Mr Brian Monteith

13 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of funding it has allocated to ASH Scotland in each year since 1999 and whether it has any plans to discontinue this funding.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Funding allocations for ASH Scotland in each year since 1999 are as follows:-</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>Funding Allocation</p> </td> <td> <p align=center>1999-2000</p> <p align=center>£</p> </td> <t…

13 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7188 by Malcolm Chisholm on 21 April 2004, what level of funding it has provided to Caledonia Youth in 2004-05.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Executive has provided funding of £454,574 to Caledonia Youth so far in the year 2004-05. A further £246,548 is expected to be provided before the end of March 2005.</p>

20 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12713 by Cathy Jamieson on 14 December 2004, what the average fine has been, where a monetary penalty was awarded, for a first offender convicted of (a) non-sexual crimes of violence, (b) serious assault, (c) robbery, (d) crimes of indecency, (e) rap…

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the table.</p><p>Persons with No Previous Convictions¹ Given a Monetary Penalty - Average Fine Imposed, 1998-2002</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>Type of Offence<sup>2<…

16 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is considering any change in the weighting between council tax bands.

Answer · Tom McCabe: There are no plans to change the weighting between council tax bands at this time. Reform of the council tax is one of the options currently being considered by the independent Local Government Finance Review Committee as part of its review of different forms…

7 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were recruited to the civil service in Scotland in each of the last five years and how many are estimated to be recruited in each of the next five years.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The headcount of permanent new starts to the Scottish Executive core departments, agencies and associated departments in each of the past five financial years is provided in the following table. The data provided includes members of staff who have left and re…

7 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people left the civil service in Scotland in each of the last five years and how many are estimated to leave in each of the next five years.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The headcount of permanent leavers from the Scottish Executive core departments, agencies and associated departments in each of the past five financial years is provided in the following table.</p><p> The data provided include members of staff who have left a…

29 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average sentence has been for a first offender convicted of (a) non-sexual crimes of violence, (b) serious assault, (c) robbery, (d) crimes of indecency, (e) rape, (f) attempted rape, (g) indecent assault, (h) crimes of dishonesty, (i) housebreaking, (j) shoplifting, (k) fraud, (…

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the table.</p><p>Persons with No Previous Convictions¹ with a Charge Proved for Selected Offences, by Type of Sentence, 1998-2002</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p align=…

26 Nov 2004 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many times the fire alarm at Holyrood has been set off (a) unintentionally and (b) intentionally for testing and what measures are being taken to reduce the number of such alarms.

Answer · John Scott: Since migration to Holyroodon 2 August, a total of 23 fire alarm activations resulting in full and partialevacuation have taken place. The majority of these activations were linked toeither dust from contractor works activating smoke detector heads or acciden…

19 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the legislation on assessment of carers and direct payments is being adhered to by all local authorities.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: From January 2005 local authorities are being requested for the first time to report on the number of carers’ assessments being carried out annually, and this will provide a much clearer picture of whether they are meeting legislative requirements.  </p><p>Th…

19 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people accessed direct payments to secure the provision of community care services under the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Information about the number of carers in receipt of direct payments is not held centrally. A breakdown of numbers receiving direct payments by local authority area can be accessed from table number 8 of the statistics release <i>Direct Payments Scotland 2004…

19 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many assessments of (a) ability to provide care and (b) needs have been carried out in each local authority area under the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I refer the member to the question S2W-11761, answered on 9 November 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the parliament website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/w…

19 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether all local authorities are implementing their legal duties in relation to carers, as set out in the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 introduced various new legislative rights for carers and new duties upon statutory bodies. In recognition of their lead role in supporting carers and the people they care for, most of these duties apply to loc…

19 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) carers and (b) people being cared for there are in each local authority area.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I refer the member to the question S2W-11761, answered on 9 November 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp…

19 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals were prosecuted for a crime in each of the last five years, broken down by police board area.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the table. Figures for 2002 may be underestimates due to time taken to record details of some court proceedings.</p><p>Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts, by Police Force Area, 1998-2002</p><table border=1 cells…

19 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals were charged with a crime in each of the last five years, broken down by police board area.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Information on persons charged by the police is not held centrally. Information on the numbers proceeded against in Scottish courts is given in the reply to question S2W-12388 answered on 2 December 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are ava…

19 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many reports to procurators fiscal were marked “no proceedings” due to a lack of evidence in each of the last five years, broken down by sheriff court district.

