Stewart Maxwell

3 Sep 2009 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what impact short sentences have on reconviction rates.

Answer · Alex Salmond: <i > This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:</i></p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0903-01.htm">http://www.scot…

28 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether homicide figures are split into deprivation quintiles.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The annual data collection of homicide information from police forces in Scotland provides information at local authority area level. It is therefore not possible to allocate Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) ranks on the basis of the homicide inf…

28 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the population of each deprivation quintile is in each NHS board area, expressed also as a percentage of the total board area population.

Answer · John Swinney: The population in each deprivation quintile split by NHS board area is shown in table 1. Table 2 expresses this as a percentage of the total board area population. The figures are based on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) 2006 and Small Area …

23 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake a review similar to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s report into social housing allocation and immigrant communities in order to dispel negative perceptions with regard to asylum seekers and social housing allotment.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government will continue to celebrate diversity and challenge negative racist attitudes through its One Scotland campaign, but currently has no plans to undertake research into social housing allocations and immigrant communities. A recently publ…

23 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that healthy school meals are taken by children entitled to them.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007 places a legislative duty on local authorities to promote the availability of and encourage consumption of healthy school meals, and, in particular, free school meals.</p> <p >Guidance to acco…

23 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to increase the number of schools that have an anonymised system of payment for school meals.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007 places a legislative duty on local authorities to take reasonable steps to protect the identity of all pupils receiving free school lunches. Therefore, decisions on anonymised payment systems, o…

23 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what provisions are in place to ensure that children entitled to free school meals are encouraged to take them.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007 places a legislative duty on local authorities to promote the availability of and encourage consumption of school meals, and, in particular, free school meals.</p> <p >As part of their inspecti…

23 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to ensure that there is as smooth a transition as possible for all involved with the new school exam system.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government and Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) are committed to working with all partners to ensure that the transition into the new qualifications is smooth and straightforward. Several measures are already in place to ensure this happen…

23 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive at what points in a child’s development foetal alcohol syndrome may be diagnosed and what the statistics are for each such point in each deprivation quintile in each year since 2001, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The research base for diagnosing foetal alcohol syndrome is still being developed but current evidence indicated a number of different points in a child''s development at which foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) can be diagnosed, up to the age of 12. Although FAS …

23 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of babies in each deprivation quintile were discharged in each year since 2001 with a diagnosis of foetal alcohol syndrome, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: National data on babies born with congenital anomalies are collected centrally in Scotland using a range of administrative NHS and GRO databases. Data are published routinely on a number of individual anomalies such as Neural Tube Defects and Down''s syndrome…

23 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of babies in each deprivation quintile discharged in each year since 2001 had an ICD10 code of (a) P04.4 (foetus and newborn affected by maternal use of drugs of addiction) or (b) P96.1 (neonatal withdrawal symptoms from maternal use of drug addiction), broken…

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Babies discharged from neonatal units¹ with diagnoses recording maternal drug misuse² by NHS board of residence and Scottish index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) quintile³; aggregated financial years 2001-05 to 2003-07:</p> <…

23 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of women in each deprivation quintile were recorded as smokers at maternity booking in each year since 2001, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The requested information for financial years 2001-02 to 2006-07 is shown on the following table.</p> <p >Smoking at booking (number of current smokers and percentage of all mothers) by NHS board of residence and Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD)…

23 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many births of two or more babies there have been in each deprivation quintile in each year since 2001, broken down by NHS board and also expressed as a percentage of all births in that area.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The following table shows multiple pregnancy number and rates, by NHS board and deprivation quintile, for financial years 2000-01 to 2006-07. It has been necessary to group individual years'' data into three-year rolling aggregates due to the small numbers in…

23 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many live, single, full-term babies with a birth weight of under 2.5 kg have been born in each deprivation quintile in each year since 2001, broken down by NHS board and also expressed as a percentage of all births in that area.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The following table shows the information requested for financial years 2000-01 to 2006-07. It has been necessary to group individual years'' data into three-year rolling aggregates due to the small numbers involved. </p> <p >Live, single, full-term births<s…

