Nigel Don

8 May 2008 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place regarding the integration of fire and ambulance services in rural communities.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: There is excellent collaboration on the ground between services, in north east Scotland and elsewhere, which is already saving lives, reducing the number and severity of injuries, and providing more effective community safety. This includes co-location of fir…

6 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the system of fatal accident inquiries in Scotland.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I am pleased to announce that, after consultation with and the agreement of the Lord Advocate, I am instigating a review of the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976.</p> <p >The review will have the following remit:</p> <p > To re…

6 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to make blood donation more accessible to those who live in remote areas.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) holds up to 3,000 sessions each year throughout Scotland, visiting in excess of 700 locations including towns, workplaces and educational establishments.</p> <p >Where SNBTS can reliably collect a mini…

6 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns about a shortfall in blood donations from any specific blood group.

Answer · Shona Robison: A particular challenge for the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service is sustaining a sufficient supply of rhesus negative blood groups given the population profile for this type of blood.</p>

6 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pints of blood have been donated in each NHS board area in each year since 1999, also broken down by blood group.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service collates data from the five blood donation centres in Scotland. The following table sets out the number of units of blood collected by each centre between 1999 and 2007.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellp…

26 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made with the review of the National Antisocial Behaviour Strategy.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The review of the national antisocial behaviour (ASB) strategy is progressing well. The external project board, made up of senior stakeholders, will meet for the first time today to advise government and oversee the review process. The content of and process …

21 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Inquiries (Scotland) Rules 2007 which came into force on 19 January 2008 apply to the public inquiry into the explosion on 11 May 2004 at the factory in Glasgow occupied by the ICL group of companies.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Yes, we announced our intentionto set up this inquiry on 1 October 2007. Lord Gill, the Lord Justice Clerk, was formally appointedas chair on 21 January 2008 and the inquiry has been set up from that date. Therewill be no other appointments to the inquiry pan…

16 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make a decision about further youth courts.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The existing youth courts inHamilton and Airdrie have operated successfully since 2003 and 2004 respectively.Following positive evaluation, funding has been continued to allow their positionto be reviewed in spring 2009 in the light of the impact of the wider…

17 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how fire and rescue authorities have performed against the priorities and objectives in Fire and Rescue: Framework for Scotland 2005 and what plans there are to review these.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Fireand Rescue Services are amongst the best in the world and they serve the peopleof Scotland with pride and professionalism. Since thepublication of the Fire and Rescue Framework 2005 in October 2005, the fire andrescue authorities have made co…

10 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it will make available to emergency planning strategic co-ordinating groups so that they can continue to lead improvements in civil protection capabilities.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The eight strategiccoordinating groups across Scotland have a crucial role to play in ensuring thatthe duties imposed by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 are taken forward in theirareas. The Scottish Government is committed to providing appropriate support to…

5 Dec 2007 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to increase the number of blood donors.

Answer · Shona Robison: Last week the ScottishNational Blood Transfusion Service launched its yearly Christmas campaign to highlightto the public that blood stocks are low and that new donors are needed urgently.</p><p>The Blood TransfusionService strives, through public relations w…

27 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any further plans for the management of offenders.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I will announce todayproposals to enable the Home Detention Curfew scheme to apply to those offenderswhom the parole board for Scotland has assessed as being suitable for releaseon licence from the half-way point of their sentence. I also propose to extend th…

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the report of its review of community penalties.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: <i>Reforming and Revitalising– the Report of the </i><i>Reviewof Community Penalties</i> waspublished today and can be accessed on the Scottish Government website’s publicationpage at:</p><p><ahref="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications">http://www.scotland…

13 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the consequences of the Somerville judgment will be for the actions currently before the court raised by prisoners and ex-prisoners and how the Scottish Government will respond.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: As a government weare determined to deal with both the causes and effects of the court actions wehave inherited relating to slopping out. I have today confirmed that the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) will invest on average £120 million a year tobuild long-nee…

9 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will deliver its commitment to make an additional 1,000 police officers available in Scotland’s communities.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Governmentwill deliver on its commitment through the recruitment of additional new officers,improved retention of skilled and experienced officers, and the reinvestment ofefficiency gains to redeploy officers to strengthen operational policing in…

5 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of delays in securing post-planning approval receipt of agreements such as section 75 agreements and, if so, what plans it has for addressing such delays.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Planning agreementsplay an important role in regulating the use of land to make development acceptablein land use planning terms and also in facilitating the provision of related infrastructure.The negotiation of agreements can be a time consuming process. In…

5 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place regarding the continuation of the Planning Development Programme.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The future of thePlanning Development Programme has been considered as part of this year’s SpendingReview.</p>

5 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to use the National Planning Framework to ensure that local authorities comply with Scottish planning policies in identifying areas of search for mineral extraction to ensure an adequate and steady supply to support economic development.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: We areconsidering what should be said in the National Planning Framework to help ensurethat an adequate and steady supply of minerals is maintained and we will continueto monitor the position through minerals production surveys and scrutiny of developmentplan…

22 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce the membership of the Scottish Prisons Commission.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I am pleased to announcethat the Chair of the Commission, Henry McLeish, has now been joined by the followingwell respected individuals:</p><p>Chief Constable DavidStrang, Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police.</p><p>Sheriff Alistair Duff.</p><p>Josep…

25 Sep 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make a decision about the future of the following community justice pilot schemes: community reparation orders, bail with electronic monitoring, first instance supervised attendance orders and structured deferred sentences.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The evaluation of the Community Reparation Order (CRO) pilots indicates that the penalties were notwell understood or used, and we have therefore decided that the funding for theCRO pilots should stop at the end of December. The government remains committedto…

21 Sep 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made to establish a review into the effectiveness of provisions relating to the retention of DNA data in Scotland.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I am pleased to announcethat Professor Jim Fraser, Director of Strathclyde University’s Centre for ForensicScience, has agreed to review certain aspects of the procedures relating to thedestruction of DNA and fingerprint data in Scotland. The review’s terms o…

11 Sep 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to increase the sheriff court jurisdiction limits.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Small Claims (Scotland) Amendment Order 2007 was laid in Parliament on 12 September 2007. It raises the small claims limit from £750 to £3,000and provides that actions for personal injury are excluded from the category ofactions which must be brought as a…

7 Sep 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the report of Lord Coulsfield’s review of the law and practice of disclosure in criminal proceedings.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I received LordCoulsfield’s report and an executive summary last month, and have arranged forthem to be published today on the Scottish Government website. The government isindebted to Lord Coulsfield for his careful analysis and recommendations. Wewill short…

20 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action the Scottish Government will be taking following the recommendations of the Youth Commission on Alcohol.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Governmentis committed to reducing the incidence of smoking among children and youngpeople. The smoke-free legislation is, of course, expected to drive culturalchange by making smoking less attractive to young people and we acted quicklyto reinfo…