Parliamentary questions
Stewart Stevenson
2,358 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
7 Oct 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will reply to my letter of 7 September 2004 regarding prescription charges for cancer patients.
Answer · Andy Kerr: I replied on 27 October 2004.</p>
7 Oct 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a ministerial statement on eligibility for the Education Maintenance Allowance programme.
Answer · Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-10978 answered on 26 October 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parli…
5 Oct 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff work on the responsibilities carried by each minister in its cabinet and what the budget is for each area of ministerial responsibility.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive’s departmental structure does not map across exactly to ministers’ portfolio responsibilities but details of the staffing numbers and administration costs budgets for each department are provided in the following tables.</p><p>Full-Time…
29 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much each of its departments have spent on press officers in each year from 1996-97 to 2004-05, broken down by grade.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Mainstream Press Officers working in the core departments of the Scottish Executive are based in the Finance and Central Services Department. Salary costs, (which include employers’ costs), since 1 April 2002 are set out in the table. (The information provide…
29 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what evaluations are carried out on entry to prison of the learning abilities of individual prisoners and whether prisons are equipped to identify conditions such as dyslexia.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>Prisoners who co-operate and are identified at induction to prison as having a high priority requirement to address the basic skills of com…
29 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers have left the police force in each year since 1997, broken down by constabulary.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is shown in the following table.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>Police Force</p> </td> <td> <p>1997-98</p> </td> <td> <p>1998-99</p> </td> <td> <p>1999-2000</p> </td> …
29 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents of (a) self-injury and (b) attempted suicide have occurred in each segregation unit in young offenders’ institutions in each of the last five years.
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 number of incidents of self-harm and attempted suicide in HM Young Offenders' Institution, Polmont (SPS’ main young male offenders' est…
29 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-10633 by Cathy Jamieson on 28 September 2004, whether the costs and penalties within any future private prison contract will be regarded as commercially sensitive and, if so, what change in existing practice is required by the new Scottish Ministers&…
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 Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 provides that material may be withheld from publication for a number of reasons. Most …
29 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time-equivalent staff there have been in (a) each department and (b) each of its agencies in each year since 1999.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The full time equivalent of permanent staff employed in each department, agency and associated department is set out in the following tables, In the past five years, the definition of the core Scottish Executive (Scottish Office) has changed with movements of…
29 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many positive mandatory drug tests there were in (a) open and (b) closed prisons in each of the last 10 years, broken down by drug type.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>Drug testing was introduced in the Scottish Prison Service in 1996. Results are published on an annual basis in the Drugs Misuse Statistics…
29 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners died while in prison in each of the last five years, stating the prisoner’s age in each case.
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 numbers of prisoners who died in SPS custody in each of the last 5 financial years and the age range they fall into is given in the fo…
29 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many new police recruits there were in each year since 1997, broken down by constabulary.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is shown in the following table.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <tr> <td> <p><b>Police Force</b></p> </td> <td> <p align=center><b>1997-98</b></p> </td> <td> <p align=center><b>1998-99</b></p> </td> <td> …
29 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many licensed premises were closed down by (a) the police and (b) local authorities in each of the last 10 years.
Answer · Hugh Henry: This information is not collected centrally.</p>
29 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) women and (b) juveniles received a custodial sentence in each year since 1999, broken down by court.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the following tables.</p><p>Number of Custodial Sentences Imposed on Females By Scottish Courts, 1999-2002</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3><thead><tr><td><p>Court</p></td><td><p align=center>1999</p></td><t…
29 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many curfews have been issued since their inception for children aged up to (a) 11 and (b) 15 years.
