Brian Fitzpatrick

13 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of how much agricultural producers receive annually under the Common Agricultural Policy.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Agricultural producers in Scotland have received the following total payments from Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) schemes in recent years:<P>1998 - £437,907,505<P>1999 - £380,338,303<P>2000 - £392,014,526<P>2001 - £298,877,944 (part figure - payments for th…

6 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many registered medical practitioners are employed by or on secondment to it.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive currently employs 12 registered medical practitioners with a further seven being seconded in.

6 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many holders of practising certificates from the Law Society of Scotland are employed by or on secondment to the Executive.

Answer · Andy Kerr: There are 527 lawyers employed or seconded to the Scottish Executive holding practising certificates awarded by the Law Society of Scotland. This figure includes 402 legal staff employed by the Crown Office and the Procurator Fiscal Service.

6 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many chartered accountants are employed by or on secondment to it.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive employs 61 qualified accountants throughout its core and its agencies. All are members of various chartered bodies.

6 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many members of the Faculty of Actuaries are employed by or on secondment to the Executive.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive does not employ any actuaries.

6 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive (a) how many and (b) what percentage of civil servants employed by it in each grade band are ordinarily resident in (i) Aberdeen, (ii) Dundee, (iii) Edinburgh, (iv) Glasgow and (v) East Dunbartonshire.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Information on core Scottish Executive staff as at 1 March 2002, by grade and recorded home address, is provided in the table. The accuracy of addresses recorded centrally for employees is dependent on the individual employee informing their personnel officer…

26 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received, or assessment it has made, of the likely utility of a Typetalk relay service in allowing deaf people to access NHS 24.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Typetalk is a service run by the Royal National Institute for the Deaf in partnership with BT. It is the only national telephone service which enables deaf, deafblind, deafened, hard of hearing, and speech impaired people to communicate with hearing people an…

26 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in securing access for deaf people to NHS 24 via a textphone facility.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: When NHS 24 is launched in the Grampian area in late spring, the service will offer nurse consultation and health information services to deaf, deafblind, deafened, hard of hearing, and speech impaired people through the Typetalk service. NHS 24 will be runni…

26 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the needs of deaf people in regard to securing equal and fair access to NHS services.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: <I>A Good Practice Guide</I> to support the implementation of section 21 of the Disability Discrimination Act (1995), which requires that people with disabilities are given reasonable access to goods and services, was issued to NHSScotland in September 1999.<…

26 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22796 by Mr Jim Wallace on 20 February 2002, whether persons applying for appointment to the Judicial Appointments Board will be required to disclose membership of Freemasonry and any other secret society.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The recruitment exercise for membership of the Judicial Appointments Board has already taken place and candidates were not asked to disclose membership of Freemasonry or any other secret society. Applicants were asked to disclose any possible conflict of inte…

13 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22242 by Mr Jim Wallace on 11 February 2002, whether the ranking of the candidates interviewed for appointment as a Senator of the College of Justice, as decided by the ad hoc Judicial Appointments Board in June 2001, applied in respect of those cand…

Answer · Jim Wallace: The ad hoc board advised ministers on the suitability of candidates for appointment to the Supreme Court bench, and not for any particular vacancy on the bench.

6 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the benefits of weekend detention and home curfews for persons convicted of minor non-violent criminal offences, with particular reference to rehabilitation and recidivism.

Answer · Jim Wallace: We have made no assessment of the benefits of weekend detention. Restriction of Liberty Orders will be introduced as a community disposal for courts across Scotland from May 2002. Electronic monitoring will be used to check compliance. We also plan to extend …

6 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider inviting current office holders in the supreme, sheriff and district and minor courts to disclose membership of Freemasonry and any other secret society.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have no plans to take action on this matter at present.

6 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider directing the Judicial Appointments Board to require applicants for appointment to the supreme, sheriff and district and minor courts to disclose membership of Freemasonry and any other secret society.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I will give consideration to this once the membership of the Judicial Appointments Board has been finalised.

