David McLetchie

8 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence has been published in the last 10 years showing the impact of the deployment of fixed speed cameras on accident rates.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: There have been a number ofpublications relating to safety cameras in the last 10 years, both in the UK andabroad. These publications have included evidence of reductions in speeding,accidents and injuries as a result of fixed cameras. Among relevantpublicati…

8 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many fixed speed cameras are currently deployed, and were deployed in each of the last five years.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The following table showsthe total number of fixed speed camera sites on trunk roads in Scotland.Fixed speed cameras on non-trunk roads are the responsibility of localauthorities and data on the total numbers of these are not held centrally.</p><table class=M…

11 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-894 by Cathy Jamieson on 2 July 2003, for what categories of offences civil diligence was used to recover fines, broken down by (a) sheriff and (b) district court in each of the last six years.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The information requested is not held centrally.

11 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what value of, fines have been written off owing to the offender receiving a prison sentence, or an alternative disposal for failure to pay, in each of the last six years.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The information provided by the Scottish Court Service for how many, and what value of, fines have been written off owing to the offender receiving a prison sentence, or an alternative disposal for failure to pay, in each of the last six years is set out in t…

1 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients resident in Scotland were treated in NHS facilities in England and paid for by Scottish NHS boards and trusts in each of the last four years.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Information on the actual number of Scottish residents receiving treatment in NHS hospitals in England is not available. The table below gives the numbers of finished consultant episodes (FCE) Scottish residents have received in NHS facilities in England. An …

1 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients resident in England were treated in NHS facilities in Scotland and paid for by English health authorities in each of the last four years.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Information on the actual number of English residents receiving treatment in NHS hospitals in Scotland is not available. The table shows the number of episodes of care English residents have received as outpatients, inpatients or day cases in NHSScotland faci…

26 Jun 2003 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer whether any IT system or other technology being installed in the new Holyrood building is wireless and, if so, to what extent.

Answer · John Scott: The Holyrood building iscustom built with an IT infrastructure that has been designed to meet the needsof the Parliament for the foreseeable future. The core IT infrastructure for thenew building will be largely enabled by high specification network cablingth…

30 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the customer care complaints system in respect of installations under its central heating programme administered through Eaga Partnership Ltd, how many complaints have been made about the standard of work by contractors; how many complaints have been made about disruption …

Answer · Mary Mulligan: In January 2003 Eaga introduced a new system for recording and dealing with complaints. They now have a comprehensive register of complaints and action taken on them and a dedicated complaints team.<P>In the period 1 January to 30 May 2003 there have been 48 …

17 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-4038 and S1W-33935 by Mr Jack McConnell on 10 March 2000 and Mr Andy Kerr on 20 February 2003 respectively, what the reasons are for the discrepancies in the figures for its staff employed at 1 April 1999.

Answer · Andy Kerr: As explained in the answers provided to the previous questions, the core Scottish Executive (Scottish Office) has changed over time, with responsibilities and posts moving into and out of the core departments. In order to provide a like with like comparison o…

14 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-5772 by Donald Dewar on 4 September 2000, what the total cost has been of each Scottish Executive Minister's private office since July 2000, broken down by year and, where possible, category of expenditure.

Answer · Andy Kerr: I regret that it is notpossible to provide a reply prior to dissolution but I will write to the memberas soon as possible.</p><p><i>&nbsp;</i></p><p><i>The following is afurther answer (published on </i><i>7 May 2003</i><i>); see below.</i></p><p><b>&nbsp;</b…

27 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W- 10970 by Angus Mackay on 25 January 2001, how many of its publications have been produced since 18 January 2001 and how much each such document cost to produce, broken down by year of publication.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The details of Scottish Executive publications produced in the period from 18 January 2001 to 31 January 2003 are as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=534><TR><TD VALIGN="TOP" COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT=16><P>2001 - 02</TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH="85%"…

20 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many drivers of foreign-registered cars caught speeding by police speed cameras have not paid the appropriate fine in each of the last three years and what its estimate is of revenue lost as a result.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The information requested is not held centrally.

10 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-13081 by Angus Mackay on 28 March 2001, how many members of staff have been employed in its Media and Communications Group in each year since 2001, broken down into press officers, support for press office, publicity officers, internal communications…

Answer · Andy Kerr: Information on the current staffing levels and make up of the group is available via the Scottish Executive Business directory. The following table shows the number of staff employed, (by areas requested), in the Scottish Executive's Media and Communications …

10 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4038 by Mr Jack McConnell on 11 February 2000, how many full-time equivalent members of staff have been employed by it and each executive agency and associated departments in each year since 1 April 1999 and how many members of staff have transferred…

Answer · Andy Kerr: The full-time equivalent of permanent staff employed in the main departments in each year between 1 April 1999 and 1 February 2003 in The Scottish Office and Scottish Executive are set out in the following table.<P>In the past four years, the definition of th…

6 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total estimated annual cost of employment of special advisors has been in each year since 1999.

