Parliamentary questions

Brian Adam

1,580 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

13 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has carried out on pyrolysis or gasification as a means of disposing of domestic and commercial waste.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive has not carried out research specifically on pyrolysis or gasification technologies. However, the National Waste Plan 2003 recognises the potential role these technologies could play in delivering diversion from landfill. Information on…

13 Jan 2005 · Written Question

Answer · Ross Finnie: Data on the percentage of household waste sent to landfill by each local authority from 1999-2000 to 2001-02 are available on page 13 of the Audit Scotland report on Environmental Services available at: <a href="http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/pi2002/…

13 Jan 2005 · Written Question

Answer · Ross Finnie: Data on the percentage of household waste recycled by each local authority from 1999-2000 to 2001-02 are available on page 12 of the Audit Scotland report on Environmental Services available at: <a href="http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/pi2002/document…

13 Jan 2005 · Written Question

Answer · Ross Finnie: Data available from the Accounts Commission are:Total Number of Tonnes of Household Waste Collected<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 width=522> <thead> <tr> <td> Local Authority </td> <td> 1999-2000 …

12 Jan 2005 · Written Question

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The information requested is not held centrally.

12 Jan 2005 · Written Question

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: I refer the member to the question S2W-13385 on 26 January 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_w…

12 Jan 2005 · Written Question

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The nature of a number of programmes operated by sportscotland means that it is not possible to identify which local authority area has benefited from a particular award. Those awards readily attributable to a particular local authority area are set ou…

12 Jan 2005 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider extending the Fresh Talent Initiative to include non-EU students who are in Scotland on placements or internships as part of their studies.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The Fresh TalentInitiative aims to attract bright, talented individuals to come and live, work andstudy in Scotland. Non-EUstudents graduating from a Scottish institution with a HND, degree, Masters or PhDwill soon be able to stay on in Scotland for up to two…

24 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it gives to the Grampian Japan trust which looks after Thomas Blake Glover's house in Aberdeen.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive does not currently provide any support to the Grampian Japan Trust.

24 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to recognise the importance of Thomas Blake Glover in the development of Japanese industry.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive currently has no plans to directly recognise the contribution made by Thomas Blake Glover to the development of Japanese industry.Notwithstanding this, Mr Glover’s historical significance is acknowledged by Scottish Executive off…

24 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage trade between Japan and Scotland.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Scottish Development International (and predecessor organisations) have maintained an office in Japan since the 1980’s. SDI currently fields a staff of four officials, who are active in assisting Scottish companies seeking to establish and develop commercial …

24 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage tourists from Japan to visit Scotland.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: VisitScotland works closely with VisitBritain to market Scotland as a visitor destination to the Japanese market, with Scotland a key element of the Britain brand. After London, Scotland is the most enquired-about destination within Britain among the many peo…

22 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will replace the regulations which close decennial census records for 100 years with regulations that close such records for 80 years.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The Executive has no plans to reduce from 100 years the exemption in the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 applying to access to individuals’ census records. The Executive's view is that the recent act reflects the most satisfactory balance between t…

22 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 will have on gaining access to census records held by the General Register Office for Scotland.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 gives an absolute exemption from access to personal census information. The exemption applies for 100 years commencing at the beginning of the calendar year following the year in which the records were created. C…

22 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of the findings of the latest British Medical Journal report on radon and, if so, what new measures it intends to implement to combat radon build-up in homes.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Executive is aware of this important article which provides a combinedanalysis of the data from 13 case-control studies of residential radon and lungcancer in nine European countries. The results of this analysis confirmthat radon gas is an important pub…

22 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has taken to combat the risk of naturally-occurring radon gas in homes.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The naturally-occurring gas radon disperses in open air but can accumulate in houses. Following advice in 1990 by the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB), the UK government set an action level of 200 becquerels per cubic metre for radon in homes. Wh…

