Parliamentary questions

Mr Brian Monteith

1,042 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

1 Apr 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected cost is for the establishment of community health partnerships in the next three years (a) in total and (b) broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Ministers have not yet approvedall NHS board schemes of establishment for Community Health Partnerships (CHPs)and therefore cannot confirm the total number of CHPs across Scotland. Asof 18 April 2005, nine NHS boards have received approval for their schemesof…

24 Mar 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-13857 by Malcolm Chisholm on 9 February 2005, what information it has on how the payments received from central government for asylum support were distributed in (a) 1996-97, (b) 1997-98 and (c) 1998-99, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held by the Scottish Executive. Prior to 1 April 1999, the budget for support of asylum seekers was split between the then Department of Social Security and the Department of Health.

17 Mar 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost is of its public information campaign on the dangers of children contracting E.coli as a result of contact with farm animals, including publicity and promotional materials, and of this, what the cost is of advertising.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The E.coli O157 public information campaign has an advertising allocation of £98,477.00 for the financial year 2004-05. Spend to date is £87,209.00, although this may not be the definitive spend figure for this financial year. In addition to this, the …

16 Mar 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence it has of children contracting E.coli as a result of contact with farm animals and, if it has such evidence, how many cases there have been in each of the last six years for which figures are available.

Answer · Andy Kerr: E.coli O157 can be a serious infection and, in addition to causing gastroenteritis, is the most common cause of kidney failure in children in Scotland. Infections occur as either outbreaks, where a general outbreak is defined as involving members of mo…

10 Mar 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-14631 by Peter Peacock on 2 March 2005, what plans it has to encourage Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) to publish school and local authority performance in implementing Better Behaviour – Better Learning against HMIE inspection standar…

Answer · Peter Peacock: The quality of climate and relationships in schools is regarded by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education as one crucial aspect of school discipline. “Climate and Relationships” are evaluated in every primary and secondary school inspection using the four po…

10 Mar 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-13857 by Malcolm Chisholm on 9 February 2005, how the payments received from the National Asylum Support Service were distributed in (a) 1996-97, (b) 1997-98 and (c) 1998-99.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The National Asylum Support Service was not established until 1999, therefore, it is not possible to provide this information.

4 Mar 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many appeals against (a) temporary exclusions and (b) removals from the register of school children were successful in each year since 1997.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The information is not held centrally, but is being collected from 2004-05.

4 Mar 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of appeals against (a) temporary exclusions and (b) removals from the register of school children were unsuccessful in each year since 1997.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The information is not held centrally, but is being collected from 2004-05.

4 Mar 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many appeals against (a) temporary exclusions and (b) removals from the register of schoolchildren were unsuccessful in each year since 1997.

Answer · Peter Peacock: This information is not held centrally, but is being collected from 2004-05.

22 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will encourage Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education to publish details of the standards of behaviour and attendance achieved across local authorities in its annual inspection report.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Her Majesty’s Inspectorate ofEducation (HMIE) produces an annual report in which it reviews its progress in meetingits business objectives. One of its 2003-04 objectives was to report on progressin schools and authorities on implementing Better Behaviour –…

22 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the destinations of teachers who worked in special schools which were closed as a result of its mainstreaming policy.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive does not hold centrally information on the destination of teachers working in special schools which have been closed or the reasons for school closure. Local authorities have not advised the Scottish Executive of any of its special scho…

22 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has carried out on the factors affecting teachers' decisions to leave the profession.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Executive’s annual teacherworkforce planning exercise takes account of the numbers leaving teaching on thefollowing grounds, domestic reasons, maternity, teaching post outwith Scotland, healthgrounds, early retirement, age retirement and other or not know…

22 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been issued to local authorities to help maintain and develop robust arrangements for monitoring incidents of violence and antisocial behaviour against school staff, as referred to in Better Behaviour in Scotland's Schools: Policy Update 2004.

Answer · Peter Peacock: In January 2004 I tasked a reviewgroup, headed by Professor Pamela Munn and Mr Jim Martin, formerly of the EIS, toconsider the most effective way to gather information on indiscipline in schools.I made the advice of the group public in October 2004, in the Ex…

2 Feb 2005 · Written Question

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The information requested for 1945 to 1975 is given for Scotland in table 1. During 1975, 20 Scottish police forces were reorganised into the eight current police forces. Figures for police force areas comparable with those after 1975 are therefore not availa…

2 Feb 2005 · Written Question

1 Feb 2005 · Written Question

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Information has been collected on a whole time equivalent basis only since 2000. Before that, information was collected on a head count basis only. The available information is therefore shown in the table on a head count basis up to December 1999 and on a wh…

1 Feb 2005 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will investigate systems that will improve ventilation of the smoking room at Holyrood for the benefit of smokers and non-smokers alike and, if so, when.

Answer · John Scott: The air change rate in thesmoking room is 32 litres/second/person and is in line with recommended ratesfor smoking rooms as specified by the CIBSE (Chartered Institute of BuildingServices Engineers). Improvements are currently being addressed by RMJM who ared…

26 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated for asylum seeker costs or support to each local authority in each year since 1997.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has not allocated any additional resources to local authorities specifically for asylum seeker costs or support. However, over £7 million has been provided since 2001 for projects promoting integration of refugees and asylum seekers.</p…

26 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question 204530 by Des Browne MP on 17 January 2005 (Official Report, c 740W), how it distributed the payments it received from the National Asylum Support Service from 1999-2000 to date, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The payments received by the National Asylum Support Service were distributed according to claims submitted by the local authorities accommodating asylum seekers who arrived prior to the dispersal programme being introduced. Information on individual payments…

26 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-4935 by Patricia Ferguson on 20 January 2005, whether it will detail all the artificial turf sports pitches for (a) football, (b) hockey and (c) other team games that sportscotland has supported in each of the last three years for which information i…

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The information requested is set out in the following table.<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> Year </td> <td> Organisation </td> <td> Award </td> …