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Business Bulletin No. 139 / 2003 |
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Monday 20th October 2003 |
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Section E : Written questions lodged from 13th to 17th October 2003 |
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Questions marked with a triangle (Δ) are initiated by the Scottish Executive in order to facilitate the provision of information to the Parliament. S2W-3399 Murdo Fraser: To ask the Scottish Executive which ministers have made visits outwith Scotland since May 2003; to which destinations; for how long, and at what cost. S2W-3411 Alex Neil: To ask the Scottish Executive when the Lord Advocate will reply to Ian Hamilton QC in respect of his concerns about the quality of the fingerprint service provided by the Scottish Criminal Record Office, as reported in the Sunday Herald on 5 October 2003. S2W-3412 Alex Neil: To ask the Scottish Executive what quality checks were made in respect of the fingerprinting evidence submitted by the Scottish Criminal Record Office for the High Court trial in Ayr during September and October 2003 of Mark Sinclair; who carried out the checks, and what the outcome was. S2W-3413 Alex Neil: To ask the Scottish Executive in how many criminal court cases in each of the last three years in which the Scottish Criminal Record Office has submitted fingerprint evidence has the accused been found guilty. S2W-3414 Alex Neil: To ask the Scottish Executive how many times in each of the last three years the Scottish Criminal Record Office has submitted fingerprint evidence in criminal cases and how many times that evidence has been disputed in open court. S2W-3416 Alasdair Morgan: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to upgrade the A95 south of Grantown on Spey. S2W-3417 Murray Tosh: To ask the Scottish Executive whether land and buildings belonging to Scottish Water are Crown property and therefore exempt from planning and building regulations and what directions have been given to, or protocols agreed with, Scottish Water to ensure that works carried out by, or for, it comply with planning and building requirements. S2W-3418 Murray Tosh: To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the commitment made by the Minister for Transport to the Local Government and Transport Committee on 7 October 2003 in regard to providing the committee with updated and detailed information about the progress and implementation of its strategic transport infrastructure projects (Official Report c 118), whether all MSPs will also be kept so informed, and, if so, how that information will be provided. S2W-3419 Richard Lochhead: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has been advised by any provider what the estimated cost of rolling out 100% broadband coverage, or as close to 100% coverage as possible, will be, and, if so, what that estimate was. S2W-3420 Richard Lochhead: To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place with food manufacturers in Scotland about making healthier products and whether it has had any discussions about putting this issue on the agenda of the European Union. S2W-3421 Pauline McNeill: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to enforce the law on disabled parking bays. S2W-3422 Mr Jim Mather: To ask the Scottish Executive what the formula was for calculating the recent enterprise in education grants to local authorities. S2W-3423 Mike Rumbles: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2362 by Cathy Jamieson on 18 September 2003, how many operational police officers there were per head of population in each police force area in each of the last three years. S2W-3424 Mike Rumbles: To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected number is of operational police officers per head of population in each police force area for the next three years. S2W-3425 Colin Fox: To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in its review of prescription charges, as referred to in A Partnership for a Better Scotland. S2W-3426 Des McNulty: To ask the Scottish Executive how many employees Scottish Water expects to have in 2006. S2W-3427 Des McNulty: To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance Scottish Water will give to employees who leave the organisation over the next year. S2W-3428 Des McNulty: To ask the Scottish Executive how many employees who have left Scottish Water since its establishment have subsequently taken up employment in companies associated with Scottish Water Solutions Ltd and its parent companies. S2W-3429 Des McNulty: To ask the Scottish Executive how many employees have left Scottish Water since its establishment. S2W-3430 Des McNulty: To ask the Scottish Executive how Scottish Water's rate of return of 7.3% in 2002-03 compares to other similar organisations in the UK and internationally. S2W-3431 Des McNulty: To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish Water's voluntary severance programme has achieved its objectives. S2W-3432 Des McNulty: To ask the Scottish Executive what targets have been set by Scottish Water in relation to its voluntary severance programme. S2W-3433 Fergus Ewing: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre copies of all submissions received to its consultation paper Business Improvement Districts as soon as possible so that members may consider them prior to the parliamentary debate on building better cities scheduled to be held on 30 October 2003. S2W-3434 Fergus Ewing: To ask the Scottish Executive whether the comments made by the Permanenet Secretary and reported in the media on 9 October 2003 were supported by a written briefing and, if so, whether a copy of that briefing will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. S2W-3435 Fergus Ewing: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the comments made by the Permanent Secretary reported in The Herald on 9 October 2003, (a) whether it will clarify the remit, membership and estimated annual cost of the (i) group for horizon scanning and (ii) performance and innovation unit, (b) what the role, remit and renumeration will be of the "proven performer" to be appointed from the private sector and (c) what the annual cost of the new delivery