Parliamentary questions
Brian Fitzpatrick
529 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
6 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last consulted with (a) teachers, (b) pupils and parents, (c) trade unions, (d) local authorities and (e) the operators of fee-paying schools on the organisation and management of school trips.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The organisation and management of school trips has not been the subject of recent consultation by the Scottish Executive with any of the groups listed. The Scottish Executive Education Department is, however, arranging discussion with local authority represe…
6 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has obtained from (a) Scottish Water or (b) the Greater Glasgow NHS Board on (i) when test results were first (1) instructed and (2) obtained identifying the presence of cryptosporidium parvum in the water supply for areas within East Dunbartonshire; (ii) when such res…
Answer · Ross Finnie: Scottish Water continuously monitors the Milngavie water supply for cryptosporidium and if it detects the parasite in the water supply it immediately notifies Greater Glasgow NHS Board as required by the cryptosporidium directions. There is no indication that…
6 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Chief Medical Officer or his staff were first alerted by, or on behalf of Scottish Water, to the identification of background levels of cryptosporidium within the water supply for areas within East Dunbartonshire served by the Greater Glasgow NHS Board, as announced by Scottish W…
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive Health Department was notified on 3 August 2002.
6 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Chief Medical Officer or his staff were first alerted by, or on behalf of, of the Greater Glasgow NHS Board to the likely presence of cryptosporidium parvum in the water supply for areas within East Dunbartonshire, as announced by Scottish Water on or about 3 August 2002.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive Health Department was notified on 3 August 2002.
6 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Chief Medical Officer or his staff were first alerted by, or on behalf of, the Greater Glasgow NHS Board of the identification of background levels of cryptosporidium within the water supply for areas it serves, as announced by Scottish Water on or about 3 August 2002.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive Health Department was notified on 3 August 2002.
6 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its current estimate is of the time required for public health officials to identify the presence of the proto'oan cryptosporidium parvum in samples of surface water.
Answer · Ross Finnie: <I>The Cryptosporidium Directions 2002</I> (paragraph 3(1)(a)) requires Scottish Water to monitor their raw water sources for the presence of cryptosporidium and these data are collected to provide an indication of likely challenges to the treatment plant. Th…
6 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what regulatory provisions govern the proximity of sheep and cattle and domesticated animals to sources of public water supply.
Answer · Ross Finnie: There are no regulations governing this activity.
1 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it (a) received before 1 July 2002 and (b) has received to date from East Dunbartonshire Council about any likely revenue costs to the council arising from the implementation of free personal care for people living at home.
Answer · Frank McAveety: We have received no information from East Dunbartonshire Council.
1 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what financial allocation it has made to East Dunbartonshire Council in order to provide for implementation by the council of free personal care for the periods (a) 1 July 2002 to 31 March 2003 and (b) 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004.
Answer · Frank McAveety: The allocation to East Dunbartonshire Council for implementation of free personal and nursing care for 2002-03 is £2.255 million; the allocation for 2003-04 is £3.060 million.
1 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessments it (a) received before 1 July 2002 and (b) has received to date from East Dunbartonshire Council of the number of people aged 65 years and over for whom assessments of personal care need had been made by or on behalf of the council.
Answer · Frank McAveety: We have not received this information from East Dunbartonshire Council.
1 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it received from East Dunbartonshire Council before 1 July 2002 on the average number of nursing home residents in the East Dunbartonshire Council area and to which years any such information related.
Answer · Frank McAveety: We have received no information from East Dunbartonshire Council.
1 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what submissions it (a) received before (i) 31 March 2002 and (ii) 1 July 2002 and (b) has received to date from East Dunbartonshire Council about the demographic profile of the population aged 65 years and over and resident in the council's area in respect of implementation of free perso…
Answer · Frank McAveety: We have received no submissions from East Dunbartonshire Council.
1 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what submissions it has received from East Dunbartonshire Council since 1 July 2002 on the using up of any resources allocated to the council by means of (a) weekly revenue support grant payments or (b) any other payments for the implementation of free personal care.
Answer · Frank McAveety: We have received no submissions from East Dunbartonshire Council.
1 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what funds have been made available in (a) the East Dunbartonshire Council area and (b) Scotland for investment in home-based care services and for infrastructure costs to support the implementation of free personal care.
Answer · Frank McAveety: Estimates of the immediate cost of providing free personal care suggested that from within East Dunbartonshire's overall allocation of £2.255 million, £837,000 could be available in 2002-03 for investment in home-based services and infrastructure costs to sup…
1 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it received before 1 July 2002 from East Dunbartonshire Council about any likely loss of revenue to the council from charges for personal care at home following implementation of free personal care and on what dates it received any such information.
Answer · Frank McAveety: We have received no information from East Dunbartonshire Council.