17 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action will be taken to alleviate the impact of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route on Camphill.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: We are looking at a range of options for crossing the River Dee. I expect to invite feedback on the results next month.A specialist study into potential impacts on the pupils and residents at Camphill has been commissioned. This report will give advice…

17 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route project is running to schedule.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Preparation of the scheme is running to schedule. I am, however, very concerned that the issues surrounding the Camphill/Newton Dee community need to be fully addressed. To this end I have commissioned further work on possible alternative routes. It is antici…

10 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ban the sale or use of swords and, if so, what exemptions there will be to any ban.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Executive remains deeplyconcerned about the continuing high incidence of knife crime and its contributionto violent crime. The role of knives and other weapons in homicides and assaultsneeds urgent and effective action. Accordingly the Executive has been …

9 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to progress implementation of the EU Environmental Noise Directive.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: It is the intention of the Scottish Executive to implement the EU Environmental Noise Directive through regulations in the Scottish Parliament. Discussions with the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Transport on some of …

8 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many radiology training posts there are currently and, of these, how many are vacant, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Information on the number ofclinical radiology training posts in NHS Scotland is collected by NHS Educationfor Scotland (NES). The data is not available by health board area, however, thenational information can be broken down by region and this is shown in t…

8 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many radiology posts have been (a) created and (b) vacant in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The number of radiologist posts created is not available centrally. Information on established posts and vacancies in clinical radiology is shown in the following table by NHS board in each of the last three years.NHSScotland Workforce Statistics Consu…

8 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether consideration has been given to requiring radiology trainees to commit themselves to working in Scotland for a set period on completing their training.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Executive remains committed to building the capacity of the NHSScotland workforce and is pursuing several initiatives on behalf of the health service which will enable NHS boards to improve their ability to recruit and retain consultant staff for all spec…

8 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to improve the recruitment and retention of radiologists.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The responsibility for the recruitmentof all staff in NHSScotland is managed locally by each of the individual NHS boardsacross Scotland. However, the Executive is pursing several initiativeson behalf of the health service on a Scotland wide basis which will …

8 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many radiologists per 100,000 head of population there are in Scotland and what information it has on how this compares with (a) the rest of the United Kingdom and (b) elsewhere in Europe.

Answer · Andy Kerr: At 30 September 2003, there were199.2 whole-time equivalent (WTE) consultant clinical radiologists in NHS Scotland.Using 2003 mid-year population estimates there are 3.9 consultant clinical radiologistsper 100,000 population. Comparable figures for the United…

8 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many radiologists not originally domiciled in Scotland left Scotland on completing their training in each of the last three years.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Information on the domicile ofdoctors in training is currently not held centrally. We are committed to improvinginformation to inform workforce planning and are working through a number of measureson domicile to enable more robust information to be collated a…

8 Dec 2004 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it assesses the outcome of additional financial support to public bodies where additional weighting is given to deprivation factors in funding formulae.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The outcome of such additional financial support is assessed through the monitoring and evaluation arrangements for the particular programme being funded.

29 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty’s Government with a view to ensuring that the treaty establishing a constitution for Europe is translated into Gaelic and Scots, as set out in Article IV-448, paragraph 2 of the treaty.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The translation of the European Union Constitutional Treaty is a decision for the UK Government. Earlier this year the Prime Minister made a commitment to produce a Layperson’s Guide to the Treaty in order to inform the public in advance of a referendum. The …

25 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider amending the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 1992 to give local authorities the discretion to accept up to 12 payments per annum on a monthly basis

Answer · Tom McCabe: The regulations referred to above allow local authorities the discretion to enter into separate arrangements with individuals regarding payments. Therefore the requested flexibility already exists, albeit on a case-by-case basis.

23 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it allocates to NHS boards to employ staff whose job is primarily to tackle MRSA.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Infection control is accepted by all NHS boards as a vital component of their work and the budgets they set make provision for this.The Scottish Executive has not allocated specific funding for infection control but funding has been provided for additi…