Parliamentary questions
Margaret Mitchell
550 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
6 Jul 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will provide a substantive answer to question S2W-26077 which received a holding reply on 5 June 2006.
Answer · Tom McCabe: I replied to the questionS2W-26077 on 1 August 2006. All answersto written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website,the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.</p>
6 Jul 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been referred to children’s hearings for under-age drinking in each local authority area in each of the last five years, broken down into (a) under 6, (b) 6 to 8, (c) 9, (d) 10, (e) 11, (f) 12, (g) 13, (h) 14, (i) 15, (j) 16 and (k) 17-year-olds.
Answer · Robert Brown: Under-age drinking is not aspecific ground on which children are referred to the Children’s Reporter underthe Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (the Act). Information provided is for thenumber of children referred to the Children’s Reporter only on ground (j) of S…
6 Jul 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been charged with under-age drinking in each local authority area in each of the last five years, broken down into (a) 8, (b) 9, (c) 10, (d) 11, (e) 12, (f) 13, (g) 14, (h) 15, (i) 16 and (j) 17-year-olds.
Answer · Hugh Henry: Statistics on persons charged by the police are not available centrally. Relevant information on under 18 year olds proceeded against in Scottish Courts for under-age drinking by local authority area is given in the following table.</p><p> </p><p>Persons…
20 Jun 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have absconded from prison in each of the last 15 years; how many were subsequently recaptured, and for what period of time each absconder was at large.
Answer · Hugh Henry: I have asked Tony Cameron,Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is asfollows:</p><p>The number of people whohave absconded from prison in each of the last 15 years is contained in the followingtable:</p><table border=1 cellsp…
8 Jun 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the revenue expenditure by local authorities on pre-primary education was per child (a) in Scotland and (b) broken down by local authority in 2004-05.
Answer · Robert Brown: Net revenue expenditure datais not provided by local authorities on a per child basis. Information on net revenueexpenditure by local authority is provided in the answer to question S2W-26632 on20 June 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are …
8 Jun 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what revenue funding was allocated to local authorities for pre-school education per child (a) in Scotland and (b) broken down by local authority in 2004-05.
Answer · Robert Brown: Grant aided expenditure allocationsfor pre-school education are not made on a “per child” basis. There are a numberof factors and indicators used in the formula for allocation including projectionsof numbers of three and four year olds and an element for rura…
8 Jun 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the revenue expenditure on pre-primary education by local authorities was (a) in total and (b) broken down by local authority in 2004-05.
Answer · Robert Brown: The net revenue expenditure onpre-primary education in 2004-05 is shown in the following table.</p><p>The net revenue expenditure figuresinclude a range of expenditure types, for example nursery schools, child care servicesand other under fives provision not …
8 Jun 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what revenue funding was allocated to local authorities for pre-school education (a) in total and (b) broken down by local authority in 2004-05.
Answer · Robert Brown: The<b> </b>following table containsa list of the Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) allocations to local authorities (andan all Scotland total) for pre-school education in 2004-05.</p><p>This information is availableon the Scottish Executive website at:</p><p><ahr…
23 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many errors in individual criminal records have occurred in each of the last five years.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Any errors on the criminalhistory system are corrected as soon as they are found.</p><p>As the criminal record isupdated for a number of reasons, for example, to record a new conviction or theoutcome of an appeal, it is not possible to establish how many reco…
23 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people aged (a) 5 and under, (b) 6 to 8, (c) 9, (d) 10, (e) 11, (f) 12, (g) 13, (h) 14, (i) 15 and (j) 16 are undergoing rehabilitation as a result of (i) drug or (ii) alcohol abuse, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Hugh Henry: Information on the number ofyoung people undergoing rehabilitation as a result of alcohol misuse is not heldcentrally.</p><p>Information on young people undergoingrehabilitation as a result of drug misuse has been drawn from the Scottish Drug Misuse Database …
18 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many departmental directors and deputy directors there are in each local authority, also showing the salary for each post.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Information on the numberand salary of departmental directors and deputy directors in local authoritiesis not held centrally.</p>
18 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions the First Minister has had with the Advocate General on the continuing independence of judges appointed to the Scottish courts and, in particular, the appointment of clerks to serve them in that role.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The First Minister has devolvedresponsibility for the appointment of judges and he has had no discussions withthe Advocate General about these matters. The appointment of clerks to serve judgesis the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS). Plans f…
10 May 2006 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what level and frequency of assessment and physiotherapy is available to stroke victims.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The level and frequency of physiotherapytreatment should be based on an assessment of each person’s individual clinicalneed, using the available evidence on clinical effectiveness.</p>
26 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted of an offence under section 1 of the Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005 since the Act came into force.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2O-9679 on 4 May 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.sea…
26 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many sexual offences prevention orders have been (a) applied for and (b) granted since the Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005 came into force.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: We are not aware of anySexual Offences Prevention Orders which have been applied for under the Protectionof Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005.</p><p>The following table showsthe number of Sexual Offences Prevention Orders applied …
26 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many risk of sexual harm orders have been (a) applied for and (b) granted since the Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005 came into force.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: In the seven months sincethe Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act2005 came into force one risk of sexual harm order has been applied for.</p>
20 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times have been for diabetes check-ups with a consultant in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Andy Kerr: This information is not heldcentrally.</p>
20 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the current recommended time is between each diabetes check-up with a consultant and what time the previous guidelines recommended.
