Parliamentary questions
Stewart Stevenson
2,358 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
25 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many specialist rape units there were in each year since 1999, broken down by police force area.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The information requested isnot held centrally. Every Scottish police force has access to at least one rapesuite. The number and location of rape suites in a force area is primarily a decisionfor the Chief Constable to make, taking into account operational pr…
25 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many anti-social behaviour orders were breached up to April 2005, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Hugh Henry: We have no centrally-held reliabledata on breach rate of Antisocial Behaviour Orders. Research on the Use of AntisocialBehaviour Orders in Scotland attempted to examine this but current data recordingpractices mean that the data is incomplete. A survey of loc…
25 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual cost of upkeep of empty properties owned by it was in each year since 1999, broken down by department, and what the total value is of such property.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The annual cost of upkeep ofempty properties, owned by the Scottish Executive Core Estate, in each financialyear since 1999 is as follows;</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 width=605> <thead> <tr> <td width=104 valign=top> <p align=center>F…
25 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what it estimates the outstanding value of legal aid debts to be and what action is being taken to recover these debts.
Answer · Hugh Henry: Legal aid debts arise underfour main headings: contributions payable by persons granted civil legal aid; moniespayable in respect of terminations of legal aid; expenses payable by opponents ofpersons granted civil legal aid, and payments to the Legal Aid Fund…
25 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-19753 by Nicol Stephen on 25 November 2005, how many enterprises have relocated from Scotland in each year since 1999 and what the financial effect was on Scotland’s economy.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: It is not possible to answerthis question from the data held centrally. The Executive’s firm-level database(Inter-Departmental Business Register) contains data on the number of enterpriseslocated in Scotland, but does not record the number who have relocated.…
23 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug treatment and testing orders have been issued since their introduction and how many have been completed successfully.
Answer · Hugh Henry: In total, 2,375 Drug Treatmentand Testing Orders (DTTOs) have been imposed in Scotland and 829 of these ordershave been successfully completed to end March 2006.</p><p>The number of successful completionsis set in the context that many of the DTTO schemes hav…
23 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it anticipates that the Home Office consultation on a points-based immigration system, which will award points for having attended a UK university, will affect the Fresh Talent initiative.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive has beenworking closely with the Home Office to ensure that Scotland’s needsare reflected in the new points-based managed migration system. The arrangementsfor the system, which were announced by the then Home Secretary on 7 March 2006,…
23 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how long on average it takes to process applications under the Fresh Talent initiative from (a) Scotland and (b) abroad.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive does notconsider applications for the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme,although it can provide advice on the requirements. All applications are made to,and considered by, either UKVisas (for those applying from abroad) or the Ho…
23 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have successfully applied to the Fresh Talent initiative from abroad in each of the last two years, broken down by country of application.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Fresh Talent: Working inScotland scheme was introduced on 22 June 2005. Since then, out of a total of over1,860 successful applicants, over 253 people have applied from overseas. The breakdownof applications by country is provided in the following table.<…
22 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much each of its departments has spent on opinion polls in each year since 1999 and whether the findings of each poll will be published.
