Parliamentary questions
Kenny MacAskill
2,611 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
9 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the current criteria are for placing a minor in a secure unit and what plans it has to review such criteria.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Every decision to place a young person in secure accommodation must meet the legislative requirements of S.70 (10) of The Children’s (Scotland) Act 1995. </p><p>The final decision on whether a child should be placed in secure accommodation is made at a local …
9 Jun 2004 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce a national pay scheme for social workers.
Answer · Euan Robson: The Executive has no such plans. In terms of social care staff in the statutorysector, these are matters for the local authorities, the representing trade unions and for COSLA to consider.</p>
8 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8211 by Nicol Stephen on 3 June 2004, whether the franchise agreements can be viewed at Strategic Rail Authority offices in (a) Glasgow, (b) London or (c) both; why the agreements are not available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe…
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The current franchise agreement, with elements removed as set out in section 71(2) of the Railways Act 1993, can be viewed at the Strategic Rail Authority’s (SRA) offices in either London or Glasgow on application to the SRA Secretariat.</p><p>The SRA Secreta…
8 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent to support the development of the Inverness to Stockholm route and on its marketing by VisitScotland or any other public body.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Investment from the Scottish Executive’s Route Development Fund, in any single route, cannot be disclosed because of commercial confidentiality. However investment from the fund is only provided for the actual number of passengers carried. VisitScotland has f…
7 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will widen the specification of the NorthLink Orkney and Shetland Ferries Ltd contract to include extending the service to Rosyth and consider creating a direct ferry link between the Northern Isles and Rosyth.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Executive envisages the continueduse of the present routes and ports serving the Northern Isles, as set out in thedraft service specification for the Northern Isles Lifeline Ferry Services (Bib.number 32862).</p>
14 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive why the post of the chair of the Cultural Commission was not advertised; whether rules on the public appointments were followed when making this appointment and what the reasons were for its position in the matter; what the remit, salary and term of office will be; what the operating cos…
Answer · Frank McAveety: I have established the CulturalCommission as an independent short-life advisory body and appointments to this bodydo not fall within the remit of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.</p><p>Scottish ministers are firmlyof the view that James Boyle, who is…
13 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive why funding for football and rugby has to be allocated through sportscotland when the Scottish Rugby Union and the Scottish Football Association are recognised bodies with expertise and full-time staff.
Answer · Frank McAveety: <b>Sport</b>scotland is the national agency for the development ofsport in Scotland. It is also the distributor body for the Lottery SportsFund in Scotland. Its remit extends well beyond football and rugby andchannelling Exchequer funds through <b>sport</b>sc…
13 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children participated in (a) football, (b) rugby, (c) athletics, (d) hockey, (e) basketball, (f) volleyball, (g) swimming, (h) karate and (i) judo in each year since 1999, broken down by gender, school and level.
Answer · Frank McAveety: Information is not held in theformat requested. However, <b>sport</b>scotland publishes annually a sports participationin Scotland digest which can be downloaded from its website.</p>
13 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the precise capacity increase will be in the maximum and optimum number of trains able to access Waverley Station per hour following the upgrade of the station; whether the upgraded station will allow all of the proposed new lines to access the station at the level of service propos…
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Current peak capacity at WaverleyStation accommodates 24 trains per hour from the west and 12 from the east. On completionof the Phase 1 project that would increase to 28 trains per hour from the west,providing sufficient capacity to accommodate the new rail …
13 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which parts of the current ScotRail franchise contract documentation are publicly available; which parts are not publicly available, expressed as a percentage of the total contract, and why; where the contract can be accessed and how, and what the position will be in respect of the publi…
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Strategic Rail Authority(SRA) is required, under section 73 of the Railways Act 1993. to maintain a publicregister which must include copies of all franchise agreements. The SRA public registeris kept at the SRA and may be viewed by appointment with the S…
13 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with (a) British Airways and (b) the Department for Transport regarding direct flights from Scotland.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Executive has held discussionswith British Airways, as well as other airlines, and the Department for Transporton a range of aviation matters including direct flights from Scotland.</p>
13 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the post of the Chair of Scottish Arts Council will be advertised and, if so, when.
Answer · Frank McAveety: In view of the ongoing CulturalReview, the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA), who regulateappointments to the Scottish Arts Council, has agreed to an exemption from a fullappointments round to recruit the next chair. OCPA has agreed th…
13 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what regulations there are in respect of discotheques for young people under 18; what monitoring there is of such discotheques, and what changes will follow from the implementation of the Nicholson report and any other planned regulatory changes in this area.
Answer · Hugh Henry: Local licensing authorities have the power to license under 18 discotheques under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act1982. This includes power to attach conditions to a licence which the organiserof the event must observe. An authorised officer of the licensi…
13 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what sums allocated to Transport Initiatives Edinburgh will be spent on (a) the public inquiry into congestion charging and (b) administration prior to the tram lines being constructed.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: This is a matter for the Cityof Edinburgh Council.</p>
13 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it made any submissions to the recent European Union consultation on public service obligation routes for airlines and, if so, whether it will publish its submissions and, if it made no submission, what the reasons are for its position on the matter.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Executive continues tomake its views known to the UK Government and the European Commission on theneed for measures to protect access to the main London hubs. These measuresshould not require peripheral areas of the UK to pay a premium for accessand shoul…
13 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive in which countries VisitScotland, rather than VisitBritain, (a) has been and (b) will be the lead agency in selling and marketing Scotland in each year from 1999 to 2005.
