring of 2000.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive has received a copy of the report recently issued by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. I have made arrangements for copies to be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 20577). The report concludes that it was not po…
15 Apr 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will release details of the action programme measures that must be followed by farmers in the Nitrate Vulnerable Zones as proposed in Protection of Scotland's Water Environment - Consultation on Further Scottish Nitrate Vulnerable Zones.
Answer · Ross Finnie: A consultation paper on proposals for action programmes will be released today. Arrangements have been made for copies to go directly to farmers in the proposed Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs).<P>Our rivers, lochs and coasts are, I think, one of our best nati…
4 Apr 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the condition in the trunk roads maintenance contracts which precludes Amey Highways Ltd and BEAR Scotland Ltd from corresponding or meeting with MSPs.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Yes. The condition in the contracts was carried over from an identical condition in the previous contracts in order to maintain clear lines of responsibility between the Executive and the Operating Companies. However, we are keen to maximise the accountabilit…
4 Apr 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-4422 by Lewis Macdonald on 17 January 2002, whether the Performance Audit Group has completed the audit of BEAR Scotland Ltd's trunk roads maintenance winter activities in the north east during the period of severe winter weather over the last festiv…
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Performance Audit Group has completed its specific audit of BEAR's winter maintenance performance in the north east during the period from 22 December 2001 to 31 January 2002.<P><P>PAG concluded that the public perception of BEAR's lack of winter performa…
19 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in improving the opportunities for victims to participate in the criminal justice system.
Answer · Jim Wallace: Following the recent consultation, I am pleased to announce our decision to proceed to pilot Victims' Statements in Scotland. This meets a commitment given in the <I>Scottish Strategy for Victims</I> to improve opportunities for victims to participate in the …