Parliamentary questions

Alex Neil

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

30 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-1235 by Donald Dewar on 15 December 1999 and question S1W-4192 lodged on 4 February 2000, when it will give a substantive answer to question S1W-4192 regarding its performance in relation to targets for replying to correspondence from MPs or MSPs.

Answer · Donald Dewar: Question S1W-4192 was answered today.

24 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in the light of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's budget statement on 21 March 2000, whether it intends to extend the Education Maintenance Allowance Scheme for over 16s.

Answer · Henry McLeish: Education Maintenance Allowances are designed to encourage more young people to remain in full-time education at school or FE college. There is currently a single three-year EMA pilot in Scotland which commenced in August 1999.The Scottish …

24 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the meetings at which it has been represented of (a) the European Union Council of Ministers and (b) other European Union bodies since 1 July 1999.

Answer · Jack McConnell: Scotland is part of the UK and the Scottish Executive is therefore represented at all meetings of the EU Council of Ministers by the UK delegation, however it is constituted.

24 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive by what process external finance limits and other borrowing limits for public agencies within its responsibility are decided and, in particular, what role Her Majesty's Treasury has in the process.

Answer · Jack McConnell: Scottish Ministers decide these limits, taking into account corporate plans of the bodies. Her Majesty's Treasury has no role in this process.

24 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which members and staff of the EU Commission Mr Jack McConnell met on 21 March 2000 during his visit to Brussels, and what issues were discussed.

Answer · Jack McConnell: I met Commissioner Barnier to discuss Structural Fund issues, including our overall approach to implementation of the new round of Structural Funds in Scotland as well as the negotiations on the Special Programme for the Highlands & Islands. I saw Commiss…

17 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the report by the Hawk and Owl Trust on raptors is expected to be published.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The report was published on 27 March 2000.

15 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimates it has made of the effect on local authority expenditure levels of (a) the 5% contribution towards housing benefit which local authorities are required to make, (b) the administrative costs associated with processing their housing benefit responsibilities and (c) the projec…

Answer · Jack McConnell: The support to be paid to Scottish councils in 2000-01 for the element of Housing Benefit not met directly by the Department of Social Security and the support to cover the costs of administration of the benefit is set out in the table below.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY…

10 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the reference in paragraph 189 of Sensing Progress: Social Work Services for People with Sensory Impairment to "insufficient numbers of qualified rehabilitation workers", how it would define a sufficient number of rehabilitation workers and what progress it is making in ensuri…

Answer · Sam Galbraith: It is for local authorities to assess the number of qualified rehabilitation workers they require based on the needs of their total population who have a visual impairment. In 1999-2000 a grant of £150,000 from section 9 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1998…

10 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current ratio is of qualified rehabilitation workers to sensory impaired clients, what targets it has for improving this ratio and what progress has been made in improving this ratio since May 1999.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: Information regarding the current ratio of qualified rehabilitation workers to people with a sensory impairment is not held centrally. It is for local authorities to assess how many people with a visual impairment in their area require the services of rehabil…

10 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much each of its executive agencies has spent on (a) internally sourced and (b) externally sourced public and press relations services since 1 July 1999.

Answer · Donald Dewar: I refer you to the answer I gave to question S1W-4597.

10 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the highest number is of prisoners categorised as Category A prior to their transfer to Bowhouse Prison, Kilmarnock who have been detained there at any one time and how many such prisoners are currently detained.

Answer · Jim Wallace: There have been no prisoners who immediately prior to their transfer to Bowhouse Prison, Kilmarnock, held Security Category A status.

8 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4591 by Mr Jim Wallace on 6 March 2000, what the highest number of prisoners detained in each prison other than HMP Kilmarnock has been to date; what the total number of prisoners in each prison was on 24 February 2000, and what percentage of total c…

Answer · Jim Wallace: The numbers requested are in the table below.Scottish Prison Establishments (excluding Kilmarnock):<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=597><TR><TD WIDTH="24%" VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT=65>E…

3 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to undertake a review of the construction sector in Scotland and, in particular, whether it intends to take steps to address the skills shortages currently being experienced in this sector.

Answer · Henry McLeish: The "Pathfinders to Parliament" initiative was launched at the start of 1999 to give businesses in Scotland the opportunity to develop business agenda ideas for early consideration by the Scottish Parliament. As part of that initiative, the Construc…

3 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the funding it and its executive agencies have provided to lone parent support groups in each of the last three years and in the current financial year.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: One Parent Families Scotland have received the following funding under section 10(1) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">1996-97</FON…

3 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown, by local authority area, of the number and value of applications for Regional Selective Assistance which are pending the outcome of the re-drawing of the area assistance map by the European Union.