23 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many live, single, premature babies have been born in each deprivation quintile in each year since 2001, broken down by NHS board and also expressed as a percentage of all births in that area.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The following table shows the information requested for financial years 2000-01 to 2006-07. It has been necessary to group individual years'' data into three year rolling aggregates due to the small numbers involved.</p> <p >Live, single, premature births 1,…

23 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many stillborn babies have been delivered in each deprivation quintile in each year since 2001, broken down by NHS board and also expressed as a percentage of all births in that area.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The following table shows stillbirth number and rates, by NHS board and deprivation quintile, for calendar years 2001 to 2007. It has been necessary to group individual years'' data into five year rolling aggregates due to the variation in numbers from year t…

23 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many live babies have been born in each deprivation quintile in each year since 2001, broken down by NHS board and also expressed as a percentage of all births in that area.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The requested information is shown in the following table for financial years 2001-02 to 2006-07.</p> <p >Live Births^{1, 2, 3} (Number and Percentage of All Births) by NHS Board of Residence and Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) quintile…

22 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to run a public campaign on the importance of hand washing in light of the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: At the beginning of the current outbreak of influenza A/H1N1, the Scottish Government ran a public information campaign which included messages on the importance of good hygiene practices in reducing the spread of the virus. We are following up on this work b…

8 Jun 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to bring forward legislation to amend the law on burials and cremations.

Answer · Shona Robison: Any legislation to amend the law on burials and cremations would be dependant on the outcome of the consultation on the Burial and Cremation Review Group''s findings. It would be inappropriate to pre-empt the outcome of the future public consultation at this …

8 Jun 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to consult on the findings of the Burials and Cremations Review Group.

Answer · Shona Robison: We are currently working up a consultation document based on the findings of the Burials and Cremations Review Group.</p>

20 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what timescale it recommends for public bodies to complete the tendering process for the procurement of goods and services.

Answer · John Swinney: The Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 contain minimum timescales for procurement processes for certain high value contracts. For all other procurement processes, the timescales will vary according to the value, scale and complexity of the requirem…

20 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any public contracts are under investigation for links to organised crime and, if so, which ones.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government is committed to working with the police and public bodies to ensure that organised criminals cannot profit from public contracts. It would be inappropriate to comment on any ongoing investigations.</p> Arial;

20 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what timescale it envisages for the implementation of measures to prevent organisations with links to organised crime from gaining work from local authorities and other public bodies.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-24152 on 2 June 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at: </p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.…

20 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take to prevent organisations with links to organised crime from gaining public contracts.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-24152 on 2 June 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at: </p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliamen…

20 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place to prevent organisations with links to organised crime from tendering for public contracts.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government has established the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce, which I chair, to tackle the threats posed by organised criminals. The taskforce, which includes members from all the relevant law enforcement agencies published its Serious Organi…

27 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its policy and financial management review of Architecture and Design Scotland has reached an outcome and, if so, what the key findings of the review are.

Answer · Michael Russell: The review of Architecture and Design Scotland (A+DS) is now complete and the outcomes and recommendations of the review have been received in report format and are as follows:</p> <p >1. There is a clear role for a national body such as A+DS in promoting go…

23 Apr 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the progress of the injury surveillance pilot at Glasgow Royal Infirmary being undertaken by the national Violence Reduction Unit.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: I know Stewart Maxwell has been a strong advocate of the benefits of using anonymised injury data collected in hospitals to inform local police action. This approach, based on groundbreaking work in Cardiff, is one we fully support and the Scottish Government…

11 Mar 2009 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what progress has been made with the UK Government in addressing issues arising from the Somerville judgement.

Answer · Alex Salmond: <i >This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:</i></p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0312-01.htm">http://www.scott…

16 Mar 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list, for all ministerial engagements that have taken place since 1 September 2006, the locations visited.

Answer · Tom McCabe: I shall write to the member assoon as the information is available and will arrange for a copy of my reply tobe placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 42443).</p>

13 Mar 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the source of funding is for the £500,000 Scottish Music Futures Fund and whether the funding is new money or existing money diverted from (a) the creative industries budget or (b) another budget.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The funding will be from theEnterprise budget for 2007-08. The funding will not be diverted from the creative industriesbudget within the Education portfolio.</p>