Parliamentary questions
George Foulkes
1,927 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
2 May 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11948 by Nicola Sturgeon on 30 April 2008, what it understands “blogging convention” to be.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Blogging conventions are standard practices which have developed across a variety of sites using new social media of this kind. The approach taken to the National Conversation website is designed to maximise access and participation.</p>
29 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration has been given to setting up in Scotland training and employment schemes for young offenders, prepared by the Smart Company and led by National Grid Transco, which operate in prisons in England.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >HM Young Offender Institution Polmont is at an advanced stage of discussion with National Grid and Fountains, one of four major companies …
25 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions there have been since the law was changed regarding physical punishment of children by their parents.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Physical punishment of children cannot be identified separately from other types of assault recorded on the Scottish Government court proceedings database.</p> <p >Section 51 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 provides for a defence in certain circu…
25 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners in each prison undertook (a) paid employment and (b) community work while in prison in the most recent year for which figures are available.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >In accordance with the Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 2006 Part 9 Rule 82, every prisoner shall be required to …
25 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have moved from prison into employment in the last year, broken down by prison.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >Jobcentre Plus provides a pre-release service to the SPS including details of the number of prisoners they are aware of who have gai…
25 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people under the age of 16 there are in each adult prison.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >On 30 April 2008, there were two people under the age of 16 in the custody of the Scottish Prison Service, one in HM Prison and Young Off…
25 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what overseas visits the Scottish Prison Commission has undertaken and what, and to whom, it has reported on any such visits.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Details of the independent Scottish Prisons Commission''s overseas visits can be found on its website at <a href="http://www.scottishprisonscommission.info/">www.scottishprisonscommission.info</a>. The commission will report its findings and recommendations i…
25 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many visits have been made by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland to each prison in the last year.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland, Andrew R C McLellan, made 44 visits to Scottish prisons between 30 April 2007 and 30 April 2008 as follows:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td valign=top > <p align=cent…
25 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the underspend or overspend is in the budget of each prison.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >Budgets for establishments for 2007-08 are summarised in the following table: </p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thea…
25 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on prison officers undertaking other employment in their time off.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The SPS is keen to ensure that employees should have a healthy balance between work and non-work life. All staff are required to see…
25 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the staff sickness and turnover rates are for each prison.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The staff sickness and turnover rates for each prison during the period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008 and working days lost through sick a…
24 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many freedom of information requests made to the Minister for Environment were (a) answered (i) within 20 days, (ii) within 40 days, (iii) within 60 days and (iv) after 60 days, (b) not answered and (c) answered citing an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 2002 as a reason…
Answer · Bruce Crawford: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12302 on 9 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/w…
24 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many freedom of information requests made to the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment were (a) answered (i) within 20 days, (ii) within 40 days, (iii) within 60 days and (iv) after 60 days, (b) not answered and (c) answered citing an exemption under the Freedom of I…
Answer · Bruce Crawford: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12302 on 9 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/w…
24 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many freedom of information requests made to the Minister for Community Safety were (a) answered (i) within 20 days, (ii) within 40 days, (iii) within 60 days and (iv) after 60 days, (b) not answered and (c) answered citing an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 2002 as a r…
Answer · Bruce Crawford: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12302 on 9 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/w…
24 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many freedom of information requests made to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice were (a) answered (i) within 20 days, (ii) within 40 days, (iii) within 60 days and (iv) after 60 days, (b) not answered and (c) answered citing an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 2002 as a r…
Answer · Bruce Crawford: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12302 on 9 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/w…
24 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many freedom of information requests made to the Minister for Communities and Sport were (a) answered (i) within 20 days, (ii) within 40 days, (iii) within 60 days and (iv) after 60 days, (b) not answered and (c) answered citing an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 2002 a…
Answer · Bruce Crawford: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12302 on 9 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/w…
