Parliamentary questions
Kenneth Gibson
2,008 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
1 Sep 1999 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to use its planning powers to introduce a national moratorium on the erection of mobile telecommunication masts on school grounds and within densely populated areas such as multi-storey flats in line with the policy of "prudent avoidance" as recommended by Friends of th…
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has no such planning powers.
31 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much revenue and how many jobs are lost to Scotland due to passengers flying from airports outwith Scotland (a) on package holidays (b) on business and (c) for other extraneous reasons.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive is not aware of any data on the revenue and employment consequences of passengers flying from airports outwith Scotland.
31 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of passengers resident in Scotland fly on package holidays from airports outwith Scotland.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: In 1998, the latest year for which figures are available, the percentage of package holiday passengers resident in Scotland who flew from airports outwith Scotland was 29%.*<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>*Information derived from the International Passenger Sur…
31 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made or will make representations to Her Majesty's Government requesting that steps be taken to ensure that passengers travelling on package holidays from Scottish airports are not subjected to unfair flight supplements.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The application of flight supplements for passengers travelling on package holidays from Scottish airports is a matter for the commercial judgement of operators. If there is evidence of abuse of a monopoly position or anti-competitive practice then such matte…
30 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to develop nutritional education in schools.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: Responsibility for the delivery and management of the curriculum rests with education authorities and school managers. Advice is provided by the Scottish Executive which seeks to ensure that health education, including nutritional education, has a secure plac…
30 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure minimum nutritional standards for school meals.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: Each education authority is responsible for the nutritional standards in the school meal service which they administer.<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>The Scottish Diet Action Plan <I>Eating for Health</I> made a large number of recommendations and included nutr…
30 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to maximise the take-up of free school meals.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: Maximising the take up of free school meals by entitled children is for each local authority to pursue in the light of local needs and circumstances.<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>There may be a variety of reasons why entitled children do not take up the free m…
26 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to improve rail services in Scotland.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: This financial year, over £208 million of public money will be spent to secure passenger train services in Scotland. An additional £6.1 million will be available for Scottish rail freight schemes.
26 Aug 1999 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to improve rail services in Scotland.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: This financial year, over £208 million of public money will be spent to secure passenger train services in Scotland. An additional £6.1 million will be available for Scottish rail freight schemes.
25 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of Scottish Exports to European Union and non European Union destinations is exported directly from Scottish ports.
Answer · Henry McLeish: Latest figures from Customs and Excise show that, in 1997, some 90% of Scottish Exports to non-European Union destinations came from Scottish ports, including seaports and airports.<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>Since the completion of the Single Market figures…
25 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government requesting that internet websites which encourage suicide be prohibited, given the increased incidence of suicide among young people in Scotland in recent years.
Answer · Susan Deacon: We have no plans to do so. A wide range of social, cultural, psychological, economic and other factors contribute to suicide rates, including accessibility to the means of suicide. The regulation of internet services is a reserved matter.
25 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to clarify the law relating to suicide in Scotland by introducing legislation similar to the Suicide Act 1961 or in any other way.
Answer · Jim Wallace: Neither suicide nor attempted suicide is a criminal offence in Scotland. In the case of attempted suicide, depending on the circumstances, it may be that other separate charges arise such as breach of the peace or possession of an offensive weapon. Where a pe…
25 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to review recent data indicating that internet websites encouraging suicide are contributing to the high level of suicides among young people in Scotland.
Answer · Jim Wallace: I am not aware of the data referred to. There is a range of factors that contribute to suicide rates and these include the accessibility of means of suicide. The regulation of Internet services are a reserved matter under the Scotland Act 1998.
23 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive why survival rates for patients admitted following a stroke are significantly lower at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy Acute Hospital Trust than the Scottish average, to provide an explanation for the wide variation in survival rates in …
Answer · Susan Deacon: The section on stroke in the most recent Clinical Outcome Indicators report, published on 23 August 1999, shows that survival rates in the 3 Trusts referred to appear to be significantly lower than the Scottish average.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">It is important to em…
23 Aug 1999 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer how the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body proposes to enforce the ban on MSPs and staff smoking in Parliament Headquarters.
Answer · David Steel: The SPCB recently reaffirmed that the entire Parliamentary complex should be a smoke free environment. The SPCB will be looking to the Business Managers to assist in exhorting all Members to observe the ban. Any Member or their staff found smoking in the Parl…
23 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reduce the incidence of suicide in Scotland.
