Parliamentary questions
Stewart Stevenson
2,358 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
21 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average water sewerage and council tax bills have been as a proportion of average income in each local authority area in each year since 1997.
Answer · George Lyon: Average income estimates are not currently available at local authority level. Average council tax per dwelling for each local authority from 1996-97 to 2005-06 is available on the Scottish Executive website at:</p> <p><a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topi…
20 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests to Disclosure Scotland for clearance have been made by Reliance.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Between 29 April 2002 and 11 July 2005 Disclosure Scotland processed 1,342 criminal record checks for Reliance.</p>
20 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many people employed by Reliance as prisoner custody officers in Scotland have been subject to action in relation to their discipline or behaviour.
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 SPS does not hold this information as staffing discipline is a matter for Reliance Custodial Services Ltd.</p>
20 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prison officers and prisoner custody officers employed in Scotland by (a) the Scottish Prison Service and (b) Reliance failed their most recent annual fitness test and what proportion of those engaged in these roles by their respective employers they represent.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p>(a) Of an eligible operational complement of 1,034, seven (0.67%) failed a fitness test in the past year.</p><p>(b) We do not hold such in…
20 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the prisoner escort record form used by police forces, prisons and Reliance was last reviewed and what changes were made as a result.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p>The contract requires that the Prisoner Escort Review (PER) form be reviewed annually. The first review is currently being undertaken. The…
20 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that it is legally obliged to allow prisoners to marry at a location other than in a 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>No. The location of any wedding involving a serving prisoner is subject to SPS approval.</p>
20 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoner transport journeys to meet the personal needs of the prisoner, excluding health reasons or preparation for release but including (a) getting married, (b) attendance at a funeral, (c) appearance at court as an accused person, (d) appearance at court as a witness and (e) o…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish PrisonService (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>The details requested are notheld by the SPS. Overall prisoner movements have been reported to and by the SPSsince the commencement of…
20 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive who generally undertakes transport of prisoners between Scotland and (a) Northern Ireland, (b) The Republic of Ireland, (c) other countries of the European Union and (d) countries or territories outwith the European Union and on how many occasions such transport has been undertaken since …
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 transfer of prisoners from Scotland to Northern Ireland is undertaken by Reliance Custodial Services. The Northern Ireland Priso…
20 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it, or its agencies, had with (a) the Scottish Court Service, (b) police forces and (c) local authorities prior to the signing of Contract between Scottish Ministers and Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd for the Provision of Prisoner Escort and Court Custody Services in…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p>The Scottish Prison Service were the lead agency in drawing up the contract and each of the agencies mentioned were represented on the pro…
20 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many special schools have closed since 1997.
Answer · Peter Peacock: Over the period 1997 to 2005, 29 publicly funded special schools and stand alone special units have closed and 57 such schools and units have opened.</p>
20 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of, (a) battery-operated and (b) hard-wired smoke alarms were found to be defective in dwelling fires in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The information is not available in the form requested but table 9 of the Statistical Bulletin Criminal Justice Series Fire Statistics Scotland, published by the Scottish Executive in March 2005, provides details of dwelling fires and the operation of smoke d…
20 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the gross domestic product per head of population was in (a) Aberdeen, (b) Edinburgh, (c) Dundee, (d) Glasgow and (e) Scotland in (i) the most recent year for which figures are available, (ii) 2001 and (iii) 1997.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The following table providesthe gross value added (GVA) per head between 1997 and 2002. Gross Domestic Product(GDP) at basic prices is commonly referred to as GVA. The most recent year for whichfigures are available is 2002.</p><p>Table 1: Gross Value Added (…
20 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average (a) unsecured debt and (b) annual income per person was in each year since 1997.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: (a) The Executive does not currently collect information on the debt of individuals. A recent report from the Department for Trade and Industry contains some information on debt for Great Britain, however we do not have this information at Scotland level. The…
20 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-17176 by Cathy Jamieson on 17 June 2005, what the average sentence was for criminals convicted of accessing, distributing and possessing child pornography in each of the last six years, broken down by police force area.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Cases involving the accessing, distribution and possession of child pornography are prosecuted under sections 52 and 52A of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. However, the data held centrally does not distinguish between cases involving pornography dow…
17 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-14140 by Mr Tom McCabe on 28 January 2005, what costs have been incurred by the First Minister in respect of hospitality from 1 January 2005 to the most recent available date.
