Parliamentary questions
Dr Richard Simpson
2,702 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
15 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what costs the Scottish Court Service will be liable for in relation to the Alloa Sheriff Court building if the court is closed.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCS who will reply in writing.
15 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the (a) cost to the police of travelling to Stirling and Falkirk and (b) impact on police time if Alloa Sheriff Court is closed.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCS who will reply in writing.
15 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis there has been of the people who might be affected by the closure of Alloa Sheriff Court and what information it has on the percentage of people attending the court in the last three years who were (a) receiving benefits and (b) in employment.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCS who will reply in writing.
15 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what transport costs might be incurred by (a) the Scottish Court Service, (b) the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, (c) the Scottish Legal Aid Board or (d) an individual travelling to the Stirling or Falkirk court if Alloa Sheriff Court is closed.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCS who will reply in writing.
15 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many criminal trials have been adjourned at Alloa Sheriff Court because of (a) a crown motion, (b) a defence motion, (c) failure to appear by an accused, (d) failure to appear by a witness, (e) lack of court time and (f) any other reason in the last three years.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCS who will reply in writing.
6 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) nurses, (b) health visitors and (c) midwives it estimates will leave the NHS in each of the next four years.
Answer · Alex Neil: To ensure there is a sufficient supply of registered nurses and midwives to meet NHS board’s future workforce requirements, trend information on the number of leavers over the last six years and the age profile of the nursing and midwifery establishment is fa…
6 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many qualified Scottish nursing and midwifery applicants have not been awarded places on a Scottish nursing or midwifery course in each of the last five years.
Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested is not centrally held. The universities are responsible for managing the recruitment of nursing and midwifery students to their pre-registration programmes.
6 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has undertaken in relation to university nursing departments of risks arising from the decisions to close three midwifery sections and reduce student nurse intake by 19% in the last two years.
Answer · Alex Neil: Nursing and midwifery student intake numbers are informed by workforce projections provided by NHS boards and the views of a number of stakeholders, including those universities from whom we commission nursing and midwifery education. The criteria used to de…
6 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many health visitors have transferred into family nurse partnership posts and how many are expected to transfer in the next three years.
Answer · Alex Neil: A total of 26 public health nurses/health visitors, from generic caseload holding posts have transferred into Family Nurse Partnership posts since the programme began in Scotland. This equates to around 55% of the overall family nurses in Scotland. Based on t…
6 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Cochrane review, General health checks in adults for reducing morbidity and mortality from disease, what the evidential basis is for general health checks.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Cochrane Collaboration concluded that the evidence reviewed suggested that general health checks did not reduce morbidity or mortality, neither overall nor for cardiovascular or cancer causes. The Scottish Government will continue to support intervention…
6 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the fines issued in the United States to pharmaceutical companies for promoting medicines for uses or age groups not in the licence granted in the EU, what consideration it has given to requiring the collection and collation of data related to off-licence prescribing.
Answer · Alex Neil: The advertising and promotion of medicines in the UK, as well as medicine safety issues, are subject matters of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 and are currently reserved issues. The promotion of a medicine for use outside the terms of its marketing aut…
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what compensation has been offered to households deemed to have been affected by noise or vibration from freight train traffic on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line.
Answer · Keith Brown: As the operator of the railway, Network Rail manages the process of compensation via the Land Compensation (Scotland) Act 1973. To date Network Rail has assessed that five households are eligible for acoustic barriers in lieu of compensation.
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many households deemed to have been affected by noise or vibration from freight train traffic on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line have been offered mitigation measures.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Stirling Alloa Kincardine Environmental Statement (2003) sets out guidelines for assessing properties affected by noise and vibration with a view to providing mitigation. Transport Scotland and Clackmannanshire Council have followed those principles, and …
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what mitigation measures have been offered to households deemed to have been affected by noise or vibration from freight train traffic on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line.
Answer · Keith Brown: Acoustic barriers have been provided at properties which have met the trigger levels for noise disturbance.
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many properties along the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line have had (a) daytime, (b) nighttime testing for (i) noise and (ii) vibration.
Answer · Keith Brown: Noise testing, both day and night, was undertaken at eleven sample properties, considered to be representative of other properties along the Stirling Alloa Kincardine route. Four properties in total were tested for vibration levels.
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government on what basis properties along the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line were selected for testing for noise.
