Andrew Wilson

26 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance or charging directions the Crown Office gives procurators fiscal regarding cases concerning road traffic accidents involving a fatality; when an assessment into the application of such charging directions was last conducted; by whom any such assessment was conducted, and whe…

Answer · Elish Angiolini: In Scotland, the final decision on whether any prosecution will arise from a fatal road traffic accident rests with Crown counsel. The procurator fiscal will investigate the death and will prepare a report which is submitted to the Crown Office. Crown counsel…

26 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many persons were (a) charged and (b) convicted for offences of (i) careless driving, (ii) reckless driving, (iii) dangerous driving and (iv) causing death by dangerous driving in cases involving a fatal road traffic accident in each of the last five years.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The available information is given in the following table. Information is not available centrally on prosecutions of other offences, e.g. careless driving, arising from fatal road accidents.<P>Persons proceeded against in Scottish courts for causing death by …

26 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23394 by Mr Jim Wallace on 22 March 2002, when an assessment of the investigation of fatal road traffic accidents by the police was last conducted; by whom any such assessment was conducted, and when the next assessment will be conducted, detailing t…

Answer · Jim Wallace: HM Inspectorate of Constabulary is responsible for assessing all aspects of Scottish police forces on a regular basis, including their investigation of fatal accidents. There are no plans for a specific assessment of such investigations.

26 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23394 by Mr Jim Wallace on 22 March 2002 in regard to the conclusions of a report by the Transport Research Laboratory on whether limited resources are affecting the quality of police investigations, what action it proposes to address the situation i…

Answer · Jim Wallace: As indicated in the answer given to question S1W-23394, decisions on funding at local level within police forces are not a matter for the Scottish Executive. HM Inspectorate of Constabulary is responsible for assessing all aspects of Scottish police forces, i…

25 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23429 by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 March 2002, with which providers of lip-reading skills training it consulted prior to the implementation of its policy.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: As stated in my previous answer, we are unable to provide a substantive reply at this time, as the whole issue of the provision of lip-reading services in Scotland is currently under discussion.<P>We have however consulted with the Scottish Course to Training…

25 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) financial and (b) non-financial assistance it has made available in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency in order to support lip-reading skills since the implementation of its policy on this issue and which organisations or other bodies received any such assistance.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Scottish Executive support for lip-reading skills is focussed on the training of tutors in lip-reading, rather than support of classes in particular areas of the country. Support for local classes is a matter for local authorities and health boards.<P>Grants …

25 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any alternative location was considered other than that chosen for the extended park and ride facilities at Croy Station announced by the Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning on 21 March 2002 and whether it will detail each alternative site and the reason for t…

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-24412.

25 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive where the extended park and ride facilities at Croy Station announced by the Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning on 21 March 2002 will be located, detailing the agencies and processes employed in deciding this location.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answer I gave to S1W-24412.

25 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive from whom the land was acquired to extend the park and ride facilities at Croy Station as announced by the Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning on 21 March 2002; whether this land was purchased or gifted and, if purchased, what costs were involved in total and broken d…

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The first phase of the extension of park and ride facilities at Croy Station will be constructed on land belonging to North Lanarkshire Council north of the railway and east of the B802 and will remain in the council's ownership. This site was chosen by Strat…

22 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22206 by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 February 2002, whether it was consulted by North Lanarkshire Council prior to Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust's decision to extend the closure of paediatric in-patient services at Monklands Hospital indefinitely;…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This is a matter for NHS Lanarkshire. The health department was not, therefore, consulted by North Lanarkshire Council on the decision to extend the transfer of in-patient paediatric services from Monklands Hospital to Wishaw General Hospital and provided no …

22 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what responsibilities it has for ensuring that people resident in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth parliamentary constituency have access to in-patient provision across all NHS specialities and what action it has undertaken to guarantee the availability of such services in each of the last twe…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-24364 on 16 April 2002.

22 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22206 by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 February 2002, what studies have been carried out in regard to the impact that the indefinite closure of paediatric in-patient services at Monklands Hospital will have on those from the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth parliame…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: These are matters for NHS Lanarkshire.

22 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22206 by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 February 2002, whether it was consulted by Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust prior to the trust's decision to extend the closure of paediatric in-patient services at Monklands Hospital indefinitely; on what date it…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This is a matter for NHS Lanarkshire. The health department was not, therefore, consulted on the decision to extend the transfer of in-patient paediatric services from Monklands Hospital to Wishaw General Hospital. The health department was advised of this de…

21 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23348 by Mr Jim Wallace on 19 March 2002, whether it made inquiries to North Lanarkshire Council to obtain the information requested on the number of police attendances at residential care facilities in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency prior …

Answer · Jim Wallace: As I said in my answer to question S1W-23348, this information is not held centrally. The deployment of police officers is an operational matter for Chief Constables.

