Parliamentary questions
Brian Fitzpatrick
529 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
19 Apr 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that key stakeholders and social partners are able fully to participate in discussions on its consultation on the prison estate review.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The review has been widely distributed including on the Scottish Executive website. A variety of response mechanisms are available and I encourage everyone to respond.
19 Apr 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the e-mail message of 12.58 pm on 21 March 2002 to Scottish Prison Service (SPS) staff by Mr Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the SPS, regarding the prison estate review, which of the proposals contained in its consultation on the review are elements of Executive policy…
Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>The options were prepared by SPS with the costs reviewed by PricewaterhouseCoopers at the request of the Scottish Executive. The Scottish Execu…
19 Apr 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what reports it has received or requested from the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) on the e-mail message of 12.58 pm on 21 March 2002 to SPS staff by Mr Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the SPS, regarding the prison estate review.
Answer · Jim Wallace: No reports have been requested. I have however seen a copy of the relevant e-mail and I am satisfied that Mr Cameron was properly advising staff about their duty of impartiality as civil servants and providing the means whereby staff could express their views…
19 Apr 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what intimation it received, and when, of the e-mail message of 12.58 pm on 21 March 2002 to Scottish Prison Service (SPS) staff by Mr Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the SPS, regarding the prison estate review.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The e-mail referred to was part of a package of internal measures to inform Scottish Prison Service staff of how they could participate in the prison estate review consultation process. It was therefore not copied to other parts of the Scottish Executive at t…
27 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to increase the participation of drug users in drug treatment programmes.
Answer · Richard Simpson: As part of our Drugs Communications Strategy, national mass media campaigns are already under way, using the Know the Score logo, to encourage the public to find out more about drugs and where advice and treatment can be obtained across Scotland.<P>The Execut…
27 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking in order to provide high quality pre-admission and rehabilitation care for older people to help them live as independently as possible by reducing preventable hospitalisation and by ensuring year-on-year reductions in delays in moving people aged over 75 from hosp…
Answer · Hugh Henry: We are tackling these issues on a number of fronts, though not exclusively for people over 75.<P>Last year we provided new resources, starting with £24 million in 2001-02 and rising to £48 million in 2003-04, to enable local authorities and their partners loc…
27 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking in order to secure year-on-year improvements in patient satisfaction, including with standards of cleanliness and food, as measured by independently audited local surveys.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Patient satisfaction depends primarily on the quality of care they receive. The Executive has introduced a system of standards, including those for cleaning services and hospital food, designed to ensure that patients receive a high quality service throughout…
27 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking in order to reduce the maximum wait for (a) an out-patient appointment and (b) in-patient treatment.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The National Waiting Times Unit (NWTU), which I established earlier this year, is working with NHS boards on the development of local waiting times standards, which reflect local clinical priorities, and which focus on tackling the longest waiting times for o…
27 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking in order to ensure that patients will receive treatment at a time that suits them in accordance with their clinical needs.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: By March 2003, the Electronic Clinical Communications Implementation project will be in place throughout Scotland, enabling widespread electronic linking between GP surgeries and hospitals. This will bring a number of significant benefits for patients, includ…
27 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking in order to narrow any health gap in childhood and throughout life between different socio-economic groups and between the most deprived areas and the rest of the country.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: Tackling health inequalities is the overarching aim of the public health improvement programme being progressed by the Scottish Executive and a range of partners. The programme is based on a three-level approach: improving the life circumstances that impact o…
26 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what future support it will give to the Edinburgh Sheriff Court In-court Advice Project, whose current funding comes to an end on 31 March 2002.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive has agreed to continue funding the Edinburgh Sheriff Court In-court Advice Project, including the mediation element of the project, for the next three years at a total cost of £213,000. I know this decision will be warmly welcomed by al…
22 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any additional money will be made available through the Modernising Government Fund to support the many modernisation projects that are under way.
Answer · Andy Kerr: I am pleased to say that I have been able to provide up to an additional £15 million to add to the £15 million that was previously announced in the budget.<P>The fund has attracted 93 bids from the public sector to accelerate change and improve the services t…
19 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive (a) how many statutory instruments it has made since July 1999, (b) how many such instruments amended existing statutory instruments and (c) how many regulatory forms issued by it have been reviewed for regulatory impact and what the results were of any such review.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The Scottish Executive has made 1,294 Scottish Statutory Instruments (SSIs) since July 1999. Statistics are not compiled on how many of these amended existing statutory instruments.<P>Where it is considered that a particular instrument could have an impact on…
13 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23539 by Mr Jim Wallace on 12 March 2002, whether it will now invite persons recommended for appointment to the Judicial Appointments Board to declare membership of Freemasonry and any other secret society.
