Donald Gorrie

20 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many adults diagnosed with developmental dyspraxia are currently (a) awaiting treatment and (b) undergoing treatment in each health board area.

Answer · Susan Deacon: This information is not held centrally.

20 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the availability of treatment or therapies for the improvement of the physical and life skills of adults with developmental dyspraxia.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Health boards are expected to respond to the health needs of people with developmental dyspraxia in their areas, based on their assessment of local needs. Services should be provided which reflect the individual needs of the patient.

20 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it provides hospital trusts with a model specification for hospital cleaning contracts and whether it monitors standards of hospital cleaning in any way.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive does not provide model cleaning contract specifications to NHS Trusts. Responsibility for ensuring adequate cleaning in NHS hospitals in Scotland lies with the management of NHS Trusts.<FONT FACE="Arial"><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Audit Scotlan…

20 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its report of the Youth Summit held last June and what further action will be taken as a result of any such report.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Executive plans to publish the report of the Youth Summit shortly, together with an indication of our proposed follow-up action.

20 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any guidance is given to local authorities regarding the use of poindings and warrant sales as a means of increasing the collection rates of council tax.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The joint &quot;It Pays to Pay&quot; Working Group on council tax collection, which we established, is preparing protocol guidance for local authorities which will promote uniformity of practice. The protocol will set down appropriate procedures to be adopted…

20 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider recognising Citi'ens Advice Bureaux as official training providers and ensuring they are recompensed for the training and qualifications provided for volunteers in addition to any New Deal arrangements.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The enterprise networks are responsible for procurement and contracting for the national training programmes. The Scottish Executive does not recognise training providers directly.

20 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what figures are available on the number of patients contracting infections while in hospital and the number dying as a result of such infections.

Answer · Susan Deacon: A broad estimate of the incidence and impact of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) in Scotland, prepared by the Health Department in 1999, suggested that there might be approximately 69,000 cases annually in Scottish hospitals.<FONT FACE="Arial"><P ALIGN="JU…

19 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to change the system regarding summary warrants in such a way that the party proceeded against knows when the warrant will come to court and has an opportunity to defend him or herself.

Answer · Jim Wallace: We have no plans to change the procedure for the granting of a summary warrant.

19 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it expects the roadworks related to the construction of the Holyrood Parliament building to cost.

Answer · Allan Wilson: The road works related to the construction of the Holyrood Parliament fall into two categories. The first involves the upgrading of the roads in Holyrood Park around the Parliament site to carry the traffic which will be displaced by the closure of the easter…

19 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the management of Holyrood Park has to give notice of road closures in the park and what the reasons are for this position.

Answer · Allan Wilson: I have asked Graeme Munro, Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:<P>Holyrood Park is a Royal Park managed on behalf of the Scottish Ministers by Historic Scotland. Historic Scotland normally aim to provide one week's noti…

19 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to include an element of training on special educational needs as part of the core training requirements of new undergraduate teachers.

Answer · Jack McConnell: Components within the core of courses of initial teacher education already consist, where appropriate, of inter-related units in special educational needs. Guidelines for initial teacher education in Scotland require teacher education institutions to prepare …

19 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre a copy of the technical report produced in the 1990s on asbestos in New St Andrew's House.

Answer · Angus MacKay: The lease on New St Andrew's House was held by the Secretary of State for the Environment and the responsibility for the maintenance of the building rested with UK agencies (firstly the Property Services Agency (PSA) and latterly Property Holdings). The PSA c…

19 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what specific steps it is taking to reduce the number of early leavers from the full-time education and training element of the New Deal.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which takes the lead on funding and delivery of the New Deal. In Scotland it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing organisations.<P>Improvements are being considered to the New…

19 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will undertake an assessment of the effectiveness of the gateway element of the New Deal.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which takes the lead on funding and delivery of the New Deal. In Scotland it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing organisations.<P>Statistics are monitored monthly with a view…

19 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will extend the choice of courses available to clients on the full-time education and training element of the New Deal.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which takes the lead on funding and delivery of the New Deal. In Scotland it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing organisations.<P>The New Deal is very much about designing fl…

2 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will encourage local authorities and all other public bodies to put Remploy and Blind Workshops on their list if suppliers to compete for contracts under the Best Value regime.

Answer · Angus MacKay: In pursuing Best Value local authorities should consider all routes to service improvement. They are expected not to discriminate between potential means of service delivery on any grounds other than those prescribed by statute or directive.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY"…

24 Jan 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to provide funding to assist former nurses who are to retrain for re-entry into the nursing profession during the period when they are losing any previous income and have to meet course fees.

