Parliamentary questions

Kenneth Gibson

2,008 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to encourage initiatives such as the Moray Fare Travel Scheme.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive welcomes discounted fares initiatives such as the Moray Fare Travel Scheme which promotes greater accessibility to public transport for young people. Some public transport operators already offer a wide range of pricing initiatives and …

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage the formation of Community Safety Partnerships.

Answer · Angus MacKay: We have published strategic guidance to assist consistency of approach across community safety partnerships which is being enhanced with training for community safety practitioners. We are also supporting five Pathfinder partnerships to identify good policy p…

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives it is undertaking to reduce the incidence of vandalism in schools.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The education authorities are responsible for the management of school premises, and they have knowledge of the range of measures which they can consider to reduce vandalism in schools. However, the most appropriate measures will depend on the local circumsta…

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive Scottish Executive what the implications for local authorities are of the recent decision by the European Court of Justice that employers must backdate employees' membership of company pension schemes to 1976.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: The decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on 16 May 2000 relates to certain questions referred to the ECJ by the House of Lords in connection with test cases concerning part-time workers' rights of access to occupational pension schemes.<P ALIGN="JU…

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why time dedicated to maths and science is less than the OECD average for Scottish pupils aged 12-14.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: The comparisons made by OECD can only be regarded as approximate as for most countries the figures used are based on a prescribed curriculum.The figures stated for Scotland by OECD represent only the minimum of time to be spent on ma…

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the report Education at a Glance 2000, what steps it will take to ensure that a greater proportion of school curricula for pupils aged 12-14 is dedicated to maths and science.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: In Scotland the curriculum is not prescribed, but national guidance is given.Although there are no plans to increase the time in the national guidance beyond the minimum allocation for Maths (10%) and for Environmental studies (30%), which …

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to resolve any difficulties relating to the implementation of the new Higher Still English course.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: Many centres have already implemented new National Qualification courses in English and Communication - over 100 at Higher level, around 120 at Intermediate 2 level, and over 70 at Intermediate 1 level.However, the Scottish Qualifications A…

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which high risk groups will be tested routinely for chlamydia at genital urinary medicine clinics.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer to my answer to Question S1W-6528.A survey conducted in 1997 for the Scottish Needs Assessment Programme for sexually transmitted infection in Scotland, indicated that all Genito-Urinary Medicine clinics in Scotland routinely tested…

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of women undergoing termination of pregnancy or giving birth were tested for chlamydia and how many had the disease in the last year for which figures are available.

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

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of Scotland's 63 gynaecology units routinely screen for chlamydia.

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

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that the less accurate invasive swap test for chlamydia will be replaced by the more accurate urine test and, if so, when this will be achieved by each health board.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer to my answer to Question S1W-6528 regarding the development of testing for chlamydial infection.The recently issued SIGN guidelines recommend the use of molecular tests, but the timing of their introduction is for decision by health…

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to (a) encourage more widespread testing for chlamydia and other sexually transmitted diseases and (b) encourage the public to come forward for testing.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer to my answers to Questions S1W-5084, S1W-5086 and S1W-6528 regarding sexual health issues and the existing guidelines on chlamydial infection.Many people do not seek medical advice for chlamydial infection, which is asymptomatic in …

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards establishing a national influen'a immunisation programme.

Answer · Susan Deacon: As previously announced, people aged 65 and over should now be offered influenza immunisation, rather than aged 75 and over as before. This expansion of immunisation will place a significant extra workload on general practice.For winter 200…

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to make people travelling abroad on business or holiday pay the full cost of necessary vaccinations.

Answer · Susan Deacon: We have no such plans at present.

31 May 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it holds on the percentage of pensioners who received council tax benefit in the last year for which figures are available.

Answer · Jack McConnell: Social security benefits including housing and council tax benefits are reserved matters and are the responsibility of the DSS.

30 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to rescind the 19B notice served on North Lanarkshire Council Direct Labour Organisation, given the change in its financial performance.

Answer · Frank McAveety: None. The Direction will remain until North Lanarkshire's Business Plan for recovery is achieved.

