Donald Gorrie

9 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it is aiding or intending to aid the redevelopment of Bo'ness.

Answer · Iain Gray: As part of the overall regeneration strategy for Bo'ness, developed with Falkirk Council, Scottish Enterprise Forth Valley is currently funding a feasibility study into the development potential of the Bo'ness foreshore to determine suitability for housing an…

9 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make any submissions or correspondence it has received from BP plc about proposed redevelopment plans for Bo'ness publicly available.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: We have received no submissions from BP on this subject.

9 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with BP plc about plans for the proposed redevelopment of Bo'ness.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: We have had no discussions with BP plc on this topic.

9 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase facilities and opportunities for respite care for children and adults with disabilities and special needs, either directly or by supporting voluntary or statutory agencies.

Answer · Frank McAveety: Under our Carers Strategy we have made £10 million a year available to local authorities from April 2000 for services to support carers, including respite. Authorities are also being given substantial new resources to provide an extra 22,000 weeks of short br…

9 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what support and funding it offers to local communities in order to help them purchase or acquire for community use any former local authority premises designated surplus to the authority's requirements.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive does not make funds available to local communities for the specific purpose of purchasing local authority premises that are surplus to the authority's requirements.

9 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list for each of the last three years (a) any occasions on which pesticide residue in excess of maximum permitted levels has been found on seeds imported for growing and (b) the (i) level and (ii) type of pesticide in each case.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Seeds imported for growing are not tested for pesticide residues.

9 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for which pesticides seeds imported for growing are tested; by whom such testing is carried out, and whether it will provide a list of the maximum permitted residue level in respect of each such pesticide.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Seeds imported for growing are not tested for pesticides.

9 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pesticides that are licensed for use in other EU countries are prohibited for use in Scotland.

Answer · Ross Finnie: This information is not readily accessible and would take a disproportionate time to establish.

9 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which agency or agencies are responsible for the monitoring of pesticides in seeds imported for growing.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Seeds imported for growing are not monitored for pesticides.

9 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that laws and regulations governing litter are enforced.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive commissioned, in February 2002, a review to consider whether the current legislation on litter and flytipping is effective and achieving its purpose, and whether it is being fully utilised by local authorities. The report of the review …

8 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance exists on the responsibilities and duties of its civil servants to (a) the Parliament, (b) the Executive and (c) the Crown.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Civil servants are required to act in accordance with the terms of <I>The Civil Service Code</I> which sets out their responsibilities and duties.

8 May 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what evaluation has been made of the effectiveness of the drug court pilot schemes.

Answer · Richard Simpson: Both the Glasgow and Fife Drug Courts will be subject to an independent evaluation. The Glasgow Drug Court began sitting in November last year, and the evaluation of its effectiveness is already under way. The evaluation of the Fife Drug Court will begin when…

7 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make available to members all guidance, guidelines, advice and codes of conduct issued in all departments to civil servants on answering (a) parliamentary questions and (b) letters from members.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: Copies of the Executive's current guidance on parliamentary questions, ministerial correspondence and the Scottish Ministerial Code have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

7 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) prison sentences and (b) sentences involving an alternative to custody have been passed by district courts in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The available information is given in the following table. Figures are shown separately for lay district courts and for the stipendiary magistrates court in Glasgow. <P>Persons with a charge proved in district courts, by type of sentence, 1998-2000:<TABLE BOR…

6 May 2002 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what assistance the Scottish Executive can offer to NHS boards in financial difficulty.

Answer · Jack McConnell: Resources are allocated to NHS boards on the basis of need. Boards are held to account for managing within the allocations made to them and for achieving national and local targets. <P>The Health Department will support boards to achieve these targets through…

30 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to (a) review and (b) revise the planning criteria for crematoria by amending the Cremation Act 1902 or by any other means.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The Executive has no current plans for a review or revision in this regard.

24 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what it estimates the current annual pay bill and amount paid in employers' National Insurance contributions are for the Civil Service and what the estimated annual amount of employers' National Insurance contributions will be in 2003-04 as a result of the changes announced in the UK Bud…

Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-25291.

