Parliamentary questions
Michael Russell
1,207 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
12 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the domestic fuel oil price rise of over 100% in the last 18 months has had on the healthcare of elderly and vulnerable people.
Answer · Jackie Baillie: The information is not available in the form requested.
12 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the domestic fuel oil price rise of over 100% in the last 18 months has had on the budgets of local authorities.
Answer · Peter Peacock: We do not hold this level of detail centrally.
12 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the domestic fuel oil price rise of over 100% in the last 18 months has had on its social inclusion strategy.
Answer · Jackie Baillie: The Social Justice Strategy commits the Executive to the elimination of child poverty; to full employment by providing opportunities for all those who can work; to securing dignity in old age and to building strong, inclusive communities. These commitments re…
11 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions or meetings it has held with representatives of City of Edinburgh Council regarding the planning application for the development of greenfield land adjacent to Edinburgh for a possible film studio and whether it has any plans to meet with council representatives to discus…
Answer · Sam Galbraith: No planning application has been submitted for the development of greenfield land adjacent to Edinburgh for a possible film studio. The Scottish Executive has not held any discussions or meetings with representatives of the City of Edinburgh Council to discus…
11 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what new schemes of financial assistance for farmers in all sectors are available to farms within the Clydesdale parliamentary constituency.
Answer · Ross Finnie: Three new schemes of financial assistance for farmers opened for applications in December. These are the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme, the Rural Stewardship Scheme and the Pig Industry Restructuring Scheme (Outgoers element). The Agricultural Marketing a…
11 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what financial assistance for farm diversification is available in the Clydesdale constituency.
Answer · Ross Finnie: I hope to announce shortly the launch of a new grant scheme to assist farmers and their immediate family members who wish to create new income-generating enterprises or expand existing diversified activities, either on-farm or off-farm. The scheme will apply …
11 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the nearest acute and maternity hospitals will be to (a) Abington, (b) Crawford, (c) Leadhills, (d) Lanark, (e) Carluke and (f) Biggar by the end of 2001.
Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-11893.
11 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital beds are currently available within the Clydesdale parliamentary constituency and how many will be in 12 months time.
Answer · Susan Deacon: This is an operational matter for Lanarkshire Health Board and the NHS Trust. I have asked the Chairman of the health board to write with the details sought. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre.
6 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the Natural Heritage Lottery Fund to ensure that Tobar an Dualchais receives sufficient lottery funding to activate match funding for its project to conserve and disseminate the Gaelic and other material in its archives.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The Heritage Lottery Fund, like the other National Lottery distributing bodies, makes its decisions on applications independently. The Executive therefore does not make any such representations.
6 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the employment created in Gaelic television since the creation of the Gaelic Television Committee, now the Gaelic Broadcasting Committee.
Answer · Alasdair Morrison: The Ekos report commissioned in 2000 for the Gaelic Broadcasting Task Force shows 316 full-time equivalents (FTE) employed in Gaelic television. On this basis 255 FTE are attributable to the Comataidh Craolaidh Gaidhlig (the Gaelic Broadcasting Committee).
6 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received and what actions it has taken regarding the redundancy of 14 staff presently working on the Gaelic news programme Telefios.
Answer · Alasdair Morrison: I understand that four of the current Telefios staff have been redeployed within SMG (the Scottish Media Group). Discussions are taking place between CCG, SMG and CNES with a view to ensuring that new programmes are produced in the Stornoway studio.
6 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it or Comataidh Craolaidh Gaidhlig has received with regard to the proposed ending of a daily television news output in Gaelic.
Answer · Alasdair Morrison: About 20 letters have been received by the Scottish Executive and the Comataidh Craolaidh Gaidhlig on this issue. Most have argued that a Gaelic television news service should be provided again as soon as suitable broadcasting slots can be identified.
6 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the Gaelic Broadcasting Committee to ensure that a daily news output remains part of the Gaelic television schedule.
Answer · Alasdair Morrison: The Scottish Executive keeps in touch with the Gaelic Broadcasting Committee over its plans.
30 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the age profile is of teachers employed in the state sector, broken down into age groups.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: I have today sent the Convenor of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee a report on the supply of teachers. A response to your specific question can be found at Annex E of the report.<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>Copies of the report have been placed in t…
30 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what is the current position with the implementation of the Gaelic Taskforce Report.
Answer · Alasdair Morrison: I expect to make a statement soon.
27 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Health and Community Care will reply to my letter of 26 October 2000 regarding the provision of residential care for the elderly in the Scottish Borders.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: A reply was issued on 1 December 2000.
