Parliamentary questions

Johann Lamont

1,407 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

14 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which of its directorates will be responsible for co-ordinating the activities of community planning partnerships in the event of Communities Scotland being abolished.

Answer · John Swinney: The Public Service ReformDirectorate continues to have overall responsibility for Community Planningpolicy. However responsibility for implementation of Community Planning sitswith the Partnerships themselves, and it is up to individual Partnerships todecide …

14 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional civil servants will be needed to ensure the training of members of the community involved in the boards of community planning partnerships in the event of Communities Scotland being abolished.

Answer · John Swinney: It is not anticipated thatany additional civil servants will be needed.

14 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which of its directorates will be responsible for training members of the community involved in the boards of community planning partnerships in the event of Communities Scotland being abolished.

Answer · John Swinney: The Public Service ReformDirectorate continues to have overall responsibility for community planningpolicy. However, responsibility for implementation of community planning sitswith the partnerships themselves, and it is up to individual partnerships todecide…

14 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost will be of employing additional civil servants to ensure the provision of staff development of professionals employed in community engagement within community planning partnerships in the event of Communities Scotland being abolished.

Answer · John Swinney: As it is not anticipatedthat any additional civil servants will be needed, there will be no additionalcost.

14 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional civil servants will be needed to ensure the provision of staff development of professionals employed in community engagement within community planning partnerships in the event of Communities Scotland being abolished.

Answer · John Swinney: It is not anticipated thatany additional civil servants will be needed.

14 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which of its directorates will be responsible for the staff development of professionals employed in community engagement within community planning partnerships in the event of Communities Scotland being abolished.

Answer · John Swinney: The Public Service ReformDirectorate continues to have overall responsibility for community planning policy.However, responsibility for implementation of community planning sits with the partnershipsthemselves, and it is up to individual partnerships to decid…

14 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost will be of employing additional civil servants to develop community engagement within community planning partnerships in the event of Communities Scotland being abolished.

Answer · John Swinney: As it is not anticipatedthat any additional civil servants will be needed, there will be no additionalcost.

14 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional civil servants will be needed to develop community engagement within community planning partnerships in the event of Communities Scotland being abolished.

Answer · John Swinney: It is not anticipated thatany additional civil servants will be needed.

14 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which of its directorates will be responsible for developing community engagement within community planning partnerships in the event of Communities Scotland being abolished.

Answer · John Swinney: The Public Service Reform Directoratecontinues to have overall responsibility for Community Planning policy. Housingand Regeneration Directorate will have responsibility for aspects of community engagementin relation to housing and regeneration.However…

14 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost will be of employing additional civil servants to monitor and evaluate the responsibilities of community planning partnerships not covered by single outcome agreements, in the event of Communities Scotland being abolished.

Answer · John Swinney: As it is not anticipated thatany additional civil servants will be needed, there will be no additional cost.

14 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional civil servants will be needed to monitor and evaluate the responsibilities of community planning partnerships not covered by single outcome agreements, in the event of Communities Scotland being abolished.

Answer · John Swinney: It is not anticipated that anyadditional civil servants will be needed.

14 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which of its directorates will be responsible for monitoring and evaluating the responsibilities of community planning partnerships not covered by single outcome agreements, in the event of Communities Scotland being abolished.

Answer · John Swinney: The Public Service Reform Directoratecontinues to have overall responsibility for Community Planning policy. However,responsibility for implementation of Community Planning sits with the Partnershipsthemselves, and it is up to individual Partnerships to decid…

14 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings there have been with NHS boards to discuss those responsibilities of community planning partnerships not covered by single outcome agreements.

Answer · John Swinney: The health directorates meetmonthly with NHS chairs and chief executives respectively. The meetings with eachin November included discussion of their responsibilities, in the context of therecent budget.

14 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which of the responsibilities of community planning partnerships will not be covered by single outcome agreements.

Answer · John Swinney: The details of the coverage ofsingle outcome agreements are being discussed with local government as part of thecontinuing work on the implementation of the concordat.Local authorities will be discussingthe scope and content of their outcome agreements…

12 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning has had with UK ministers about how to implement the recommendations in Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support for Families.

Answer · Adam Ingram: Support for families with disabledchildren is a devolved matter. While cognisant of Aiming High for Disabled Children, in developing approaches to support for disabled childrenin Scotland ministers have not sought formal discussions with theirUKcounterparts. …

12 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning has had with UK ministers about the findings in Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support for Families.

12 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the timescale for the implementation of the recommendations in Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support for Families.

