Mr Brian Monteith

24 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what differences in the way that Scotland implemented last year's Programme for International Student Assessment caused the Office for National Statistics to advise that "any comparisons with Scotland should be made with caution".

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Minor changes to OECD procedures for student sampling and test administration were made to enable the 2000 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to be run in Scotland. These changes would not have had any effect on the validity of the PISA res…

23 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what injuries and damage to health can occur from coming into contact with vegetation such as giant hogweed and how many incidences of such have occurred in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The sap of the Giant Hogweed plant (Heracleum Mantegazzianum) is mildly toxic by ingestion, and may cause irritation of the mouth, hypersalivation and mild gastrointestinal upset.<I> </I><P>Skin contact can cause severe dermatitis and photosensitisation. Redn…

23 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is considering any legislative changes to combat vegetation such as giant hogweed.

Answer · Allan Wilson: In reply to question S1W-21820 on 28 January 2002, I indicated that the Executive was participating in a GB-wide review of the current and potential threats posed by invasive non-native species, including giant hogweed. The Executive's future policy on this i…

23 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any discussions with local authorities and others on combating vegetation such as giant hogweed.

Answer · Allan Wilson: The Executive has not discussed invasive plant species with local authorities. Local authorities are already well aware of their powers to act to minimise the impact of invasive plants in circumstances where the plants' presence is threatening the amenity of …

23 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to combat vegetation such as giant hogweed and whether there is a national strategy on this issue and a website giving details on these matters.

Answer · Allan Wilson: It is for local authorities to take action where the amenity of a particular area is threatened by invasive plant species such as giant hogweed.<P>Information on control methods for giant hogweed is widely available from a large number of internet websites.

23 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how prevalent the theft of road signs is and what steps are being taken to tackle it.

Answer · Richard Simpson: The information requested on prevalence of theft of road signs is not held centrally. There is no national campaign to tackle this issue. Local crime prevention initiatives are a matter for the relevant Chief Constable.

10 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to establish a School Sports Alliance similar to that set up by Her Majesty's Government.

Answer · Elaine Murray: There are a number of developments which should be sufficient to obviate the demand for a School Sports Alliance.<P>As part of the implementation of the organisational review which reported last year,<B> sport</B>scotland is setting up four advisory groups co…

9 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-25166 by Peter Peacock on 1 May 2002, what the (a) actual and (b) estimated revenues were, or will be, from (i) council tax and (ii) business rates for (1) Stirling and (2) Clackmannanshire in each year from 1996-97 to 2002-03.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Detailed in the following tables are the actual revenues from council tax and actual and estimated revenues from business rates for Stirling and Clackmannanshire Councils. No estimates are received from councils for council tax.<P>Net Income from Council Tax …

8 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-21578 by Ross Finnie on 22 January 2002, when the Environment and Rural Affairs Department office in Perth will become operational.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The completion date for the construction of the new office building is 16 December 2002. Thereafter internal furnishings and fittings will be installed and it is anticipated that the new office will become operational in February 2003.

8 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many car parking spaces are planned for the new Environment and Rural Affairs Department office in Perth.

Answer · Ross Finnie: A total of 83 car parking spaces are planned, as approved by the local planning authority.

8 May 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met representatives of Central Scotland Police and what matters were discussed.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Officials from the Justice Department are in regular contact with Central Scotland Police about a range of policing issues. My most recent visit to the area was for the Safer Central Anniversary on 19 April 2002 during which I met the Convener of the Central …

2 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what budget it has set aside to cover the costs involved in holding direct elections to the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority.

Answer · Allan Wilson: We anticipate that the costs of directly electing members to the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority will be in the region of £50,000. Article 4 of the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Elections (Scotland) Order 2002 provides for …

30 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what projects in (a) Stirling and (b) Clackmannanshire have benefited from funding from the Remote and Rural Areas Resource Initiative in each of the last two years.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Remote and Rural Areas Resource Initiative (RARARI) has invited bids for project support in two bidding rounds held in 2000 and 2001. No bids were received from Stirling or Clackmannanshire. Details of the projects for which it has agreed to provide fundi…

25 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the New Community Schools Initiative has cost to date.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Over the three years since its introduction in April 1999, the Scottish Executive has invested £26.6 million in the New Community Schools Initiative pilot programme.

