Colin Fox

24 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the comparative pay and conditions of staff employed at HM Prison Kilmarnock and at publicly-owned prisons.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows: <BR>The SPS does not hold information on the pay and conditions of staff employed at HMP Kilmarnock. This is a matter for Kilmarnock Prison…

19 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to recruit and retain social work staff so that persistent young offenders are cared for and supervised adequately in residential care units.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive is taking significant steps to support employers to recruit and retain socialwork staff. This includes a national recruitment and awareness campaign, financialincentives for training and the commitment to fund the Scottish Institute for…

19 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what proportion of, staff in residential care units hold a diploma in social work or equivalent qualification.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The most recent figures availablewere compiled by the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care and relate tothe position in 2001. They indicate that at least 305 staff (10.3%) hold the Diplomain Social Work; at least four staff (0.1%) hold the Scottish V…

19 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what proportion of, staff in residential care units possess the relevant qualifications for working in such units.

Answer · Peter Peacock: At present there is no prescribedqualification for these staff. However, from 2005 staff will have to hold specificqualifications determined by the Scottish Social Services Council.</p>

19 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to increase staffing levels and pay and improve the conditions of staff within residential care units as a means to help reduce offending by persistent young offenders within residential care units.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Terms and conditions of employmentare matters for local authorities and other employing agencies. Staffing levelsare also determined by employers but must be consistent with the requirements of the national care standards.</p>

19 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to protect workers and children in residential care units who are being offended against by looked after children.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The responsibility for the safetyand protection of staff and children rests with employers. This is monitored bythe Health and Safety Executive. However, the Scottish Executive is funding anational initiative managed by the Association of Directors of Social …

19 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reduce offending by looked after children in residential care units.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Executive has provided theframework and resources to allow local authorities to identify and address the natureand pattern of any offending by young people identified in their areas.</p>

19 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many offences have been committed by persistent young offenders in the last year and how many such offences were committed within residential care units.

Answer · Peter Peacock: This information is not heldcentrally.</p>

19 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many persistent young offenders live in residential care units.

Answer · Peter Peacock: This information is not heldcentrally. The Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration’s Annual Report for 2001-02provides data on the number of young offenders going through the children’s hearingssystem. The data is available in the Parliament’s Reference C…

19 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many persistent young offenders there are.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Scottish Children’s ReporterAdministration’s Annual Report for 2001-02 provides data on the number of youngoffenders going through the children’s hearings system. The data is available inthe Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 26838).</p>

8 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it can take against Consort Healthcare in respect of any failure to adequately maintain electrical generators and electricity supplies to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Consort Healthcare is the contractorappointed by Lothian University Hospitals NHS Trust for provision of the fabricand infrastructure of the Royal Infirmary, and for elements of the facilities managementservices which support it.</p><p>I have received an inte…

27 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what passenger groups in the Lothians it is in contact with regarding the protection, provision and improvement of local bus services.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Issues relating to local busservices in the Lothians are matters for the local transport authorities. Ministersare in regular contact with a wide range of passenger groups, but there is currentlyno on-going contact with any Lothian group.</p>

27 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to decontaminate members of the public in the event of a chemical or dirty bomb terrorist attack.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Ambulance Servicehas eight mobile decontamination units manned by specialist teams that would deployto an incident. The Scottish Fire Service also has four mass decontamination unitscapable of decontaminating 200 people per hour and a further two…

15 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure safe and comfortable working conditions at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The department is in regularcontact with Lothian University NHS Trust regarding its progress on respondingto the recommendations of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) who visited thesite on 13 June. The HSE have revisited the Royal Infirmary of Edinburghre…

15 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent upgrading facilities at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh since the hospital opened.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Neither the ScottishExecutive nor Lothian University Hospitals NHS Trust has spent any moneyupgrading facilities at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh since the hospitalopened.</p>

15 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) wards at (i) the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, (ii) Hairmyres Hospital, East Kilbride and (iii) Wishaw General Hospital, and (b) departments in the University of Edinburgh Medical School at Little France, have air conditioning units installed.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: These are matters forLothian University Hospitals NHS Trust, Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals NHS Trustand the University of Edinburgh as the bodies responsible for the New RoyalInfirmary, Hairmyres Hospital, Wishaw General Hospital and the University ofEdinburgh…

11 Jun 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether a higher proportion of the population in Scotland is jailed than in most other western European countries and, if so, what the reasons are for this position.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The information available is given in the following table.<P>Prison Population, Rate Per 100,000 Population by Jurisdiction, as at 1 September 2001<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=386><TR><TD WIDTH="39%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>Jurisdiction</TD><TD WID…