Answer · Tom McCabe: “Opinion polling” has no formaldefinition, but the term is most often used in the context of asking about politicalopinions. The Scottish Executive does not carry out polling of this kind.</p><p>The Executive has, however, developeda number of mechanisms to m…
22 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many probation officers there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by probation board.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Scotland does not have probation officers or probation boards.</p>
15 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what correspondence it has had in respect of, and what difficulties have resulted from, implementing a more secure recording of licensed firearms.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Executive is in regularcontact with the UK Government at official and ministerial level, on this andother firearms issues. Section 39 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 requiresthat a central firearms register is accessible to all police forces in Great…
15 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have had firearm licences withdrawn in each year since 1999.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The numbers of firearms licencesrevoked are given in tables 2a and 5a, for firearms and shotguns respectively, of the statistical bulletin <i>Firearms Certificates Statistics</i>, <i>Scotland</i><i>, 2005</i>, copies of which are availablein the Scottish Parl…
15 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards more secure recording of licensed firearms.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Firearms legislation is reservedbut the processing and recording of firearms licences is a matter for the police.Scottish forces have had a firearms database that is compliant with section 39 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 since February 2006.</p>
15 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many new drug treatment centres it plans to create.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The Executive does not set updrug treatment centres. It provides funding – currently £32 million per annum -to NHS boards for the treatment and rehabilitation of drug misusers. It is for themto determine the best use of this money.</p>
15 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners were parents of dependent children in each year since 1999, broken down by prison.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>The information requested isnot available as it is not routinely collected by the SPS. The SPS do recognisethe relevance and importan…
10 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Health and Community Care will reply to my letter of 5 April 2006 regarding Action Against Autism.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: My reply to the member was issuedon 11 May 2006, within the timescale agreed for ministerialcorrespondence.</p>
10 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Deputy Minister for Finance, Public Service Reform and Parliamentary Business will reply to my letter of 4 April 2006 regarding my constituent, Mr H Garner of Banff.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: A reply was issued on Thursday 11 May 2006.</p>
10 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Justice will reply to my letter of 5 April 2006 regarding the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003.
Answer · Robert Brown: The Deputy Minister for Education and Young People has portfolioresponsibility for the Protection ofChildren (Scotland) Act 2003. Areply to your letter of 5 April 2006 was issued on 11 May 2006.</p>
9 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Environment and Rural Development will reply to my letter dated 5 April 2006 regarding the Local Capital Grants Scheme.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: I replied on 2 May 2006.</p>
8 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were admitted to acute hospitals when their primary or secondary diagnosis was an alcohol-related condition and what proportion these admissions were of the (a) total number of admissions and (b) population, broken down by NHS board in the last three years for which data a…
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The information requested ispublished by ISD and copies are available in the Scottish ParliamentInformation Centre (Bib. number 39647).</p><p>Figures on the number of peopledischarged from Scottish acute and general hospitals with a diagnosis of alcoholmisuse…
8 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what alternatives to methadone are used by the NHS.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I shall reply to the member as soon as possible.
8 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) full-time and (b) retained firefighters have (i) been employed and (ii) taken early retirement in each year since 1997, broken down by fire brigade area.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The numbers of full time andretained firefighters employed in each year since 1997 is given within the tablesof Scottish Fire Service Staff Numbers from 1997 to 2005, a copy of which has beenplaced in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 3…
8 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost was of overnight accommodation for (a) civil servants and (b) special advisers staying overnight in (i) mainland Great Britain, (ii) Northern Ireland, (iii) the Republic of Ireland and (iv) other countries in each of the last three years.
8 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions (a) civil servants and (b) special advisers have stayed overnight in (i) five-star, (ii) four-star and (iii) three-star hotels in each of the last three years.
4 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been awarded to (a) each police force, (b) each fire service and (c) the ambulance service in each year since 1999, expressed as an amount per head of population.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The funding allocated from the Scottish Executive (grant aided expenditure and capital) in respect of the police,fire and ambulance service is set out as follows.</p><p>The figures for the ambulanceservice are only available on a national basis.</p><p>For the…
4 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of crime has been drug-related in each year since 1999, broken down by police force area.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The percentage of crimes recordedby the police which are specifically drug crimes (possession, supply, manufactureor trafficking) are given in the table below.</p><p>Number of Drug Crimes EachYear as a Percentage of Crimes Recorded, by Police Force Area, 1999…
3 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils have been taught in temporary classrooms in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The information requested isnot collected centrally.</p>
3 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the overall budget for schools was spent on (a) departmental administration, including contractors and consultants, and (b) local authority administration in each year since 1999.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive doesnot set an overall budget for spend on school education, but funds localauthorities who set their own budgets for different services includingdepartmental administration. Due to accounting changes in the way localauthority expenditu…
2 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will provide a substantive answer to parliamentary question S2W-24617 which received a holding reply on 24 April 2006.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Parliamentary question S2W-24617 was answered on 11 May 2006.</p>