20 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Scottish Qualifications Authority regarding any continuing dissatisfaction among pupils and parents with the results of the appeal process.
Answer · Jack McConnell: The Scottish Executive is in close touch with SQA about progress with the appeals process, and has arranged for it to be independently monitored by representatives of the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES). Decisions on individual appeal…
20 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation it has had with teachers, council education departments and others regarding the role of teachers in advising pupils and parents about infestation with head lice.
Answer · Susan Deacon: It is the responsibility of health boards to develop policies for dealing with head lice infestation and these policies include advice to teachers about their role in dealing with head lice infestation. These policies have been informed by multi-agency groups…
20 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what medical advice it has received and what medical advice it has disseminated to schools regarding treatment of children with headlice by parents.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Each health board is responsible for developing and implementing, in conjunction with other interested bodies, a policy for dealing with headlice infestation. The policies are aimed at ensuring that schools, General Medical Practitioners, Community Pharmacist…
20 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it collects on the prevalence of infestation by head lice among school pupils.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Information on the prevalence of infestation is not held by the Scottish Executive or by health boards.
20 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the General Teaching Council, colleges of education, university education departments and teaching unions were consulted about its intention to appoint a consultant to report on professional development for teachers.
Answer · Jack McConnell: All stakeholders were consulted in 1998 regarding a framework for continuing professional development which was strongly supported. The invitation to tender for the contract to develop such a framework was advertised in November 1999 and all of the above grou…
20 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what alternatives to the appointment of a commercial consultant were considered prior to the appointment of Arthur Andersen to undertake a consultation on professional development for teachers.
Answer · Jack McConnell: The tendering process for this contract was undertaken in accordance with EC Procurement Directives, allowing a wide range of individuals and organisations to apply. Following an initial screening process six organisations were invited to tender, four of whom…
20 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the remit for the consultancy awarded to Arthur Andersen on professional development for teachers.
Answer · Jack McConnell: Under the contract awarded, the following tasks will be carried out:<DIR><P>1. Consultation on and construction of a framework for continuing professional development based on the principles to be determined by the McCrone Implementation Group.<P>2. Developme…
20 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what tendering process took place prior to the appointment of Arthur Andersen to undertake a consultation on professional development for teachers.
Answer · Jack McConnell: An accelerated restricted procedure notice was placed in the <I>Official Journal of the European Community</I> on 1 November 1999, as required by the EC Services Contracts Regulations. This was also reproduced in <I>The Scotsman</I> and <I>The Herald</I> (17 …
20 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much the consultancy awarded to Arthur Andersen on professional development for teachers will cost.
Answer · Jack McConnell: The contract value is approximately £950,000. This is not a fixed figure and may change in the light of the outcome of the McCrone discussions and other changing circumstances.
16 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that the mileage rate for transport expenses paid to teachers when attending in-service courses and similar events reflects the present cost of petrol.
Answer · Jack McConnell: The payment of travelling expenses to teachers attending training courses and similar events is a matter for the relevant local authority as the teacher's employer. National rates for the payment of such expenses are agreed annually through negotiation betwee…
15 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what feedback has been received from participants in the current round of New Opportunities Fund ICT training for teachers and whether it will make public any general findings from end-of-course questionnaires or other forms of feedback.
Answer · Jack McConnell: The main source of feedback from individual teachers and school librarians will be a recently established online evaluation questionnaire. Summary tables of information from completed questionnaires are available on the National Grid for Learning (NGfL) websi…
15 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of the current round of New Opportunities Fund ICT training for teachers and how much of the total cost was spent on the folder of materials provided to each course participant.
Answer · Jack McConnell: The New Opportunities Fund (NOF) allocated £23 million in Scotland to provide training for all serving teachers and school librarians in publicly-funded schools who want to undertake the training programme. Training is delivered by 12 approved training provid…
15 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all successful and unsuccessful applications to the New Opportunities Fund by local authority area.
Answer · Allan Wilson: No. This is a matter for the New Opportunities Fund, which provides information on successful applications for assistance on its website at </FONT><A HREF="http://www.nof.org.uk/"><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2>www.nof.org.uk</FONT></A><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2>. …
15 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications to the New Opportunities Fund have been unsuccessful and what total amount of funding was sought by unsuccessful applications.
Answer · Allan Wilson: This is a matter for the New Opportunities Fund, which has written to the member and is lodging information on<B> </B>unsuccessful applications in the Parliament's Reference Centre.