unit will be. S2W-3436 Miss Annabel Goldie: To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases were dealt with by Glasgow District Court in each of the last three years and what proportion of these were drug related. S2W-3437 Miss Annabel Goldie: To ask the Scottish Executive what the legal age of consent is for homosexual activity between males in Scotland. S2W-3438 Stewart Stevenson: To ask the Scottish Executive how many manufacturing jobs have been lost in (a) Scotland, (b) Aberdeen, (c) Edinburgh, (d) Dundee, (e) Glasgow, (f) Inverness and (g) Stirling in each year since 1996. S2W-3439 Stewart Stevenson: To ask the Scottish Executive how many manufacturing jobs have been created through inward investment in (a) Scotland, (b) Aberdeen, (c) Edinburgh, (d) Dundee, (e) Glasgow, (f) Inverness and (g) Stirling in each year since 1996. S2W-3440 Stewart Stevenson: To ask the Scottish Executive what the level of employment has been in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector in each quarter since 1997. S2W-3441 Stewart Stevenson: To ask the Scottish Executive what the level of employment has been in the construction industry in each quarter since 1997. S2W-3442 Stewart Stevenson: To ask the Scottish Executive what the level of economic inactivity has been in each quarter since 1997. S2W-3443 Mr Brian Monteith: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it, or any of its agencies, provided any financial support in connection with the bid for the new Inverness to Birmingham air route; what funding it will make available for the next three years; how much funding has been provided to date, broken down by individual payments; to whom such payments have been made, and what funding was provided prior to the awarding of the route in order to secure it. S2W-3444 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to promote a second direct ferry link with the continent from Rosyth and, if so, what funding or other support will be made available for any such link. S2W-3445 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive what funding or other support will be made available to Northlink Ferries, Forth Ports plc and any other appropriate organisation seeking to create a ferry link between the Northern Isles, Aberdeen and Rosyth. S2W-3446 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive what funding or other support will be made available to Smyril Line, Forth Ports plc and any other appropriate organisation seeking to create a ferry link between Lerwick, Rosyth and Norway. S2W-3447 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected costs are for (a) staffing and (b) establishing the headquarters of Transport Scotland; what the projected staffing complement is, and how many staff are anticipated to be (i) transferred and (ii) seconded to Transport Scotland from (1) the Executive's transport department, (2) local government or (3) any other statutory body. S2W-3448 Karen Gillon: To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the report by the Inquiry Reporters Unit into the Lower Clydesdale Local Plan will be concluded. S2W-3449Δ Des McNulty: To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to report on the performance and integrity of National Statistics in Scotland. S2W-3450Δ Nora Radcliffe: To ask the Scottish Executive what the outcome was of the Agicultural and Fisheries Council held in Brussels on 13 October 2003. S2W-3451 Stewart Stevenson: To ask the Scottish Executive how much money was (a) allocated to and (b) spent on support for carers by (i) local authorities and (ii) other organisations in each of the last four years. S2W-3452 Chris Ballance: To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on roads in the current financial year from budgets other than the core transport budget, including from European development funds. S2W-3453 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2549 by Ms Margaret Curran on 24 September 2003, which local authorities are currently participating in the neighbourhood compact scheme. S2W-3454 Alex Neil: To ask the Scottish Executive how many times the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has decided not to use fingerprint evidence provided by the Scottish Criminal Record Office to it in court cases in each of the last three years. S2W-3455 Mr David Davidson: To ask the Scottish Executive what urgent action it will take to encourage the donation of blood at a time of shortage in the NHS. S2W-3456 Mr David Davidson: To ask the Scottish Executive how much will be spent on each of the 59 headings referred to in A Partnership for a Better Scotland (a) in the current year and (b) in each of the next three years. S2W-3457 Mr David Davidson: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list in order of priority the health action points referred to in A Partnership for a Better Scotland. S2W-3459 Mr David Davidson: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will adopt the RNID and Her Majesty's Government's Department of Health's initiative that utilises high street hearing aid practitioners to assess suitability for, and the fitting of, digital hearing aids to reduce current waiting times as a result of any shortage of audiology staff in the NHS. S2W-3461 Mr David Davidson: To ask the Scottish Executive how many administrative staff posts will be affected by the merger of NHS boards and trusts and what savings the NHS expects to make in each of the next three years as a result of this amalgamation. S2W-3462 Mr David Davidson: To ask the Scottish Executive what additional funding will be awarded to NHS boards to fund their new responsibilities for an out of hours service once the new GP contract is introduced and from which budget any such funds will be allocated. S2W-3463 Christine Grahame: To ask the Scottish Executive whether guidance issued to local authorities on the direction of choice in regard to discharge from hospitals to care homes is being reviewed; if so, what form the consultation process is taking; who is being consulted; what views have been expressed, and whether any representations have raised issues relating to the implementation of the guidance in rural areas. S2W-3464 Des McNulty: To ask the Scottish Executive what the reasons were for not capping increases in water