Parliamentary questions
Alex Neil
3,059 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
2 Mar 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its target response times are in respect of ministerial correspondence from MSPs and how it is performing in relation to these targets.
Answer · Margaret Curran: Since 1 January 2005 the Executive’starget for replying to all ministerial correspondence is 20 working days from thedate of receipt. </p><p>For the month of January 2005,73% of replies to ministerial correspondence were issued in 20 working days. Separatein…
1 Mar 2005 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it has considered how to take forward the proposal by Lord Fraser in his report on the Holyrood project that section 21 of the Scotland Act 1998 should be amended in respect of its powers and whether it has any plans to initiate a debate on this matter in the P…
Answer · George Reid: This matter has been considered. As it is not foreseeable that the SPCB would ever be responsible for another project of this magnitude and significance it was thought unlikely that wider powers in this respect would be needed. This decision was intimated to…
1 Mar 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the costs (a) incurred and (b) committed but not yet incurred by (i) it and (ii) each of its agencies in respect of the provision of support for London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic games.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: Direct expenditure incurred bythe Scottish Executive is £653.71 with no further commitments planned. </p><p><b>Sport</b>scotland and EventScotland have jointly spent £25,853and committed, but not yet incurred, a further £9,405. EventScotland contributed£10,00…
1 Mar 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it cost to produce Scotland Backs the Bid and, of this sum, what contribution was made by (a) it and (b) each of its agencies.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The total cost of producing anddistributing the <i>Scotland Backs the Bid</i> brochure was £15,340 plus VAT. Thesecosts were met jointly by <b>sport</b>scotland and EventScotland.</p>
1 Mar 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-13481 by Allan Wilson on 26 January 2005, how it can assess and evaluate the success of regional selective assistance (RSA) if information on the actual number of jobs created or safeguarded is not readily available.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The RSA scheme is not evaluated on an annual basis as the nature of the scheme involves support for projects that create or safeguard jobs over a number of years. The employment benefits secured therefore are generated over the full duration of the project an…
1 Mar 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the current estimated turnaround time is for the dispensing of prescriptions for ostomist appliances and what its future target times are for the dispensing of such prescriptions.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: This information is not available.</p><p>The proposed arrangementsfor the future supply of appliances (such as stoma and ostomy) were provided inthe answer to S2W-13447 on 28 January 2005. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Par…
1 Mar 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to direct the Scottish Prison Service in respect of fulfilling its obligations to local communities where it has closed a facility.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The relationship between Scottishministers and the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) is set out in the Scottish PrisonService Framework Document, the text for which can be found on the SPS website at<a href="http://www.sps.gov.uk/keydocs/framework/default.asp">ww…
1 Mar 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of MSPs' letters to ministers is seen by ministers.
Answer · Margaret Curran: All letters from MSPs on devolved matters are seen and replied to by ministers, except those about operational issues. Letters relating to operational issues are replied to by the Scottish Executive Agency concerned. Where appropriate, a copy of the response …
1 Mar 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a detailed breakdown of each stage of its process for dealing with correspondence from MSPs.
Answer · Margaret Curran: Letters from MSPs, like all correspondence,are received and opened in the private office of the Minister to whom they are addressed.They are then sent to the Ministerial Correspondence Unit where they are scannedand recorded on an electronic tracking system. …
4 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-5082 by Colin Boyd QC on 22 January 2004, how much money was collected under the Proceeds of Crime (Scotland) Act 1995 relating to drugs offences in (a) 2003-04 and (b) 2004-05 to date.
Answer · Colin Boyd: During the financial year 2003-04 the sum of £1,136,323.68 was recovered following Confiscation Orders under the Proceeds of Crime (Scotland) Act 1995 in respect of drug offences. The sum of £162,126.57 has so far been collected during the financial year 2004…
4 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7591 by Mr Jim Wallace on 18 May 2004, by how much GDP will have to grow in Scotland to achieve the same level as the UK average per head in 2004-05.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The latest Gross Value Addedfigures (GVA or GDP at market prices), figures available for Scotland arepresented in the Office for National Statistics Regional Accounts. These showthat in 2003, the latest year available, Scottish GVA was estimated to be £78bill…
4 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7589 by Mr Jim Wallace on 27 May 2004, what Scottish GDP would currently be had it increased at the same rate as the UK average since 1997, using the revised version of GDP.
Answer · Jim Wallace: Based on the latest data available from the Office for National Statistics for the value of ScottishGross Value Added (GVA or GDP at basic prices), if Scottish growth had matchedthe UK average (excluding extra-regio) between 1997 and 2003, the estimatedlevel …
4 Feb 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7590 by Mr Jim Wallace on 18 May 2004, how much GDP per person in employment in Scotland will have to grow to achieve the same level as the UK average in 2004-05.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The latest Gross Value Addedfigures (GVA or GDP at basic prices), available for Scotland arepresented in the Office for National Statistics Regional Accounts. These showthat in 2003, the latest year available, Scottish GVA was estimated to be £78billion at cu…
17 Jan 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider introducing legislation to extend the powers of the Scottish Public Sector Ombudsman.
