Stewart Maxwell

2 May 2012 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on Finland’s approach to education.

25 Apr 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions there have been under the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 for smoking in non-smoking premises and permitting another person to smoke in non-smoking premises.

11 Apr 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it provides to Holocaust educational programmes.

28 Mar 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will next meet Scottish Water.

14 Mar 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are for the Cardiac Assessment of Young Athletes programme.

11 Jan 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many secondary schools were inspected in 2011.

30 Nov 2011 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many businesses are receiving financial support from the small business bonus scheme.

25 Nov 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who took the decision to dissolve the Scottish Safety Camera Advisory Board.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The decision to dissolve the Scottish Safety Camera Advisory Board (SAB) was taken by the former Director of the Scottish Safety Camera Programme and the former Chief Constable of Tayside Police in his capacity as chair of SAB. The reasons for this decision a…

25 Nov 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Scottish Safety Camera Advisory Board was formally dissolved.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Safety Camera Advisory Board (SAB) has never formally been dissolved. A decision was taken by the Director of the Scottish Safety Camera Programme and the chair of SAB, former Chief Constable of Tayside Police John Vine, that there was no longer …

25 Nov 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what reduction there was in the number of people (a) killed or seriously injured (KSI) and (b) involved in personal injury collisions at Scottish safety camera sites in the period 2008 to 2010, compared with the prior three-year baseline period; how this reduction compares with the reduct…

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Figures published in the Scottish Government statistical bulletin Key Scottish Safety Camera Programme Statistics, 2010 show that: (a) the number if people killed or seriously injured at safety camera sites is 63 per cent lower following camera enforcement w…

25 Nov 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether all members of the Scottish Safety Camera Advisory Board were consulted about the decision to dissolve the board.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Members of the Scottish Safety Camera Advisory Board (SAB) were consulted on the future of the board at a meeting held on 25 September 2007. At this time a proposal was put forward that SAB should be split into two meetings. The first would be a forum with re…

25 Nov 2011 · Written Question

To ask the  Scottish Executive when the Scottish Safety Camera Advisory Board held its last meeting.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Safety Camera Advisory Board (SAB) held its last meeting on 17 June 2008.

24 Nov 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of recorded religious hate crimes in 2010-11 expressed as the number of incidents per 1,000 members of each religious affiliation.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The report Religiously Aggravated Offending in Scotland 2010-11 was published on 18 November 2011 and presented information on the number of religious aggravation charges (from Section 74 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003) that were reported to the …

8 Nov 2011 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there will be a Scottish National Holocaust Memorial Day event in 2012.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish National Holocaust Memorial Day event will take place in Dundee on 26 January 2012. The event, with the theme “Speak Up, Speak Out” is being developed in partnership between Dundee City Council, the Scottish Government, the Holocaust Memorial Day…

2 Nov 2011 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the use of evidence of similar fact in criminal cases.

1 Nov 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will issue guidance to public bodies on engaging communication professionals, such as BSL interpreters, who meet the relevant national occupational standards.

Answer · Michael Matheson: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-03749 on 14 November 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamenta…

1 Nov 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it issues to public bodies to prevent poor communication support for deaf service users in order to prevent misunderstanding, including the miscommunication of medical diagnoses.

Answer · Michael Matheson: NHS Education for Scotland has published the “Basic Sensory Impairment Training for NHSScotland Frontline Staff” training course as an online resource for frontline and other staff across NHSScotland. NHS Education for Scotland is also publishing a communica…

1 Nov 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it recognises the importance to deaf service users of the use of communication professionals who are fully trained and registered with their occupational body and, if so, how it encourages public bodies to engage such professionals.

Answer · Michael Matheson: We recognise the need for appropriate communication professionals for deaf service users, and that it would be good practice for public bodies to engage such professionals. We recognise difficulties due to the shortage of interpreters, however, and that this …

1 Nov 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether public bodies, when engaging communication professionals such as BSL interpreters, are required to check whether that professional meets the relevant national occupational standards.

Answer · Michael Matheson: That is a matter for the public body concerned, according to circumstances, including the needs of the person with a hearing impairment and the availability of BSL interpreters locally.

6 Oct 2011 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-02256 by Michael Matheson on 7 September 2011, whether the risk assessment by Health Protection Scotland has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).

Answer · Michael Matheson: I can confirm that the Health Protection Scotland risk assessment, and its companion paper setting out possible options for reducing measles susceptibility in Scotland, have been placed in SPICe (Bib numbers 53266 and 53267). In line with the HPS assessment,…

14 Sep 2011 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are for rolling out the No Knives, Better Lives initiative across the country.

13 Sep 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-02244 by Michael Matheson on 26 August 2011, whether the British Association of Perinatal Medicine nurse staffing standards will be included in the Scottish Service Standards for Neonatal Care.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The British Association of Perinatal Medicine standards including those relating to nurse staffing will form an integral part of the Scottish Service Standards for Neonatal Care.

16 Aug 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Neonatal Expert Advisory Group will publish its report and recommendations.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Neonatal Expert Advisory Group is currently working with Regional Planning Groups, the Managed Clinical Networks for neonatal services and NHS boards to align the draft standards document with the Healthcare Quality Strategy and to ensure that implementat…

15 Jun 2011 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to warn parents about the measles outbreak on mainland Europe and the dangers of taking abroad children who have not had two doses of the MMR vaccine.

2 Jun 2011 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the impact of the changes in the national minimum wage in October 2010 has been for employment in Scotland.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government is using all available levers to aid economic recovery and reduce unemployment in Scotland. As a consequence, between July to September 2010 and February to April 2011 headline employment level for the population aged 16 and over incre…

28 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners in each prison have been granted home leave in each year since December 2006, broken down by number of days granted.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >Home leave is generally granted as part of the preparation of prisoners for release. The vast majority of home leaves are therefore grant…

28 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what it expects police officer numbers to be in the first two quarters of 2011.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Our official projections are that there will be 17,270 police officers (full-time equivalent) on 31 March 2011 and 17,292 on 30 June 2011, 1,036 and 1,058 respectively above the baseline figure of 16,234 at 31 March 2007.</b></p> <p >A new study setting out …

21 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made by the Children’s Services National Commissioning Steering Group.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The remit of the Children''s Services National Commissioning Steering Group resulted from the National Residential Child Care Initiative and the Securing Our Future Initiative reports. The reports recommended the strategic commissioning of specialist resident…

14 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been committed to tackling knife crime in each financial year since 1999.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Since 1999, there has been significant levels of investment from many different agencies in order to tackle violence, including knife crime, in Scotland. The Scottish Government works with the national police-led Violence Reduction Unit, the Association of Ch…

14 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many stop and search procedures have been carried out in each financial year since 1999, broken down by police board.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The information requested is not held centrally. The responsibility for carrying out and recording stop and search procedures is a matter for individual chief constables.</p> <p >Strathclyde Police records and publishes figures from 1 April 2004, as part of …