Parliamentary questions

Sandra White

1,617 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

29 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times ministers have met chairpersons of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) in each year since 2000, broken down by (a) minister and (b) NDPB.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

29 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many foreign trips ministers have made on official business in each year since 1999 and what the duration has been of each trip.

Answer · Tom McCabe: I refer to the answer to questions S1W-29052 given on 9 September 2002, S2W-2904 given on 25 September 2003, S2W-9345 given on 25 June 2004 and S2W-15945 given on 27 April 2005 for information regarding overseas travel undertaken by ministers for the period f…

5 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken since the introduction of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 to implement the regulation of private security firms in Scotland.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 contains provisions which, when commenced, will amend the Private Security Industry Act 2001 to extend the remit of the Security Industry Authority (SIA) to include Scotland. It is our intention to commence thes…

5 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken since the introduction of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 to ensure that private security firms in Scotland cannot be used as a cover for criminal activity.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Once licensing under thePrivate Security Industry Act 2001 is introduced, all persons working withinthe private security industry, whether in the frontline delivery of securityservices, or in the management of companies delivering these services, willrequire …

5 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken since the introduction of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 to ensure that the activities of private security firms in Scotland are open to public scrutiny.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Private Security Industry Act 2001 will be amended to extend the remit of the Security Industry Authority (SIA) to Scotland. Work is under way to prepare for the introduction of licensing in Scotland and it is expected that the first licences will be issu…

2 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the crime figures were in each police force area in each month since July 2004 (a) in total and (b) broken down into (i) crimes of violence, (ii) crimes involving the use of a knife, (iii) drunk and disorderly behaviour, (iv) breach of the peace, (v) racially-motivated crimes and (vi…

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is not available centrally.

2 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the number of police hours worked in each police force area in each month since July 2004.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: This information is not held centrally. The deployment of police officers in each police force area is a matter for the relevant Chief Constable.

5 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the First Minister has accepted any dinner invitations at the G8 summit at Gleneagles.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The First Minister accepted aninvitation by Her Majesty the Queen to attend a dinner on Wednesday 6 July at Gleneaglesto mark the opening of the G8 summit.The First Minister hosted a dinnerhimself at the St Andrews Bay Hotel, St Andrews during the Summ…

5 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total travel costs of officials travelling abroad have been in each year since 2001.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The information is not held bythe Scottish Executive in the format requested.

5 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its officials have travelled abroad on official business in each year since 1999.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The information is not held bythe Scottish Executive in the format requested.

5 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many joint initiatives or events it has held with the British Council in each year since 2002 and whether it will provide (a) a list and (b) the total cost of each of these events and initiatives.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive operates closely in a number of areas with both British Council Scotland and British Council offices overseas. The following table shows that since 2002 numerous initiatives have been undertaken in cooperation with the British Council. …

5 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the purpose was of any meetings its officials have had with the Inter-American Development Bank.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive metwith representatives of the Inter American Bank to discuss InternationalDevelopment policy, official representation in Washington DC and SMEBusiness Growth and Innovation Policy. The IADB officials also met withrepresentatives from S…

5 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings its officials have had with the Inter-American Development Bank.

Answer · Tom McCabe: In 2005 the Scottish Executivehas twice met with representatives from the Inter American Development Bank.

5 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total budget is for the G8 International Development in Africa Division.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The Division, whichsupported the wider international development part of the Executive’s International Division in the run-up to the G8 meeting, was not allocated a dedicated budgetgiven its short-term remit but rather drew upon appropriate existing Executive…

5 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the specific remit is of its G8 International Development in Africa Division and how many staff are employed in the division.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The unit was set up on ashort-term basis to raise awareness of issues around poverty in Africa in therun-up to the G8 meeting and to deliver a range of specific projects connectedwith the Executive’s international development objectives in relation to Africa.…

5 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which ministers are directly involved in arrangements for the G8 summit and how many hours officials and ministers have spent preparing for the summit.