Answer · Henry McLeish: A large number of RSA applications were received prior to the expiry of the Assisted Areas map in December 1999. We have had a further 28 Regional Selective Assistance applications in the period 1 January to 16 May 2000. Only these 28 applications are pending…

3 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the minimum and maximum part-time and full-time nursing staff levels at Bowhouse Prison, Kilmarnock since its opening, including the current levels, and whether it will provide comparable figures for every other prison during the same time period.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. Mr Cameron's response is as follows:The information requested in respect of HM Prison, Kilmarnock is not available. Staffing of Kilmarnock is a matter fo…

3 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the number of escapes and escapees from each prison since May 1999 and of the number and type of re-categorisation of prisoners for each prison since May 1999.

Answer · Jim Wallace: There has been one escape from a Scottish prison since May 1999. The categorisation information is not collected centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

3 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the operational targets set for the Accounts Commission, including the response times for replying to enquiries from MSPs.

Answer · Frank McAveety: At present no targets are set, although this matter is under consideration. The Accounts Commission do have their own, published in their annual report, but these do not include a specific target for response times to enquiries from MSPs.

3 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4128 by Susan Deacon on 24 February 2000, whether it will provide a detailed breakdown of the key performance indicators which demonstrate that "steady progress is being made with the implementation of the Diet Action Plan for Scotland".

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Diet Action Plan contains 71 recommendations for action to be taken over a 10-year period to improve Scotland's diet. The wide range of action taking place at both national and local level demonstrates that steady progress is being made with implementatio…

3 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the changes being proposed by Renfrewshire Council to the social inclusion partnership contracts and their potential impact on the recruitment of participants for social inclusion partnership boards.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: We are aware of the issues and these are presently being discussed with Renfrewshire Council.

3 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to improve the safety of visually impaired people at road crossings, in particular through the installation of audible signals and cone indicators on push button control boxes at pedestrian lights.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Zebra, Pelican and Puffin Pedestrian Crossings Regulations and General Directions 1997 prescribe the form of Pelican and Puffin crossings. The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 1994 prescribe the form of signal controlled junctions. Both pr…

3 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many rehabilitation workers for the visually impaired are currently employed by it, its executive agencies and local authorities.

Answer · Jack McConnell: No rehabilitation workers for the visually impaired are employed by The Scottish Executive or its Executive Agencies. Information on the number of rehabilitation workers for the visually impaired employed by local authorities is not held centrally.

3 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a progress report, by local authority area, on the implementation of The Scottish Office Report on the inspection of social work services for the sensory impaired in respect of the outcomes arising from the reviews of assessment arrangements and, in particular, wha…

Answer · Iain Gray: The Social Work Services Inspectorate will be reviewing progress on all the recommendations in Sensing Progress through its annual visits to local authorities and will report on this in its annual report for 2001.

3 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a progress report, by local authority area, on the implementation of The Scottish Office Report on the inspection of social work services for the sensory impaired and, in particular, on the establishment of multi-agency strategies and resource groups due to be put …

Answer · Iain Gray: The Social Work Services Inspectorate asked all local authorities to consider and respond to the recommendations contained in Sensing Progress. The majority of local authorities have since reported positive progress on a number of recommendations including es…

3 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a progress report on the monitoring of services for sensory impaired people.

Answer · Iain Gray: The provision of services for people with a sensory impairment is the responsibility of local authorities. The report, Sensing Progress, prepared by the Social Work Services Inspectorate, provided guidance and made recommendations for the planning and …

3 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive Scottish Executive how many police raids have taken place, in each of the past three years, in respect of offences against protected species of birds; in how many of these cases a criminal prosecution was brought; how many convictions there were and on how many occasions a member of the R…

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Figures for police raids are not collected centrally. Neither is it possible to determine the number of occasions on which a member of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds may have been present during a raid.Figures for the number …

3 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an update on the proposed upgrade of the Barrhead to Kilmarnock rail route, including details of the planned financial investment and the estimated number of people who will work on the project.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: I refer the member to the answer I gave to question S1W-4516

1 Mar 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the recovery plan submitted by Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust proposes any staff re-deployment.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer to the answer I gave to Mr Gil Paterson earlier this afternoon.

24 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4210 by Henry McLeish on 18 February 2000, to provide a breakdown by Travel to Work, or other geographical area, of the 3,480 lone parents helped into jobs by the end of November 1999.

Answer · Henry McLeish: Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which therefore takes the lead on the funding and delivery of the New Deal for Lone Parents (NDLP) throughout Great Britain, although in close consultation with its partners, including the Scottish Executive.…

24 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4210 by Henry McLeish on 18 February 2000, how many of the 3,480 lone parents helped into jobs were still in the same job 13 weeks after their completion dates on the New Deal for Lone Parents programme.

Answer · Henry McLeish: Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which therefore takes the lead on the funding and delivery of the New Deal for Lone Parents throughout Great Britain, although in close consultation with its partners, including the Scottish Executive.<FONT F…