Parliamentary questions
Tommy Sheridan
857 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
17 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much was paid, and by whom, in leasing charges to (a) Angel Trains, (b) Porterbrook and (c) HSBC Rail in (i) 2002-03, (ii) 2003-04, (iii) 2004-05 and (iv) 2005-06.
Answer · Tavish Scott: It is First ScotRail, asfranchisee, who leases rolling stock from the companies referred to and paysthe relevant leasing charges. </p><p>The terms of the contractsbetween the franchisee and the rolling stock companies, and the valuesattributed to these in the…
17 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many rail vehicles are leased from (a) Angel Trains, (b) Porterbrook and (c) HSBC Rail and by whom they are leased.
Answer · Tavish Scott: With respect to the ScotRailFranchise the following vehicles are leased from the Rolling Stock Leasing companies;</p><p>(a) Angel Trains – 144 vehicles.</p><p>(b) Porterbrook – 283 vehicles.</p><p>(c) HSBC Rail – 291 vehicles.</p><p>All vehicles are subject t…
10 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it agrees with the Association for the Promotion of Denturism’s statement that the independent denture supply sector is “the one dental sector which is not currently in trouble” and that “due to the rise in tooth decay and the difficulty many are experiencing in seeing a dentist, …
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Declining trends in totaltooth loss indicate that the number of full dentures required in future islikely to fall considerably rather than to rise.</p><p>As more people retain somenatural teeth into older age, the complexity of treatment required willincrease…
10 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what waiting lists exist in respect of the supply of dentures across Scotland.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Information on waiting listsfor the supply of dentures is not collected centrally.</p>
10 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints have been officially recorded in relation to the manufacture, supply and fitting of dentures by non-NHS denturists in each of the last five years.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: No informationis available on this. The making and fitting of dentures by a dental technicianis illegal as only dentists, dental hygienists and dental therapists maycurrently undertake the practice of dentistry. There is no formal mechanism forcomplaints by p…
10 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what analysis it has carried out on the effect of amendments to the Dentists Act 1984 on the manufacture, supply and fitting of dentures in Scotland and whether any such analysis has been, or will be, made publicly available.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: No assessment was made of the possible impact of the amendments to the <i>Dentists Act 1984 </i>on the makingand fitting of dentures by a dental technician, as such practice is illegal.</p><p>The <i>Dentists Act 1984</i>was amended in 2005 to provide for the …
10 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average age profile is of those citizens who have no natural teeth and are therefore reliant on denture services.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Citizens with no remaining naturalpermanent teeth are now predominantly over 55 years old. It is now rare for anyperson to lose all of their natural permanent teeth before the age of 55 years inScotland.</p><p>A combination of improved accessto fluoride tooth…
10 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will confirm that 18% of all adults in Scotland have no natural teeth, that 21% have partial dentures and that 39% of the population need to access denture services.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answerto question S2W-25797 on 24 May 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.se…
10 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what training programmes are available in Scotland to allow practising denturists to register with the General Dental Council to continue to make and fit dentures; how much these training programmes cost and how long it takes to complete the courses, and how many denturists will be affect…
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Only dentists, dental hygienistsand dental therapists can currently undertake the practice of dentistry andtraining programmes are in place for them. The General Dental Council iscurrently working with educational providers on additional training for dentalte…
10 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive who in Scotland makes and fits dentures and how it expects amendments to the Dentists Act 1984 will affect the making and fitting of dentures.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: There are technicians who arecurrently making and fitting dentures, but this practice is illegal. Legally, denturesare fitted by dentists and made by dental technicians to the dentist’s specification.</p><p>However, a new registered professional– a clinical d…
10 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many citizens use dentures as (a) full or (b) partial replacement for their own teeth.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The UK Adult Dental HealthSurvey (1998) reported that 20% of adults had both natural teeth and dentures,and that 18% had no natural teeth.</p><p>Self-reported informationin the most recent Scottish Health Survey (2003) indicates that an estimated 7%of females…
5 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-25343 by Robert Brown on 3 May 2006, what the timetable is for the legislative changes necessary to remove the prohibition of gay or lesbian couples from consideration as foster carers.
Answer · Robert Brown: The Adoption and Children (Scotland) Billwas introduced on 27 March and the timetable will be determined by the Scottish Parliament. We intend to deal with issues such as this, which require secondarylegislation, following the passage of the bill.</p>
5 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-25342 by Robert Brown on 3 May 2006, why there is no national registration process for foster carers similar to that which is being considered for England.
