Parliamentary questions

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

566 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

15 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-2537 by Mr Jim Wallace on 29 November 1999, whether its current policy, pending the issue of a consultation paper on the arrangements for recommending appointment of Judges and Sheriffs, is that the Lord Advocate, as head of the prosecutions service …

Answer · Jim Wallace: The First Minister will continue to receive advice on the appointment of Judges and Sheriffs from the Lord Advocate reflecting appropriate soundings taken by him.

15 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the work of temporary Sheriffs accounted for in excess of 6,000 court days in the year prior to 11 November 1999; whether this is equivalent to the workload of not less than 37 full-time permanent Sheriffs and, if so, how it plans to fill the judicial deficit of the equivalent of …

Answer · Jim Wallace: Temporary Sheriffs contributed 5,518 days service in the year to 11 November 1999. Ministers have authorised the appointment of 16 permanent Sheriffs since then and are considering what further steps are necessary to replace the service given by temporary She…

11 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many appeals (a) from the sheriff court to the Court of Session; (b) from the sheriff court to the High Court; (c) from the High Court of Justiciary to the Scottish Court of Criminal Appeal and (d) from the Court of Session to the Inner House of the Court of Session have been postpone…

Answer · Jim Wallace: Adjustments to the programme in the Court of Session after 11 November 1999 have resulted in one appeal from the Court of Session to the Inner House being postponed to a later date.No appeals from the sheriff court to the Court of…

9 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases in (a) sheriffs courts; (b) the Court of Session and (c) the High Court of Justiciary have been adjourned as a result of the decision to suspend all temporary Sheriffs and Judges.

Answer · Jim Wallace: For the months of November and December 1999, the number of cases in the sheriff court due to be heard before a temporary Sheriff which required to be adjourned is set out below:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="T…

28 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) public servants and (b) civil servants (i) were employed by The Scottish Office, Executive Agencies and associated departments in June 1997; (ii) are currently employed by The Scottish Executive including Executive Agencies and associated departments and (iii) have transferre…

Answer · Jack McConnell: The full time equivalent of permanent staff employed in the main departments between 1 June 1997 in The Scottish Office and 1 February 2000 in The Scottish Executive are set out in the attached table.In the past three years, the definition of the core Scot…

27 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether extra funding in respect of DNA will be made available comparable to the additional funding in England.

Answer · Jim Wallace: We are discussing the situation in respect of Scottish Forces with H.M. Treasury.

25 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will confirm that all Non-Departmental Public Bodies are subjecting their public contracts to competitive tender; whether such bodies have been using competitive tendering for such contracts since 1997 and, if there were exceptions, whether it will provide details.

Answer · Jack McConnell: The majority of Scottish Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies have an advisory role and therefore do not tender contracts. Those that do have mechanisms in place to ensure competitive tendering procedures are followed. Since 1997, these have accorded with…

25 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make available additional funding to meet the cost for the recruitment of 25 additional police officers as requested by Lothian and Borders Police.

Answer · Jim Wallace: It is for Chief Constables, in consultation with their Police Authorities, to determine their staffing priorities within GAE levels. The methodology for the distribution of police GAE in Scotland is currently under review including whether there are special f…

25 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-851 and S1W-3472 by Henry McLeish on 5 November 1999 and 11 January 2000 respectively, whether it will lay the Quigley Report before the Parliament and what plans it has for a debate on it.

Answer · Henry McLeish: The Quigley Committee's report which is required to be delivered by April 2000 will be placed in the Scottish Parliament at the same time as it is laid before the Westminster Parliament. The Scottish Executive will consider its response when it has received t…

25 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what legal advice it has had as to whether the Cubie recommendations do or do not breach EU law and whether there is a possibility of the recommendations being legally challengeable.

