Scott Barrie

17 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce its plans for the reform of civil legal aid.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have today written to the Conveners of the Justice Committees outlining a wide-ranging package of proposed reforms, which have been agreed following intensive discussions between the Executive, the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Legal Aid Board. T…

23 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32864 by Mr Jim Wallace on 17 January 2003, what action is in hand to try to improve the consistency with which data on assaults on police officers is collected; whether such action will include measures to ensure the collection of reliable, consiste…

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland is developing a new Crime Recording Standard which will improve consistency in recording practices between Scottish police forces.<P>Forces' data on assaults is centrally collated by Her Majesty's Inspector…

15 Jan 2003 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to encourage young people to continue to participate in sport after leaving school.

Answer · Mike Watson: One of the key aims of the existing School Sports Co-ordinator Programme is to develop links between schools and local sports clubs which will enable our young people to continue their involvement in sport after leaving school. I am satisfied that with the si…

8 Jan 2003 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to support young people who run away from home or residential care.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Executive has established a working group bringing together external experts to consider the support needs of children who run away from home or residential care and children abused through prostitution.<P>The interim Report of the Working Group issued on…

23 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many witnesses below 10 years old appeared in (a) sheriff courts and (b) the High Court in 2001.

Answer · Elish Angiolini: The information requested is not available.

23 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the written evidence on the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill given by the Scottish Gamekeepers' Association (SGA) to the Justice 2 Committee for its meeting on 3 December 2002 that many SGA members do not bother to apply for wildlife licences has been referred to the police for in…

Answer · Allan Wilson: The evidence from the Scottish Gamekeepers Association will be considered at the next meeting of the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime in February 2003, at which police representatives will be present.

23 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many gamekeepers have been convicted of an offence in relation to the possession of unlicensed firearms in each year since 1999.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The information requested is not held centrally.

23 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many firearms licences have been removed from gamekeepers in each year since 1999.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The information requested is not held centrally.

23 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many firearms licences were granted for the purpose of gamekeeping in each year since 1999.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The information requested is not held centrally. However, everyone applying to the police for a firearms or shotgun certificate in the UK is required to state purpose and their occupation, and police forces will therefore hold the information sought.

23 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many assaults on (a) police officers, (b) firefighters and (c) ambulance personnel were reported in each police force area in each year since 1999; how many such assaults resulted in a (i) prosecution and (ii) conviction, and, where a conviction was secured, what the mean (1) level of…

Answer · Jim Wallace: The available information is shown in the following tables.<P>Assaults on Police Officers<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=378><TR><TD WIDTH="43%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>Force</TD><TD WIDTH="23%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>1999-2000</TD><TD WIDTH="17%" VALIGN="TO…

18 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to amend the Lord Advocate's current guidance on the numbers of needles and syringes that can be issued by needle exchange facilities.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: To enhance efforts to prevent increased sharing of injecting equipment and the associated spread of bloodborne viruses, including HIV and hepatitis C, the Executive today announced plans to increase the maximum number of needles and syringes which can be issu…

10 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish Lord Bonomy's Review of the High Court.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I am pleased to announce that I am today publishing Lord Bonomy's report and launching a wide-ranging four month consultation on its recommendations. <P>I am most grateful to Lord Bonomy for his thorough and detailed report. He has considered carefully the ca…

20 Nov 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what additional statutory and non-statutory support it intends to put in place to assist vulnerable families.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: We will continue to work with statutory and non-statutory agencies to expand and improve support to vulnerable families. We are providing enhanced resources to back this. For example, we will be providing an additional £31 million for Sure Start Scotland by 2…

14 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-31157 by Mr Frank McAveety on 12 November 2002, whether it intends to hold discussions with the Scottish Care Commission on the commission's role with regard to group home provision for people with a learning difficulty.

