Parliamentary questions
Donald Gorrie
955 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
22 Jul 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether an education authority is required to provide the necessary support outwith school for a child identified as having a year-round additional support need.
Answer · Peter Peacock: Education authorities have a duty, under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, to secure adequate and efficient provision of school education for their area and this includes provision for special educational needs. There is no stipulation in the legislation on …
22 Jul 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the figures are for public libraries in respect of (a) net expenditure, (b) expenditure per head of population, (c) professional, non-professional and manual staff numbers, (d) expenditure on staff, (e) the number of books and other items issued, (f) the average number of issues per …
Answer · Frank McAveety: This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Executive. However, the following, from figures published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accounting, the Library and Information Statistics Unit and the Scottish Library and Information …
8 Jul 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many amateur sports clubs have registered with the Inland Revenue as community amateur sports clubs, thereby gaining various tax benefits, and what plans it has to persuade more clubs to so register.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The information requested is not held by the Scottish Executive. A list of registered community amateur sports clubs(CASCs) throughout the UK can, however, be found on the Inland Revenue website. The following link <ahref="http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/casc…
8 Jul 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been (a) reported to the Procurator Fiscal, (b) taken to court and (c) convicted of the offence of acting as an agent for a person under 18 to purchase alcohol in the last year for which figures are available.
Answer · Colin Boyd: During the financial year 2003-04 there were 235 accused reported to the procurator fiscal for a total of 268 charges under section 68(3) of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976. Of those 268 charges, 99 charges have been prosecuted in court resulting in 63 conv…
29 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to make better use of the facilities available at Castle Craig Hospital for residential treatment of alcohol or drug dependency.
Answer · Hugh Henry: It is for the members of local Drugs and Alcohol Action Teams to design and deliver services for people in their areas with drug and alcohol problems, and the Executive does not commission or fund individual services.</p><p>Decisions on the most appropriate t…
24 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on local authorities' housing and homelessness staff having access to the internet in order to access guidance and good practice in their area of expertise.
Answer · Margaret Curran: A <i>Code of Guidance on Homelessness</i>, produced by the Scottish Executive, is available to assist local authority practitioners in the exercise of their duties under the homelessness legislation. An updated edition of the Code was produced in May 2004 and…
23 Jun 2004 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it intends to establish dignity at work contacts and investigators for MSPs' staff similar to those established for its staff and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.
Answer · Duncan McNeil: The SPCB does not intend toestablish a network of dignity at work contacts and investigating officers forMSPs' staff. In relation to employment of such staff, it is the relevant MSPwho is the employer. The responsibilities and potential liabilities arisingfro…
9 Jun 2004 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the single survey pilot will commence.
Answer · Margaret Curran: I am very keen indeed that the pilot should begin within the next few weeks. Discussions are taking place with the insurance industry about the provision of professional indemnity insurance for surveyors participating in the pilot. We are hopeful of getting a…
27 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make a decision on the planning application by South Lanarkshire Council and the private operator, Dignity, for the construction of a crematorium at Sydes Braes in Blantyre.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: All the relevant papers relating to this planning application were received by the Scottish ministers on 1 June and these are currently being considered. It is not possible to say, at this early stage, when a decision will be reached. The Scottish mnisters’ t…
20 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many instances of reoffending whilst a person is tagged have occurred in each year since tagging was introduced and in each case what offence took place and what action was taken.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Like other community disposals,breach of a restriction of liberty order is not an offence but is reported to thecourt simply as a breach. We do not hold centrally records on re-offending as thecommission of a further offence by anyone subject to any community…
20 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many instances of failures of tagging equipment there have been in each year since the inception of electronic tagging.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: 1,617 offenders have been electronically monitored since 1 May 2002 and of those, there have been a total of 237 incidences where the central computer system has identified a malfunction, or potential malfunction, of part of the electronic monitoring equipmen…
20 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many instances of breaches of tagging conditions have occurred in each year since the inception of electronic tagging.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Since restriction of liberty orders have been available to all courts in Scotland, a total of 547 offenders have been returned to court for breaching the terms of their order - 98 in 2002, 296 in 2003 and 153 in 2004.</p><p>Serious incidents of breach of a re…
20 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which organisation currently provides the tagging and monitoring services in relation to those who have been tagged as a result of their sentence.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Following a competitivetendering exercise in 2001, the electronic monitoring contract was awarded toReliance Monitoring Services Ltd.</p>
20 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which companies have been invited to tender in respect of any new service requirements in relation to the provision of electronic tagging and monitoring of individuals tagged as a result of their sentences.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: As yet, we have not invitedany companies to tender for new electronic service requirements contained inthe Criminal Procedure (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill and the Anti Social Behaviour etc (Scotland) Bill.</p>
20 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to invite tenders for the monitoring of individuals who are electronically tagged as part of their sentences as a result of any forthcoming legislation.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: No steps have been taken asyet to invite tenders for the electronic monitoring of individuals as a result anyforthcoming legislation.</p>
19 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what records exist in respect of the number of Building Control inspections that have found that installations did not comply with safety standards.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: Building control inspectionsare specifically for the purpose of deciding whether to grant a completion certificate.Records of completion certificates granted are held by individual local authorities.</p>
19 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to raise the percentage of electrical contracting firms that have enrolled with the National Inspection Council for Electrical Engineering Contracting from the current estimate of 25%.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Executive has had littleliaison with the National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting.We liaise regularly with the Scottish Construction Industry Group (SCIG) on issuesof concern to the construction industry and the Scottish Constru…
19 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to combat “cowboy” builders.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Executive supports the aimsof the Construction Licensing Executive (CLE) to combat “cowboy” builders withinthe domestic market through a licensing scheme. </p><p>The Building (Scotland) Act2003 will permit certification of work by Approved Certifiers of C…
19 May 2004 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer what its expenditure on training and personal development has been for each grade of parliamentary staff in each of last four years; how many members of staff benefited from such training and development, and in what areas of training and personal development activity costs were incurred.