Answer · Keith Brown: Properties selected for monitoring were considered to be most likely to experience noise from train operations and deemed to be representative of other properties along the length of the reopened section of track with a similar relationship to the track in te…
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether households equidistant from the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line have been treated differently in relation to mitigation and, if so, for what reason.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government does not keep records of the distance between households and the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine Railway Line where mitigation has been provided. The criteria for mitigation are based on noise levels and not the distance between households …
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many households on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line that are immediate neighbours of properties that have been provided with mitigation have now been offered testing for noise and vibration for the first time.
Answer · Keith Brown: Vibration measurements have been concluded on the Stirling Alloa Kincardine railway. Noise monitoring has been carried out repeatedly on the route, a noise model developed, and mitigation installed and tested, therefore there are no additional properties that…
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many households on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line were offered testing for (a) daytime and (b) nighttime (i) noise and (ii) vibration following the installation of mitigation.
Answer · Keith Brown: Following the installation of the acoustic barriers, eleven properties representative of each section of track, were monitored to test the effectiveness of the barriers.
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many households were offered testing for (a) daytime and (b) nighttime noise and vibration levels from freight trains on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line.
Answer · Keith Brown: Measurements for both day and night time noise levels were offered at twelve sample properties, considered to be representative of other properties along the Stirling Alloa Kincardine route. Four properties in total were offered testing for vibration levels.…
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what compensation has been offered to households on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line where mitigation has now been put in place for the period during which no mitigation was in place.
Answer · Keith Brown: There has been no compensation offered to households on the Stirling Alloa Kincardine Railway for the period where no mitigation was in place.
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information was given to households along the stretches of the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line identified in the Scott Wilson impact study as likely to be affected to advise them that there might be noise pollution until testing had been carried out and mitigation put in plac…
Answer · Keith Brown: Between the completion of the Scott Wilson impact study and the provision of noise mitigation, no information was given to households along the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line to advise that there might be noise pollution. At the time the Scott Wilson…
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason mitigation recommended by the environmental impact report on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line in respect of noise from freight trains to operate only between 0700 and 1100 was not implemented before the trains began to operate.
Answer · Keith Brown: During the design phase of the project, the decision was taken by the project board to delay the assessment of noise until freight trains were running, in order that the full effect of train operations on the route could be taken into account.
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government at what point it became aware of the need for 24-hour running of coal trains to Longannet Power Station.
Answer · Keith Brown: In early 2008 during the final stages of the construction of the railway English, Welsh and Scottish (EWS now DB Schenker) advised its industry partners that its operational requirements had changed and that it had made a commercial decision to run its trains…
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that its environmental statement or consultation on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine Railway (Route Re-opening) and Linked Improvements (Scotland) Bill were in breach of EU regulations or the European Convention on Human Rights.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government does not consider that the Stirling-Alloa- Kincardine Railway (Route Re-opening) and Linked Improvements (Scotland) Bill Environmental Statement (2003) or consultation on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine Railway (Route Re-opening) and Lin…
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the evidential basis is for the standards being used to allocate residents on the Stirling-Kincardine-Alloa line protection from nighttime noise.
Answer · Keith Brown: The guidance and research detailed in The Mitchell Committee Report into Railway Noise and Insulation of Dwellings (1991) is the evidential basis for the standards being applied for protection from night time noise in the form of mitigation (noise barriers). …
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many properties on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line have qualified for noise mitigation since the introduction of overnight freight services on the line.
Answer · Keith Brown: Since introduction of train services, 44 properties have qualified for noise barriers, and to ensure the most effective mitigation continuous barriers were installed in some locations. This resulted in a total of 68 properties receiving mitigation.
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the standards being used to allocate nighttime noise mitigation in relation to the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line are those included in volumes 2 and 3 of the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine Railway (Route Re-opening) and Linked Improvements (Scotland) Bill Environmental Statem…
Answer · Keith Brown: Volumes two or three of the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine Railway (Route Re-opening) and Linked Improvements (Scotland) Bill Environmental Statement (2003) does not include standards for the allocation of night time noise mitigation. The criteria for night time …
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what requirements local authorities have to record and publish any measurements carried out on noise and vibration levels in response to complaints made by residents.
Answer · Keith Brown: Local authorities have a duty under regulation 4 of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 to take reasonable steps to achieve the active and systematic dissemination of information to the public and to make that information progressively a…
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what effect the introduction of freight trains has had on property prices along the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government does not hold this information.