bills for business customers. S2W-3465 Des McNulty: To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanism it will use to ensure that future strategic reviews of charges in the water industry will consider the capacity of Scottish Water to meet new demands, including projected new housing, commercial and industrial developments. S2W-3466 Des McNulty: To ask the Scottish Executive how it will assist low income households pay water bills when the Transitional Water and Waste Water Charges Scheme ends on 31 March 2004. S2W-3467 Des McNulty: To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it received in regard to any potential impact of new pricing arrangements on water bills of business customers. S2W-3468 Des McNulty: To ask the Scottish Executive what the range will be of any increases arising from new water pricing arrangements. S2W-3469 Des McNulty: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce any measures to assist water customers affected by increases in water bills. S2W-3470 Mr Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Executive how much the NHS drugs bill has been in each of the last three years. S2W-3471 Mr Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on (a) atypical antipsychotic drugs, (b) antipsychotic drugs, (c) antidementia drugs and (d) Ritalin, in each of the last three years. S2W-3472 Mr Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on psychological intervention, or other non-drug therapies, in respect of (a) severe and enduring mental illness, (b) attention deficit hyperkinetic disorder, (c) depression and (d) dementia, in each of the last three years. S2W-3473 Mr Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Executive which drugs have been withdrawn from use for the treatment of people under 18 in each of the last three years. S2W-3475Δ Rhona Brankin: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish school examination results for each school this year. S2W-3476 Richard Lochhead: To ask the Scottish Executive how many nurses there are who assist anaesthetists administering general anaesthetic for the purposes of treating children admitted to hospital for tooth extractions at each hospital in each NHS board area, expressed also on a per capita basis. S2W-3477 Richard Lochhead: To ask the Scottish Executive how often, and for how long, on average, clinics dealing with tooth extractions under general anaesthetic are held in each NHS board area. S2W-3478 Richard Lochhead: To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is in each NHS board area for children awaiting a general anaesthetic for tooth extractions. S2W-3479 Richard Lochhead: To ask the Scottish Executive how many orthodontic consultants are employed by each NHS board, expressed also per head of population. S2W-3480 Richard Lochhead: To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is in each NHS board area for an appointment to receive speech and language therapy. S2W-3481 Richard Lochhead: To ask the Scottish Executive how many speech and language therapists there are in each NHS board area, expressed also on a per capita basis and as a ratio to the number of people registered as requiring such services. S2W-3482 Richard Lochhead: To ask the Scottish Executive what the speech and language therapy budget is in each NHS board area expressed also on a per capita basis and as a ratio to the number of people registered as requiring such services. S2W-3483 Richard Lochhead: To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any shortage of speech and language therapists and, if so, what steps are being taken to address the situation. S2W-3484 Richard Lochhead: To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is in each NHS board area for an appointment with a physiotherapist. S2W-3485 Richard Lochhead: To ask the Scottish Executive how many paediatric (a) nurses and (b) consultants are employed in each NHS board area, expressed also on a per capita basis and as a ratio to the number of children in each board area. S2W-3486 Richard Lochhead: To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to increase the number of paediatric (a) nurses and (b) consultants in each NHS board area. S2W-3487 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive what the current position is with regard to the Scottish Qualifications Authority's programme on English for speakers of other languages and what the timescale is for implementing the programme in the (a) school, (b) further education and (c) higher education sector. S2W-3488 Colin Fox: To ask the Scottish Executive how many police posts will be affected if plans to privatise prison escort and court security duties are implemented. S2W-3489 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive how the additional £10 million awarded to Communities Scotland will be allocated to achieve more affordable housing for people living in the highlands. S2W-3490 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive which funding streams target child poverty. S2W-3491 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are in place to monitor whether local authority expenditure priorities are in line with Executive objectives and targets. S2W-3492 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive what action it takes if a local authority does not allocate and prioritise its expenditure in line with Executive objectives and targets. S2W-3494 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive how additional funding allocated under the Arbuthnott formula in respect of child poverty and improving the health of poor children is targeted in each NHS board area. S2W-3496 Mr David Davidson: To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has given to local authorities, NHS boards and other agencies with regard to the joint funding of projects to support carers, such as the CA(I)RE project at the Eric Liddle Centre. S2W-3497 Mr David Davidson: To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has given to NHS boards and trusts regarding the use of incentives, such as "golden hellos", to attract and retain key staff to the NHS. S2W-3498 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive how much (a) is currently spent and (b) will be spent from 1 April 2004, on security at each airport operated