Ms Rosemary Byrne

9 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how bird carcases will be transported; who will transport them, and what training and protection will be given, in the event of an outbreak of avian influenza.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Bird carcasses will be moved in bio-secure vehicles meeting the specific requirements of the State Veterinary Service. Call-off contracts are in place to provide this transport and all haulage workers who come into proximity with infected birds will be expect…

9 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what training and protection will be afforded to workers carrying out emergency culls, in the event of an outbreak of avian influenza.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Contact with infected birds will be minimised and only specialised personnel will be allowed to come into contact with them. All such workers will be required to wear personal protective equipment and will also receive appropriate public health support from H…

7 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what training is given to paramedic practitioners working with older people.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The subject of working with older people is not covered as a specific topic, however, it is frequently referred to in the courses detailed below as the majority of their calls will be to the elderly. The paramedic practitioner, in addition to basic paramedic …

7 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current national training scheme is for care workers working with older people.

Answer · Robert Brown: The Scottish Executive recently launched a <i>National Strategy for Development of the Social Service Workforce: A Plan for Action 2005-2010</i>. This strategy sets out what is already happening, as well as what now needs to be done, and by whom, to develop a…

7 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the standard policy is for the provision of aids and adaptations for older people.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Executive is committed to ensuring that people remain at home and retain as much independence as possible. The provision of flexible person-centred care packages that include equipment and adaptations delivered through a modern community care structure is…

7 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to fully staff and equip day centres to meet the total needs of older frail people, especially those living alone.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Provision of services is a matter for individual local authorities. We are making provision for expenditure by local authorities on community care totalling £1.6 billion in 2005-06. It is their responsibility to decide how these very substantial resources sho…

7 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to open day centres for older people for the full week.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Provision of services, whether day centres or day opportunities that can meet a variety of needs, is a matter for individual local authorities. They have a duty under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, to assess the needs of individuals and arrange service …

7 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the statement in Building a Health Service Fit for the Future: A guide for the NHS that the greatest need of many older people in the community is “to be kept an eye on”, what this means and how it will be achieved.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The statement is in the context of developments in information and communication technology (telecare) that allow alarm systems and other devices to be monitored remotely.</p> <p>Being kept an eye on means that older people want to be reassured that if they f…

7 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the statement in National Framework for Service Change in the NHS that care of older people is the central responsibility of NHS Scotland, how this is being put into effect.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Care of Older People as the central responsibility of NHS Scotland was first set out in the <i>Adding Life to Years Report 2002</i>. There have been significant developments  since its publication. However, <i>Delivering for Health</i> (Bib. number 37847), th…

3 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many convictions there were for drug dealing in each year since 1999-2000, broken down by police force area.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the following table.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p><p>Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for Drug Dealing Offences, 1999-2003¹</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>Po…

15 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact assignment to level 5 fluency by ScotXed will have on the provision of English as an Additional Language (EAL) support to bilingual pupils.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Provision of EAL support is for local authorities to determine. The assignment of the levels by teachers should enable schools and local authorities to better manage this provision.</p>

15 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been produced for assessing fluency levels of, and assigning fluency levels to, bilingual pupils.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Guidance has been produced in consultation with members of the Scottish EAL Coordinating Council, and is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 37502).</p> <p>Local authorities may have issued additional guidance to teachers.</p>

15 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements have been made with ScotXed to assess the fluency level in English of every school pupil.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Schools and local authorities monitor all pupils' English language skills as a normal part of classroom assessment, using the 5-14 levels framework.</p> <p>The level of fluency assessment being used by local authorities relates to additional support for pupil…

15 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive by what criteria ScotXed will assign a level of fluency in English to school pupils.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The question on level of fluency in English in this year’s pupil census is based on the following five categories, which have been agreed with local authorities:</p> <p>Stage 1 - New to English</p><p>Stage 2 - Early Acquisition</p><p>Stage 3 - Developing comp…

15 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in improving services and support to grandparents and relative carers.

Answer · Robert Brown: Support for kinship carers is a matter for local authorities. Further, when announcing an extra £12 million support for foster care, the Scottish Executive made clear that local authorities could use this additional money to improve support for kinship carers…

15 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the research report of Professor Jane Aldgate on kinship care.

