Parliamentary questions

Brian Adam

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

3 Jun 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the results of the mapping of supply of, and demand for, further education (FE), broken down by college, will be used to inform future funding and other policy development in the FE sector.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The national report and eleven area reports are due to be completed by the Scottish Further Education Funding Council in spring 2005. The main purpose of the mapping exercise is to inform the council’s strategic decisions about the allocation of funding to th…

3 Jun 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it has allocated to organisations that support those who believe that they have been subject to racial discrimination, racial abuse or worse racially-motivated actions in each of the last three years.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The Commission for Racial Equality, as the statutory body responsible for promoting race equality and tackling race discrimination, provides advice and support to those who may have been the subject of racial discrimination or abuse. As a reserved body, the C…

3 Jun 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it has allocated to promote its anti-racism strategies in each of the last three years.

Answer · Margaret Curran: In the last three years, the Executive spent the following sums to promote race equality and its anti-racism strategies:2001-02 - £200,0002002-03 - £1,500,0002003-04 - £ 903,000.

3 Jun 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its anti-racism campaigns have a contact telephone number that has been publicised for those who need support because they believe that they have been subject to racial discrimination, racial abuse or worse racially-motivated actions.

Answer · Margaret Curran: <ahref="http://www.onescotland.com/">www.onescotland.com</a>, the website developedas part of the Executive’s One Scotland. Many Cultures Campaign, provides contactdetails for a wide range of organisations and groups that can offer advice and support. In addi…

3 Jun 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will support people who believe that they have been subject to racial discrimination, racial abuse or worse racially-motivated actions.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The Executive has made clear that racist attacks or harassment, in whatever form, or racial discrimination, will not be tolerated. We encourage people who believe they have been the subject of such behaviour to contact the appropriate authorities, such as th…

3 Jun 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in mapping the supply of, and demand for, further education; when the mapping exercise will be completed, and whether the results will be broken down by college.

Answer · Jim Wallace: In February 2004, the Scottish Further Education Funding Council commissioned the second mapping exercise of supply of and demand for further education in Scotland. A national report and eleven area reports are due to be completed in spring 2005. This exercis…

3 Jun 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the funding of each further education college is for the current financial year, including any European Structural Funding, and what the funding would have been had it been based on activity levels.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The recurrent grant provided to Scotland’s further education colleges by the Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC) is based on agreed targets of student activity. The information on individual funding allocations is as follows:<table class=Ms…

3 Jun 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) efficiency savings and (b) transitional costs it anticipates as a consequence of the current proposed voluntary mergers by some further education colleges, broken down by college.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The decision to merge Glasgow College of Building and Printing (GCBP) and Glasgow College of Food Technology (GCFT) through the creation of Glasgow Metropolitan College (GMC) was not taken primarily on financial grounds. The Scottish Further Education Funding…

2 Jun 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is required to provide PGCE training for a secondary teacher of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) Gaelic, (d) Gaelic-medium (any subject), (e) technological education, (f) French and German, (g) physics, (h) home economics, (i) computing, (j) art, (k) religious education, (I)…

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive funds PGCE teacher training places through the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC). The SHEFC makes no distinction in funding levels for different PGCE subjects. For 2004-05, SHEFC has allocated funding of £6,435 to insti…

2 Jun 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-7295 and S2W-8168 by Peter Peacock on 27 April and 25 May 2004 respectively, how many teacher vacancies there were in each local authority in (a) mathematics, (b) physics, (c) technology and design, (d) modern languages, (e) English, (f) chemistry,…

Answer · Peter Peacock: The information requested is voluminous. A set of tables Full-time Equivalent Teacher Vacancies in Schools has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib.number 32903).

2 Jun 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-7295 and S2W-8168 by Peter Peacock on 27 April and 25 May 2004 respectively, how many teacher vacancies it projects there will be in each local authority in (a) mathematics, (b) physics, (c) technology and design, (d) modern languages, (e) English,…

Answer · Peter Peacock: Information in the form requested is not held centrally. The projections that are made by the Scottish Executive are in the National Statistics Publication Notice Results of Teacher Workforce Planning for 2004-005 and can be accessed using the followin…

2 Jun 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the funding specified in its draft budget 2004-05 for the Spark Project and the additional cost of teachers in (a) 2003-04, (b) 2004-05 and (c) 2005-06 will go towards ICT.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Procurement of the intranet element of the Scottish Schools Digital Network (formerly known as Spark) is currently under way, and it would not be appropriate to disclose the budget.The costs of this will be met from within a budget of £0 in 2003-04, £2…

17 May 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether early release of the Scottish Census records of 1911 and 1921 was discussed at the Scottish Records Advisory Council on 26 April 2004 and, if so, what the outcome was.

Answer · Hugh Henry: I understand that this was discussedat the council meeting. The council understood the reasons for, and did not dissentfrom, the current policy of keeping personal census records confidential for 100years.

12 May 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies there were in each local authority area at 30 April 2004 for teachers of (a) chemistry, (b) biology, (c) art, (d) drama, (e) home economics, (f) computer studies and (g) physical education.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The latest information available from the teacher vacancies survey returned by local authorities at February 2004 shows the following vacancies:Full-time Equivalents Teacher Vacancies in Schools<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> …

11 May 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-5817 by Hugh Henry on 10 February 2004, what funding was allocated to local authorities for addressing drug misuse as part of their grant aided expenditure in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, broken down by (i) local authority and (ii) NHS board area.

Answer · Tom McCabe: Provision of specific resources to local authorities for drug rehabilitation as part of the grant aided expenditure arrangements began in 2001-02. Consequently, there was no such identification in these earlier years.

11 May 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-6805 by Hugh Henry on 22 March 2004, what funding was allocated to each NHS board for drug treatment services in 2003-04.

Answer · Hugh Henry: Details of allocations to NHS boards for drug treatment services in 2003-04 are set out in the table below.<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> NHS Board </td> <td> Allocation 2003-04 (£000) </…

27 Apr 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Divorces (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations (SI 1998/643), with particular regard to extending the time available to carry out an internet search session.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The Births, Deaths, Marriagesand Divorces (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations (SI 1998/643) were reviewed in February2003 following discussions with the internet site’s user group, and the Births,Deaths, Marriages and Divorces (Fees) (Scotland) Amendment Regulation…

23 Apr 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what insurance cover or other provision it has made for emergency service personnel injured or killed whilst on duty in response to an act of terrorism.

Answer · Hugh Henry: This subject, which involvesreserved matters relating to the provision of financial services, is currently underconsideration. The Cabinet Office, in consultation with other government departmentsand devolved administrations responsible for emergency services…

23 Apr 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will release the 1911 and 1921 Census records in line with the practice applied to the 1841 to 1891 Census records.

Answer · Hugh Henry: I refer the member to the answergiven to question S1W-33622 on 10 February 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for whichcan be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/…

21 Apr 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to eliminate illicit drug use in prisons.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:The SPS has a comprehensive rangeof technical and procedural security measures in place designed to minimise thesupply of illegal dru…

21 Apr 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current average waiting times are for cardiac surgery for (a) NHS and (b) private patients in each NHS board.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The median waiting times forNHS patients admitted from the inpatient and day case waiting list for cardiac surgery,by NHS board of residence, in the year ending 30 September 2003 are providedin the table. In addition, 178 cardiac surgery patients were treated…

21 Apr 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty's Government on stimulating increased exploration and development in the oil and gas industry.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive is incontact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including stimulatingincreased exploration and development in the oil and gas industry. Through PILOT,the government and industry taskforce for the oil and gas industry of w…