Answer · Tavish Scott: The Executive is currently progressing proposals, by way of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Bill, to provide the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman with powers to consider complaints about further and higher education bodies. </p>
17 Jan 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will direct the Scottish Prison Service to meet its promise and obligations to the people of Upperton village in respect of contributing towards the funding for upgrading roads and lighting.
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 Scottish Prison Service (SPS) is not responsible for the roads and lighting at Upperton village.</p><p>When the former Longriggend Rema…
14 Jan 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time equivalent police officers (a) were employed in each of the last five years and (b) are currently employed, broken down by police force.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is shown in the following table.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td rowspan=2> <p>Force</p> </td> <td colspan=5> <p align=center>At 31 December 2004:</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p alig…
14 Jan 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many serious assaults were reported between 24 December 2004 and 5 January 2005 and how many arrests were made relating to such assaults, broken down by police force.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is not available centrally. The information available centrally comes from quarterly recorded crime returns from the police. These returns provide only aggregate figures for the numbers of serious assaults recorded by the police in t…
14 Jan 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people have been reported for committing five or more offences within a six-month period in each of the last five years and this year to date and, in respect of these offences, how many disposals there were in each year.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: We do not have any numbers on those who have committed five offences within a six month period. This has never been measured. </p><p>For five <u>referrals</u> in a six month period (the definition of a persistent young offender proposed by the “Improving the …
14 Jan 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its targets are for reducing youth crime.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: A target of a 10% reduction in the number of persistent young offenders by 2006 was published in our 2002 Spending Review proposals (Bib. number 24102).</p><p>In our 2004 Spending Review proposals (Bib. number 33956) we announced a target of a further 10% red…
14 Jan 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many referrals have been made to children's panels in each of the last five years.
Answer · Euan Robson: Detailed information on the number of children referred by Children’s Reporters to a Children’s Hearing has only been available since 2002 with the roll-out of the Scottish Children’s Reporters Administration’s national database (the Referrals Administration …
14 Jan 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been reported for committing 10 or more offences in each of the last five years and this year to date and, in respect of these offences, how many disposals there were in each year.
Answer · Euan Robson: The number of children referred for 10 or more offence grounds was reported in Scottish Children's Reporter Administration annual reports as 785 (2000-01), 797 (2001-02) and 904 (2002-03). The reports can be found at <a href="www.scra.gov.uk">www.scra.gov.uk…
14 Jan 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will place a copy of the draft Annual Report of the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA) in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre along with correspondence between it and the SCRA relating to the annual report.
Answer · Euan Robson: Scottish ministers are required to lay copies of the Annual Report in the Parliament and this will be done for the 2003-04 report as has been done with all previous reports. Although my officials saw an early draft of the report, this was indicative only and …
14 Jan 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the Annual Report of the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration.
Answer · Euan Robson: As has been the case since it was established in 1995, publication of annual reports is a matter for the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration.</p>
14 Jan 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will carry out a national review of chiropody services for older people, including into whether the existing criteria for the availability of free services are adequate to meet the needs of older people on low incomes.
Answer · Andy Kerr: There are no plans to carry out a national review of chiropody services for older people. The planning and provision of NHS podiatry services is a matter for NHS boards. The issue of access to NHS podiatry services is a matter for clinical decision in the lig…
14 Jan 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will introduce a Vulnerable Adults Bill.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: Some preparatory work for a Vulnerable Adults Bill has been completed, and we will consult on further elements of a bill soon.</p>
14 Jan 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will establish its group to look into bioethoanol and biodiesel as alternative sources of energy.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Executive is already represented on the Official Low Carbon Group and the Ministerial Low Carbon Group. These groups oversee the implementation of the <i>UK Powering Vehicles Strategy</i>, which aims to promote the development and take-up of new vehicle t…
14 Jan 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent during the current financial year by each of the three intermediate technology institutes; whether it anticipates that the institutes will underspend their £15 million budgets and, if so, by how much, and how any monies resulting from any underspend will be re…
Answer · Allan Wilson: Questions relating to spend by the Intermediary Technology Institutes are an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise.</p>
14 Jan 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all the changes that have been made since 10 September 2002, or are in the process of being made, to Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998.
Answer · Margaret Curran: Since 10 September 2002, one order has been made to amend schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998, which is as follows. A further two draft orders to amend schedule 5 are currently being considered by both the Scottish and UK Parliaments: </p><p>S.I. 2004/3329 Th…
14 Jan 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-10833 by Margaret Curran on 12 October 2004, whether it has sought and obtained the views of the Presiding Officer, other members of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) and other interested parties on whether to pursue the recommendation…
Answer · Margaret Curran: The Executive has no plans tomake representations to Her Majesty’s Government in respect of amending section21 of the Scotland Act 1998. However, that position is open to review in the eventof any approach on this matter from the Scottish Parliamentary Corpor…
14 Jan 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications have been (a) received and (b) approved for regional selective assistance (RSA) in each Scottish parliamentary constituency; what the value was of the total investment in each constituency; what total amount of funding was (a) applied for and (b) approved in each con…
Answer · Allan Wilson: The following tables provide the information requested in the first seven elements of the question for the last five calendar years to end December 2004. However, information on the number of jobs actually created or safeguarded is not readily available. This…