Mr Lloyd Quinan

11 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost will be of running the Expert Group on Immunisation broken down by (a) administration, (b) group member costs, (c) hospitality and (d) marketing.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Expert Group will be resourced to carry out its remit effectively. Expenditure incurred will be recorded in its report.

11 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who will provide administrative support to the Expert Group on Immunisation.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Officials from the Health Department at the Scottish Executive are providing the secretariat and administrative support to the Expert Group.

11 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the Expert Group on Immunisation will gather its evidence.

Answer · Susan Deacon: This is a matter for the Expert Group. I understand, however, that it has invited a number of medical experts and organisations to present evidence relevant to its remit. In addition, the views of other organisations and the general public were sought through…

11 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings of the Expert Group on Immunisation have taken place and what issues were discussed.

Answer · Susan Deacon: There have been three meetings of the Expert Group to date. The content of meetings is a matter for the Expert Group, having regard to its remit. Details of the group's work will be available on its website.

11 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will arrange for meetings and the minutes of meetings of the Expert Group on Immunisation to be made public.

Answer · Susan Deacon: This is a matter for the Expert Group. Information about the group and its work will shortly be available on its website.

11 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Expert Group on Immunisation will present its findings.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Expert Group will aim to report by 28 February 2002.

11 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who the members are of the Expert Group on Immunisation; what qualifications and expertise each member has; what criteria were used to decide on the membership, and what external interests each member has.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Details of the members of the Expert Group are set out in the table. In addition, Dr Kenneth Aitken, Independent Consultant Child Clinical Neuropsychologist and Dr Gordon Bell, Lovaas Technique Adviser, have also been invited to join the group. A summary decl…

11 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the remit is of the Expert Group on Immunisation.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The remit of the Expert Group is as follows: <P>To consider matters raised by the Health and Community Care Committee relating to vaccination against mumps, measles and rubella (MMR) with particular reference to:<P>describing the consequences of pursuing an a…

24 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in Scotland are (a) drugs dependent and (b) alcohol dependent, broken down by age, gender and health board area.

Answer · Iain Gray: The information requested is not held centrally. The findings from a national prevalence study of problematic drug misuse, commissioned by the Executive, will be available shortly.

24 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many residential places have been utilised for the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction since May 1999, broken down by health board area.

Answer · Iain Gray: This information is not held centrally.

24 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many residential places are available across Scotland for the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction, broken down by health board area.

Answer · Iain Gray: This information is not held centrally.

24 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the take-up figures were for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Figures published by Information and Statistics Division of the Common Services Agency give the uptake of MMR for children aged up to 24 months at quarter ended 30 June 2001 as 87.8%.

24 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to collate information regarding the cost of caring for and educating persons with an autistic spectrum disorder over their lifetime.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has no plans to collate information about the cost of caring for and educating persons with an autistic spectrum disorder over their lifetime.

24 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to investigate the possibility of setting up a centre based on the Son-Rise Program run by the Autism Treatment Centre of America.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has no current plans to investigate the possibility of setting up a centre based on the Son-Rise Program.

13 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make available its report on the responses to Assessing our children's educational needs: The Way Forward.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Copies of the responses to the Record of Needs consultation are in the Scottish Executive library. Ministers are currently considering the responses and it is expected that outline proposals for change will be published by the end of the year.

25 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the haemophilus influen'ae type b (Hib) vaccine contains thiomersal.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer to my answer to questions S1W-14694 and S1W-15962 on 22 June 2001.

24 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive with which organisations and countries it exchanges information regarding anti-nuclear activists.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive does not, as a matter of course, exchange information with other organisations or countries about individuals who might be described as activists.

24 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has exchanged with UK and foreign security organisations regarding activists without criminal or civil convictions.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive does not, as a matter of course, exchange information with other organisations about individuals who might be described as activists.

24 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met a representative or representatives of the Ministry of Defence police and what issues were discussed.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive has regular contact with the Ministry of Defence Police about a range of issues, the most recent of which concerned proposals in the Armed Forces Bill considered by the previous UK Parliament for extending their jurisdiction.

24 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Italian Government regarding exchanging information about anti-globalisation activists.

Answer · Jim Wallace: None. The Scottish Executive does not, as a matter of course, deal with exchanges of information with other countries about individuals who might be described as activists.

11 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the purpose is of Individualised Educational Programmes and what relationship they will have with Records of Needs.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Individualised Educational Programmes (IEP) and Records of Needs are separate planning documents to meet the needs of children with special educational needs (SEN).<P>Where a child has a Record of Needs, it is expected that the Record will provide the strateg…

20 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-15960 by Iain Gray on 19 June 2001, whether the support services available to people who have been wrongly convicted of a crime on their release from custody are identical to the services offered to offenders on their release.

Answer · Iain Gray: The statutory provision under section 27(1) (c) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 places a duty on local authorities to provide voluntary assistance on release from custody. The provision does not make any distinction between different categories of peop…

15 Jun 2001 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer how may Scottish Parliament staff have previously worked at Westminster.

Answer · David Steel: We do not maintain a database of the previous employment history of our staff. However, to our knowledge, we currently have seven members of staff who joined the Scottish Parliament directly from Westminster.

15 Jun 2001 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer how many Scottish Parliament staff have been (a) seconded and (b) recruited from the Scottish Executive or Scottish Office since January 1999.

Answer · David Steel: The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body did not contract with staff until 1 April 2000. From January 1999 until 1 April 2000, all Scottish Parliament staff were recruited by and seconded from the Scottish Office to the Scottish Parliament. At the present ti…

15 Jun 2001 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer how many Scottish Parliament staff have been (a) seconded and (b) recruited from the Scotland Office since May 1999.

Answer · David Steel: There have been no Scottish Parliament staff (a) seconded and (b) recruited from the Scotland Office since May 1999.

15 Jun 2001 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer how many managers in the Scottish Parliament have been trained to deal with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998.

Answer · David Steel: 23 members of staff attended data protection training presented by the Information Commissioner's Office in February 2000. Five members of staff have attended subsequent, external courses and workshops including our Data Protection Officer who is in the proce…

15 Jun 2001 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer how many managers employed in the Scottish Parliament have had employment law training since May 1999.

Answer · David Steel: All issues relating to employment law are dealt with through the Personnel Office and Directorate of Legal Services. All relevant staff have attended training in the period from May 1999 to date as a means of keeping themselves up-to-date with employment law …

15 Jun 2001 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer how many (a) senior, (b) middle and (c) junior managers employed in the Scottish Parliament hold recognised management qualifications.

Answer · David Steel: Possession of a management qualification is not currently one of the criteria used in recruitment by the SPCB, although for many posts management experience is required. Where management skills are required for a particular post, this competence is tested in …

24 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-15189 by Mr Jim Wallace on 10 May 2001, what specific duties and responsibilities local authorities have in relation to offering advice, guidance and assistance to those released from prison having been wrongly convicted of an offence.

Answer · Iain Gray: The Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 places a statutory duty on local authorities to make available social work assistance in the form of advice, guidance and assistance on release from custody.<P>The objectives of voluntary assistance aim to provide a range o…

15 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for an awareness campaign to highlight difficulties faced by those with autism and Asperger's syndrome.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-15530 on 16 May 2001.