Parliamentary questions
Michael Matheson
1,154 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
7 Oct 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many school sports co-ordinators have had training in working with children and young people with complex and/or multiple disabilities, such as training in moving and handling and in administration of rectal diazapam.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: I refer the member to the answer to S2W-11314 on 2 November 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.searc…
7 Oct 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many school sports co-ordinators have had disability equality training.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: I refer the member to the answer to S2W-11314 on 2 November 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.searc…
7 Oct 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many school sports co-ordinators have had additional support needs training.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: From 1 April 2004, the school sports co-ordinator and active primary schools programmes merged and were extended as Active Schools began to be rolled out. The role of an Active School Co-ordinator is not to deliver activities to young people but to encourage …
7 Oct 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what provision it has made to honour the achievements of Scotland’s Paralympians.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The First Minister hosted a reception in Bute House on 7 October to recognise and honour the Scottish athletes who represented Team GB at the 2004 Paralympic Games and to celebrate the achievements of our eight medallists. We were delighted that most of our a…
7 Oct 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many holders of parking blue badges there are, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: As at 31 March 2004, the number of Blue Badge Holders as per each local authority region is as follows,</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>Council</p> </td> <td> <p>Total</p> </td> </tr> </thead> <tr> <td> <p>…
30 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the present timetable and cost are for the completion of the refurbishment of Parliament House, Edinburgh.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: We currently expect to complete phase one of five of the redevelopment of Parliament House by 2007. We will review the plans for future phases before going ahead, but to complete all phases as we would now schedule them would take 13 to 14 years from now at a…
30 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the original timetable and cost were for the completion of the refurbishment of Parliament House, Edinburgh.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The original projected cost for the redevelopment of Parliament House was £105 million at 1999 prices. The original timetable was for completion in five phases over 14 to 15 years.</p>
30 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people attempted to remove materials from the National Library of Scotland in each of the last five years.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: I asked Martyn Wade, the National Librarian, to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>51 readers have been stopped by Library security staff over the last five years with a total of 65 collection items between them. It is unclear, however, whether thes…
30 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many books have been permanently damaged in the National Library of Scotland in each of the last five years, shown also as a percentage of the library’s book collection.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The National Library of Scotland considers that no book in its collections has been permanently damaged in any of the last five years. Books in the collections are of course susceptible to damage through general wear and tear as readers consult them over the…
30 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many books have been lost from the National Library of Scotland in each of the last five years, shown also as a percentage of the library’s book collection.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The National Library of Scotland’s records show that the following numbers of items could not be located in response to readers’ requests for them:</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <tr> <td> <p>Year</p> </td> <td> <p align=right>Number of…
30 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses are projected to be (a) built and (b) renovated in each local authority area in the (i) private and (ii) social rented sector in the next five years.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive does not hold or compile projections of new building or renovation for the private sector. The table shows the planned number of approvals for new and improved houses for social rent or low cost home ownership funded by the Executive fo…
30 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses have been (a) built and (b) renovated in each local authority area in the (i) private and (ii) social rented sector in each of the last five years.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The tables provide the availableinformation. For private sector dwellings, information is only available for improvementssupported by Housing Improvement Grant. The information on improvements to localauthority dwellings shows the number of dwellings in impro…
9 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-9957 by Malcolm Chisholm on 6 September 2004, what the cost was of each medical negligence claim paid by NHS Forth Valley in 2003-04.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: In 2003-04 NHS Forth Valley settled 13 medical negligence claims and paid £2,627 million in compensation. £2.3 million was subsequently reimbursed to the NHS board by the Clinical Negligence and Other Risks Indemnity Scheme (CNORIS).</p><p>CNORIS was introduc…
8 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers who have retired in each of the last five years worked for 40 years, gaining their full pension entitlement, expressed also as a percentage of the total number of teachers retiring each year.
Answer · Tavish Scott: The information available is given in the table and is held on a Financial Year basis.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p align=center>Year</p> </td> <td> <p align=center>40 Years Service</p> </td> <td> <p a…
8 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the life expectancy is of a teacher retiring after 40 years service.
Answer · Tavish Scott: This information is not available.</p>
8 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers have accepted early retirement with no enhancement in the last five years.
