Parliamentary questions
Robert Brown
1,531 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
28 Sep 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what further action it is taking to encourage the use of a single sellers' survey as part of the house buying process.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Common Repair Working Group, chaired by my Department with representatives from a number of interested parties, has commissioned the preparation of two leaflets for owners and prospective owners explaining their responsibilities in respect of the repair a…
28 Sep 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to make available for house purchasers a householders' pack indicating the responsibilities which lie on house owners.
Answer · Jackie Baillie: We recognise the importance of purchasers having good information at a reasonable cost.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">In the <I>Programme for Government</I>, published last September, we also indicated that we would seek to improve the house buying process by supporting …
28 Sep 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to ensure that utility companies restore road and pavement surfaces to a proper standard following completion of road works.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: There are existing provisions under section 131 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 giving roads authorities powers, in the event of a failure by a utility company to reinstate the road properly, to issue a notice to the utility company requiring it to…
28 Sep 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made representations to Her Majesty's Government regarding the removal of VAT on house repairs given the contribution this could make to improving the quality of housing stock in Scotland and, if so, what the outcome was of such representations.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive and Her Majesty's Government are frequently in touch on a range of issues including taxation issues, which remain reserved to the Westminster Parliament. We continue to liaise with the relevant Whitehall departments to ensure that Scott…
20 Sep 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to tackle the levels of severe alcohol addiction in Scotland.
Answer · Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive is committed to tackling alcohol misuse and is working towards a comprehensive new strategy for tackling alcohol misuse in Scotland. Service provision, prevention and health promotion will form key components of the emerging strategy.
13 Sep 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide core funding to Survivors Poetry Scotland in order to extend its activities across Scotland for people who have experienced psychiatric abuse or similar problems.
Answer · Iain Gray: Applications for funding support are given equal consideration against the limited resources available. I understand that Survivors Poetry Scotland is considering whether to apply for funding under section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968.
13 Sep 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of those who applied for funding are currently funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for training as Gaelic medium teachers and what the total number of applicants for funding was in each of the last three years.
Answer · Peter Peacock: No specific quota of funded places is currently allocated by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) to courses of initial teacher education (ITE) for the training of teachers in the Gaelic medium. No information is held centrally on the number …
13 Sep 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to help extend the availability of advocacy projects.
Answer · Iain Gray: Advocacy is central to the Executive's vision of a new era of a modernised health and social care service. Our commitment has been clearly demonstrated by the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 and our recent review into services for people with learn…
7 Sep 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that the consultations section of its website is kept updated to feature details of all consultation exercises being undertaken by it, including any second and subsequent consultations which are not included in the section at present.
Answer · Angus MacKay: The policy of the Scottish Executive is that all publications including consultative documents should be put on the Executive's website. We are in the process of updating the website to make it easier for people to track the progress of consultation exercises.
5 Sep 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any meetings with pharmaceutical manufacturers regarding their capacity to supply the flu vaccine in time for this forthcoming winter.
Answer · Susan Deacon: There are five pharmaceutical manufacturers supplying the UK market during the coming flu season. The Executive has been in contact with each manufacturer regarding their flu vaccine programme, and we understand that distribution of the vaccines will take pla…
5 Sep 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what investigations have been commenced by the Health Technology Board for Scotland since its inauguration on 1 April 2000.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Management Board has met on nine occasions since the inauguration of the Health Technology Board for Scotland (HTBS) in April 2000. These meetings have been largely concerned with putting together robust processes that can withstand public, professional a…
5 Sep 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much the budget of the Health Technology Board for Scotland is.
Answer · Susan Deacon: In its start-up year for 2000-01, the Health Technology Board for Scotland has a budget of £1 million which will be spent on establishment costs in the main. This will rise to £2 million as the board becomes fully functional.
5 Sep 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what staff have yet to be appointed to the Health Technology Board for Scotland.
Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer to the answer given today to question S1W-9610.
5 Sep 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what staff have so far been appointed to the Health Technology Board for Scotland.
Answer · Susan Deacon: When fully functional, the Health Technology Board for Scotland will employ approximately 12 full-time staff.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">The Director, Dr Karen Facey, took up post on 3 July. She is assisted by two administrative staff. The recruitment process for othe…
5 Sep 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to promote the growth of commercial businesses known as "social firms" which are run with the aim of providing employment for people who are disabled and disadvantaged in the labour market.