Answer · Duncan McNeil: Information on SPCB staff training costs are not available in a grade-by-grade format. All staff have the opportunity to take up training and development opportunities. Training and development costs are charged to the following areas: IT skills, softskills,…
19 May 2004 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer on how many occasions discussions have taken place between elected members and the Training and Development Manager in respect of training and development for MSPs' staff in each year since 1999; what training needs were identified, and what training options were offered as a result of th…
Answer · Duncan McNeil: Meetings between electedmembers and the Training and Development Manager are not formally recorded, butit is estimated these number a half dozen or so per year. The Training andDevelopment Manager provides Members with an internal consultancy service and,afte…
17 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether public spaces or parks used for school building programmes under PPP/PFI initiatives remain in public ownership or become the owned property of the private contractor involved in the initiative.
Answer · Peter Peacock: Issues concerning the ownershipof such land will depend on the detail of the contract between individual authoritiesand their private sector partners. Generally, land in public ownership would beunder the control of the private contractor for the duration of …
17 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines it has issued to local authorities in respect of the redesignation, or allocation of, public spaces and parks for use as part of school building programmes.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive has issued no such guidance to local authorities specifically in relationto school building programmes.</p><p>National Planning Policy Guideline11: <i>Sport, Physical Recreation and Open Space</i> addresses the land use implicationsof s…
17 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive in what circumstances, and under what conditions, it will grant permission to local authorities to include public spaces and parks as part of any proposed PPP initiative for new school campuses.
Answer · Peter Peacock: Decisions on the schools to beincluded in a PPP project and the nature of sites on which those schools are tobe located are for the local authorities to determine, subject to the normal requirements,such as obtaining planning permission and any other necessar…
17 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions of contractors transporting waste to landfill sites there have been for using unsuitable or unsafe vehicles in each of the last six years and in each case (a) what contractors were involved and (b) which landfill sites were their destination.
Answer · Ross Finnie: This information is not availablein the form requested. Information about successful environmental prosecutions ispublished in the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s Annual Reports. Thesemay be found on the agency’s website at:</p><p><ahref="http://www.…
17 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive who is responsible for ensuring that vehicles used to transport waste to landfill sites are suitable and safe for such purposes.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Environment ProtectionAgency is responsible for ensuring that operators fulfil their statutory duty totransport waste in such a way that it does not escape, and is therefore concernedthat vehicles used for this purpose should be suitable. The saf…
17 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions of commercial contractors there have been for delivering, or attempting to deliver, illegal or unsuitable waste to landfill sites in each of the last six years and in each case (a) who the contractors were (b) what the nature of the material was and (c) which landfil…
Answer · Ross Finnie: This information is not availablein the form requested. Information about successful environmental prosecutions ispublished in the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s Annual Reports. Thesemay be found on the agency’s website at: </p><p><ahref="http://www…
17 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions of commercial contractors there have been for accepting illegal or unsuitable waste at landfill sites in each of the last six years and in each case (a) who the contractors were, (b) what the nature of the material was and (c) which landfill sites were involved.
Answer · Ross Finnie: This information is not availablein the form requested. Information about successful environmental prosecutions ispublished in the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s Annual Reports. Thesemay be found on the agency’s website at:</p><p><ahref="http://www.…
17 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of illegal or unsuitable materials being delivered to landfill sites by commercial contractors there have been in each year since 1999 and in each case (a) who the contractors were, (b) what actions were taken to address the issue and (c) what the nature of the materials wa…
Answer · Ross Finnie: This information is not heldcentrally. There is no requirement on landfill operators in the Landfill (Scotland) Regulations2003, if they detect unsuitable materials being delivered to their sites, to reportor record such incidents, only that they do not accep…
14 May 2004 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer whether it will discuss with Oxfam the possibility of one of its new fair trade coffee shops being sited at the new Parliament building.
Answer · John Scott: As we had to plan well inadvance of the migration to Holyrood, the contract for all catering outlets waslet last summer. I can confirm, however, that all catering outlets at Holyroodwill serve only fair trade coffee and tea.</p>
14 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have an archive unit (a) capable and (b) not capable of delivering a full service under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act and which local authorities have no archive unit.
Answer · Tavish Scott: The information requested isnot held centrally.</p>