Answer · Andy Kerr: NHS Quality Improvement Scotlandrecommends that all people with diabetes are offered annual examination, or morefrequent examinations where clinically indicated, to monitor the management andprogression of their condition. No recommendations have been made ab…
18 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what date is used as the base date for the rateable value used to set non-domestic water rates.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: I refer the member to thequestion S2W-20619, answered on 24 November 2005. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be foundat <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/…
12 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many telephone inquiries were placed with visitscotland.com in each of the past three years and, of these, what percentage (a) were processed and (b) led to a booking.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The number of telephone inquiriesreceived and responded to by visitscotland.com in each of the last three years totalled417,000, 461,000, and 427,000 in 2003, 2004, and 2005 respectively. It is importantto note that visitscotland.com exists to provide informa…
11 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people under 16 have been referred to children's panels for alcohol misuse in each of the last 10 years, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Robert Brown: Section 52(J) of the Children(Scotland) Act 1995 enables children who may have been misusing alcohol or drugs tobe referred to the children’s reporter. Statistics on referrals are collated andpublished by the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration in lin…
11 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people under 16 have entered rehabilitation in respect of alcohol misuse for each of the last 10 years, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: This information is not heldcentrally.</p>
11 Apr 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people under 16 have entered rehabilitation in respect of drug misuse for each of the last 10 years, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The Scottish Drug MisuseDatabase (SDMD) collects information on problem drug users at the point oftheir coming into contact with drug treatment services. The following table showsthe number of new clients aged less than 16 years, who have accessed any drugtre…
29 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what contact there was between Scottish ministers and Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) ministers between May 2005 and February 2006 in relation to (a) the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill and the preceding consultation and (b) the DCA White Paper, The Future of Le…
Answer · Hugh Henry: The regulation of the legal professionis a devolved matter within the responsibility of the Scottish Ministers. Howeveras a matter of good practice DCA and Scottish Executive keep each other informed abouta variety of initiatives of mutual interest.</p>
29 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what contact there was between Justice Department officials and officials from the Department for Constitution Affairs between May 2005 and February 2006 in relation to (a) the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill and the preceding consultation and (b) the DCA White Paper The Fu…
Answer · Hugh Henry: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-24850 on 27 April 2006. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.…
29 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers have sought compensation for injuries caused (a) by training and (b) in the line of duty in each of the last five years.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Information on compensationclaims for injuries sustained in the line of duty is not held centrally and isa matter for individual chief constables. No officers have sought compensationfor injuries caused by training at the Police College over the past five yea…
29 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers have been injured in (a) training and (b) the line of duty in each of the last five years.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Information on the number ofofficers injured in the line of duty is not held centrally and is a matter forindividual chief constables.</p><p>Information on the number ofinjuries sustained by police officers in the course of training at the PoliceCollege over …
29 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has carried out on the prevalence of crystal methamphetamine in Scotland.
Answer · Hugh Henry: To date the Scottish Executivehas not carried out any research on the prevalence of crystal methamphetamine inScotland. The Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey 2006 will for the first timeinclude questions on awareness and use of crystal methamphetamine. …
29 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were convicted of possession of crystal methamphetamine in each of the last 10 years.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The available information isgiven in the following table. Statistics for years prior to 2001-02 are not heldcentrally.</p><p>Persons with a Charge Provedin Scottish Courts for Possession of Methylamphetamine<sup>1</sup>, 2001-02 to 2004-05</p><table border=1…
29 Mar 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were charged with possession of crystal methamphetamine in each of the last 10 years.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The available information isgiven in the following table. Statistics for years prior to 2001-02 are not heldcentrally.</p><p>Persons Proceeded Against inScottish Courts for Possession of Methylamphetamine<sup>1</sup>, 2001-02 to 2004-05</p><table border=1 ce…