Answer · Hugh Henry: It is assumed that thequestion relates to “local child curfew schemes” of the kind which are providedfor under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, initially for under those under 10years and then subsequently by amendment to those under 15. These provisions dono…
29 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hours, on average, were spent by police officers on patrol in the streets in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: This information is not held centrally and is a matter for individual chief constables.</p>
29 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of air travel between Scotland and the rest of Great Britain by its officials was in each year since 1999 and what processes are employed to ensure that all suppliers are given an equal opportunity to offer cost-effective travel arrangements.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive uses the services of an appointed travel agent to arrange air travel. A requirement of the appointed travel agent is to ensure best value for money is achieved when arranging air travel for officials.</p><p>Between 1 April 2001 and 31 M…
29 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many days were lost in each (a) department, (b) agency and (c) non-departmental public body through staff sickness in each financial year since 1999; what the average annual number of days lost per employee was as a result of sickness in those years, and what the cost was of such tim…
Answer · Tom McCabe: The details are set out in the following tables for the years for which records are available. It should be noted that information about sickness rates for all NDPBs is not held centrally. The estimated costs are derived from total working days lost through s…
22 Sep 2004 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many aircraft registered to Scottish addresses and with a maximum take-off weight over 5,700kg are operating public transport services.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive does not hold information on aircraft registered to Scottish addresses.</p>
16 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will launch the Individual Learning Account scheme, announced by the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning on 27 January 2004.
Answer · Jim Wallace: Ministers will decide shortly on the actual launch date for the new Individual Learning Account scheme, (ILA Scotland).</p><p>Following a nationwide series of information seminars for learning providers held in May, over one hundred learning providers have ap…
15 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in the context of its responsibility for social inclusion, it has had any discussions with Her Majesty’s Government to ensure that all homes in Aberdeenshire will be able to receive digital terrestrial television signals before the analogue signals are switched off and, if s…
Answer · Frank McAveety: Officials hold regular meetings with the joint DCMS/DTI Digital Television Project Team, and ministers are kept aware of developments.</p><p>The UK Government is committed to ensuring that terrestrial analogue broadcasting signals are maintained until:</p><p>…
15 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the socio-economic breakdown was of persons convicted of drug offences leading to (a) a non-custodial disposal, (b) imprisonment for a term of under four years and (c) imprisonment for a term of four years or over in each of the last five years.
Answer · Hugh Henry: Socio-economic information on convicted persons is not collected centrally.</p>
15 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the socio-economic breakdown was of persons who had assets seized following conviction for drug offences in each of the last five years.
Answer · Colin Boyd: Neither the Scottish Executive nor the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal hold information on the socio-economic status of those against whom confiscation orders are made following conviction for drug offences. </p><p>However, when considering or pursuing con…
15 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what input it has had into the draft EU drugs strategy that the Dutch presidency of the European Union expects to present shortly.
Answer · Hugh Henry: We have been in regular contact with the Home Office on this, and other drug-related policy issues. We have contributed comments on the draft EU Drugs Strategy to the Home Office, and these have been reflected in responses from the UK Government.</p>
14 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoner receptions there were by (a) the Scottish Prison Service and (b) HM Prison Kilmarnock in each of the last five years.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>Information in the form requested is not readily available. The available information on prisoner receptions covering the last five years i…
14 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether implementation of the Scottish Ministers’ Code of Practice on the Discharge of Functions by Public Authorities under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 will mean that contracts for any new private prisons will be published.
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 code of practice offers guidance to Scottish public authorities on the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. The act does n…
2 Sep 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7484 by Ross Finnie on 7 May 2004, whether the comprehensive guidance for rural communities across Scotland on developing village halls is now available.
Answer · Ross Finnie: Work on this guide is well advanced and publication is planned for the early part of 2005.</p>
27 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many road traffic accidents there were at the A90/A952 Toll of Birness junction in each of the last six years.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The number of road traffic accidents that have occurred at the A90/A952 Toll of Birness junction in each of the last six years (from January 1998 to December 2003) is in the following table:</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td…
23 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will reply to my letter of 7 July 2004 on Aberdeenshire Council's Fairshare campaign.
Answer · Euan Robson: I replied on 8 August to theletter in question. I have arranged for a further copy to be sent to you.</p>
23 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will reply to my letter of 12 June 2004 regarding a proposed 2004-05 cut in financial support for student parents.
Answer · Jim Wallace: I replied to your letter on 17 August 2004. I have attached the text of this letter below, for your convenience. It has also been placed in Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib.number 33821).</p><p>“Thank you for your letter of 12 June 2004 about the financial …