Parliamentary questions
Alex Neil
3,059 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
1 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost is, per family, of childcare.
Answer · Robert Brown: The average cost, per family,of child care is not known for Scotland in 2006. In 2003-04 a survey of parents in Scotland conductedfor the Executive revealed that 63 per cent of families with children do not payfor child care, relying on informal care and free…
1 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to assist parents with childcare costs.
Answer · Robert Brown: The main direct forms of supportfor parents with child care costs are the tax credits system and child care vouchers.These are both the responsibility of HerMajesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and are reserved matters.</p><p>Childcare Strategy funding ofover…
1 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives it is involved in to increase immigration into Scotland.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive is lookingat a number of initiatives to encourage people to move to Scotland. Thisincludes the Fresh Talent Initiative, which is a wide ranging initiative aimed atattracting bright, talented and hard-working individuals to come and live…
1 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact control by the UK Government over immigration policy has on any initiatives that it is involved in to increase immigration into Scotland and what (a) internal discussions and (b) discussions it has had with the UK Government on the impact of such control being devolved to the …
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Home Office and ScottishExecutive have worked constructively together on a range of initiatives regardingFresh Talent, the Scottish Executive’s wide ranging initiative aimed at attractingbright, talented and hard-working individuals to come and live, work…
1 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to address the declining fertility rate
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Fertility rates arelargely a product of personal choice and are not primarily a matter for the Executive.Scotland’s total fertility rate has been falling relativeto other parts of the United Kingdom, although remains slightlyabove the EU average. Despite thi…
1 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the present fertility rate is and what the comparative rates were (a) 5, (b) 10, (c) 15, (d) 20 and (e) 25 years ago.
Answer · George Lyon: The information requested is given in the following table.</p> <p>Total Fertility Rate, Scotland</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td width=37 nowrap valign=bottom> <p>1979</p></td> <td nowrap valign=bottom> <p>1984<…
1 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any investigation has taken place to establish whether any serving officers within Strathclyde Police deliberately tried to falsely incriminate Shirley McKie in respect of her fingerprint being allegedly found at the scene of the Marion Ross murder in Kilmarnock in 1997.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: That would be an operationalmatter for the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police.</p>
1 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in respect of the Shirley McKie case, it believes that any Scottish Criminal Records Office officers who misidentified her fingerprint lied or made a mistake and on what evidence it bases this judgement.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Executive reached a settlementwith Ms McKie on the basis that the misidentification had been made in good faithand was not malicious.</p>
1 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the First Minister's statement to Parliament on 9 February 2006 that, with reference to the Shirley McKie case, “it is right to ensure that the family are compensated for what they have gone through”, when it decided that this was the case and why the family had to wait the ti…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answerto question S2W-23666 on 12 April 2006. 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.…
1 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a detailed breakdown of the total costs which it and each of its agencies have incurred in the Shirley McKie case for each year since 1997.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I refer to the answer toquestion S2W-23439 on 7 March 2006. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility forwhich can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search">http:…
1 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the statement made by the First Minister in Parliament on 9 February 2006 that “the substantial financial settlement that was reached was appropriate” (Official Report c. 23255), when it reached the conclusion that it was the appropriate amount to settle for, who took this…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: When proceedings were first raisedit was not clear what the legal basis of claim was and whether the action shouldbe directed against the Strathclyde Joint Police Board or against Scottishministers. Some of these issues were resolved by discussions between th…
1 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide written proof that it was accepted by both parties to the settlement reached between Shirley McKie and the Scottish Executive that “no malice was involved”.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-23664 on 20 March 2006. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.…
1 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide written proof that it was accepted by both parties to the settlement reached between Shirley McKie and the Scottish Executive that an “honest mistake” was made by individuals.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive offeredto settle with Ms McKie on the basis that the misidentification had been made ingood faith and was not malicious. This was made clear to Ms McKie and her legaladvisers in writing on 29 June 2005. When the case was settled on 7 Fe…
1 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the full details of its financial settlement with Shirley McKie.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The settlement figure of £750,000includes compensation for personal injuryand loss of reputation, past wage loss, future wage loss, pension loss, relevantservices and an element to cover interest. The Scottish Executive will also be responsiblefor meeting the…
1 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is its understanding that the (a) management and (b) staff of the Scottish Criminal Records Office accept that "an honest mistake" was made in respect of the misidentification of Shirley McKie's fingerprint.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Executive reached a settlementwith Ms McKie on the basis that the misidentification had been made in good faithand was not malicious. The basis on which the Executive sought to reach a settlementwas made clear to the staff at SCRO in June 2005. The Direct…
1 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Lord Advocate or the Solicitor General offered advice to the Cabinet or individual ministers over the Shirley McKie case and, if so, what that advice was.