Answer · Tom McCabe: All Scottish Ministers wereinvolved in preparations for events around the G8 summit. Information about thenumber of hours spent by Ministers and officials in preparation for the summitis not available because it was not recorded and collected.

1 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued to its management on the issue of pregnancy discrimination in its departments.

Answer · Tom McCabe: I refer the member to the answerto S2W-17725 on 25 July 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be foundat <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search">http…

1 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it monitors any pregnancy discrimination in its departments.

Answer · Tom McCabe: It is the ScottishExecutive’s policy to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, that all staffhave equality of opportunity in their terms and conditions and are able to workin an environment free from discrimination, harassment, victimisation, and/orbullyin…

1 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pregnancy discrimination complaints have been received by its (a) departments, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1999.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive and theagencies of its main bargaining unit did not hold reliable data on formal discriminationcomplaints on a central database prior to January 2005. Since January 2005 the ScottishExecutive has received one formal discrimination compl…

1 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding is available to counter any pregnancy discrimination in its departments.

Answer · Tom McCabe: There is no specific fundingidentified to counter pregnancy discrimination or any other form of discriminationin the Scottish Executive. The Executive has an inclusive approach to equality anddiversity issues and is committed to the eradication of discriminat…

1 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to promote the issue of pregnancy discrimination among employers, with a view to ending such discrimination.

Answer · Allan Wilson: At an Equal OpportunitiesCommission (EOC) Scotland event on 22 June 2005,the Minister for Communities welcomed the EOC’s research into pregnancydiscrimination in the workplace and the recommendations contained within theirreport, specifically a three-step act…

1 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to address any pregnancy discrimination in its departments.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive is anequal opportunity employer and takes its responsibilities to staff under legislationin relation to discrimination, working practices and equality seriously. It is theExecutive’s policy to ensure that, as far as reasonably practicab…

27 Jun 2005 · Written Question

Answer · George Lyon: I refer the member to the answerto question S2W-17617 on 22 July 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.s…

27 Jun 2005 · Written Question

Answer · George Lyon: The Government Actuary’s Department(GAD) produces population projections for the UK and its constituent countriesevery two years in consultation with the Registrars General. The migration figuresused in the projections are estimates based on analysis of past …

27 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what additional measures it will take in respect of its Fresh Talent initiative, in light of Robert Wrights statement in the Scotecon research report, Population Ageing and Immigration Policy, thatthe number of net migrants such a policy is likely to generate falls well below what is requ…

Answer · Tom McCabe: Long-term population trendslike those in Robert Wright’s report are notoriously difficult to predict and,by necessity, are based on a number of assumptions. However, it is encouragingto note that the latest midyear population estimates published by the Genera…

27 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has completed in the last four years to examine why the fertility rate is 35% below the replacement level.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive has carried out no research into this topic in the last four years. However the Office of the Chief Researcher is currently co-funding a research programme with the Economic and Social Research Council on Scottish Demography. One of the…

24 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to consult school pupils with regard to the curriculum.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Pupils along with parents, teachers, employers and many others were consulted on the state of school education during the National Debate in Education in 2002. The responses to this debate formed the basis for the review of the curriculum three to 18. …

24 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many careers guidance advisers there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area, expressed also as a percentage of the total pupil population in each local authority area.

Answer · Allan Wilson: This is an operational matter for Careers Scotland.

24 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it monitors the destinations of pupils who leave school before 16.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Destinations of school leavers of all ages are monitored by Careers Scotland. Summary data is provided by them to the Scottish Executive on an annual basis, although results are not available by pupil age. The latest published data is available via the follow…

24 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance or other related information it has issued to local authorities to monitor the career or other intentions of school leavers who opt to leave school before the age of 16.

Answer · Robert Brown: No guidance has been issued to local authorities on this issue. However, Careers Scotland provide data to the Scottish Executive and local authorities on the destinations of school leavers, which is then made available to local authorities by year group.