Answer · Henry McLeish: The Scottish Executive has considered the legal implications of the Cubie recommendations. It has concluded that, were these recommendations to be implemented, there would be a serious risk of the UK being held to be in breach of EU law, insofar as these reco…

17 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to make representations to Her Majesty's Government to consider the establishment of a Joint Ministerial Committee to look at the implications for Scotland of asylum seekers.

Answer · Iain Gray: No. The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including asylum seekers.

17 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether Glasgow City Council will receive additional grant-aided expenditure funding to deal with the accommodation costs for Kosovo refugees until such time as these costs are reimbursed by the Home Office; whether the Home Office have provided the necessary funds to Glasgow City Council…

Answer · Iain Gray: Proposals for a Special Grant to reimburse Scottish local authorities for additional expenditure incurred in connection with the acceptance of displaced persons from Kosovo under the UNHCR Humanitarian Evacuation Programme were sent to local authorities for c…

14 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of the proposals to install a six million gallon water tank and a three million gallon tank in Corstorphine woods on Corstorphine Hill, Edinburgh and whether it will ensure that Scottish Natural Heritage is consulted on these proposals.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive was informed about these proposals in November last year. I am aware that the East of Scotland Water Authority wrote in general terms about the scope of the scheme to Scottish Natural Heritage in October 1999. This was followed in Novem…

10 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions there have been for fraudulent housing benefit claims, and in which local authority areas.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: Housing benefit is an issue reserved to Westminster. When local authorities undertake prosecutions, they act as agents for the Department of Social Security. The Scottish Executive does not itself collect figures on these prosecutions.

21 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many telephone tappings it has authorised since 1 July 1999 and what discussions it has had with the Home Secretary on this matter.

Answer · Jim Wallace: During the period 1 July to 20 December 1999 Scottish Ministers authorised 119 telephone interception warrants against targets engaged in serious crime.Under the Scotland Act 1998, national security and the interception of communi…

21 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of a proposal to privatise the General Medical Practitioners Service of the Scottish Prison Service, whether it considers that this proposal would create a precedent for publicly funded health services, and whether it will make an announcement on this subject in due co…

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Prison Service's Board has accepted the recommendation of its Medical Service Review Group that, to ensure the consistent and cost effective delivery of medical services in Scottish prisons they should be contracted out. SPS is therefore developi…

21 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received the Quigley Report on tuition fees or when it expects to receive it, and when it will bring this matter before the Parliament with its response.

Answer · Henry McLeish: No. The Quigley Committee is required to provide a report in time for it to be laid before each House of the Westminster Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly not later than 1 April 2000. The Executive will consider its response when the report is rece…

20 Dec 1999 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer what proposals or options are before the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body in relation to Queensberry House and whether MSPs will be consulted on this issue.

Answer · David Steel: There have been no further developments affecting Queensberry House since my answer of 10 December to Margo MacDonald (SIW-3026). This reported that there are no plans to demolish Queensberry House and that the SPCB is awaiting the results of detailed special…

14 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding local authorities top slice from the #1,175 allocation per place in respect of nursery provision.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The rate of grant is negotiated between local authorities and private and voluntary providers concerned. We have recommended that within the £1,175 grant paid this year to local authorities per part-time place a minimum of £880 per place be paid on to their p…

14 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken to address any conflict of interest in the provision of pre-school education by virtue of the fact that local authorities are regulators, providers and fundholders.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Provision of pre-school education is subject to scrutiny by authorities' own internal auditors, to ensure proper separation of interests and the achievement of value for money from public funds. These disciplines apply no less to pre-school education than to …

14 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many places are available in further education institutions to train nursery nurses over the next two years (2000-02).

Answer · Henry McLeish: College Boards of Management have a statutory duty to provide for the likely needs of potential students of their colleges. Colleges have yet to finalise their prospectuses for the forthcoming academic year.

14 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what provision it has made to ensure consistency and quality of regulation between private and state nurseries.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The proposed Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care will regulate all day care for children, whoever the provider. We believe that this will provide consistency and quality of regulation not only between the private and public sectors but also across …