Answer · Colin Boyd: Data held by Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is recorded for Procurator Fiscal offices, as shown in the following table:</p><p>No Proceedings - Insufficient Admissible Evidence</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> …

19 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals have been prosecuted for attempting to pervert the course of justice in each of the last five years.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the table.</p><p>Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts for Perverting the Course of Justice¹, 1998-2002</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p> </p> </td> <td> <p…

19 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals have been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice in each of the last five years.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Information on persons charged by the police is not held centrally. Information on the numbers proceeded against in Scottish courts is given in the reply to question S2W-12379 answered on 2 December 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are ava…

18 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) careers service, (b) school-based administration, (c) cleaning and (d) catering staff have been employed by each local authority at (i) local authority and (ii) school level in each year since 1997.

Answer · Peter Peacock: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-12363, answered on 1 December 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://scottish.parliament.uk/…

18 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) classroom assistants, (b) youth workers and (c) pre-school staff have been employed by each local authority at (i) local authority and (ii) school level in each year since 1997.

Answer · Peter Peacock: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-12363, answered on 1 December 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliamen…

18 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) careers service, (b) school-based administration, (c) cleaning and (d) catering staff have been employed by each local authority in each year since 1997.

Answer · Peter Peacock: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-12363, answered on 1 December 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parlaiment…

18 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) classroom assistants, (b) youth workers and (c) pre-school staff have been employed by each local authority in each year since 1997.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Information on the numbers of classroom assistants and school-based administrative staff is contained in tables 5.10, 6.10 and 7.9 of the publication <i>Teachers in Scotland 2003</i>, copies of which are available from Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. numb…

16 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the (a) results of its consultation on smoking in public places, (b) results of its survey of people’s reactions to a smoking ban in pubs and (c) calculations used to inform the University of Aberdeen’s study International Review of the Health and Economic Impact of …

Answer · Andy Kerr: The summary of consultation responses was published on the Scottish Executive’s website on 16 November and the summary of the results of the opinion survey on 17 November. Both can be accessed at <ahref="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/health/smoking…

11 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many civil legal aid grants were paid for divorce cases in each of the last five years and what the total cost was of such grants was in each year.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The following table sets out the number of divorce cases in which a final civil legal aid payment was made, and the total gross cost of divorce cases funded by the Scottish Legal Aid Board in each year since 1999.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding…

10 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why, according to its statistics, of the 30,319 cases of possession of drugs cleared up by the police in 2002-03, only 5,091 proceeded to court and what action was taken in relation to the other offenders.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive Justice Department database shows a total of 8,562 individual offences of possession of drugs that proceeded to court in 2002, of which 6,288 resulted in a charge proved. </p><p>Comparison of the statistics currently available on record…

10 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people found in possession of Class C drugs in each of the last five years were only cautioned.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Police in Scotland do not operate a system of formal police cautions, as is the case in England and Wales. No record is held centrally on informal police cautions or warnings in Scotland.</p>

10 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the spending stream “Promoting Equality” under the level 3 heading “Closing the Opportunity Gap by Providing Routes out of Poverty, Ensuring Equal Opportunities and Supporting Active Citizenship” in Draft Budget 2005-06 will be used for.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Promoting Equality budget funds the mainstreaming equality work of the Executive and the delivery of the equality strategy. It supports promotional and delivery work on disability, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion and faith, refugee integration,…

10 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the spending stream “Health Improvement” under the level 3 heading “Health Improvement” in Draft Budget 2005-06 will be used for.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The funding will be used to support the health improvement priorities outlined in the <i>Draft Budget 2005-06</i> document available at <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/finance/db0506-07.asp">http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/finance/db0506-07.a…

10 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the spending stream “New educational developments” under the level 3 heading “Schools” in Draft Budget 2005-06 will be used for.

Answer · Peter Peacock: This funding of £17.7 million is allocated to the New Educational Developments Division within the Education Department. The principal activities of the division and the associated funding is as follows:</p><p>School Improvement £1.2 million</p><p>This fundin…

10 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the allocation of the concessionary fares budget in (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07, as referred to in Draft Budget 2005-06.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The provision for concessionary fares schemes referred to in the Draft Budget provides for section 70 grant payments for concessionary travel schemes run by local authorities where there is a demonstrated shortfall in funding over the grant aided expenditure …