24 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many freedom of information requests made to the Minister for Public Health were (a) answered (i) within 20 days, (ii) within 40 days, (iii) within 60 days and (iv) after 60 days, (b) not answered and (c) answered citing an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 2002 as a reas…
Answer · Bruce Crawford: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12302 on 9 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/w…
24 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many freedom of information requests made to the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing were (a) answered (i) within 20 days, (ii) within 40 days, (iii) within 60 days and (iv) after 60 days, (b) not answered and (c) answered citing an exemption under the…
Answer · Bruce Crawford: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12302 on 9 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/w…
24 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many freedom of information requests made to the Minister for Children and Early Years were (a) answered (i) within 20 days, (ii) within 40 days, (iii) within 60 days and (iv) after 60 days, (b) not answered and (c) answered citing an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 200…
Answer · Bruce Crawford: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12302 on 9 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa…
24 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many freedom of information requests made to the Minister for Schools and Skills were (a) answered (i) within 20 days, (ii) within 40 days, (iii) within 60 days and (iv) after 60 days, (b) not answered and (c) answered citing an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 2002 as a…
Answer · Bruce Crawford: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12302 on 9 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa…
24 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many freedom of information requests made to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning were (a) answered (i) within 20 days, (ii) within 40 days, (iii) within 60 days, (iv) after 60 days, (b) not answered and (c) answered citing an exemption under the Freedom of Inform…
Answer · Bruce Crawford: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12302 on 9 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa…
24 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many freedom of information requests made to the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change were (a) answered (i) within 20 days, (ii) within 40 days, (iii) within 60 days and (iv) after 60 days, (b) not answered and (c) answered citing an exemption under the Freedom of…
Answer · Bruce Crawford: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12302 on 9 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa…
24 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many freedom of information requests made to the Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism were (a) answered (i) within 20 days, (ii) within 40 days, (iii) within 60 days and (iv) after 60 days, (b) not answered and (c) answered citing an exemption under the Freedom of Information A…
Answer · Bruce Crawford: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12302 on 9 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa…
24 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many freedom of information requests made to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth were (a) answered (i) within 20 days, (ii) within 40 days, (iii) within 60 days and (iv) after 60 days, (b) not answered and (c) answered citing an exemption under the Freedom of Info…
Answer · Bruce Crawford: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12302 on 9 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa…
24 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many freedom of information requests made to the Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture were (a) answered (i) within 20 days, (ii) within 40 days, (iii) within 60 days and (iv) after 60 days, (b) not answered and (c) answered citing an exemption under the Freedom of Informa…
Answer · Bruce Crawford: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12302 on 9 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa…
24 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many freedom of information requests made to the Minister of Parliamentary Business were (a) answered (i) within 20 days, (ii) within 40 days, (iii) within 60 days and (iv) after 60 days, (b) not answered and (c) answered citing an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 2002 a…
Answer · Bruce Crawford: The Scottish Government inherited a system from the previous administration the did not uniformly record requests centrally. As a result we inherited a review of the system as of 1 January 2008, the Scottish Government put in place a new database to improve t…
24 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are in place to monitor the progress by local authorities in reducing class sizes year-on-year, as agreed in its concordat with local government.
Answer · Adam Ingram: The concordat states that the Scottish Government and local government will each do what is required to ensure the delivery of key government policies and programmes. Discussion is underway on a joint progress plan for the delivery of the concordant commitmen…
24 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in each local authority area in reducing P1 to P3 class sizes for the academic year 2008-09.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: We have signed an historic concordat with local government under which local government undertakes to reduce primary 1 to primary 3 classes to a maximum of 18 as quickly as possible. Local government will be expected to make year on year progress towards the …
22 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the First Minister will meet the chief executives of the UK’s main supermarket chains; where the meeting will take place, and who will be present.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Supermarket Chief Executives have agreed in principle to attend a Supermarket Summit in Edinburgh later in the year. The First Minister has written to the Chief Executives of Asda, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury''s, Somerfield, Tesco, The Co-op and W…
21 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the dates and locations of all Cabinet Meetings that have taken place since January 2008, showing those present on each occasion, including observers.
Answer · Bruce Crawford: Information relating to the dates and location of Cabinet meetings is available on the Scottish Government website at: </p> <p ><a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/govtmay307/14944/thirdadmincabdates07">http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/govtmay307/14944…