Former Member of the Scottish Parliament

Ian Welsh

Unknown party

At a glance Ian Welsh was a Member of the Scottish Parliament.

Questions11 tabled

Ian Welsh has tabled 11 questions in the Scottish Parliament.

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of the work of the Ayr Hospitals' Rapid Response Team, whether it has… 13 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of the work of the Ayr Hospitals' Rapid Response Team, whether it has analysed its work in reducing bed blocking and whether it intends to promote this initiative throughout the National Health Service in Scotland.

Answer · Susan Deacon · 27 Dec 1999

I am aware of the work of the Ayrshire and Arran Rapid Response Team, which is an excellent example of partnership working between Health Service providers, Local Authorities and other agencies. I stressed the need for effective joint working of this kind at a conference for local authority and Health Service leaders last month. A Joint Future Group to be chaired by Iain Gray will take forward the outcomes.

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of how the Scottish Office has been reorganised, what was… 9 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of how the Scottish Office has been reorganised, what was the rationale behind this reorganisation and whether it will provide a detailed organisation chart of the new structure.

Answer · Donald Dewar · 30 Sep 1999

An organisation chart will be provided to SPICe shortly. A brief summary of the new structure follows:<CENTER><TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=4 WIDTH=468><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">The Scottish Office Departments</TD><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Scottish Executive Departments </TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Home Department </TD><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Justice Department</TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Department of Health </TD><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Health Department </TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries Department </TD><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Rural Affairs Department </TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Development Department </TD><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Development Department </TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Education Department </TD><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Education Department </TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Business and Industry Department </TD><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department </TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Finance Group </TD><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Finance </TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Corporate Services </TD><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Corporate Services </TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Executive Secretariat </TD><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Executive Secretariat </TD></TR></TABLE></CENTER>Changes in the structure and titles of Departments making up the Scottish Executive reflect more closely the devolution settlement, the portfolios of Scottish Ministers and the collective priorities of Scottish Ministers in Partnership for Scotland. These are:<UL><LI>A new Scottish Executive Justice Department, bringing together The Scottish Office Home Department and the Scottish Courts Administration. It includes Criminal Justice Social Work while responsibility for Community Care passes to the Scottish Executive Health Department and for Children's Services to the Scottish Executive Education Department, as part of a newly created Children and Young People Group.</LI><LI>A Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department replacing The Scottish Office Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries Department and more accurately reflecting the Ministerial priority given to rural development.</LI><LI>A Scottish Executive Education Department with a firm continuing focus on Primary and Secondary Education, a new broader role through the creation of the Children and Young People Group, and expanded responsibility for Culture, including the arts, cultural and built heritage, architectural policy, sport and Gaelic.</LI><LI>A Scottish Executive Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department comprising the Business and Industry functions of the former Scottish Office Education and Industry Department, together with responsibility for Lifelong Learning and Further and Higher Education.</LI></UL>The Scottish Executive Development Department will continue to be responsible for Social Inclusion, Housing, Local Government, Local Government Finance, Transport, Planning, Building Control, and European Structural Funds, with architecture and heritage issues passing to the Scottish Executive Education Department.

To ask the Scottish Executive what operational difficulties the Scottish Legal Aid Board has faced in the last few year… 9 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what operational difficulties the Scottish Legal Aid Board has faced in the last few years, and what steps it has taken to ensure that the Scottish Legal Aid Board will now operate efficiently and expeditiously.

Answer · Jim Wallace · 20 Sep 1999

The Scottish Legal Aid Board has encountered some operational problems this year which have led to delays in payments. There is a backlog of accounts to be assessed, which the Board is reducing by encouraging staff to work extra hours and recruiting additional staff. The Board has also established a helpline for solicitors' enquiries. At present, the Board is approximately 8 weeks behind in the payment of accounts. It hopes to overcome the backlog by the end of October 1999. Fixed payment accounts, which apply to summary criminal cases, are being processed more quickly due to their simplicity.

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide examples of local partnership best practice between health boards… 9 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide examples of local partnership best practice between health boards and local authorities which address the issue of "bed-blocking".

Answer · Iain Gray · 23 Sep 1999

Delays in discharge from hospital care can arise for many reasons. A data recording trial currently underway identifies some 40 circumstances that can contribute to a delay. It is for the care agencies to work in partnership to remove or at the very least reduce the cause of such delays.Guidance on this was issued to the NHS and local authorities in 1996 and 1998. I am arranging for copies to be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. The guidance indicates that decisions on whether to discharge patients from NHS care and on how their continuing care needs can best be met should only be taken following multi-disciplinary assessment of the patient's health, social care and housing needs, and consultation with the patient's relatives or carer. The guidance also stresses that the patient's needs are paramount and that no discharge should take place until all the arrangements are in place for the continuing care of the individual in the alternative care setting proposed.

To ask the Scottish Executive where, in Scottish schools, there are models of good practice in the integration of child… 9 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive where, in Scottish schools, there are models of good practice in the integration of children with special educational needs into "mainstream" schools, and what proposals and financial support it will offer to encourage such integration.

Answer · Sam Galbraith · 23 Sep 1999

The majority of children with special educational needs in Scotland are being taught in mainstream schools. Guidance for local authorities, teachers and other professionals is provided by the Manual of Good Practice in Special Educational Needs published by The Scottish Office in January 1999. The Scottish Executive wishes to encourage schools to do more to include children wherever possible in mainstream schooling. In response to the recommendations of the Riddell Committee Report we are allocating an additional £12 million, over 2 years from April 2000 as part of the Excellence Fund, to support local authorities' plans.

To ask the Scottish Executive what encouragement it will offer to local authorities to provide sporting and leisure sch… 9 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what encouragement it will offer to local authorities to provide sporting and leisure schemes for children and young adults with disabilities and/or special educational needs.

Answer · Rhona Brankin · 23 Sep 1999

Sportscotland continues its strong alliance with Scottish Disability Sport in delivering the Royal Mail - Ready Willing and Able for Sport programme throughout Scotland. The programme develops local partnerships with Scotland's local authorities to promote sport for people with disabilities. Currently, 14 of Scotland's local authorities are involved in the programme. Funding of £160,000 has been made available since 1995 and sportscotland meets the costs of employing the programme's full time Co-ordinator.On 18 October the Scottish Executive will launch a new sportscotland programme, SportSability which will make available over 160 sets of resources for special schools all over Scotland.sportscotland's lottery funded School Sports Co-ordinator Programme is open to all local authorities and already two local authorities are receiving funding to support the appointment of School Sports Co-ordinators working specifically with the Special Educational Needs sector.

To ask the Scottish Executive what encouragement it can offer towards the development and expansion of Scottish ports. 9 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what encouragement it can offer towards the development and expansion of Scottish ports.

Answer · Sarah Boyack · 26 Oct 1999

The Scottish Executive takes full account of the importance of ports as part of Scotland's transport system and in providing trading links.A Ports Policy Paper is being prepared, following consultation with the industry, to provide a framework for the further development of ports in Scotland within the Executive's integrated transport policies.

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the proposal for a Scottish School of Music and Recording Technology … 9 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the proposal for a Scottish School of Music and Recording Technology in Ayr.

Answer · Rhona Brankin · 28 Sep 1999

In principle we believe that there could be valid grounds for establishing such a facility in Scotland. However, we would expect a range of organisations to collaborate in the detailed planning of such a venture.

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Seat & career1 seat held

Ayr Constituency MSP · Resigned 6 May 1999 – 21 Dec 1999

Source: this MSP's profile on parliament.scot.

Source: this MSP's official Scottish Parliament profile. Last updated 26 Jul 2026.