Trish Godman

23 Nov 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what areas were identified as priorities at the last British-Irish Council meeting and what progress has been made in relation to these priorities.

Answer · Henry McLeish: The first summit meeting of the British-Irish Council identified five subjects, transport, social inclusion, environment, the knowledge economy and drugs, for priority attention. The lead administrations for each have since been developing proposals and work …

23 Nov 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of grant aid it estimates organic farming will receive from the European Union in each of the next four years.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The EU contribution to the cost of Organic Aid Scheme (OAS) commitments entered into before 31 December 2000 is estimated to be as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=609><TR><TD WIDTH="24%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">2001-02</TD><TD …

23 Nov 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being put in place to give NHSiS staff greater protection against acts of violence.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Over the past year £0.5 million has been made available for the introduction of safety and security measures, such as the provision of access to mobile phones for community nurses, midwives and health visitors. The Occupational Health and Safety Strategy for …

23 Nov 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) new public playing fields have been provided and (b) existing public playing fields have been improved through National Lottery funding.

Answer · Allan Wilson: Awards under the Lottery Sports Fund have helped provide 35 new pitches (22 synthetic and 13 grass) and upgrade 13 pitches (two synthetic and 11 grass).

23 Nov 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether local councils should be elected for a four-year term.

Answer · Angus MacKay: We propose to introduce a four-year term for councils. This will help councils to plan ahead and to deliver their policy priorities more effectively. The Executive consulted on this issue in our response to McIntosh and found a strong consensus in favour of e…

23 Nov 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps will be taken to ensure the success of the bid for Urban II funding for Port Glasgow and how local community groups will be involved in the disbursement of any Urban II funding in the event that the bid is successful.

Answer · Angus MacKay: The outline programme provided to the European Commission on 17&nbsp;November makes a strong case in meeting the guidelines for URBAN II. The Scottish Executive will now be working closely with Inverclyde Council and other local partners to ensure that the fo…

22 Nov 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to encourage innovation and effective partnership working in the governance of our communities.

Answer · Angus MacKay: The Executive is committed to introducing a statutory power of community initiative for local authorities and a statutory basis for community planning at the earliest legislative opportunity.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Today, I shall be publishing a consultation paper…

15 Nov 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to improve the quality of passenger rail services in terms of overcrowding and how overcrowding on trains is defined.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The day to day management of overcrowding is principally a contractual matter for SSRA. The Scottish Executive will highlight the need to reduce overcrowding on key routes in its "Strategic Priorities for Scottish Passenger Railways" to be issued shortly.

8 Nov 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it proposes to take in relation to the forthcoming review of the Common Fisheries Policy.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive has already discussed with the industry and other interested parties issues arising from the CFP with a view to developing a Scottish perspective to the UK response to the Commission Green Paper on the reform, which is due for publicati…

8 Nov 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many bankruptcies there were among farmers in each year from 1994 to present and what percentage of the total number of farmers in Scotland in each of these years each of these figures represents.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Information on bankruptcies by occupation is not available. The figures in the table come from the Accountant in Bankruptcy and show the number of sequestrations of people employed in the agriculture and horticulture industries in Scotland in each year since …

8 Nov 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what changes took place in the average value of Grade I and Grade II farmland in the years 1993 to 2000.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Information on land values by grade of land is not available. The figures in the table below comes from the Valuation Office from the Register of Sasines and relate to sales of land of five hectares or more. The table is based on the date of the sale, defined…

4 Oct 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had or plans to hold with Railtrack on the use of disused land as allotment sites with particular reference to any related health and safety issues.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The disposal of land by Railtrack is a commercial decision for the company and not a matter in which the Scottish Executive has any locus.

8 Sep 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-8356 by Sarah Boyack on 13 July 2000, whether Counsel has now raised court proceedings against those considered to be responsible for damage to the Erskine Bridge and whether it will name the parties to these proceedings.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has identified the parties considered responsible for damaging Erskine Bridge. However, it is not considered appropriate to release information on the parties who will be named in the summons until the summons is served.

7 Sep 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to introduce legislation to ensure greater protection for allotment holders.