Answer · Susan Deacon: We have no plans for central funding of returners to practice. These costs are a matter for individual NHS Trusts to determine in the light of staffing requirements.

24 Jan 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to give additional financial help through bursaries or loans to nursing students in recognition of the fact that they must continue their courses throughout the summer and cannot earn money then as other students can.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Student nurses already receive significantly more financial support than students studying other disciplines.<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>We are committed to a full review of the support arrangements for nursing students to take place over the next six months.

17 Jan 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to the introduction of speed wardens to enforce speed restrictions in residential areas.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Policy and legislation on speed limits, including speeding offences and penalties, is reserved. The introduction of speed wardens to enforce speed restrictions in residential areas would require primary legislation to decriminalise speeding offences. That is …

11 Jan 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that future Public/Private Partnership and Private Finance Initiative contracts safeguard local authority-run activities in the evenings, at weekends and during school holidays.

Answer · Jack McConnell: The details of the contracts for such schemes are matters between the education authority and the contractors concerned. The parties to such a contract would take a number of factors into account where out of hours use of facilities is an issue, including the…

11 Jan 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that future Public/Private Partnership and Private Finance Initiative contracts do not prevent access to school buildings by teachers during holiday periods.

Answer · Jack McConnell: The details of the contracts for such schemes are matters between the education authority and the contractors concerned. In entering into a contract, it would be the responsibility of the local authority concerned to take into account the question of teacher …

11 Jan 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what was the total (a) net expenditure by public libraries, (b) number of professional staff, non-professional staff and management staff employed in public libraries, (c) number of (i) book and (ii) audio-visual issues, (d) amount of money spent from (i) book and (ii) audio-visual funds …

Answer · Allan Wilson: Net expenditure on public libraries by local authority area is shown in the table. The other information requested is not held centrally.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY"><TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=484><TR><TD VALIGN="TOP" COLSPAN=4 HEIGHT=17><FONT FACE…

10 Jan 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to bring together into one network the currently separate networks of the Public Library Network, Learning Direct Scotland, the National Grid for Learning, the Joint Academic Network and the further education colleges network.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive is always seeking efficiency in procurement and will look to bring together Government customers with similar requirements. The Joint Information Systems Committee is currently working to provide connectivity to the Joint Academic Netwo…

10 Jan 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce measures to ensure that every child in early years education has access to music and the arts.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Guidance is already in place which outlines opportunities for experiencing music and arts in the three to five age group, appropriate in various early education settings. These early experiences are built on by the 5-14 Expressive Arts guidelines.

9 Jan 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will include the school library as a specified item in reports by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Schools.

Answer · Jack McConnell: Since the beginning of this school session (2000-01) HMI inspection guidelines have specifically covered examination of the school library service and evaluative comments are now made under the Staffing and Resources<I> </I>sub-section of HMI inspection repor…

9 Jan 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make the appointment of a school librarian a statutory requirement for all secondary schools.

Answer · Jack McConnell: The provision of a variety of support services to learning and teaching in our schools is quite properly a matter for local authorities as the managers of education. Consequently, we have no plans to make the appointment of a school librarian a statutory requ…

9 Jan 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7487 by Colin Boyd on 24 November 2000, how it assesses success or failure of CCTV schemes if figures on the number of convictions secured as a result of CCTV evidence are unavailable.

Answer · Iain Gray: The role of CCTV in providing evidence in support of criminal proceedings is not the sole nor indeed the main criterion by which the contribution which CCTV can make to increasing public safety can be measured. Evaluations of particular schemes generally show…

3 Jan 2001 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body follows any guidelines when contracting recruitment agencies and what factors, other than cost, are considered in such decisions.

Answer · David Steel: When contracting for recruitment agency services the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body follows the guidelines set out in the Scottish Parliament Procurement Policy Manual.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Factors other than cost taken into consideration when reaching co…

3 Jan 2001 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer which recruitment agencies the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body uses.

Answer · David Steel: The principal recruitment agency used by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body to fill temporary vacancies is Pertemps. The SPCB also uses Kelly Services and Office Personnel but to a much lesser extent.

22 Dec 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it follows any guidelines for contracting recruitment agencies and what factors, other than cost, are considered in such decisions.

Answer · Angus MacKay: The Scottish Executive has contractual arrangements in place with recruitment agencies for a range of search and selection services. Working with these agencies gives the Executive flexibility in terms of capacity and provides expertise and knowledge of recru…