24 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce prostate-specific antigen testing to assist in diagnosing prostate cancer.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the member to my answer to question S1W-7171.

24 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce widespread screening for prostate cancer and at what age.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive does not at present have any plans to introduce screening for prostate cancer. The National Screening Committee, an expert group which advises all the UK Health Departments, has recommended, after very careful consideration of the avail…

24 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much money Greater Glasgow Health Board transferred from capital to revenue budgets in each year from 1994-95 to 1999-2000 inclusive and what the mechanism was for carrying out such transfers.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The resources transferred from capital to revenue budgets in the Greater Glasgow Health Board area between 1994-95 and 1999-2000 are shown in the following table: <TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=604><TR><TD WIDTH="16%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="C…

24 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to create a knowledge environment in local government, integrating people processes and technology.

Answer · Jack McConnell: I and Scottish ministerial colleagues had a constructive meeting with local authority leaders and chief executives on 26 May at which we discussed a shared vision for using information and communications technology to deliver more convenient and efficient pub…

24 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that local authorities exchange ideas, good practice and training across local authority boundaries.

Answer · Frank McAveety: We have agreed that CoSLA will take the lead in promoting exchange of ideas and best practice as part of Best Value. Wendy Alexander recently announced the provision of £100,000 to CoSLA for the development of a website to allow the exchange of ideas, good pr…

24 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that local authorities implement organisational learning in order to gain knowledge, develop skills and transfer these into effective strategies and decisions.

Answer · Frank McAveety: We have agreed that CoSLA will take the lead in promoting organisational learning as part of the development of Best Value.

24 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to enable local government to have a greater community leadership role and show increased openness and accountability to the public.

Answer · Frank McAveety: The Scottish Executive is keen to enhance the community leadership role of councils through the continuing development of community planning. Our commitment to the community planning process will be further demonstrated by the establishment of our Community P…

24 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage local authorities to motivate and manage staff and manage the process of change in local government.

Answer · Frank McAveety: It is the responsibility of each of the local authorities, as employers, to ensure that they motivate and manage staff and manage the process of change in the best way possible. The Leadership Advisory Panel, which the Executive appointed to oversee the moder…

24 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much financial support it will give to museums in (a) Glasgow and (b) Edinburgh in 2000-01.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: For this financial year we have allocated £14.4million to the National Museums of Scotland, which are mainly located in Edinburgh. Minister's have a statutory responsibility for these museums.The Executive does not provide direct financial …

24 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take any action as a result of the Centre for Research and Social Trends' report, Attitudes to Voting Reform following the 1999 Scottish and Welsh Elections, published in April 2000.

Answer · Jim Wallace: No action is planned as a result of the report. With the exception of local government elections in Scotland, elections are a reserved issue under the Scotland Act. The Renewing Local Democracy working group, which the Executive appointed last summer, is look…

24 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the sentenced prison population are known to suffer from alcoholism, drug addiction, mental illness or a combination thereof.

Answer · Jim Wallace: In a recent study (Gilchrist and Hooke, 1997) conducted in Greenock prison 29% of prisoners reported that they were drinking over the safe limit for men as advised by the Inter-Departmental Working Group. In Cornton Vale Prison (Loucks, 1997) an estimated 10-…

24 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take specific measures to reduce unemployment in Glasgow Pollok, given that the resident claimant count in that constituency is currently the highest in Scotland.

Answer · Henry McLeish: Scottish Enterprise Glasgow, Glasgow City Council, and the Greater Pollok Social Inclusion Partnership are already taking a number of specific measures to reduce unemployment in Greater Pollok. These measures include: the development of strategic sites for bo…

24 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact of global warming and in particular any consequent flooding of low lying coastal areas.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Executive's research report Climate Change: Scottish Implications Scoping Study, published December 1999 (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/cru/kd01/ccsi-01.pdf), sets out the possible implications of climate change for Scotland. Flooding, including flood…

24 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what preparations are being made for the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into Scots law in October.

Answer · Jim Wallace: We are systematically reviewing all our activities to identify issues where there is a risk of ECHR challenge. This process has been underway since December 1998 and is continuing. Guidance on the ECHR has been published and widely circulated throughout the S…