Answer · Frank McAveety: Allotments are essentially a local matter, in which the local authority is best placed to assess the needs of the inhabitants of its area, develop policy on allotments and administer allotment provision as they best see fit.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">As such, there a…

6 Sep 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to raise public awareness of, and to make provision for, the education of children regarding sexual abuse.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: All education authorities in Scotland have guidelines and procedures for Child Protection to ensure the safety and well being of children and young people and to protect those adults working with them.<P>Schools also play a part in the prevention of child abu…

30 Aug 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to allocate resources for the provision of additional residential places for victims of sexual abuse.

Answer · Jim Wallace: It is for the NHS and local authorities to consider jointly, the very real and sensitive needs of this care group in the organisation of care provision and accommodation that meets the assessed needs of their area.

20 Jul 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the value is of school building programmes so far commissioned using the Private Finance Initiative.

Answer · Peter Peacock: To date the capital value of signed projects for school buildings using Public/Private Partnership is £319 million.

20 Jul 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were sent to jail for non-payment of fines, for which they had been subject to a means test enquiry, in each year since 1994 for which figures are available.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The information currently available on the numbers of receptions into penal establishments for non-payment of fines is given in the table below. This information cannot distinguish those who had been subject to a means test enquiry. However, it is believed th…

29 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has recovered in full the costs of the repairs to the Erskine Bridge, following the damage caused by an offshore structure, from the parties deemed to be negligent.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive is committed to recovering the costs of the repairs to the Erskine Bridge. Counsel has been instructed with a view to raising court proceedings against those considered to be responsible.

28 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when vessels will be ordered to replace older ones in the fleet of the Scottish Fishery Protection Service.

Answer · John Home Robertson: The requirements of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency for replacement vessels are being kept under review. No decisions have yet been taken on the acquisition of new vessels.

28 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the vessels of the Scottish Fishery Protection Service and the year of construction of each.

Answer · John Home Robertson: The following is the list of vessels of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=432><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Offshore Patrol Vessels</TD><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="CENTER"…

6 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a statement on the implementation of the McIntosh Report recommendation that councils should be provided with a statutory power of general competence.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: We sought further comment on this recommendation as part of our post-McIntosh consultation exercise and have considered the responses carefully. There was almost unanimous support for the granting of such a power from local authorities, CoSLA and the Local Go…

5 Apr 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4617 by Angus MacKay on 3 April 2000, how much it estimates responding to malicious false alarm calls to the emergency services cost each of the emergency services in each of the last four years.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The available information is as follows:<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Scottish Ambulance Service<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD WIDTH="25%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="CENTER">Year</TD><TD WIDTH="25%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="CENTER">Inverclyde<P AL…

30 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the availability of modern technology for the detection and treatment of cancer in hospitals.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Cancer Group, which leads and directs Scotland's cancer strategy, is working actively with the Scottish Executive and with the service to ensure that everyone with cancer has access to modern, high quality and responsive services, supported by up…

30 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the prisons which have been assessed as being free from the use of illegal drugs and substances.

Answer · Angus MacKay: No prisons are assessed as being drug free, as it would be unrealistic to deny the possibility of drugs being present. However, all of the prisoners at HM Prisons Castle Huntly, Dungavel and Noranside have undertaken to having nothing to do with drugs. Across…

30 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are currently registered by each local authority as homeless persons.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: Local authorities assess whether applicants under the homeless persons legislation are homeless or potentially homeless but do not register homeless people.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">The Homelessness Task Force will consider the issue of focusing the assessment on ho…

15 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Law Society of Scotland and law faculties concerning the place of human rights legislation and the European Convention on Human Rights in the school curriculum.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: The Scottish Executive has had no such discussions.

15 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce the teaching of human and civil rights into the secondary school curriculum.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: There are already many opportunities to study human and civil rights issues within the 5-14 curriculum, Standard Grade and Higher Still courses. Responsibility for the management and delivery of the curriculum rests with local authorities.

15 Mar 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence it has that literature promoting homosexuality would be purchased and distributed to children by (a) local authorities and (b) individual schools in the event of the repeal of section 2A of the Local Government Act 1986.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: The Executive has no such evidence. We are not aware of any instances of a Scottish local authority or school distributing literature promoting homosexuality to children: nor do we know of any local authority or school which has any intention to distribute su…

7 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what practical measures it is taking to encourage the creation of farmers' markets.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Executive has arranged for the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society, as part of its grant-funded activity, to investigate the development of farmers' markets in Scotland, including the possible setting up of a Scottish Association of Farmers' Market…