20 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how information on juveniles who persistently reoffend is tracked and held.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: A record of the number of children and young people who are under 16, and some 16- and 17-year olds, who are referred to children's hearings on offence grounds is held by the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA). SCRA's IT system is currently be…

20 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any benefit could be gained from the introduction of a formal police caution system for those juveniles and adults who are willing to accept full responsibility for their actions, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Alternatives to prosecution and non-court disposals are being considered as part of a Review of Summary Justice, being taken forward by a committee chaired by Sheriff Principal McInnes. The Executive wishes to have the benefit of that committee's recommendati…

19 Mar 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average annual rate of growth in the economy has been since May 1999.

Answer · Iain Gray: The average annual growth rate measured between the four quarters to 1999 Q1 and the four quarters to 2002 Q1 was 1.7%.

18 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the gender of (a) the accused and (b) the victim in cases of domestic violence may be ascertained from information held centrally and what the reasons are for its current system of maintaining any such information on cases of domestic violence.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The information collected centrally on incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police in Scotland does distinguish the gender of both victim and perpetrator.<P>Police forces have adopted a common definition of domestic abuse and statistical collection so …

11 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much, and what percentage of, its IT equipment has been lost in each of the past three years, broken down by department.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The following table shows, by department as currently named, IT equipment that has been lost in each of the last three complete financial years: <TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=567><TR><TD WIDTH="18%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>Financial Year</TD><TD WID…

7 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22946 by Ms Patricia Ferguson on 5 March 2002, in what form it records the providing of briefings directly to individual non-Executive members for use during debates of the whole Parliament.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: No central records of the kind referred to are held.

7 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22946 by Ms Patricia Ferguson on 5 March 2002, whether it has ever provided briefings directly to individual non-Executive members for use during debates of the whole Parliament and, if so, (a) when, (b) in respect of which debates and (c) to whom ea…

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: I have nothing to add to the answer previously given to question S1W-22946 on 5 March 2002.

6 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what compensation is available to providers and users of community services affected by the four power outages in the Abronhill area of the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency during January 2002; where information on any such compensation schemes is available, and what assistance it ca…

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answers given to questions S1W-23313 and S1W-23757 today.

6 Mar 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what policies it has to ensure the attraction, creation and retention of company headquarters to and in Scotland.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: Following the launch of the Global Connections Strategy in October 2001, Scottish Development International continues to work to attract inward investment to Scotland. Scottish Enterprise's Global Companies Development Programme assists Scottish companies, es…

5 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22850 by Mary Mulligan on 21 February 2002, what contact it has had with the Royal National Institute for Deaf people since the launch of the institute's campaign to have individual MSPs lobbied to write to the Deputy Health Minister with regard to t…

Answer · Mary Mulligan: A representative from the Royal National Institute for Deaf people (RNID) was invited to join the wide-ranging review of audiology services, commissioned by the Executive, because of the expertise and experience RNID could bring to the review. The Executive t…

5 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22850 by Mary Mulligan on 21 February 2002, whether the statement by the Royal National Institute for Deaf people that "only 1.4% of people in Scotland who need a hearing aid have access to free digital aids on the NHS" is correct and what the reason…

Answer · Mary Mulligan: Digital hearing aids are amongst a wide range of hearing aids available on the central contract, negotiated for NHSScotland. The figure quoted by Royal National Institute for Deaf people relates to the number of digital hearing aids, that were actually drawn …

5 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what community services were affected by the four power outages in the Abronhill area of Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency during January 2002; what information it has received about the causes of each outage, and what action it has undertaken, or will undertake, in order to ensure th…

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Regulation of the electricity supply industry is a reserved matter, and is the responsibility of the industry regulator, Ofgem. We understand that the supply interruptions in question were the result of two unrelated intermittent faults on the cable that supp…

26 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much each further and higher educational institution (a) received from it in grants and (b) allocated to student welfare services, giving (i) the actual sum and (ii) the allocation as a percentage of total grant monies received by each institution, all in each of the last three years.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answers given to questions S1W-21385 and S1W-21393 on 18 January 2002.

22 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22857 by Malcolm Chisholm on 21 February 2002, what grants under section 9 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 have been made to assist the provision of lip-reading skills in the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency in each year since 1999.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Grants awarded under section 9 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 are to national voluntary organisations and would therefore not be awarded to the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency.

22 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22857 by Malcolm Chisholm on 21 February 2002, what grants under section 9 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 have been made to assist the provision of lip-reading skills in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency in each year since 1999.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Grants awarded under section 9 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 are to national voluntary organisations and would therefore not be awarded to the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency.

22 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22857 by Malcolm Chisholm on 21 February 2002, what studies and consultation it undertook prior to implementing its policy in regard to support for lip-reading skills.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: We consulted with the providers of lip-reading skills training.