Answer · Jim Wallace: No. I believe that the information already sought from candidates, as referred to in the answer given to question S1W-23539 on 12 March 2002, is as far as we need go at this time.
13 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has for the provision of local electoral registers that are joined up, maintained and managed locally, and accessible on a national level to authorised users.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive has no function in relation to the provision of local electoral registers.
13 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in (a) providing support to local authorities seeking to implement electronic government and (b) supporting partnership development between central and local government and other agencies.
Answer · Peter Peacock: Significant progress has been made both in providing support to local authorities seeking to implement electronic government and developing partnership working.<P>For example, the Executive in partnership with COSLA and local authorities, has established the …
13 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements there are for reporting its regulatory activities.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: Regulations which impact upon business, charities or the voluntary sector will be accompanied by a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) and when finalised the RIA should be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre, copied to the lead committee, subordinate l…
13 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in respect of removing any unnecessary regulation and ensuring that any future regulations are necessary and proportionate with need.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Executive works to ensure that all regulations are necessary and proportionate, in particular for regulations which impact upon business, charities and the voluntary sector. The use of the Regulatory Impact Assessment and the Review Regulatory Impact Asse…
13 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has for increasing the volume of its business transactions conducted electronically and what progress is being made in respect of any such targets.
Answer · Andy Kerr: Our second Programme for Government, <I>Working Together for Scotland</I>, promised that the Scottish Executive would have the capacity to conduct 90% of its low value, high volume procurement transactions electronically by the end of 2001. Since the introduc…
13 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has for the payment by it of undisputed invoices following receipt of goods and services or presentation of a valid invoice and what progress is being made in respect of any such targets.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The Executive's policy is that all undisputed invoices should be paid promptly (i.e. within 30 days, unless a different payment period has been agreed). In 2000-01, the last full financial year for which figures are available, the Executive paid around 98% of…
13 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking in order to require local authorities to set targets for the improvement of local services and what progress is being made in respect of this matter.
Answer · Peter Peacock: Through Best Value, we are encouraging all local authorities to seek continuous improvement in their service delivery. They already have a duty to report performance publicly through the performance indicators. The forthcoming Local Government Bill will inclu…
13 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking in order to support continuous improvement in the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of local government services and what progress is being made in respect of this matter.
Answer · Peter Peacock: A Best Value framework was introduced on a voluntary basis by all Scottish local authorities in 1997. The stated aim of this framework was the pursuit of continuous improvement in both corporate management and direct service provision.<P>The Scottish Local Go…
13 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has for the development and increased implementation of good practice in local government, including working with pilot authorities, and what progress is being made in respect of any such targets.
Answer · Peter Peacock: We are keen to help local authorities' efforts to improve services and share good practice. As local authorities pursue continuous improvement under Best Value we expect them to use the information in inspection reports and the Accounts Commission's value for…
13 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has in respect of the percentage of new dwellings built on previously developed land and what progress is being made in respect of any such targets.
Answer · Iain Gray: National planning policies encourage the re-use of previously developed or underused land. Such sites can make an important contribution to the supply of land for housing. However, the amount of previously developed land varies greatly across Scotland. The Ex…
13 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has for increasing the number of passenger miles travelled on railways and what progress is being made in respect of any such targets.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: We have no such targets at present.
13 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has for the introduction of resource accounting for local authority housing finance and what progress is being made in respect of any such targets.
Answer · Iain Gray: There are no plans to set targets for the introduction of resource accounting for local authority housing finance.
13 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has, in partnership with local authorities, for reducing any backlog of council house repairs and what progress is being made in respect of any such targets.
Answer · Iain Gray: The Executive does not have specific targets for the reduction of any backlog in council house repairs. However, Audit Scotland has a performance indicator which measures the number of repairs to council houses, the proportion of these completed within counci…
13 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has for, and what progress it is making in, the installation of energy efficient measures in homes.
Answer · Iain Gray: In the Programme for Government, published in September 1999, the Scottish Executive gave a commitment to tackle damp and cold houses by improving 100,000 houses suffering from dampness and condensation under the Warm Deal by 2003. More than 130,000 houses ha…
13 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has for, and what progress it is making in, protecting and improving the environment including integrating policy on the environment with other policies across devolved areas.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive has a wide range of targets to protect and improve Scotland's environment. These include investing in secondary sewage treatment for more than 80% of Scotland's population compared to less than 50% previously, introducing legislation in…
13 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to Her Majesty's Government on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy insofar as any such reform relates to costs to consumers.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive is engaged in preliminary discussions with the UK Government on the full range of issues arising from the Common Agricultural Policy. Proposals for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy are not expected to emerge from the European Co…