1 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it received before 1 July 2002 from East Dunbartonshire Council on the number of self-funding residents in residential and nursing homes in the council's area and on what dates it received any such information.
Answer · Frank McAveety: We received no information from East Dunbartonshire Council.<P>Information on the number of self-funding residents in care homes is available annually from the <I>Residential Care Homes Census</I> (Scottish Executive) and the <I>Nursing Homes Census</I> (Info…
1 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what submissions it has received from East Dunbartonshire Council on the allocation of resources for the implementation of free personal care following the circular issued to local authority chief executives and others by the Chair of the Implementation Steering Group on 9 May 2002 and on…
Answer · Frank McAveety: We have received no submissions from East Dunbartonshire Council.
30 Jul 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what submissions it received between 31 March and 1 July 2002 from East Dunbartonshire Council regarding the (a) deliverability and (b) funding allocations made to the council for the implementation of free personal care for persons aged 65 years or over in the East Dunbartonshire area.
Answer · Frank McAveety: We have received no submissions from East Dunbartonshire Council.
25 Jul 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-25678 by Mr Jim Wallace on 24th July 2002, whether any civil servant received any oral, draft or documentary or electronic submission from the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) advising or commenting on the proposals of the internal SPS submission Constr…
Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-25721 today.
18 Jul 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on codifying the law and practice relating to the admissibility of evidence in (a) criminal cases and (b) civil cases.
Answer · Jim Wallace: There are currently no plans to codify the law or practice relating to the admissibility of evidence.
18 Jul 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it will give to providing increased discretionary powers for sheriffs and judges to admit evidence of previous convictions of accused persons in solemn and summary criminal cases.
Answer · Jim Wallace: We have no immediate plans to consider providing such powers generally to sheriffs and judges. The Sexual Offences (Procedures & Evidence) (Scotland) Act 2002 will, however, create a presumption, in sexual offences cases, in favour of disclosure of an acc…
18 Jul 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it will give to making provision to bring persons acquitted of serious criminal charges before a second trial where compelling new evidence has become available after such an acquittal.
Answer · Jim Wallace: We have no immediate plans to consider making such provision in Scotland.<P>We have, however, noted the proposal in the UK Government's recently published White Paper, <I>Justice for All</I>, to reform the rule of double jeopardy so that an acquitted defendan…
18 Jul 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many responses it has received from respondents to its consultation on the Scottish Prison Service Estates Review with postal addresses in the Strathkelvin and Bearsden constituency and of these responses how many expressed support (a) for the establishment of a new-build prison at t…
Answer · Jim Wallace: The information held by the Scottish Executive about respondents to the Prison Estates Review consultation is contained in the document <I>Consultation Responses - Alphabetic Overview</I> of the responses to the Scottish Executive Consultation on the Future o…
18 Jul 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many responses it has received from individual respondents to its consultation on the Scottish Prison Service Estates Review.
Answer · Jim Wallace: A total of 129 responses to the consultation were received, of which 92 were from individuals.
25 Jun 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list those court dues exigible in the Court of Session from 1987 to date in monetary terms and showing any percentage and Retail Price Index increases from year to year for (a) lodgment of a summons/petition, (b) a jury precept (c) lodging records, (d) a reclaiming motion…
Answer · Jim Wallace: The information requested has been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 22511).
25 Jun 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which bodies it consulted with in April 2002 on civil court fees in the Court of Session and the sheriff courts.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Executive's consultation exercise was based on a paper issued in September 2001. The names of the bodies to whom the consultation paper were sent are given in the following list:<P>Action of Churches Together in Scotland<P>Catholic Church in Scotland<P>Ev…
25 Jun 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how its school estate strategy will identify comparative standards of educational achievements of pupils served by schools of poor, fair or excellent repair.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Information on educational attainment is published by the Scottish Executive as follows:<DIR><P>School by school Scottish Qualifications Authority examination results are published in <I>Examination Results in Scottish Schools</I>. Copies of this report are h…
25 Jun 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how its school estate strategy will identify the number of (a) schools and (b) the number of pupils served by schools that have sub-standard heating, ventilation, plumbing and roofs.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: We are working with local authorities to develop a national strategy for the school estate. This will be complemented by local authorities' school estate management plans. The detailed assessment and management of school buildings are matters for the local au…
13 Jun 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the appointment of the new Chair of the Scottish Law Commission to be announced.
Answer · Jim Wallace: It is expected that the announcement of the appointment of the new Chair of the Scottish Law Commission will be made in the next four weeks.
6 Jun 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has received, or assessment has been made by it or on its behalf, of the environmental benefits of the introduction of "plastax" for certain types of plastic bags following the introduction of such a scheme in the Republic of Ireland in March 2002 and, in the light of …
Answer · Ross Finnie: No formal assessment has been made by the Executive on the introduction of the plastic bag levy in the Republic of Ireland, but we will continue to watch the effects of the implementation of this scheme.