24 Apr 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are in place in order to help to reduce the number of children who run away from home, find children who have already run away and assist them to either come home or support themselves.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Executive recognises that young people run away from home for a number of reasons, and it is important that agencies such as the police and social work, work together to assist young runaways. We are helping to fund Aberlour's pilot project, Running Other…

5 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce a decision on the current proposals by (a) North Lanarkshire Council and (b) South Lanarkshire Council for schools' reorganisation and closures in their respective areas.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Neither council has submitted current applications for the consent of the Scottish ministers to the reorganisation or closure of schools in their areas. Decisions on school reorganisation or closure proposals are in the first instance the responsibility of th…

28 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what systems are in place to ensure that (a) road maintenance contractors and (b) local authority departments clear up litter at the roadside and respond to litter complaints.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The trunk road operating companies, Amey Highways and BEAR Scotland Ltd, are contractually required to clear litter from motorways and special roads in accordance with the standards laid down in the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and the associated Code o…

21 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will collate and publish the figures for fatal road accidents in each of the last ten years and make these available to the Transport Research Laboratory for its study of the working of the Road Traffic Act 1991.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The numbers of fatal road accidents in each year from 1970 to 2000 inclusive are given in Table 2 of <I>Road Accidents Scotland 2000</I>, copies of which are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 17733). Other tables provide more detaile…

21 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it would cost to bring nursing degree students currently in their second and third years of study within the revised financial support arrangements due to be introduced in Autumn 2002 whereby only first and second year students will benefit from the introduction of a non-means-te…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: It would cost an additional £2 million between 2002-03 and 2003-04 to include second and third year nursing degree students in the new arrangements. These students will continue to receive their current support of means-tested bursary and non-means-tested stu…

6 Feb 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it is tackling truancy in schools.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The key to reducing truancy is to ensure that young people see a purpose to schooling. Effective learning and teaching is much easier to achieve where a positive ethos and good discipline prevail. <P>The Discipline Task Group Report, <I>Better Behaviour-Bette…

21 Jan 2002 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Executive will support the Scottish Refugee Integration Forum.

Answer · Jack McConnell: The Minister for Social Justice chairs the Scottish Refugee Integration Forum. Action plans for the successful integration of refugees drawn up by the Forum will be supported by Ministers across all portfolios.

17 Jan 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its action plan on alcohol misuse, announced in the debate on alcohol misuse of 7 December 2000.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: Our Plan for Action on alcohol problems is published today. The plan sets out a powerful package of national and local measures for a range of organisations and individuals to reduce alcohol-related harm in Scotland. Action proposed covers changing some of th…

16 Jan 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what legal advice it has received on whether Section 5.4 of its draft Guidance On The Circumstances In Which Parents May Choose To Educate Their Children At Home is in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Scottish Executive solicitors were consulted during the preparation of the draft guidance on the circumstances in which parents may choose to educate their children at home, which has been issued for consultation until 29 March 2002. In fulfilling their dutie…

11 Dec 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance and advice have been issued to businesses and the tourist industry in relation to the introduction of the euro currency in January 2002.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: Detailed advice on business preparation for the euro is available from Scotland Europa. They are, in conjunction with HM Treasury, implementing a detailed programme, including workshops, conferences, publications and a telephone hotline to provide advice to S…

11 Dec 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Public/Private Partnership contract for the new Wishaw Hospital requires Lanarkshire Health Board or the relevant NHS Trust to maintain a specific bed occupancy in the hospital and whether the board or the trust could face any financial penalties should they fail to do so.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Neither Wishaw Hospital nor Lanarkshire NHS Board are required to maintain specific bed occupancy nor would either face any financial penalties if they failed to do so.

11 Dec 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what requests for funding it has had from South Lanarkshire Council for the creation of a secondary school special needs unit within South Lanarkshire and what funding it has made available for this purpose.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: We have no record of a request from South Lanarkshire Council for funding for the creation of a specific secondary school special needs unit. The authority is responsible for funding school building work, including work for special needs provision, from the g…

11 Dec 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made with the investigations into the use of lead solder in drinking water pipe-work in domestic residences and when it will publish any reports on this matter.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health published a report detailing the findings of Stage 1 of the survey, in November 2000.<P>The data for Stage 2 of the survey has been collected and is being analysed. A report will be published in the n…