Answer · Colin Boyd: By long-standing convention,the Scottish Executive does not disclose the fact or content of Opinions oradvice given by the Law Officers to Ministers. This convention was recognisedby Parliament in the enactment of section 29 (1) (c) of the Freedom ofInformati…
28 Feb 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the fingerprint expertise, experience and qualifications of each of the heads of the fingerprint bureaux in Scotland.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The posts were created with theestablishment of the Scottish Fingerprint Service. They were advertised widely andfilled following open competition. The successful candidates have a broad rangeof senior management skills and experience from industry and the ar…
28 Feb 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the current Head of the Scottish Fingerprint Service will have his contract renewed or extended when it expires next month and, if not, what agreements are being put in place to replace him and what expertise, experience and qualifications in fingerprinting his successor will requ…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: This is a matter for the Head of the Scottish Criminal Record Office, the Head of the Scottish Fingerprint Service and his employers, Strathclyde Joint Police Board. It would not be appropriate for me to comment.</p>
28 Feb 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken by the Scottish Criminal Record Office to identify mark Y7 from the Marion Ross murder scene of January 1997.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Mark Y7 is on the Scottish FingerprintService Latents Database (which is the database of unsolved crime scene marks).This database is checked regularly against fingerprints taken from arrested persons.Because the mark was taken from the scene of a serious cri…
28 Feb 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a detailed breakdown of the legal costs in respect of the Shirley McKie case already paid or pending and incurred by it or its agencies, broken down by year and into costs for solicitors, counsel, assistance, court work, documentation and other expenses.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The administration costs incurredby public bodies involved in work related to these matters cannot be separatelyidentified within the local administration costs incurred by those bodies. The finalcosts of legal representation cannot be determined until the co…
28 Feb 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Lord Advocate or Minister for Justice had discussed or exchanged correspondence on the Shirley McKie case with the Convener of the Justice 1 Committee prior to that committee’s meeting on 22 February 2006 and, if so, what the subject matter was of these contacts.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: There was no correspondencewith Justice 1 Committee about the Shirley McKie case before 22 February 2006. Fromtime to time both the Lord Advocate and I have had informal discussions with theConvenors of both Justice Committees about a range of issues.</p>
28 Feb 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Lord Advocate and the Minister for Justice agreed the content of each other’s ministerial statement on 22 February 2006 on the Scottish Fingerprint Service.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: These statements were preparedseparately but were subsequently shared to ensure that there was no duplicationnor omission.</p>
28 Feb 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Cabinet has discussed the Shirley McKie case and, if so, whether the Lord Advocate, Solicitor General and Minister for Justice were present.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Information relating to the proceedingsof the Scottish Cabinet is considered exempt from disclosure under sections 29 (a)and (b) and 30(a) and (b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.</p>
28 Feb 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-22402 by Nicol Stephen on 10 February 2006, to what "this does not involve consultants" refers.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Question S2W-22402 on 10 Februaryasked, among other things, “whether consultants were involved” in a review of LocalEconomic Forums. As indicated in the answers to questions S2W-22402 and S2W-23619on 13 March 2006, the Executive is not reviewing the existence…
28 Feb 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-22402 by Nicol Stephen on 10 February 2006, whether this answer indicates that it, Scottish Enterprise or any other Executive agency or non-departmental public body is not presently undertaking a review of local economic forums nor has plans to do so…
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive can confirmthat neither it, Scottish Enterprise nor any other Executive agency or non-departmentalpublic body is, so far as the Executive is aware, presently undertaking a reviewof Local Economic Forums nor has plans to do so.</p>
27 Feb 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executivehow many unemployed doctors there have been in each year since 2000.
Answer · Andy Kerr: This information is not heldcentrally.</p><p>Centrally-held NHSScotlandworkforce information is published on the Scottish Health Statistics websiteunder Workforce Statistics, at <b><a href="http://www.isdscotland.org/workforce">www.isdscotland.org/workforce</…
27 Feb 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time was for hospital transfers by ambulance in each year since 2000, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) hospital.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: This information is not collectedcentrally.</p>
27 Feb 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many ambulances would be required for the NHS Lanarkshire area if NHS Lanarkshire’s preferred option of closing the Accident and Emergency Department at Monklands Hospital and centralising all planned care to that site goes ahead.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Proposals under <i>A Pictureof Health</i> are the subject of public consultation which is due to end on 28 April 2006. WhenNHS Lanarkshire comes to a view on these matters, their proposals will come tome for a final decision. I will want to be assured that th…
27 Feb 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether those within the Scottish Criminal Record Office involved in the misidentification of Shirley McKie’s fingerprints in the Marion Ross murder case in Kilmarnock in 1997 are still providing, or are eligible to provide, fingerprint evidence in court.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The fingerprint officers involvedin the court presentation of fingerprint evidence in the Marion Ross murder caseare not providing and are not eligible to provide fingerprint evidence in court.</p>
27 Feb 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the fingerprint evidence found at the scene of the Marion Ross murder case in Kilmarnock in 1997 was not compared with the fingerprints of every suspect at the time of the initial investigation.
Answer · Colin Boyd: It is not appropriate todiscuss details of procedures followed in a criminal investigation, foroperational reasons. However, I can confirm that the fingerprint evidence foundat the scene of Marion Ross’ murder was compared with the fingerprints ofparticular i…