25 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what process was followed in choosing the evaluators of the New Community Schools Initiative; how much the evaluators are being remunerated, and when the evaluators are expected to report.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The contract for the national evaluation of the New Community Schools pilot programme was awarded to the University of London by competitive tender in March 2000. The total cost of the three year exercise will be approximately £167,000. The evaluation team is…

25 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what conclusions it has drawn so far from the New Community Schools Initiative.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Early feedback from project reports, visits and the Ministerial Steering Group suggests that the New Community Schools Initiative is delivering significant benefits through new ways of working.<P>The New Community Schools Initiative is bringing about better i…

24 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements (a) Stirling Royal Infirmary and (b) Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary have in place for occasions when they are unable to accept admissions.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: When either hospital is unable to accept admissions, the first arrangement is to accommodate patients on the other's site.<P>There is a reciprocal arrangement with other health board areas if, for any reason, this is not possible.

24 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions (a) Stirling Royal Infirmary, (b) Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary, (c) Perth Royal Infirmary and (d) Victoria Infirmary in Kirkcaldy have been unable to accept admissions in each of the past three years and what the reasons were on each occasion.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Detailed information in the form requested has not been collected centrally.

24 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients at Stirling Royal Infirmary, whose discharge had been delayed, were there on (a) 31 March to 1 April 2002 and (b) 4 to 5 April 2002.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

23 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24373 by Mr Jim Wallace on 22 April 2002, what the total number of suicides among (a) men and (b) women prisoners was in each of the last five years.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=189><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>Year</TD><TD WIDTH="25%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>(a)</TD><TD WIDTH…

19 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport (a) was invited to and (b) attended the recent tourism summit hosted by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and what the reasons are for the position on this matter.

Answer · Mike Watson: I was invited and decided against attending. <P>The meeting is for Whitehall Departments that have a tourism interest. The proposed agenda was almost exclusively related to England. While the work of the BTA was briefly touched on, I had met with the BTA Chai…

18 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its news release SEHD012/2002 on 16 April 2002, how the priority based dispatch system will affect the Scottish Ambulance Service in the Forth Valley.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Forth Valley area will become one of the first areas of Scotland to receive the benefits of priority based dispatch. The relevant call categorisation and call handling software is due to come online in the Scottish Ambulance Service's Edinburgh Control Ro…

18 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to upgrade the ambulance stations in Callander and Killin in Perthshire so that they provide 24-hour cover, and if so, when any such plans will be implemented.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Ambulance Service has no plans at present to convert the ambulance stations in Callander and Killin from part-time to full-time working.

18 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are plans to upgrade the Balfron ambulance station in West Stirlingshire so that it provides round the clock 24-hour cover, and if so, when any such plans will be implemented.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Ambulance Service has made provision for the conversion of the ambulance station in Balfron from part-time to full-time working in the financial year 2003-04.

17 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the full costs were of publishing, printing and distributing its draft Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Bill.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The draft Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Bill cost £15,244 to publish, print, distribute and add to the Scottish Executive website.

17 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24371 by Allan Wilson on 12 April 2002, what the amount is of each EU grant received by the Forestry Commission and what each grant has been spent on in each of the last three years.

Answer · Allan Wilson: The amount of each EU grant received by the Forestry Commission in each of the last three years, for work in the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, is shown in the following table, together with details of what each grant has been spent on.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING…

11 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it gives directly and through sportscotland for the establishment and running of websites by sports governing bodies.

Answer · Elaine Murray: <B>Sport</B>scotland give advice to individual governing bodies on website and hosting issues and work with the Scottish Sports Association in considering proposals from companies who wish to provide websites to governing bodies. <B>sport</B>scotland are curr…

11 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for any further initiatives in response to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee's 9th Report 2000 Sport in Schools and whether it is satisfied that all the recommendations contained in that report have been responded to.

Answer · Elaine Murray: We responded in full to the committee's report on 30 April and look forward to further discussions with the committee about plans and progress in this area once it has considered our response and the imminent report of the Physical Activity Task Force.

4 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24233 by Nicol Stephen on 3 April 2002, why its Education Department does not hold detailed information on the circular documents or other mailings it produces for distribution to primary and secondary schools.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Written material issued by the Scottish Executive can take a number of forms and is issued from a number of areas within the Executive. Central logging of this written material is not undertaken, and a comprehensive answer could not therefore be provided to q…

3 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff, showing inspectors and support staff separately, will be employed at the headquarters and each regional and sub-office of the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The numbers of staff currently employed by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care at its headquarters and in each of its regional offices are detailed in the following table. Decisions have yet to be made by the Care Commission as to which of thos…