Answer · Adam Ingram: Aiming Highfor Disabled Children: Better Support for Families was launched by HM Treasury and the then Department forEducation and Skills in May 2007. The document was accompanied by the announcementof an additional £340 million of investment in services to s…

12 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings are planned between the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning and disability groups to discuss the findings in Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support for Families.

Answer · Adam Ingram: Following a meeting between theFirst Minister and the Minister for Children and Early Years and representativesof For Scotland’s Disabled Children – a coalition including many of Scotland’s leadingdisability organisations – as well as families with disabled c…

12 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whom the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning has met since May 2007 to discuss the findings in Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support for Families.

Answer · Adam Ingram: Support for families with disabledchildren falls within the remit of the Minister for Children and Early Years. Theminister has met with a range of disability groups to discuss issues around supportfor families.

12 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning has had with disability groups since May 2007 to discuss the findings in Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support for Families.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The First Minister and the Ministerfor Children and Early Years met with representatives of For Scotland’s DisabledChildren – a coalition including many of Scotland’s leading disability organisations– as well as families with disabled children on 11 January 2…

11 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to (a) publicise the enactment and (b) monitor the implementation of the Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Act 2007, also showing the costs of any publicity campaign to mark its enactment.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: A combined enforcementand publicity campaign is launched on 14 January. The campaign is targeted aroundthe four main cities and will highlight the consequences of being convicted underthe new legislation. This advertising campaign will also be supported by a …

11 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is being made available for each of the next three years of the spending review to provide routes out of prostitution.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The provision of supportto help individuals to leave prostitution is the responsibility of individual localauthorities. The Scottish Government last year published guidance for local authoritiesand their community planning partners to assist them in developin…

11 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is being made available for each of the next three years of the spending review to meet the housing needs of survivors of child sexual abuse.

Answer · Shona Robison: The provision of services tomeet the housing needs of survivors of sexual abuse is the responsibility of localgovernment to be drawn from the local government settlement of £34.7 billion overthree years.

11 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is being made available for each of the next three years of the spending review to meet the health needs of survivors of child sexual abuse.

Answer · Shona Robison: Spending to meet the health needsof survivors of childhood sexual abuse is a matter for NHS boards within the frameworkof the Action Plan Better Health, Better Care. This aims to improveboth access to, and the purchase of, quality of health care for all peopl…

11 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is being made available for each of the next three years of the spending review to support survivors of child sexual abuse.

Answer · Shona Robison: The provision of these servicesis the responsibility of each NHS board and local authority from the resources providedover the three year spending review period.The Scottish Government is providingfunding of £1 million each year in 2007-08 and 2008-09 …

11 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-5790 by Shona Robison on 5 November 2007, whether it will implement any of the recommendations of the independent review of NHS wheelchair and seating services ahead of the completion of the action plan.

Answer · Shona Robison: Service providers are alreadyconsidering and implementing a number of the recommendations of the independentWheelchair and Seating Services Review including:the introduction of satelliteclinics in the West of Scotland and in Tayside (recommendation 4);…

11 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-5790 by Shona Robison on 5 November 2007, why the project team will take until December 2008 to produce an action plan on NHS wheelchair and seating services.

Answer · Shona Robison: NHS Wheelchair and Seating servicesprovide wheelchairs to those with impaired mobility arising from clinical conditions.However, wheelchair provision also includes input and interventions from a broadspectrum of agencies such as social care, housing and educa…

11 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-5790 by Shona Robison on 5 November 2007, how often the project board dealing with the independent review of NHS wheelchair and seating services meets and for how many hours the project manager works.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Wheelchair and Seating ServicesProject Board meets quarterly. The chair can also call extraordinary meetings atany time if deemed necessary.The project manager was appointedwith effect from 22 October 2007 on a full-time basis for an initial period…

11 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-5790 by Shona Robison on 5 November 2007, who the members are of the project board dealing with the independent review of NHS wheelchair and seating services.

Answer · Shona Robison: The current membership of theWheelchair and Seating Services Project Board (WSSPB) is as follows:Richard Carey: Chief Executive - NHS Grampian (ProjectBoard Chair)Geoff Bardsley: Consultant ClinicalScientist – Head of Service, Tayside Orthopaedi…

10 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth was consulted before the Chief Planner agreed to meet the Trump Organisation subsequent to the First Minister’s meeting with it and, if so, whether it will publish the advice given to the Cabinet Secretary by his officials.

Answer · John Swinney: The meeting referred to was undertakenby Mr Salmond in his capacity as constituency MSP. I was not consulted nor was itnecessary to do so.