Answer · Frank McAveety: VisitScotland has lead responsibilityfor marketing Scotland as a must visit destination in its key target markets.VisitScotland’s current key markets include the United States of America, Germany, Sweden, France, Netherlands,Spain and Italy. Key markets are …
13 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the current average turnaround time is for applications to Disclosure Scotland for background checks; what the extent of any backlog is and when it is anticipated that such backlog will be cleared, and whether it will seek to standardise practices between local authorities regarding…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: At 16 May, the average processingtime for applications for all three levels of Disclosures was 12 days. Thisapplies to applications which do not require the correction of errors in theapplication form, clearance of payment arrangements or enquires to policefo…
12 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to address the cost of fuel in rural Scotland as a result of recent world oil price increases and what representations it has made to Her Majesty's Government on the issue.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: I refer the member to the answergiven to question S2O-2383 on 20 May 2004, which is available on the Parliament’swebsite, the search facility for which can be found at:</p><p><ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/search.htm">http://www.scottish.parliament…
12 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional funding will be allocated to Lothian and Borders Police in respect of public order and other requirements in each of the next three years and when such funding will be allocated.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: he Police Grant Aided Expenditure(GAE) review working group will shortly make recommendations about future allocationsto all police authorities, including how these allocations should reflect any disproportionatepublic order policing pressures in the Lothian …
12 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what level of funding will be available for individual waterborne freight grants and on what basis the level was selected.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The actual level of funding supportavailable for individual waterborne freight grants will depend on a number of factorsincluding the projected cash flows of the proposed service (applicants will needto demonstrate that the proposed shipping route will be com…
12 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to implement the recommendations of the Council of Europe Committee of Experts' report into the Charter for Regional or Minority Languages; whether it will provide the Scottish Language Resource Centre (SLRC) with any additional funding to implement those recommen…
Answer · Frank McAveety: The Executive is committed to policies which will enable it to work towardmeeting those Charter obligations for which it has responsibility, including thosecovered in the recommendations of the Councilof Europe Committee of Experts. </p><p>The aims of the Sco…
12 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on advertising to encourage (a) healthy living in respect of diet and nutrition and (b) taking exercise and sports participation since 1999, broken down into TV advertising and other forms of advertising.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The Healthy Living campaign, which in its latest phase addresses both diet and physical activity, was first launched in January 2003.</p><p>A detailed breakdown of the media used and costs is given below. These figures include VAT.</p><p>2002-2003</p><table b…
12 May 2004 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take in light of the National Audit Office (NAO) report, Improving public transport in England through light rail.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive is already working closely with tie<b>,</b>the promoters of the Edinburgh tram scheme, in line with therecommendations made in the NAO report. We encourage all those developing lightrail schemes to apply the good practice contained in t…
12 May 2004 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take to ensure the adequate provision of social workers for the city of Edinburgh.
Answer · Euan Robson: The shortage of social care staff is being addressed on a national basis. We have taken a number of initiatives including a national recruitment campaign, unprecedented investment in social work education, a fast-track scheme for graduates and an incentive sc…
11 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any application has been made under the trans-European network grant scheme to provide rail links to ports, in particular from (a) the proposed Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine line and (b) the main Edinburgh to Aberdeen line to the port of Rosyth.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: No application has been made.</p>
11 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects a memorandum of understanding to be agreed between VisitScotland and VisitBritain; how long such a memorandum has been under negotiation and whether negotiations have taken place between the two agencies only or have included its department responsible for tourism; what di…
Answer · Frank McAveety: The Executive provides overalldirection to VisitScotland with regard to its relationship with VisitBritain. Amemorandum of understanding on overseas marketing between VisitBritain and VisitScotlandhas been in place since 1998, and discussions are taking place…
4 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what sums were awarded by each local authority as compensation to motorists and other road users as a result of potholes and other defects on local authority maintained roads and in each year since 1999.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: This is a matter for individuallocal authorities. The information requested is not held centrally.</p>
4 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what sums were awarded as compensation to motorists and other road users as a result of potholes and other defects on trunk roads, in each year since 1999.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The amount awarded as compensation to motorists and other road users as a result of defects on the trunk road network is as follows:</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>Year</p> </td> <td> <p align=center>Compensati…
4 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether a tram link or a heavy rail link to Edinburgh Airport is its higher priority and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive is supporting the development of both the tram and the heavy rail link toEdinburgh Airport. Each of these schemes will serve different markets.A tram link to the airport would provide fast access from various parts of the city,whilst th…
4 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how often the power to advance well-being under Part 3 of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 has been used by each local authority.
Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answergiven to question S2W-7844 on 11 May2004. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Scottish Parliament website. </p><p>The search facility can be foundat <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/weba…