Parliamentary questions
Kenny MacAskill
2,611 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
4 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many visitors to Scotland were from (a) the United States of America, (b) Canada, (c) Germany, (d) Italy, (e) France, (f) the Netherlands (g) Belgium, (h) Australia, (i) New Zealand and (j) EU accession states in each year since 1999.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The number of visitors fromthe United States of America, Canada, Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand and the EU accession states in each year since 1999is shown in the following table:</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cel…
4 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many road accidents were (a) recorded and (b) reported to the Procurator Fiscal by each police force in each month since May 2001 and how many such accidents were recorded as being caused by adverse or winter weather conditions.
Answer · Tavish Scott: Data about injury road accidentsare collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executive using the STATS19 statistical report form. These returns cover only road accidents in which oneor more people were injured: they do not cover damage-only accide…
4 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils at schools in Edinburgh took an examination in a foreign language and of these how many passed in each year since 2001, broken down by language, expressed also as a percentage of those who sat such exams.
Answer · Peter Peacock: A table showing the number ofentries and awards in National Qualification courses in foreign languages by pupilsin publicly funded schools in Edinburgh 2001-05 has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 39449).</p>
22 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that it is appropriate that a curator ad litem appointed by the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland should receive no written intimation of appointment during the period of his or her appointment.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: It is for the Mental Health Tribunalfor Scotland to appoint a curator ad litem in appropriate cases. Theymust also (in terms of <i>Rule 55 of the </i><i>Mental Health Tribunal for </i><i>Scotland</i><i> (Practice and Procedure) (No.2) Rules 2005</i>) provide …
22 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, where a tribunal has appointed a curator ad litem under section 55(1) of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland (Practice and Procedure) Rules 2005, it considers that the Administration of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland is empowered under section 55(3) of the same statu…
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Rule 55(3) of the Mental HealthTribunal for Scotland (Practice and Procedure) (No. 2) Rules 2005 provides thatthe Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland (MHTS) or a convenor may appoint a personhaving appropriate skills and experience to assess whether a patient…
22 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take in respect of the Administration of the Mental Health Tribunal following the interim decision in the petition of John Smith, Mental Health Officer for Fife Council, for a judicial review of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: <i>The Mental Health (Care andTreatment) (Scotland) Act 2003</i> whichestablished the Tribunal and its Administration makes provision (at Schedule 2 Part2) for the president of the tribunal to give guidance and directions as necessaryto the Tribunal Administr…
22 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23237 by Lewis Macdonald on 14 March 2006, how many applications for a compulsory treatment order requiring to be heard under section 69 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 have not been heard by a tribunal panel because the…
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Mental Health Tribunal hasfailed to hold a hearing under section 69 of the act on four occasions, within thestatutory timescales i.e. within the 28 days of the original Short-Term DetentionCertificate or the following five days allowed by the act. In one …
22 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23237 by Lewis Macdonald on 14 March 2006, whether the answer is consistent with the convention that ministers should be as open as possible with the Parliament and the public, in light of instances where tribunals have not held required hearings, su…
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The answer given in responseto S2W-23237 was factually correct, and reflected the fact that the tribunal hasalways arranged hearings when required to do so. At the time of the question onno occasion had the Mental Health Tribunal failed to hold a hearing to e…
17 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-14222 by Cathy Jamieson on 15 February 2005, how many prosecutions there have been for the supply of alcohol to underage customers in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) police board area, (b) local authority area and (c) parliamentary co…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the following tables. No breakdown of these figures into parliamentary constituency is available from the data held centrally. The court proceedings statistics for 2004-05 are planned for publication in April 2006.</p><p>…
14 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact Edinburgh's naming as UNESCO City of Literature has had on industries related to literature and publishing in Edinburgh and Scotland.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The city’s title has inspiredseveral new books, including a new edition of <i>The Edinburgh Literary Companion</i>by Andrew Lownie, Allan Foster’s <i>The Literary Traveller in Edinburgh</i>, andan Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature branded title published in…
14 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact Edinburgh's naming as UNESCO City of Literature has had on the number of tourists visiting Edinburgh and Scotland.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: Tourism in Edinburgh isperforming very strongly indeed. Visitors’ interest in literary matters rangingfrom those with an interest in the works of Burns and Scott through to thosewith a fascination in the Da Vinci Code (Rosslyn Chapel). VisitScotlandactively p…
14 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to commit funding to Edinburgh as UNESCO City of Literature.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: I refer the member to the answerto question S2W-24184 on 24 March 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.…
14 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plan it has to promote Edinburgh as UNESCO City of Literature.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-24183 on 28 March 2006. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at: <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa…
14 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give details of the funding it has provided in relation to Edinburgh's naming as UNESCO City of Literature.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The Executive provided £70,000for the two year period 2005-07 on a one-off basis, matching the contribution fromthe City of Edinburgh Council. A further £58,000 was provided by the Scottish ArtsCouncil.</p>
14 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to promote Edinburgh as UNESCO City of Literature (a) within Scotland, (b) within the UK and (c) outwith the UK.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: This is primarily a matterfor the management of Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature, but they have beenworking closely with VisitScotland on promoting Edinburgh as UNESCO City ofLiterature.</p><p>I refer the member to thequestion S2W-24187 answered on 28 Marc…
14 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what it anticipated would be the benefits of Edinburgh being named UNESCO City of Literature and what the actual benefits have been.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The benefits in achievingrecognition for Edinburgh as UNESCO’s first City of Literature are expected tobe: raised awareness and prestige of Scotland’s literature nationally andinternationally; new initiatives attracted to Scotland; Edinburgh used as amodel fo…
14 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive to give the reasons why it campaigned to have Edinburgh named UNESCO City of Literature.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: To achieve for Edinburgh andfor Scotland international recognition as a world centre for literatureand literary activity and creativity.</p>
10 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers it appropriate to place a public interest immunity certificate on information that is already partially in the public domain.