Answer · Frank McAveety: We are aware of continuing concerns over the appropriate registration of group home provision. I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-31157. I understand that the Care Commission is in dialogue with the interested parties and it would not be a…

14 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) 16- and (b) 17-year-olds appeared in court and, of these, how many had (i) their sentence deferred, (ii) a monetary penalty imposed, (iii) a community service or probation order imposed and (iv) a custodial sentence imposed, in each of the last three years.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The available information is given in the following table:<P>Persons Aged 16 to 17 Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts, 1998-2000<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=595><TR><TD WIDTH="43%" VALIGN="TOP" ROWSPAN=2>&nbsp;</TD><TD WIDTH="29%" VALIGN=…

12 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any recent discussions with Her Majesty's Government regarding the sale and use of BB guns in Scotland.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Scottish Executive officials are in regular contact with the Home Office to discuss a wide range of firearm issues, including the misuse of air weapons and airsoft weapons such as BB guns.

31 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Scottish Care Commission on the commission's role in determining the status of group home provision for people with a learning difficulty and what the outcome was of any such discussions.

Answer · Frank McAveety: This is an operational matter for the Care Commission as the independent regulator of care services in Scotland. The commission must decide which of the definitions in section 2 of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 fit any particular care service, ba…

23 Oct 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to improve the recruitment of social workers.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I launched the National Recruitment and Awareness Campaign on 22 October. This aims to raise the profile of social care and social work and to highlight the range of career options available. The campaign is a key part of a sustained commitment to ensuring a …

4 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards establishing a new honours degree level qualification for social workers as announced in the Action Plan for the Social Services Workforce on 18 April 2002.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Significant progress has been made over the summer months developing the proposed curriculum, including the place of practice learning in the new degree. I have now instructed the issue of a consultation document to seek the views of the social work professio…

2 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with BT Scotland regarding the number of registrations of interest required before broadband technology is available in a particular exchange.

Answer · Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive has regular discussions with telecoms operators in Scotland on matters of common interest. The setting of individual "trigger levels" relating to the ADSL enabling of exchanges is a commercial decision for BT. However, the Scottish Exec…

5 Jun 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what encouragement is being given to the recruitment of, and support for, police officers from black and minority ethnic communities.

Answer · Richard Simpson: I know from my contacts with the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland that Chief Constables are well aware of their responsibilities to promote and improve race equality within the Scottish Police Service and are taking steps actively to encourage…

20 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the first phase of the national evaluation of Sure Start Scotland indicates that it is on track to meet its commitments with regard to vulnerable children.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: We made a <I>Programme for Government</I> commitment to expand support for families and very young children through family centres and mobile and outreach services, for at least 5,000 additional children by 2002. The findings of the first phase of the Sure St…

8 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with COSLA and the Scottish Qualifications Authority regarding the availability of modern languages, such as Japanese and Russian, in secondary schools.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive has not discussed these specific issues with either COSLA or the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). Following the publication of the report of the Action Group on Languages, <I>Citizens of a Multilingual World</I>, the Scottish Ex…

1 May 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it proposes to support the work of firefighters.

Answer · Richard Simpson: We have just launched a consultative policy paper entitled <I>The Scottish Fire Service of the Future</I>. This paper sets out our proposals to further develop and improve the fire service in Scotland. Implicit in all of this is the Executive's continued supp…

24 Apr 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage a greater role for football supporters in the clubs that they support.

Answer · Mike Watson: We have made arrangements to enable Supporters Direct to extend its service to Scotland through the employment of a caseworker based in Scotland. Funding of £75,000 a year for two years from 1 April 2002 is being provided from the Scottish share of funding fr…

9 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the report of the Feasibility Group on Youth Crime Pilots will be published.

Answer · Jim Wallace: This report was published today and is available on the Scottish Executive's website.

21 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimation it has made of the cost of extending the Alloa to Stirling rail link to Dunfermline.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-24321.

21 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what evaluation it has made of the feasibility of re-opening the railway line between Dunfermline and Alloa.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: I understand that the option of extending passenger services to Dunfermline was considered by the partners promoting the Stirling - Alloa - Kincardine rail link at a Value Management Workshop hosted by Railtrack in May 2001.<P>The workshop recommended that ex…

7 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many objections have been lodged to the proposed Eastern Relief Road at Kincardine.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Eight objections were lodged to the draft orders for the proposed Eastern Link Road at Kincardine, of which two have been subsequently withdrawn.

7 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to publish its response to the report of the Review of Educational Psychologists.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: We are currently considering the report of the Review of Educational Psychology Services which will be published by the end of February. Our response will follow in due course.