Answer · Iain Gray: Scottish Enterprise has recently met Social Firms Scotland, and is considering ways in which they might facilitate social business development.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Social Firms have a useful part to play in the ongoing consideration of all aspects of the whole …
18 Aug 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to tackle the condition of the property estate of further education colleges.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive is committed to modernising the further education college estate, to fit it for the needs of the future. An additional £37 million is being invested in college infrastructure in the three financial years 1999-2000 to 2001-02. Decisions …
18 Aug 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to make information available to colleges and college students about the proposed changes in student maintenance arrangements.
Answer · Henry McLeish: On 24 May the Scottish Executive published its consultation document <I>Scotland The Learning Nation - Helping Students</I> which contained proposals for changes to the student support arrangements in further and higher education. The consultation process run…
18 Aug 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, how much Section 10 (1) core funding voluntary sector umbrella organisations and co-ordinating bodies such as the Scottish Council on Deafness, Disability Scotland and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations received in 1998-99 and 1999-2000 and how much it is planned that they …
Answer · Jackie Baillie: The Executive gives £6 million annually to generic voluntary sector organisations and initiatives.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">An analysis of funding to voluntary sector umbrella and intermediary organisations across departments has not previously been carried out. How…
11 Jul 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether an assessment is being made of the percentage of emergency calls to the ambulance service which genuinely require attendance by ambulance.
Answer · Susan Deacon: In 1999 the National Audit Office reported in its publication <I>The Scottish Ambulance Service: A Service for Life</I> that approximately one-third of patients calling for a 999 emergency ambulance had no or only minor illness. This was based on analysis of …
10 Jul 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any proposals to reduce staff absence levels in the Scottish Ambulance Service.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Reducing staff absence levels is a matter for the Scottish Ambulance Service. As part of the Occupational Health and Safety Strategy for the NHS in Scotland, the Scottish Executive expects NHS employers to set and meet targets to reduce sickness absence. The …
10 Jul 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the staff absence level has been for the Scottish Ambulance Service for each of the last three years, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The information broken down by health board area is as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=463><TR><TD WIDTH="41%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>Health Board Area</TD><TD WIDTH="18%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="CENTER">1997-98</TD><TD WIDTH="18%" VALIGN="TOP…
15 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been allocated for training in tenant participation for each of the last three years, broken down by recipient.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: A total of £500,000 for a national programme of training in tenant participation was provisionally allocated for the three years 1999-2000 to 2001-02 by the Scottish Executive. No Scottish Office resources had previously been allocated specifically for this p…
14 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage is of qualified social workers who have been absent from work as a result of stress within each local authority for the most recent year for which figures are available.
Answer · Iain Gray: These figures are not collected centrally.
14 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to encourage local authorities to recruit family support teams including more homebuilders.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: The Executive's Sure Start Scotland initiative, with funding of £42 million over three years, provides support for families with very young children. Local authorities also have statutory obligations in relation to children in need. Guidance on the implementa…
14 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Children's Hearings in Glasgow were continued because of (a) non-appearance by a parent or other relevant person, (b) non-appearance by a social worker and (c) non-availability of required reports, showing the figures as a percentage of the total number of social work hearings an…
Answer · Peter Peacock: The information requested is not held centrally. The Scottish Children's Reporter Administration is developing a computer database that will be operational from early 2001 and will provide such information for the future.
14 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to assess the effectiveness of how resources are spent by local authority social work departments.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: The Social Work Services Inspectorate is currently undertaking a review of social work services in all local authorities. An annual report will be published in October.
14 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to give increased powers to Children's Hearings to deal with related family matters affecting the welfare of children referred to them.
Answer · Peter Peacock: This does not seem necessary. Parents are an integral part of the process and the hearing takes account of the family context in reaching its decision in respect of the child. This could include action to tackle related family matters.
9 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the definition of "material change of use" particularly as it relates to class 33 development by local authorities under the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: We have no such plans.
9 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to extend the list of developments designated as "bad neighbour developments" for the purposes of schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992 to include outdoor developments such as skateboard areas, BMX tracks…
Answer · Sarah Boyack: We have no such plans.
9 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of waiting times across Scotland for the provision of barium enemas in the diagnosis of colonic cancer indigestion.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The information requested is not available centrally.