Answer · Colin Boyd: This would depend on the factsof the case and the circumstances in which the information had come to be in thepublic domain. For example, the public interest might weigh in favour of a claimbeing asserted where the information had been obtained in breach of a…
10 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers it appropriate to place a public interest immunity certificate on information that is already wholly in the public domain.
Answer · Colin Boyd: This would depend on the factsof the case and the circumstances in which the information had come to be in thepublic domain. For example, the public interest might weigh in favour of a claimbeing asserted where the information had been obtained in breach of a…
10 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive who considers whether the procedures for issuing a public interest immunity certificate have been carried out correctly.
Answer · Colin Boyd: I refer to the answer to questionS2W-24117 on 22 March 2006 in which I explained that there are no prescribed proceduresfor issuing public interest immunity certificates. The question posed does not arise.</p>
10 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what procedure must be followed before a public interest immunity certificate can be issued.
Answer · Colin Boyd: There are no prescribed procedureswhich have to be followed before a public interest immunity certificate is issued.A public interest immunity certificate must be signed by a minister.</p>
10 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive who considers whether the criteria for issuing a public interest immunity certificate have been met.
Answer · Colin Boyd: The minister who signs the certificate.</p>
10 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the criteria are for issuing a public interest immunity certificate.
Answer · Colin Boyd: A claim for public interest immunitymay be advanced where it is considered that disclosure of a document would be harmfulto the public interest. If disclosure of a document might be harmful to the publicinterest consideration will be given to whether the publ…
10 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many public interest immunity certificates have been considered but not issued in each year since 1999.
Answer · Colin Boyd: Three public interest immunitycertificates were signed but not deployed in 2005 and one certificate has been signedbut not deployed this year. There is no central record of cases in which a questionof public interest immunity has arisen for consideration but …
10 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many public interest immunity certificates have been issued in each year since 1999.
Answer · Colin Boyd: No public interest immunity certificateswere issued in the years 1999 to 2003. Five certificates were issued in 2004 andtwo certificates have been issued in 2006.</p>
10 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the issuing of a public interest immunity certificate is discussed with the party or parties whose actions or works are to be the subject of the certificate.
Answer · Colin Boyd: This would depend on the circumstancesof the case. It is not uncommon in cases in which an issue of public interest immunityarises for there to be discussions between the parties or their legal representativesas to the importance or relevance of the document …
10 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20263 by Mr Tom McCabe on 10 November 2005, when it expects to publish the data collected through the questionnaire issued to all successful applicants to the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme by the Relocation Advisory Service.
Answer · Tom McCabe: We intend to publish the informationcollected from these questionnaires on a regular basis. I expect to be able to publishthe first of these reports in the coming months.</p>
10 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20263 by Mr Tom McCabe on 10 November 2005, how many successful applications to the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme there has been since 22 June 2005, broken down by nationality of successful applicant.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Between the launch of the schemeon 22 June 2005 and the end of February 2006 a total of 1497 people havesuccessfully applied to the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme.The breakdown by nationality is in the following table:</p><table border=1 cellspacin…
16 Feb 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources will be available to local authorities to make up for time spent by mental health officers before the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Together with the record resources available to local authorities additional allocations have been made to help deliver the provisions of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 as follows:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> …
16 Feb 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources will be available to NHS boards to make up for time spent by consultant psychiatrists before the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Together with the record resources available to NHS boards additional funds have been allocated and announced to help deliver the provisions of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 as follows:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpaddi…