Parliamentary questions

Alex Neil

3,059 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

18 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the population was of each of Scotland’s designated new towns in each census year since 1961; what it is in each new town now, and what it projects the population will be in each town in each census year up to 2051.

Answer · George Lyon: The following table sets outthe information for each of the five new towns for all Census years back to1961 and for the most recent year for which figures for these areas areavailable.Populationof Scotland's New Towns : Census Years 1961 to2001 and 200…

18 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the population of each of Scotland’s six cities was in each census year since 1951; what it is in each city now, and what it projects the population will be in each city in each census year up to 2051.

Answer · George Lyon: The following table sets outthe information for each of the six cities for all census years back to 1951and for the most recent year for which figures for these areas are available.Population of Scotland's Cities:Census Years 1951 to 2001 and 2003<…

18 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what provisions are being made to allow young offenders to transfer to the open estate when it is deemed that a young offender is suitable for such transfer.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron,Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is asfollows:Suitable male youngoffenders can be housed in Beechwood House, an open facility adjacent toPolmont.Suitable female youngoffenders can …

18 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of railways in Scotland are electrified and what information it has on what the comparable figures are for (a) the United Kingdom as a whole and (b) each European Union member state.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The proportion of railwayselectrified in Scotland is 29% compared with 40% in Great Britain.This information has been provided by Network Rail and is calculated on thebasis of track kilometres.The EU Energy and Transportin Figures Statistical Pocketboo…

18 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether Strathclyde Partnership for Transport or its predecessor organisation has made any representations about expansion of the Glasgow subway network.

Answer · Tavish Scott: Neither Strathclyde Partnershipfor Transport nor Strathclyde Passenger Transport have made formal representationsabout expansion of the Glasgow Subway. Strathclyde Partnership for Transport iskeeping the Executive informed about the scoping study it is undert…

18 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce light rail systems in any location other than the planned Edinburgh tram network.

Answer · Tavish Scott: There are no present plansto introduce light rail systems in Scotland except for the Edinburgh system currently being considered by Parliament.Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for moreinformation …

18 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who has the responsibility for inspecting the State Hospital, Carstairs.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The State Hospitals Boardfor Scotland is a Special Health Board and as such is subjected to the samelevels of inspection as other NHS boards. It is inspected by NHS QualityImprovement Scotland and by the Mental Welfare Commission. Its performance ismonitored …

18 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has sought compensation from the state of Arkansas for providing HIV and hepatitis C-infected blood from prisoners for use in medical procedures in Scottish hospitals.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Further to the answer to questionS2W-26034 on 1 June 2006, the Executive has not sought compensation from thestate of Arkansas since the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Servicedid not import plasma from Arkansas prisoners. All answers to written parliamen…

18 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what communications it has had with the US Government or officials of the state of Arkansas to establish (a) how HIV and hepatitis C-infected blood extracted from prisoners in Arkansas came to be used in medical procedures in Scottish hospitals and (b) whether the governor of the state at…

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Executive has notcommunicated with the US Government or State representatives on these issues.The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service has confirmed that it did notimport plasma from Arkansas prisoners.

18 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost to it and its agencies was of any ministers or officials attending the lecture given by Bill Clinton on 10 May 2006 at the Thistle Hotel in Glasgow.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The lecture on 10 May 2006 at theThistle Hotel in Glasgow was attended by ministers, officials and MSPs ofvarious political parties including the Convener of the European and ExternalRelations Committee.The total cost to the ScottishExecutive was £38,2…

18 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost was of policing the visit of Bill Clinton to Scotland in May 2006 and who is meeting those costs.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Information on the cost of policingthis visit is not held centrally and is a matter for Strathclyde Police.

18 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether individual social workers must declare and register if they have any links to adoption agencies operating in Scotland.

Answer · Robert Brown: All social workers are requiredto register with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), the regulatory bodyfor the social service sector. When applying to register they are required to providefull details of their employment history. They are not require…

18 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the guidance issued to schools in respect of holding prescription drugs was last updated.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Guidance on the storage ofprescription drugs in schools is set out in the Executive document TheAdministration of Medicines in Schools. The guidance has not been updatedsince it was distributed in 2001.Implementation of theguidance is monitored …

18 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidences of a child being taken into care have been linked to a parent of that child fabricating or inducing illness in the child, a process commonly referred to as Munchausen syndrome by proxy, in each year since 1990.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Under the terms of the Children(Scotland) Act 1995, responsibility for the monitoring of children taken into careis a matter for local authorities. Children may be taken into care on a voluntarybasis and the Scottish Executive does not hold this data. Where i…

17 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Deputy First Minister will reply to my letters of 26 January 2006 and 16 March 2006 regarding the Business Academy.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: A reply to your letter of 26January was sent out on 25 May.

