Parliamentary questions
Sandra White
1,617 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
30 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has written to NHS Greater Glasgow to express any concern at the 85% reduction in the number of staffed beds in its accident and emergency departments (A&E) between June 1999 and December 2004.
Answer · Andy Kerr: No, this is about the classificationand designation of beds. The reduction in the number of staffed beds attributedto A&E across NHS Greater Glasgow over this period is based on the closureof Ward 29 at Glasgow Royal Infirmary in 2002. This ward closed wh…
23 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to improve the search facility on its official website to provide greater access to public information.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Keyword searches are regularly analysed to determine the importance of content which can then be promoted as current and relevant search returns. The Executive also plans to improve the search facility on the corporate website by offering more refined searche…
23 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to encourage and support volunteering for older people across the voluntary sector, along the lines of the Home Office-backed Volunteering Initiative in the Third Age project.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive’s Volunteering Strategy sets out our way forward to embed a robust culture of volunteering across Scotland, including volunteering by older people. This includes the provision of resources for Volunteer Development Scotland and the netw…
17 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the total (a) female and (b) male prison population has been recorded as having a drug addiction problem in each year since 1999.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p>The information sought is not available but the table, based on samples, gives the percentage of prisoners testing positive for drug use o…
17 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the total (a) female and (b) male prison population has been recorded as having an alcohol problem in each year since 1999.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p>The information requested is not collected.</p>
17 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding, excluding staff costs, has been invested in rehabilitation programmes for (a) female and (b) male prisoners in each year since 1999.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p>The information is not available.</p><p>Nearly all costs associated with rehabilitation programmes are staff.</p>
17 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of (a) men and (b) women held in prison completed a rehabilitation course prior to release in each year since 1999.
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 information is notavailable in the form requested, but SPS Annual Reports since 2002-03 givedetails of average prisoner numbers an…
17 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio of men to women held in prisons was in each year since 1999.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p>The ratio of men to women for the years in question is as follows:</p><p>1999 27:1</p><p>2000 &nb…
17 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what average time was taken to re-apprehend prisoners who absconded in each year since 1999.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p>This information is not collected.</p>
17 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners absconded from Scottish prisons whilst on work placements or other agreed temporary leave in each year since 1999.
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 information requested is in SPS Annual Reports which can be found at <a href="http://www.sps.gov.uk/">www.sps.gov.uk</a>. Copies…
16 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to receive the Commission for Racial Equality's (CRE) annual report for 2004.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: We understand that the CRE intend publishing their report in June. It is likely that copies will be sent to ministers shortly thereafter.</p>
16 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on career development and training for its staff in each year since 1999.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The direct spend on learning and development in the Scottish Executive in year since 1999 is shown in the following table. The figures include expenditure on training events and the running costs of the Scottish Executive Corporate Learning Services.</p> <tab…
16 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its officials in the lowest 20% salary bracket work more than an average of 40 hours per week.
Answer · Tom McCabe: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W -16571 on 23 May 2005. All answered 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/w…
16 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its officials in the highest 20% salary bracket work more than an average of 40 hours per week.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive does not currently hold information centrally about the average working hours of staff. Line managers are responsible for the monitoring and management of the working hours of their staff.</p>
16 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its officials in the lowest 20% salary bracket work on a part-time basis.
Answer · Tom McCabe: There are 113 part-time staff employed by the Scottish Executive core departments within in the lowest 20% salary bracket.</p>
16 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its officials in the highest 20% salary bracket work on a part-time basis.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Within the Scottish Executive core departments there are 90 part-time staff in the highest 20% salary bracket.</p>
16 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on addressing sexual discrimination in the workplace in each year since 1999.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive is working in partnership with arange of organisations representing employers and employees to support the <i>Closethe Gap</i> campaign which was launched in March 2001. The Executive has contributed £150,000 to thiscampaign since 2001.…
16 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of "hits" the discrimination section of the Equal Opportunities Commission Scotland website has had in the last year.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This is a matter for the Equal Opportunities Commission Scotland. The information is not held centrally.</p>
16 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many claims have been made to employment tribunals in relation to (a) maternity and parental rights and (b) family-friendly working hours against each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1999, broken down by agency and public body.
Answer · Tom McCabe: I refer Ms White to the answer given to S2W-16562 on 23 May 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.searc…
16 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many claims have been made to employment tribunals in relation to recruitment and selection against each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1999, broken down by agency and public body.
Answer · Tom McCabe: I refer Ms White to the answer given to S2W-16562 on 23 May 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.searc…
16 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many claims have been made to employment tribunals on the grounds of sexual harassment against each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1999, broken down by agency and public body.
Answer · Tom McCabe: I refer Ms White to the answer given to question S2W-16562 on 23 May 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp…
16 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many claims have been made to employment tribunals on the grounds of equal pay against each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1999, broken down by agency and public body.
Answer · Tom McCabe: I refer Ms White to the answer given to questions S2W-16562 on 23 May 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webap…
16 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many claims have been made to employment tribunals on the grounds of sex discrimination against each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1999, broken down by agency and public body.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive does not hold information on the number of employment tribunal cases relating to the agencies of its main bargaining unit on a central database prior to January 2005 and it could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Information re…
10 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Home Office has advised it of how many applicants seeking residency in Scotland have had their application rejected since the outset of the Fresh Talent initiative.
Answer · Tom McCabe: This is not information that has been requested from, or provided by, the Home Office.</p>
6 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its next Equality Annual Report.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Since the publication of the previous Equality Annual Report in 2003 the Scottish Executive has reported on its activities to develop the equality strategy in a number of different documents. These have taken the place of a full annual report and allow much b…
6 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when its last Social Inclusion Research Bulletin was published.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The most recent Social Inclusion Research Bulletin was published on 31 March 2005 on the Scottish Executive website. It can be found at:</p> <p><ahref="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/03/3183430/34329">http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005…
6 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings its Equality Unit has facilitated with age-related organisations in each year since its inception.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Equality Unit and Older People's Unit routinely meet with a wide variety of age related organisations and stakeholders. There has been no attempt to record the number of meetings held since the Equality Unit was set up in 1999.</p> <p>The Older People's U…
6 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings its Equality Unit has held with its stakeholder groups in each year since its inception.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to the answer to question S2W-16336 on 17 May 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.par…
6 May 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which stakeholder groups are actively involved in its Equality Unit.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Equality Unit routinely meets with a wide variety of stakeholder organisations as well as public and private sector organisations. This is part of our constant effort to promote equal opportunities in Scotland and the Executive welcomes contact from all i…
15 Apr 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reduce poverty among the 42% of all households with a disabled person which have an income of £10,000 or less per annum.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive believes that employment is the best route out of poverty for the vast majority of people, and that meaningful employment allows people to sustain themselves and their families in a lifestyle free from poverty. That is why the Executive’s new Cl…