Answer · Tavish Scott: The table shows the number of teachers who have accepted early retirement with the consent of their employer to release and pay the additional costs for the early payment of their pension and lump sum (PREM) and those who have taken an actuarial reduction fro…
8 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers have retired through ill health in the last five years.
Answer · Tavish Scott: The information available is given in the table, held on a financial year basis. The approved cases include applications which were successful on review.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>Year</p> </td> <td> <p a…
7 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any of the law officers have attended a political party conference in their official capacity in the last five years and, if so, in which year, which political party conference and for what purpose.
Answer · Colin Boyd: Neither Law Officer has attended any political party conference in an official capacity in the last five years. Earlier this year, in a personal capacity as a member of the Labour Party, I attended the Scottish Conference of the Labour Party. I last attended …
7 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many local authorities own, or have a controlling interest in, an outdoor education centre.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The information requested is not held centrally.</p>
7 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many criminal justice social workers have been employed by local authorities in each of the last five years and how many are currently employed.
Answer · Euan Robson: Figures from the statistical bulletin, Staff of Scottish Local Authority Services 2003 (<a href="http://194.247.95.101/stats/bulletins/00355.pdf">http://194.247.95.101/stats/bulletins/00355.pdf</a>), show whole-time equivalent (WTE) criminal justice social wo…
31 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-2716 by Cathy Jamieson on 17 June 2004, what the specific timescale is for introducing legislation to establish an independent police complaints body.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: As the First Minister said when he addressed Parliament on 7 September 2004, we plan in the coming year to consult on a new Scottish Police Bill which will include measures to reform the police complaints system.</p>
31 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8206 by Cathy Jamieson on 25 May 2004, when it will complete its consideration of the response to the consultation and deliver its commitment to establish a Scottish human rights commission.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive remains committed to establishment of a human rights commission for Scotland. Consideration of the responses to the consultation is under way, and will be completed as soon as possible.</p>
25 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8946 by Malcolm Chisholm on 23 June 2004, what action is being taken to ensure that the NHS Lanarkshire board area attains the Scottish average for GPs per 10,000 head of population.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Under the terms of the legislation which underpins the introduction of the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract, it is for Lanarkshire NHS Board to determine the primary medical services needs of its local population and meet those needs by using the p…
24 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will establish a single agency responsible for fire investigation.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The investigation of fires is currently carried out by officers of the eight fire authorities. The Fire (Scotland) Bill introduced in Parliament on 28 June 2004, if enacted, will give enhanced powers to Fire Officers, for example, to enter premises and to tak…
24 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many unrepresented accused persons have conducted their own trial in district courts in each of the last five years.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: This information is not held centrally.</p>
24 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many unrepresented accused persons have conducted their own trial in sheriff courts in each of the last five years.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the following table:</p><table class=MsoNormalTable border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <tr> <td> <p> </p> </td> <td> <p align=center>1999-2000</p> </td> <td> <p align=center>2000-01</p> </td> <td> <p align=c…
22 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether its officials have attended any meetings of the Building Regulations Advisory Committee at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in the last year and, if so, on which dates.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: A senior official attended the meetings on 9 July 2003, 8 October 2003, 17 December 2003, 18 February 2004 and 5 May 2004.</p>
4 Jun 2004 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether any representations were received from the Chinese Government with regard to the visit of His Holiness The Dalai Lama to the Scottish Parliament and, if so, what the purpose was of the representations.
Answer · George Reid: I met with the Chinese Consul General, Mr Liu Jingxue on Thursday 11 March, where he raised the issue of the visit by His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet to the Scottish Parliament. The Consul General informed me of his government's policy on Tibet. I…
24 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to Contract between The Scottish Ministers and Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd for the Provision of Prisoner Escort & Court Custody Services in Scotland, what evidence it has that Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd presently has in place all contracts of insurance req…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron,Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is asfollows:</p><p>I refer the member to the answer given to S2W-8531 answered 8 June 2004 . All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the…
24 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to Contract between The Scottish Ministers and Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd for the Provision of Prisoner Escort & Court Custody Services in Scotland, for each written notice it has given to Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd under clause 14.2.1 of Schedule 3, what…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron,Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is asfollows:</p><p>I refer the member to the answer given to S2W-8434 answered 8 June 2004 . All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the…