Answer · Susan Deacon: We have a range of initiatives, which are designed to tackle some of the factors, which can contribute to suicide. For example, as part of our policy to encourage social inclusion, we have announced the funding of numerous social inclusion partnerships around…
23 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been carried out seeking an explanation for the increased incidence of suicide among young people in Scotland in recent years.
Answer · Susan Deacon: I am not aware of any recent research about suicide among young people. The Chief Scientist Office is not currently funding any suicide-related research projects. However, within the last 5 years, 3 suicide-related projects have been funded, details of which …
23 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive why the white paper "Towards a Healthier Scotland" does not mention the issue of suicide and any co-ordinated action to prevent it.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Suicide is a complex phenomenon influenced by a wide range of social, cultural, psychological, economic and other factors. The White Paper confirms that mental health is one of the top 3 priorities for the NHS in Scotland, and as is well known, some individua…
23 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive to specify the five main causes of death for males and females in Scotland aged 35 or younger, for the years 1984-85 to 1998-99.
Answer · Susan Deacon: All deaths in Scotland are coded according to the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD9) which is promulgated by the World Health Organisation. As with all classifications, ICD9 tends to group minor categories and split up large…
23 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria will be used in deciding the future of the Paediatric Cardiac Surgery Service in Scotland; who will be advising it on this issue; with whom consultation on this issue has taken or will take place, and when a final decision on the Service's future will be made.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The main criterion is to reach the decision which produces the highest quality of service for those children who require cardiac surgery. The other factors which we shall want to take into account are the effect of the decision on the range of other services …
19 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to assist the charity Epilepsy Bereaved in carrying out a national sentinel audit into epilepsy related deaths in Scotland.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive are proposing to fund a bid by Epilepsy Bereaved to extend the national sentinel audit they are undertaking into epilepsy deaths in England, to cover cases of epilepsy related deaths in Scotland.
18 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the likely impact on acute patient mortality and morbidity in the area covered by Greater Glasgow Health Board of closing down acute service facilities in the Victoria Infirmary and the Western Infirmary and concentrating acute services in the Southern Gen…
Answer · Susan Deacon: It is for Greater Glasgow Health Board to assess and provide the health care services to meet the needs of their local population. To date no firm decisions have been made in relation to the future configuration of acute health care services in Glasgow. Howev…
18 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it proposes to examine the possibility of establishing a direct ferry link between Anstruther and North Berwick.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive is currently part-funding a study of fast ferry links on routes between Granton, Rosyth and Burntisland in the context of its involvement with the Forth Transport Infrastructure Partnership. The findings of this study will be available …
18 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much revenue was raised through the car park trading account of each local authority in 1997/8; what was the expenditure on car parking facilities for each local authority in Scotland in 1997/8, and what was the accumulated balance held in the car park trading account of each local au…
Answer · Jack McConnell: Information on local authority car park trading accounts is not held centrally.
17 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it will give to former World War Two prisoners of war residing in Scotland and claiming compensation from Her Majesty's Government for suffering endured whilst captives of the Japanese.
Answer · Jim Wallace: These are matters reserved to the UK Government. They are included in the Scottish Government's continuing liaison with the UK Government on all relevant matters.
17 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there will be any implications for local authorities as both purchasers and providers of services when the Competition Act 1998 comes into force next year, and if so, what the implications will be.
Answer · Henry McLeish: The Competition Act 1988 applies to all undertakings engaged in economic activities whatever their legal status. Local authorities which engage in commercial or economic activities relating to goods or services will be covered by the provisions of the Act as …
17 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs have been created in Cambuslang Investment Park since 1974.
Answer · Henry McLeish: As this is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise, I will ask the Chairman of that organisation to write to you.
9 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what support and advice it will give to Strathclyde Passenger Transport to ensure that there is no repetition of the Glasgow Underground shutdown on 31 July.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The operation of the Glasgow Underground is a matter for the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive.
9 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what effect additional traffic congestion caused by the possible loss of the Underground service on match days at Ibrox Stadium is likely to have on the safe operation of Accident and Emergency services based at the Southern General Hospital.
Answer · Susan Deacon: I understand that only a small proportion of football supporters use the Glasgow underground system when travelling to Ibrox. In the event that underground services are cancelled on match days this should only have a minor additional impact on traffic in the …
9 Aug 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it considers should be taken to enable the Glasgow road networks and other public transport networks to accommodate the potential increase in the number of football fans no longer using the Underground systems to travel to matches in midweek and at weekends.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The operation of the Glasgow Underground is a matter for the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive. It is for the Executive and Glasgow City Council to consider appropriate contingency arrangements to accommodate service alterations or cancellations on th…