Mary Fee

26 Jan 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what contingencies it has if the Scottish people vote against independence.

Answer · Bruce Crawford: The Scottish Government set out its proposals for the referendum to be held in Autumn 2014 in Your Scotland, Your Referendum. As part of the process the Government will set out full details of its prospectus to the people of Scotland in a comprehensive white …

23 Jan 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that an independent Scotland should have a written constitution.

Answer · Bruce Crawford: As laid out in Choosing Scotland's Future (paragraphs 3.9 - 3.11) and Your Scotland Your Voice (paragraphs 9.17 - 9.19), the current constitutional arrangements would provide a robust initial framework for an independent Scotland. A white paper drawing togeth…

23 Jan 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to tackle possible increases in human trafficking to Scotland that might arise from the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government continues to work closely with the police and other law enforcement agencies on security planning for the London 2012 Olympics and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Intelligence gathering mechanisms are in place and being monitored cont…

23 Jan 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason it is proposing to abolish prison visiting committees.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government’s reasons for proposing to abolish the visiting committees are set out in my letter of 5 December to the Justice Committee. The letter can be found in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 53514).

18 Jan 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what support has been provided to help employees of Remploy find alternative employment.

12 Jan 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the commissioning dates were for each of the 330 school building or renovation projects completed in the last parliamentary session.

Answer · Michael Russell: It is local authorities and not Scottish ministers which commission school building projects. The Scottish Government does not, hold the information requested.

2 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to fund improvements to the reception area at HMP Barlinnie.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: This was one of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons recommendations in his generally very favourable Inspection Report following his inspect…

2 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to reduce the number of remand prisoners.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government recognises that remand is necessary and appropriate in some cases for the protection of the public. Individual decisions will always be for the courts.

2 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on reports that 70.4% of prisoners at HMP Barlinnie do not have access to vocational or educational classes and whether it considers that this contributes to 42.4% prisoners from that establishment re-offending within two years of release.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: A significant number of Barlinnie’s prisoner population (around one-third) includes remand prisoners who are not legally obliged to undertake wor…

2 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish Prison Service staff are trained on child protection issues that might arise during prison visits and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: The Scottish Prison Service places great importance on maintaining the safety and wellbeing of children who visit prisoners. Raising awareness of…

2 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is transferring (a) short and (b) long-term prisoners from HMP Barlinnie in order to reduce overcrowding and, if so, whether it is considering taking action to speed up this process.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: The current level of overcrowding in Scottish Prisons requires the SPS to monitor occupancy levels across all prisons daily. Where particular pre…

23 Nov 2011 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have used the Independent Learning Account in the last financial year.

16 Nov 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the 330 school building projects completed during the last parliamentary session were planned or started before May 2007.

Answer · Michael Russell: On election, the responsibility for the provision of funding for school building projects fell to the new Government. As a result the Government from 2007 was responsible for the 330 school building projects. Under this Government, the annual revenue support…

9 Nov 2011 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to tackle overcrowding in prisons.

28 Oct 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the title of the First Minister would be in an independent Scotland.

Answer · Bruce Crawford: As set out in paragraph 3.10 of the Scottish Government's 2007 publication Choosing Scotland's Future, the current provisions for an executive branch of government laid out in the Scotland Act would provide an initial model for the government of an independen…

27 Oct 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in Scotland have lupus.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information on the total number of people in Scotland who have lupus is not available centrally. Lupus UK estimate that there are around 50,000 people in the United Kingdom living with lupus.

27 Oct 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average length of time is from diagnosis of lupus to treatment and what specialist lupus services there are.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information regarding the time from diagnosis to treatment is not held centrally. Organising appointments and scheduling admissions to hospitals are very much local and operational matters for NHS boards. The Scottish Government has, however, set out the wide…

26 Oct 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many foster carers are in place and how many new foster carers have been recruited in each year since 2007, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government does not hold statistics on the numbers of registered foster carers in Scotland but The Fostering Network estimates that there are 3,300 fostering families in Scotland fostering 4,697 children and young people. Information on actual r…

26 Oct 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much is spent on training foster carers by each local authority.

Answer · Angela Constance: The amount spent on training of foster carers is a matter for individual local authorities, based on local needs. The Scottish Government doesn’t hold this information centrally.

26 Oct 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will use evidence-based data to assess intervention programmes arising from health reforms and, if so, who will collect and evaluate this.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Work to promote integration between health and social care includes the development of a draft set of key outcomes and associated measures for older people which health and care partnerships will be expected to deliver. These will be across the care spectrum …

26 Oct 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many foster carers the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) has in Scotland and on BAAF's training budget for each year since 2007.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the British Association for Adoption and Fostering’s training budget throughout Scotland or on their annual training budgets. Foster Carers are recruited by local authorities and agencies registered by Soc…

26 Oct 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide support to people in Scotland who might be affected by the UK Government's proposed changes to Disability Living Allowance.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Within the current devolution settlement, welfare benefits are reserved. The Welfare Reform Bill currently being considered by the UK Parliament will impact on some of the most vulnerable individuals and families in society and on the local authority and thir…

26 Oct 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to standardise the training of foster carers under the remit of Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland.

Answer · Angela Constance: Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland will have a role in ensuring adequate training is taking place including through Continuous Professional Development. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to ensure that foster carers are a…

5 Oct 2011 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will request that the Scottish Prison Service record all visits made by children to family members in prison and whether it considers that setting targets for such visits would help the rehabilitation of prisoners.

5 Oct 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether random drug testing is carried out on people on methadone programmes.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Clinicians are advised to undertake random urine tests where appropriate by the Drugs Misuse and Dependence – UK guidelines on clinical management (more commonly known as the Orange Guidelines). The guidelines state that urine tests, while providing pharmacol…

5 Oct 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much each NHS board (a) spends on prescriptions and (b) was allocated for 2011-12 for the withdrawal of prescription fees.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The answer to part (a) for the year 2010-11 is set out in the following table: NHS Board of Dispensing Gross Ingredient Cost* (£ million) NHS Ayrshire and Arran 76,235.353 NHS Borders 19,918.580 NHS Dumfries and Galloway 30,505.784 NHS Fife 76,426.…

28 Sep 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what changes there have been in the number of (a) young people and (b) adults smoking since the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 was introduced.

Answer · Michael Matheson: (a) Young people The Scottish Schools Attitudes Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) is a biennial survey of 13 and 15 year olds which collects information on smoking behaviour. The 2010 SALSUS data will be published on 25 October 2011 so the most rec…

28 Sep 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is on target to provide treatment in child and adolescent mental health services from referral within 26 weeks by 2013 and, if so, what evidence it has to support this.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Each NHS board has been asked to produce a trajectory illustrating how it will make progress towards meeting the HEAT target by March 2013. Progress against each of the HEAT targets is subject to monitoring and annual review. As signalled in the local delive…

8 Sep 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many students (a) started and (b) completed a degree course in sport in 2010-11, broken down by institution.

Answer · Michael Russell: The information requested is contained in the following tables. Table 1: Entrants to Sport-related First Degree Courses at the Scottish Higher Education Institutions: 2009-10 Institution Number of First Degree Entrants Aberdeen, University of 35 Aberta…

8 Sep 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many specialist sport facilities offer sports coaching to disabled people.

Answer · Shona Robison: This Government in partnership with sportscotland and Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) positively support and encourage all sports facilities to be inclusive and promote participation in and coaching of disability sport as part of mainstream clubs and faciliti…