11 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what contact has been made with Mr John MacLeod in respect of the two fingerprint reports he submitted to the Executive since its settlement with Shirley McKie and since the Minister for Justice announced that the reports would not be released into the public domain or made available to t…

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Communications betweensolicitors and expert witnesses are confidential. However, I made clear in myletter of 22 May 2006 to the Convener of the Justice 1 Committee that the Executive had not imposed any new constraints on Mr MacLeod and was seekingmerely to m…

10 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children were adopted in each local authority area in each year between 1995 and 2005 and, of these, how many have been diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder.

Answer · Robert Brown: The number of childrenadopted in each local authority area in each year between 1995 and 2003 isshown in table 1. Information after 2003 broken down by local authority area,and information about the number of children adopted with autistic spectrumdisorder, i…

10 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what current targets are in respect of the adoption of children in each local authority area.

Answer · Robert Brown: We are not aware of anytargets set by local authorities for adoption of children.

10 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder are held in each prison and, of these, how many are aged (i) under 16, (ii) 16 to 18, (iii) 19 to 25, (iv) 26 to 40 and (v) 41 and over.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron,Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:The information requested isnot available. The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) undertakes health assessmentsof all prisoners on first ad…

10 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to establish independent advocacy services for patients with autistic spectrum disorder within mental hospitals and how such services are structured to enable advocates to gain access to patients suffering from the disorder to enable those patients to make use of t…

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003places a duty on health boards and local authorities to ensure the provision ofappropriate independent advocacy service for all people with mental disorder includingthose with autistic spectrum disorde…

10 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder reside in (a) the State Hospital, Carstairs, and (b) mental hospitals in each NHS board area and, of these, how many are aged (i) under 16, (ii) 16 to 18, (iii) 19 to 25, (iv) 26 to 40 and (v) 41 and over.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The information requested isnot held centrally.

8 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are in place to establish whether a child is allergic to neomycin before they are given the MMR vaccine, in light of the recommendation by the producers of MMR vaccines that children allergic to neomycin do not receive the MMR vaccine.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Prior to administering the vaccine,the health professional immunising is required to ask a series of questions to establishwhether the child is able to receive the vaccines indicated that day. These questionsinclude establishing whether the child has any alle…

8 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children with autistic spectrum disorder there were in each year since 1990, broken down by (a) local authority and (b) NHS board area.

Answer · Robert Brown: The information requested inrelation to children and young people in publicly funded primary, secondary andspecial schools who have Individualised Educational Programmes and/or Records ofNeeds with autistic spectrum disorder recorded as their main difficulty …

4 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any discussions with HM Government about the privatisation of Scottish Water.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive has hadno discussions with Her Majesty’s Government about the privatisation of ScottishWater.

3 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will confirm the accuracy of statements made by the Director and Deputy Director of the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) to the Justice 1 Committee on 26 April 2006 that none of the SCRO experts involved in the identification of fingerprint evidence during investigation i…

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Deputy Director of SCRO didnot give evidence to the committee on 26 April 2006. The SCRO was represented byits Director and two colleagues from the ScottishFingerprint Service, which is currently part of the SCRO. The fingerprint officersinvolved in the c…

3 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, given (a) the statement by the Minister for Justice on 22 April 2006 at the launch of the Mulhearn Action Plan for the Scottish Fingerprint Service that, in order to restore public confidence in the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO), “I am determined to ensure that the Scottish Fing…

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: In presenting The ScottishFingerprint Service Action Plan for Excellence to the Justice 1 Committee on26 April 2006, Deputy Chief Constable Mulhern described the fingerprintservice as “a collective of people who are very keen to act corporately to take…

3 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-20247, S2W-23158, S2W-23156 and S2W-24271 by Cathy Jamieson on 9 November 2005, 17 February, 10 March and 4 April 2006 respectively and given that the disputed fingerprint was alleged to be that of Shirley McKie, whether any other disagreement exis…

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: It is a matter of public recordthat the fingerprint designated Y7 and initially attributed to Shirley McKie, andin relation to which the Scottish ministers have acknowledged that there was a misidentification,continues to be the subject of disagreement within…

3 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23974 by Colin Boyd QC on 10 April 2006, whether any material evidence relating to the murder of Marion Ross in Kilmarnock in January 1997 has been misplaced or lost.

Answer · Colin Boyd: I am not aware of anymaterial evidence relating to the murder of Marion Ross having been misplacedor lost, other than the material referred to in the answer to parliamentaryquestion S2W-23974.

20 Apr 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has been responsible for Unison’s legal expenses in any civil action related to the Shirley McKie case and, if so, over what period it was responsible, what legal action was involved, why it undertook to pay the expenses and what the cost to the Executive was of such support.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: For the purposes of the civilcase related to Shirley McKie, in June 2002 Scottish ministers accepted legal responsibilityfor the action of the officers at the Scottish Criminal Record Office named in theproceedings. The cases against those officers and the St…

20 Apr 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether liquidated damages were sought from the contractor for the late completion of the contract to complete the grade separated junction to replace the Auchenkilns roundabout on the A80 and, if so, what the total amount was of these damages.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The engineer for the works hasdetermined that liquidated damages will apply. The amount of these damages is beingconsidered carefully at present.