Parliamentary questions

Roseanna Cunningham

965 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what strategies it will employ to reduce the total number of drug-related deaths, as referred to in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys, and to reduce drug-related illness.

Answer · Richard Simpson: Our Drugs Strategy is built around four key themes: young people, communities, availability and treatment. All of these themes are relevant to our objectives of reducing drug-related deaths and illness.For example, we support a wide range of projects inten…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) under-16s and (b) 16- to 20-year-olds were treated for drug addiction in each of the last three years.

Answer · Richard Simpson: Information is not routinely collected nationally on the numbers of young people being treated for drug addiction. However, the recently published research on young people's treatment services included a survey of 42 services. The survey was conducted between…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many places are currently available for the treatment for drug addiction of (a) under-16s and (b) 16- to 20-year-olds.

Answer · Richard Simpson: No information is held centrally about the number of places available for the treatment of drug addiction for these age groups. However, evidence suggests that all DATs have either met the national standard of ensuring that drug misusers aged under 16 have ac…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is now its policy to introduce neighbourhood wardens across Scotland.

Answer · Margaret Curran: Yes, it is our intention that neighbourhood warden schemes operate throughout Scotland.

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it expects any reduction in the number of persistent young offenders by May 2003.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29728 today. 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.sco…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any target for reducing the number of persistent young offenders in each year to 2006.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: In Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys the Executive set out our target that by 2006, the number of persistent young offenders will be 10% less than in 2000-01. This target is not broken down by year.

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it measures the number of persistent young offenders, as referred to in target 2 in the education and young people section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The number of young offenders going through the hearings system is monitored by the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration. In their annual report, SCRA publish data on the number of young people with one to three, over three and over 10 offences in one …

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any target for increasing the weight of drugs sei'ures.

Answer · Richard Simpson: The Scottish Executive has no such target. However, we have set the Scottish Police Service a national target to increase the number of drug seizures by 25% by 2004 and this target will shortly be extended to 2006. And the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency (SD…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any target for increasing the value of drugs sei'ures.

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to prevent any diversion of resources to meet its target, as referred to in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys, of reducing the number of heroin users aged under 25, from programmes directed at (a) us…

Answer · Richard Simpson: The full wording of the relevant target is to "Reduce the proportion of people under 25 reporting use of illegal drugs in the last month and previous year substantially, and heroin use by 25%, by 2005".The achievement of the target is dependent o…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to reduce the number of heroin users aged 25 and over.

Answer · Richard Simpson: Treatment and rehabilitation are key components of the Executive's Drugs Strategy. We are investing around £34 million, over three years, to support new and improved services provided locally by NHS boards and local authorities. These services address the nee…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will measure its target to reduce the number of drug misusers who inject, as referred to in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Richard Simpson: The key performance indicator which will be used to measure progress on achieving the target will be the proportion of new problem drug users seen by drug services and reported to the Scottish Drug Misuse Database, who reported injecting "in the previous…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its target to increase the number of drug sei'ures, as referred to in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys, includes any target for (a) particular controlled drugs and (b) class (i) B or (ii) C drugs.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The target relates only to Class A drugs.

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a breakdown of its target for increasing the number of drugs sei'ures, as referred to in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys, and whether this target includes sei'ures by HM Customs and Excise.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The target is a national target for a 25% increase in seizures of Class A drugs by the Scottish Police Service. It does not, therefore, include seizures by HM Customs and Excise and no sub-targets have been set either for seizures of different types of Class …

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its civil servants are currently engaged in work on external affairs.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Thirty-four civil servants in the Executive are currently engaged in its work on external affairs: 23 in the External Relations Division, nine in the Scottish Executive European Union Office and two staff in Washington DC.

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its spending proposals for 2003-06 are for external affairs.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Decisions on future spending details for external affairs have still to be finalised.

18 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24997 by Mr Jim Wallace on 9 May 2002, how it monitors any improvements in the literacy, numeracy and other basic skills of prisoners and what data it collects to identify any such improvements and highlight any alterations which require to be made i…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) intends to develop a new computerised system for tracking individual prisoner progress or "distance trav…

17 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will have any representative at the informal Council of the European Union on Justice and Home Affairs on 14 to 15 March 2003.

Answer · Jim Wallace: No decisions have yet been taken either on agenda or on attendance at the informal Council of the European Union on Justice and Home Affairs on 14 to 15 March 2003. Negotiations within the European Union are conducted by the UK Government, taking due account …

17 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28356 by Mr Jim Wallace on 9 September 2002, what representations it has made to the Firearms Consultative Committee with regard to the regulation of air weapons.

Answer · Jim Wallace: In January 2002 an Order was placed before the UK Parliament extending the remit of the Firearms Consultative Committee for a further two years. The reconstituted committee has not yet met, so has still to conduct any business and its forward work programme h…

17 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28226 by Mr Andy Kerr on 9 September 2002, what evidence it has to support the statement that, in comparison with private finance initiative contracts, "broadly equivalent costs are incurred in relation to professional fees for the preparation, const…

Answer · Andy Kerr: The statement referred to relates to the costs of monitoring contracts. All contracts have to be monitored whether they are PPP contracts or conventional contracts. There are sound reasons for doing this, not least to ensure propriety and value for money. The…

17 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what resources for the care and treatment of young people with mental health problems in secure accommodation were made available in each year since 1999-2000 and what future resources are to be made available.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: An annual general allocation is made to each local authority to contribute to the costs of residential care for children including secure accommodation. Disaggregated figures for spending associated with mental health problems in secure accommodation are not …

17 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on the care and treatment of young people with mental health problems in secure accommodation.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Secure Units are required to assess the needs of young people in their care and to develop and deliver care plans that address their range of needs. The quality and delivery of care plans will be monitored through the regular inspections completed by Social W…

17 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what resources for the care and treatment of young people with mental health problems in young offender institutions were made available in each year since 1999-2000 and what future resources are to be made available.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:Young people with mental health problems are currently cared for by a multidisciplinary team, including medical, nursing, psychology and social…

17 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on the care and treatment of young people with mental health problems in young offender institutions.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:All prisoners suffering from mental health problems are cared for by a multi-disciplinary health care team.

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of the consultation on the prison estates review.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The cost of printing the estates review consultation paper and its two associated documents was £4,238.35. Preparation of the documents and con…

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of prisoners placed on remand before trial received a custodial sentence in each of the last three years.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The information requested is not available. Some prisoners are imprisoned frequently, for short periods and re-offend very shortly after releas…

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002 and the commitment by the Minister to reflect on the possibility of a fixed-price prison construction contract (Official Report, col.13390), when he…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:As with the procurement by the SPS of the latest two new houseblocks at Polmont and Edinburgh, the SPS intention will be to secure the be…

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-25268 by Mr Jim Wallace on 21 June 2002, what risk is attached to a fixed-price prison construction contract.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:It is not the only way or necessarily the best way of delivering best value for money. A fixed-price may, for example, be considerably higher t…

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, whether it will give any commitment to ensuring that pensions for staff in privately-operated prisons are on the same or similar terms to those for…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29278. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's …

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, how it will ensure that staff turnover in privately-operated prisons is no higher than in publicly-operated prisons.