Answer · Tom McCabe: It is only possible to provide centrally held information in relation to hospitality costs incurred by the First Minister. The latest figures we have for the period 1 January 2005 to 22 June are £17,447.</p>
17 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-13348 by Ms Margaret Curran on 21 February 2005, what the First Minister's official engagements were from 1 January 2005 to the most recent available date; who was present at each engagement; what the (a) date and (b) location was of each engagement,…
Answer · Margaret Curran: Arrangements are being put in place to routinely publish retrospective information about recent ministerial engagements through our publication scheme maintained under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.</p> <p>The details that you have requested …
17 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-17138 by Mr Andy Kerr on 15 June 2005, how much the NHS has paid in respect of legal fees in clinical negligence cases in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Andy Kerr: Question S2W-17415 shows that although the number of clinical negligence awards made each year has not changed significantly over the last five years, the level of awards has risen. Accordingly, the level of legal expenses has also risen.</p> <p>The informati…
17 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-17137 by Mr Andy Kerr on 15 June 2005, how much compensation the NHS has paid in respect of clinical negligence claims in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Andy Kerr: Although the number of clinical negligence awards made each year has not changed significantly over the last five years, the level of awards has risen. This increase is due to larger settlements and the settlement of some large value cases. The information he…
17 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its officials received honours in the Queens Birthday Honours List for 2005 as a result of the recommendations made by the Executive and what rank of honour each official received.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Honours are awarded by HerMajesty the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. All Government departmentsare invited to assist the Prime Minister in this process by submitting recommendationsfor consideration. Details of this process are confidentia…
16 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average number of hours per week public libraries were open was in each local authority in each of the last five years.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: This is a matter for local authorities. The information is not held centrally. Although Audit Scotland reports on certain performance indicators in respect of local authority libraries, these do not cover the data sought. Further information may be available …
16 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average number of staff employed in libraries in each local authority was in each of the last five years.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: This is a matter for local authorities. The information is not held centrally. Although Audit Scotland reports on certain performance indicators in respect of local authority libraries, these do not cover the data sought. Further information may be available …
16 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many local authority-maintained swimming pools there were per 1,000 population in each local authority in the last year for which figures are available.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The information requested is set out in the following table .</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>Local Authority</p></td> <td> <p align=center>No. of Pools as of June 2005</p> <p align=center>(Incl…
16 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were prosecuted for not having a television licence and how much was collected in fines for not having a licence in each year since 1997 (a) in total and (b) broken down by police force area.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the tables. Convictions for the offence of not having a television licence cannot generally be identified separately from those for other Wireless Telegraphy Act offences, though they will form the great majority of the t…
16 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of how many (a) football, (b) rugby, (c) tennis, (d) athletics, (e) hockey and (f) swimming clubs there have been in each local authority area in each of the last five years.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: Neither the Scottish Executive nor <b>sport</b>scotland has estimates of the number of sports clubs in local authority areas. The Scottish Football Association, Scottish Rugby Union, Tennis Scotland, Scottish Athletics, Scottish Hockey Union and Scottish Swim…
16 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times for accident and emergency cases in hospitals have been in each year since 1995.
Answer · Andy Kerr: Between 1994 and 2002,information on waiting times at accident and emergency (A&E) departments wasrecorded centrally via a series of annual week-long surveys. The survey wasreduced to three days duration in 2003 to minimise the workload of busy A&Edep…
16 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) private, (b) voluntary and (c) local authority (i) care homes and (ii) care home places there have been in each year since 1997.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: The following tables show thenumber of private, voluntary and local authority care homes and care home placesfor adults in Scotland since March 2000. The figures relate to care homes forall user groups and include homes for older people, homes for adults with…
16 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many homes there have been in each council tax band, broken down by year, since the introduction of the council tax.
Answer · Tavish Scott: The following table shows, for each year from 1993 to 2004, the number of dwellings on the Council Tax Valuation List, broken down by council tax band.</p><p>Total Number of Dwellings on Valuation List<sup>1</sup></p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=…
14 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4620 by Susan Deacon on 7 March 2000, what the average number of patients per general practitioner is in (a) urban areas, (b) rural areas and (c) island communities.
Answer · Andy Kerr: Average Number of Patients per General Practitioner<sup>1</sup> in Scotland by Type of Area: as at 1 October 2004</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p> </p></td> <td colspan="2"> <p align=center>Average N…
14 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost to the NHS has been of treating patients with osteoporosis in each of the last five years.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: This information is not heldcentrally. NHS boards are given a unified budget, increased by an average of 7.6%in the current financial year, from which they would be expected to meet the costsof treatment for people with osteoporosis.</p>
14 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27324 by Dr Richard Simpson on 6 August 2002, how many CCTV schemes have now been evaluated and how many of these evaluations show (a) an increase and (b) a decrease in crime in the area covered.
Answer · Hugh Henry: Of the 161 CCTV schemes awardedfunding under the “Make Our Communities Safer” CCTV Challenge Competition, 96 evaluationshave been received so far. Of those, 63 show a decrease in crime, eight show anincrease and the rest either reported no change or did not p…