6 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the ad-hoc Judicial Appointments Board invited applicants for appointment to the supreme courts to declare membership of Freemasonry and any other secret society and whether any such declaration by any of the candidates was made.

Answer · Jim Wallace: No such information was requested and none was volunteered.

6 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the expert group on acute services reviews will report on any recommendations made by health boards with regard to in-patient bed capacities and the service implications of such capacities.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The role of the expert group is presently under consideration, and I hope to be able to make an announcement in the near future.

6 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the expert group on acute services reviews will have a role in respect of tracking and reporting on the (a) impacts of service changes and (b) co-ordination of NHS specialisms included in the service reviews.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I am presently considering the role of the expert group on service reconfiguration.

6 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-20750 by Malcolm Chisholm on 4 February 2002 and in relation to the levels and trends of new patient referrals accepted or planned for each whole-time equivalent NHS consultant oncologist in the North Glasgow University Hospital NHS Trust and the Gre…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: All NHS Scotland organisations responsible for patient services are required to provide activity data via Scottish Morbidity Record (SMR) to the Information and Statistics Division, NHS Scotland.<P>It is a matter for NHS boards to use all available sources of…

5 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it offers financial support to Scottish students studying in England under the Dance and Drama Awards Scheme.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: Assistance is available for Scottish domiciled higher education students in receipt of such an award to study in England, from the Student Awards Agency in Scotland.<P>Until last summer Scottish domiciled further education students in receipt of an award had …

30 Jan 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to improve public awareness of organ donation.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: We are working with all the key interests to develop a national publicity campaign aimed at raising awareness of organ donation and transplantation. This will complement the education resource pack on the subject which we announced last week.

23 Jan 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the ad-hoc Judicial Appointments Board ranked the candidates they interviewed in June 2001 for recommendation for appointment as a Senator of the College of Justice.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Yes.

23 Jan 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-20685 by Mr Jim Wallace on 28 December 2001, what progress it has made in considering the advice given by the Government Actuary on determining the rate of return to be expected from the investment of sums awarded for damages and when the order presc…

Answer · Jim Wallace: Having now considered the advice of the Government Actuary, the Scottish ministers have now made the Damages (Personal Injury)(Scotland) Order 2002, setting the discount rate at 2.5%. This is the same rate as in England and Wales. The order enters into force …

9 Jan 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made, or is making, of the funding consequences for higher education institutions arising from the results of the Research Assessment Exercise.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council has submitted advice to the Scottish Executive in the light of the most recent Research Assessment Exercise, and we are considering this.

9 Jan 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it is giving, or planning to give, to improving the organisation of the school year.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: We are currently considering whether there is merit in promoting greater harmonisation of the school year. I hope that parents, pupils, teachers and everyone with an interest will discuss this and other issues related to the organisation of the school year du…

9 Jan 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it is giving, or planning to give, to increasing denominational schools' provision for minority faiths.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Under statute, provision of schools - including denominational schools - is a matter for each education authority.

9 Jan 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the contribution made by denominational schools to academic achievement in areas of social deprivation.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: As I indicated in my answer to question S1W-21629 we do not specifically analyse information on academic achievement in terms of the contribution of denominational schools. This includes academic achievement in areas of social deprivation.

9 Jan 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the contribution made by denominational schools to academic achievement.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: We do not specifically analyse information on academic achievement in terms of the contribution of denominational schools.

9 Jan 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has in respect of improving the inspection of child care facilities.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: From 1 April 2002, the new Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care will assume responsibility for the regulation and inspection of care services, including child care facilities. The commission will promote innovative, integrated and flexible services …

13 Dec 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many arrests have been made in the vicinity of live railway lines in each year since 1997.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The information requested is not available centrally.

13 Dec 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many offences have been reported which occurred in the vicinity of live railway lines in each year since 1997.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Executive. The following information has been supplied by the British Transport Police in respect of crimes and offences occurring on or near railway lines.<P>Crimes and Offences occurring on or …