Answer · Andy Kerr: For figures relating to the years 1999-2000 and 2000-01, I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-19765 on 20 November 2001. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which …

6 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-13764 by Angus MacKay on 5 April 2001, whether it will give up-to-date figures on how much was spent on new capital investment in and refurbishment of its property in each year for which figures are available, broken down by project.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The cost of refurbishment* (excluding maintenance, repairs and minor works) since 1 April 1996 is shown in the table:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=621><TR><TD WIDTH="24%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>Project</TD><TD WIDTH="11%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>1996-97<P>…

5 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the full costs, including fuel, drivers' salaries, insurance, road tax and servicing, of providing the ministerial car service for ministerial use and how many cars there were in the pool in each year since 1997.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Expenditure on fuel, service and repairs, staff costs, contract hire and the number of vehicles used by the Government Car Service (Scotland) (GCS) since 1997 is shown in the table: <TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=604><TR><TD WIDTH="16%" VALIG…

5 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-8566 by Mr Jack McConnell on 22 August 2000, how much money has been spent on fuel for ministerial cars in each year since 2000-01.

Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-33817 today. 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.parliament.uk/webapp/searc…

5 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs have been of producing, publishing, launching and distributing each of its publications produced to date.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The information requested is not available in the format asked for and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

30 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what Joint Ministerial Committees have been set up since the Memorandum of Understanding was endorsed by the Parliament on 7 October 1999 and on how many occasions the overarching Joint Ministerial Committee and each of the specific sub-committees have met.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) has met in plenary on three occasions. <P>Joint Ministerial sub-committees have been established on health, poverty, knowledge economy and Europe. The JMC (health) sub-committee has met on five occasions; JMC (poverty) su…

11 Dec 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer whether any negotiations with the Church of Scotland are currently taking place about any further extension of the Parliament's lease of the Assembly Hall and, if so, for what dates the extension is being negotiated.

Answer · David Steel: The Parliament's lease of the Assembly Hall from the Church of Scotland is highly flexible and allows us to extend our occupation, subject to six months' written notice. We will negotiate any further extension of the Parliament's lease when our migration prog…

10 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have applied for grants under the Powershift programme; how many of these grant applications have been approved and paid, and how much it has spent on the programme in each year since 1 July 1999.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The majority of Powershift grant applications are from companies rather than individuals. The following tables show Powershift grant applications that have been approved and paid, and how much has been spent on the programme in each year from 1 July 1999 to 3…

21 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30944 by Lewis Macdonald on 13 November 2002, when the proposals for the Colinton flood prevention scheme were first referred to it by the City of Edinburgh Council; how many persons have objected to these proposals, and how many exchanges of corresp…

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The City of Edinburgh Council passed to the Scottish Executive, on 22 January 2002, its proposals to carry out works relating to a culvert overflow under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 in the Redford Road area of Colinton. Two objections to these works have be…

13 Nov 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) will prepare a report on the increased cost, and timetable for completion, of the new Parliament building at Holyrood and whether the SPCB will seek agreement through the Parliamentary Bureau to a debate in the Parliament on this mat…

Answer · David Steel: As the SPCB announced on November 19th, work on the Holyrood site is not now expected to be fully completed until August 2003 at the earliest. The cost implications associated with such a delay are currently being assessed. Once more detailed information is a…

5 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its news release SE4054/2001 of 27 September 2001, what progress has been made with its mortgage to rent scheme in respect of the conditions and general workings of the scheme; how much of the available budget has been spent to date, and how many householders have taken pa…

Answer · Margaret Curran: I have asked Mr Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:<P>Ministerial approval will be sought shortly to the proposed Mortgage to Rent scheme with a view to the scheme being operational early in 2003. The sc…

28 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce its decision on the Colinton flood prevention scheme submitted to it for approval by the City of Edinburgh Council.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: No such flood prevention scheme is before the Scottish Executive for its determination. However, because of sustained objections, the City of Edinburgh Council passed to the Scottish Executive its proposals to carry out works relating to a culvert overflow un…

2 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken, or intends to take, and over what timescale, on the conclusions and recommendations of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency report Strategic Review of Organic Waste Spread on Land.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Following the publication of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency's (SEPA) report, <I>Strategic Review of Organic Waste Spread on Land</I>, the then Scottish Office carried out a public consultation on its recommendations. I refer the member to the answ…

22 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the decision of the Minister for Health and Community Care to approve the plans of Greater Glasgow NHS Board on the future provision of acute hospital services in the board area is final and not subject to any further review.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: In approving Greater Glasgow NHS Board's plan for the future provision of acute hospital services throughout its area, I gave careful consideration to, and looked closely at, the process that had been carried out by the NHS board in formulating its proposals.…

2 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake and publish an evaluation of the financial and other implications of the House of Lords decision in Robertson (AP) v Fife Council on 25 July 2002 relating to the provision of residential accommodation and whether it will be seeking to amend the relevant legislati…

Answer · Frank McAveety: The Executive is working with local authorities to assess the implications of this judgement and will consider what response is appropriate once that assessment is complete.

23 Jul 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27011 by Cathy Jamieson on 16 July 2002, whether the statement by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice to the Justice 2 Committee on 18 June 2002 that the number of serious offences referred to the children's reporter unit is statistica…

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-27011. The statistical information was drawn from data which is now being collected by Scottish Children's Reporters Administration on its new information technology system.