Answer · Robert Brown: I am not aware of any plansto create a national registration process for foster carers in England andtherefore do not feel able to comment on the merits of such a scheme.</p>
5 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to answer to question S2W-25340 by Robert Brown on 3 May 2006, what the reasons are that (a) information on the number of children in each foster placement is not held centrally and (b) it has no plans to introduce a statutory limit on the number of children in each foster placem…
Answer · Robert Brown: The number of children ineach foster placement may change daily. The costs of collecting such data aredeemed to outweigh any perceived benefits.</p><p>We are not aware of significantevidence to demonstrate the benefits of a particular limit on the number offo…
5 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-25339 by Robert Brown on 3 May 2006, how this answer indicates (a) whether there is a legal impediment to paying a child allowance to kinship carers and (b) how any national allowance would be determined, and whether the power to create a national sy…
Answer · Robert Brown: The answer to question S2W-25339outlines how any national allowance would be determined by explaining that it wouldbe determined by Regulations under the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Bill proposedto be introduced by ministers to the Scottish Parliament fo…
5 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-25338 by Robert Brown on 3 May 2006, how many children in total have been placed in foster care in each of the last five years and whether it has any information about whether these children are in local authority-run placements or independent or pri…
Answer · Robert Brown: Information about the total numberof children placed in foster care each year is not held centrally. The numberof children in foster care on the 31 March each year since 2001 is published inChildren’s Social Work Statistics 2004-05 and copies are available in…
5 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-25337 by Robert Brown on 3 May 2006, what the total amount of public money allocated to finance foster care placements has been in each of the last five years and whether it has any plans to monitor how much was allocated to (a) local authority and (…
Answer · Robert Brown: Local authorities indicatedin their local financial returns for social work that net revenue expenditureon fostering across Scotland over the past five years was as follows: </p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td nowrap valign=to…
20 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals have been employed as youth workers in each year since 1996, broken down by local authority or agency.
Answer · Robert Brown: This information is not heldcentrally.</p>
20 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many illegal drug addicts have been recorded in each year since 1996 and what the average ages of such addicts have been in the same timescale.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The information requested onthe number of crimes related to illegal drug use is given in table 1 of the StatisticalBulletin <i>Recorded crime in Scotland 2004-05</i>, published by the Scottish Executivein October 2005 a copy of which is available in the Scott…
20 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many crimes related to illegal drug use or supply have been recorded in each year since 1996.
Answer · Hugh Henry: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-25361 on 3 May 2006. All answers towritten parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the searchfacility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.sea…
20 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how life expectancy changed (a) across Scotland and (b) in the city of Glasgow between 1996 and 2006.
Answer · George Lyon: Figures for life expectancyare normally calculated using a three year average and are only available up toand including the period 2002-04. They are produced by aggregating deaths andpopulation data for the three year period. Three years are needed to provide…
20 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will (a) receive and (b) respond to the final report of the independent local government finance review, chaired by Sir Peter Burt.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Local Government FinanceReview Committee informed me in March that it expected to report by the end of October2006. We expect to receive the report shortly before it is published and we willrespond once we have been able to consider fully all its findings…
20 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average wage of employees is (a) across Scotland and (b) in each local authority area.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The preferred source for earningsestimates is the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), which is carried outby the Office for National Statistics. The latest earnings ASHE estimates availableare for April 2005.</p><p>Table 1 and Table 2 show theestimate…
20 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has powers to direct police forces to desist from charging individuals for the possession, use or sale of cannabis as part of a pilot scheme, similar to that carried out in London last year.
Answer · Colin Boyd: The Lord Advocate can directthe police in the conduct of criminal investigations and the reporting ofalleged offending. The decision as to whether criminal proceedings areappropriate in any case is a matter for the Lord Advocate and Procurators Fiscalacting o…
20 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any legal impediments based on sexual orientation preventing individuals from becoming foster carers and, if so, what the reasons are for such impediments.
Answer · Robert Brown: The Fostering of Children (Scotland)Regulations 1996 prohibit a person to foster where there is in the household a personof the same sex other than a relative who will not be concerned with the care of the child. These regulations were designed to prevent the…
20 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what registration process exists to ensure that all foster carers are properly trained and accredited and how this compares with the registration process for those employed in residential children's homes.
Answer · Robert Brown: There is no registrationprocess for foster carers. The approval, training and accreditation of fostercarers is a matter for fostering service providers, which are inspected againstnational care standards by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care.<…
20 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many registered foster carers there are and how many additional foster care households are required, broken down by local authority area, and what plans are in place to recruit more foster carers.
Answer · Robert Brown: We have received the followinginformation from local authorities on the numbers of foster carers in their areasin 2005, and their assessment of the shortfall.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td valign=top> <p align=center>Lo…
20 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been placed with foster carers in each of the last five years where three or more children are involved in such placements and whether there are any plans to place a statutory limit on the number of children placed with each foster care household.
Answer · Robert Brown: Information on numbers of childrenin each foster placement is not held centrally. There are currently no plans tointroduce a statutory limit.</p>
20 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce a uniform child allowance to all foster carers; whether there is any legal impediment to paying such an allowance to kinship carers, and how the level of any national allowance would be determined.
Answer · Robert Brown: The Adoption and Children (Scotland) Bill,which was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on Monday 27 March, contains a powerfor ministers to create a national system of fostering allowances. The details ofsuch a scheme would be contained in regulations, whi…
20 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executivehow many children placed in foster care in each of the last five years have been in (a) local authority and (b) independent or private sector placements.
Answer · Robert Brown: This information is not heldcentrally.</p>