Parliamentary questions

George Foulkes

1,927 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

13 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it is giving to introducing draft legislation on public interest immunity.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill, which was introduced before the Scottish Parliament on 5 March 2009, sets out procedures for the withholding of information which would otherwise require to be disclosed to an accused person in criminal proc…

13 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether (a) members of the public and (b) police officers are prohibited from using a mobile phone when riding a horse on a public highway and, if so, what penalties apply.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: There is no specific legislation that prohibits the use of a mobile phone either by a member of the public or by the police while riding a horse on the public highway.

13 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many single farm payments are outstanding from 2005 to 2008 and during that time period what proportion were settled after the date on which they were due to be paid.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: All claims under the Single Farm Payment Scheme (SFPS) are paid once the statutory eligibility and validation checks, including physical inspections as appropriate, have been completed. It follows that any claims remaining unpaid are because we are unabl…

13 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints there have been since May 2007 from relatives or other relevant people about the care of older people in private nursing homes and what the outcomes have been.

Answer · Shona Robison: The distinction between nursing homes and residential care homes was removed in the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 (the Act). All services providing accommodation together with nursing, personal care or personal support are registered with the Care Co…

13 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many older people there were in private nursing homes at the most recent date for which information is available and how this compares with the number in May 2007.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Care Homes Census takes place in March each year. At March 2007, there were 24,242 residents in private care homes for older people. At March 2008, the most recent published census there were 24,120.

13 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what new arrangements the Care Commission has put in place for monitoring the standard of care in nursing homes since May 2007.

Answer · Shona Robison: The distinction between nursing homes and residential care homes was removed in the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001. All services providing accommodation together with nursing, personal care or personal support are registered with the Care Commission a…

13 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many social care workers are qualified to administer medical treatment and what percentage this represents.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The information requested is not held centrally. The Care Commission gathers data from some care services on the number of staff who have a recognised nursing qualification and/or SVQ HSC375 Administer Medication to Individuals. Further information can be obt…

13 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what efficiency savings have been made by the Office of the First Minister since May 2007.

8 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18018 by John Swinney on 5 December 2008, how many of the 20 staff referred to in the letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth on 20 April 2009 who left or moved on promotion worked in the First Minister's private office.

Answer · John Swinney: Of the 22 members of staff referred to in my letter of 20 April 2009, six members of staff were in the First Minister''s private office, who either transferred or moved on promotion.

8 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage uptake has been of tests for bowel cancer offered to people aged 54 to 75.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Data on the number and uptake of symptomatic tests for bowel cancer is not held centrally. Data for the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme will be published in August 2009. Data from the Bowel Screening Pilot can be accessed on the Information Servic…

8 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria or factors it uses to differentiate the Scottish economy from that of the United Kingdom.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish economy is, where possible, identified according to the geographical location of economic activity.

8 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has subscriptions for (a) Sky and (b) Setanta TV output and, if so, how many and at what locations these services are provided.

Answer · John Swinney: The corporate TV services used by the Scottish Government are managed by Information Services and Information Systems (ISIS). ISIS does not have any subscriptions to Sky or Setanta for their TV output.

8 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will carry out a study on the viability of using national identity cards for the purpose of voter identification.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government has no plans to consider the use of identity cards for the purpose of voter identification.

8 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will estimate the contribution to the Scottish economy of the transfer of all UK nuclear submarines to the Clyde base.

Answer · Bruce Crawford: The Scottish Government is not in possession of the data that would allow it to conduct a robust assessment of the impact on the Scottish economy of this decision. For example, in his letter to the First Minister, the Rt Hon Bob Ainsworth MP stated that the m…

8 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to respond to the request by the Libyan authorities for the transfer of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Prisoner Transfer Agreement states that The requested State shall inform the State requesting the transfer of its decision whether or not to agree to the requested transfer, normally within 90 days of the receipt of the request. If a decision cannot be no…

7 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-22936 by Shona Robison on 7 May 2009, what part of the £834 million cost of dispensing prescriptions represents administrative costs as opposed to the costs of the drugs.

Answer · Shona Robison: The £834 million referred to in S3W-22936 reflects the total cost of the provision of pharmaceutical services from April to December 2008, of which £695 million relates to the cost of drugs. The balance of £139 million represents the remuneration pai…

6 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners have absconded from custody since May 2007 and how many of these have not been caught.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows: There have been a total of 81 absconds from custody since May 2007. There are currently two absconders who are still unlawfully at large. …

6 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the First Minister has travelled by train to or from any official engagements since August 2008..

Answer · John Swinney: The First Minister has indeed used the train to travel to or from official engagements since August 2008.

6 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any of its employees or employees of its agencies are paid less than the national minimum wage.

Answer · John Swinney: All staff in the Scottish Government and its agencies are paid more than the highest level of the national minimum wage.

6 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it paid for visits by the First Minister to London in 2008-09.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government covers appropriate costs when visits made to London by the First Minister include Scottish Government business.

6 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases were dealt with in the Justice of the Peace courts in (a) Cumnock, (b) Girvan, (c) Banff and (d) Elgin in 2008.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The number of cases dealt with by the courts in 2008 is as follows: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td width=78 valign=top > Court </td> <td width=60 valign=top > Ca…

6 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools offer classes in (a) German, (b) Spanish, (c) Russian, (d) Chinese and (e) Arabic.

Answer · Keith Brown: This data is not collected by the Scottish Government, as it is a matter for local authorities and schools to determine which language courses they offer. The closest proxy data we have are numbers of schools making presentations for national qualifi…

6 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths from influenza occurred in each month from January 2008 to January 2009.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The number of deaths, including those for which the underlying cause was influenza, is published quarterly by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS), in the Births, Marriages and Deaths statistical release. The preliminary figures for 2008 we…

6 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the protocol is for visits to prisons by MSPs.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: The Scottish Prison Service positively welcomes visits by MSPs and any MSP wishing to visit a prison is encouraged either to make contact…

6 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much each of its directorates has granted to the National Trust for Scotland in each year since 2006-07.

Answer · Michael Russell: Grant given to the National Trust for Scotland by the Scottish Government since 2006-07 is shown in the following table: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td valign=top > Directorate </td> …

6 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people from (a) overseas and (b) other parts of the United Kingdom visited Scotland in the first quarter of 2009 and how this compares with the same period in 2008.

Answer · Jim Mather: Data on the number of international visitors to Scotland is collected and issued by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and is made available on the ONS website. <a href="http://www.statistics.gov.uk/default.asp">http://www.statistics.gov.uk/de…

6 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which recommendations in Audit Scotland’s report, Review of major capital projects in Scotland - How government works, have been implemented.

Answer · John Swinney: The recommendatio<a name=DateForAnswer></a>n to strengthen strategic direction and investment planning through a senior, government wide, investment co-ordination and challenge function has been implemented. The recommendation to collect information on all pr…

6 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to develop workforce planning in pharmacy services in the NHS.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The development of workforce planning for pharmacy, which will include national supply and demand modelling to inform future manpower planning, is being taken forward as part of on-going work in the Action Plan for Pharmacy and Medicines.

6 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to achieve national standards for training technicians in extended roles in the NHS.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Education for Scotland (NES) are currently working on a Higher National Certificate in Rehabilitation Technologies for health care technicians covering surgical appliances, wheelchair services, orthontics and prosthetics. This course will be validated by …

6 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to ensure that NHS boards review the way in which hospitals provide pharmacy services.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government is developing an Action Plan for Pharmacy and Medicines which will set out an agenda for further modernising pharmacy services. The Action Plan will take as its themes the dimensions of quality in Better Health, Better Care and…