Answer · Robert Brown: Professor Aldgate’s research on kinship care in Scotland was commissioned by Social Work Services Inspectorate as part of a review of services and outcomes for children and young people looked after by local authorities in Scotland. The kinship care study inf…

7 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a monthly breakdown of the full-time-equivalent number of (a) hospital-based and (b) community-based midwives at the Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health since it opened at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: This is a matter for NHS Lothian. This information requested is not held centrally.</p>

7 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected number of monthly deliveries at the Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health is up to the end of February 2006.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: This is a matter for NHS Lothian. This information requested is not held centrally.</p>

7 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a monthly breakdown of deliveries at the Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health since it opened at the new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: A monthly breakdown of deliveries at the Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health, Edinburgh since it opened is detailed in the following table.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>&nbsp;</p></td> <td> <p ali…

30 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children or young people with a record of needs, having had their appeals under Part VI of the record of needs considered by local authority education appeal committees, have had a summary application lodged with the Sheriff Court and are awaiting a court hearing date.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Strathclyde Police advise that the total number of apprehension warrants for Glasgow at 20 September 2005 is 2,285.</p> <p>We expect the police to prioritise arrest warrants and to endeavour to execute them as quickly as possible, particularly if the alleged …

30 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-17436 by Euan Robson on 24 June 2005, what action local authorities have taken to inform parents about the Education (Additional Support For Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: While Chief Constables may redistribute uniformed patrol resources from lower priority tasks in order to provide increased levels of security and public reassurance, they ensure that appropriate resources remain available for frontline operational policing ta…

30 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-17436 by Euan Robson on 24 June 2005, how many parents responded to the consultation on the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and code of practice.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: This information is not held centrally.</p> <p>Such arrangements are agreed between the clubs and the relevant police authorities.</p>

30 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-17436 by Euan Robson on 24 June 2005, how many parents attended the seminars on the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and the code of practice.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The available information isgiven in the following table. The bail order statistics held centrally do not distinguishseparately persons charged on indictment, nor do they include information on totalapplications for bail or refusals of bail.</p><p>Persons Bai…

30 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children and young people with a record of needs, their appeals having been dealt with by local education authority appeals committees, have had a summary application lodged with a sheriff court and are awaiting a court hearing date.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The information requested is not provided to the Scottish Executive as part of the appeals process. However, there is an annual statistical collection of this information. The most recent information was provided within the answer to question S2W-17439 on 6 J…

30 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-17436 by Euan Robson on 23 June 2005, what action local authorities have taken to inform parents about the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004.

Answer · Robert Brown: Local authorities are taking a wide variety of approaches to inform parents about the act. These include involving parents’ groups in delivering awareness raising sessions for parents and carers; local authority seminars to raise parental awareness and to see…

30 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many parents responded to the consultation on the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and its code of practice.

Answer · Robert Brown: This information is not available since respondents were not required to indicate whether or not they were parents. Four hundred and thirty-five written responses were received to the consultation exercise on the draft code of practice. These included 67 resp…

30 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many parents attended seminars on the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and its code of practice.

Answer · Robert Brown: Fourteen consultation events were held on the draft code of practice, with approximately 40% of places at the events being reserved for parents or representatives from parents’ organisations. Around 900 people attended, but it is not known how many of these w…

18 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the reoffending rates for drug offences were in 2003-04 and 2004-05, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The following table gives the most recent available information which is for the cohort of offenders discharged from custody or given a non-custodial sentence in 2001.</p> <p>Persons Released from a Custodial Sentence or given a Non-Custodial Sentence in 2001…

18 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring procedures it has put in place since Phoenix House took over the provision of transitional care on 1 August 2005.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p>Phoenix House have not taken over the provision of transitional care. Phoenix House will deliver enhanced casework addiction services with…

18 Aug 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what changes are proposed in the provision of transitional care following the experiences and evaluation of the project provided by Cranstoun Drug Services.

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 evaluation found that transitional care was “reasonably effective” at linking clients with services, however it was unclear to what ex…