by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited; what additional security measures are planned for each airport, and at what cost, expressed also per passenger. S2W-3499Δ Maureen Macmillan: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23566 by Mr Jim Wallace on 28 February 2002, where the further Public Defence Solicitors' Office pilot projects will be located. S2W-3500 Brian Adam: To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on charges for the disposal of industrial and commercial waste. S2W-3501 Brian Adam: To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage competition in the waste disposal market. S2W-3502 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive what improvements have been made to the average waiting time for a child to reach a Children's Hearing, given the findings contained in Audit Scotland's report Dealing with Offending by Young People. S2W-3503 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to improve the average waiting time for a court decision on a young person, given the findings contained in Audit Scotland's report Dealing with Offending by Young People. S2W-3504 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to address the issues relating to the delivery of assessment reports on children in the Children's Hearing System, as referred to in Audit Scotland's report Dealing with Offending by Young People. S2W-3505 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to address staff shortages and social work vacancies in relation to the Children's Hearing System, as referred to in Audit Scotland's report Dealing with Offending by Young People. S2W-3506 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to increase resources to community-based services aimed at tackling offending behaviour as part of the youth justice system, as referred to in Audit Scotland's report Dealing with Offending by Young People. S2W-3507 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to provide further training and support for social workers, particularly in the use of risk assessment, as referred to in Audit Scotland's report Dealing with Offending by Young People. S2W-3508 Alex Neil: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish details of the justification for the report in the Sunday Herald on 5 October 2003 of a statement made by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service that the quality check process for all Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) evidence by independent experts has shown that "evidence provided by SCRO was of the highest quality". S2W-3509 Alex Neil: To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Lord Advocate will commission an independent enquiry into the competency and efficiency of the Scottish Criminal Record Office including the safety of the fingerprint evidence it submits to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service for use in court cases. S2W-3510 Tricia Marwick: To ask the Scottish Executive what public bodies gave grant or loan assistance to the Scottish Golf Union to set up the Scottish National Golf Centre at Drumoig and how much each such body contributed. S2W-3511 Tricia Marwick: To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the money set aside to host the Ryder Cup has been made available to assist in ensuring that every child has the opportunity to play golf and which golfing organisations have been the recipients of any such funds. S2W-3512 Tricia Marwick: To ask the Scottish Executive when it will meet the Scottish Golf Union to discuss the future of the Scottish National Golf Centre at Drumoig. S2W-3513 Bill Butler: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will continue to commit to the development of the Glasgow Crossrail scheme, given that Strathclyde Transport Authority have approved a submission to the Integrated Transport Fund with regard to the feasibility of the scheme. S2W-3514 Bill Butler: To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the Glasgow Crossrail scheme as (a) cost efficient, (b) practicable and (c) beneficial to the national rail network. S2W-3515 Stewart Stevenson: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish details of the projections from Communities Scotland in regard to housing referred to at the Communities Committee on 8 October 2003 (Official Report c 138). S2W-3516 Bill Butler: To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the Glasgow Crossrail scheme in regard to (a) ensuring that the planned rail link to Glasgow Airport opens the airport to the whole of Scotland and (b) delivering many of the rail projects listed in the Central Scotland Transport Corridor document. S2W-3517 Christine Grahame: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-33495 by Mrs Mary Mulligan on 5 February 2003, when the remit and timescale of Professor James McEwen's review of the current provision of chronic pain services will be announced. S2W-3518 Christine Grahame: To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take take to implement a national framework for pain management services as recommended by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Scotland in its annual report 2002-03, Outside in. S2W-3519 Christine Grahame: To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking on the development of direct referral to physiotherapy services as recommended by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy in Scotland in light of a pilot project in Dundee that demonstrated that such a system produced a saving of one months' consultation time a year in an average GP practice. S2W-3520 Tommy Sheridan: To ask the Scottish Executive which of the four conditions set out in the European Court of Justice's judgement on the Altmark Trans bus company case regarding the classification of compensation as state aid apply to its tendering procedures for ferry services. S2W-3521 Tommy Sheridan: To ask the Scottish Executive who benefits from its ferry tendering process. S2W-3522 Tommy Sheridan: To ask the Scottish Executive what companies it has employed in the tendering processes for ferry services; what the costs of these contracts are, and whether there are any penalty clauses in respect of any premature closing of the tendering process. |
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