- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 31 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to means-test fees in respect of freedom of information requests made to public bodies.
Answer
Charging for providing information is discretionary, but any charges must be made in accordance with the current fees regulations issued under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 in SSIs 2004/376 and 2004/467. The Code of Practice issued by Scottish ministers under s60 of the act requires authorities to bear in mind, when applying the fees regime, that many applicants may be on low incomes. The operation of the fees regulations is one of the subjects of the current public consultation on the operation of the act.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 31 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its officials have received an honour in the (a) Queen’s Birthday Honours List and (b) New Year’s Honours List in each year since 1999.
Answer
The number of Scottish Executive officials who have received an honour in the (a) Queen’s Birthday Honours List and (b) New Year’s Honours List in each year since 1999 are detailed in the following table.
| Honours List | Awards |
| New Year 2006 | 6 |
| Birthday 2005 | 7 |
| New Year 2005 | 6 |
| Birthday 2004 | 5 |
| New Year 2004 | 5 |
| Birthday 2003 | 7 |
| New Year 2003 | 8 |
| Birthday 2002 | 6 |
| New Year 2002 | 6 |
| Birthday 2001 | 7 |
| New Year 2001 | 4 |
| Birthday 2000 | 7 |
| New Year 2000 | 10 |
| Birthday 1999 | 5 |
| New Year 1999 | 9 |
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 31 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S20-8690 by Robert Brown on 19 January 2006 (Official Report c. 22548) regarding the children of failed asylum seekers and in light of the statement by the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration that children can be deported while under investigation by it, whether this issue will be specifically addressed in the agreement with the UK Government.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-22160 on 23 January 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 30 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of convicted sex offenders were recorded as having a mental health problem in each year since 1999.
Answer
This information is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 26 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-19911 by Mr Andy Kerr on 7 November 2005, how many neurologists and specialist registrars working in neurology there have been in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer
The information requested is contained in five tables entitled Medical Staff in Neurology by grade and NHS Board 2001-2005 a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 38692).
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 26 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-14562 by Mr Andy Kerr on 16 March 2005, what the most recent average waiting times are for a first out-patient appointment with a neurology consultant following referral by a GP, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer
NHSScotland has made excellent progress in reducing long waits for patients. On 30 September 2005, the number of patients waiting more than 26 weeks for a first outpatient appointment with a consultant in neurology, following referral, was 986 compared with 1,841 on 30 September 2004 - a reduction of 46%.
The number of first out-patient neurology appointments and the median waiting time for a first out-patient appointment with a consultant in the specialty of neurology, following referral by a general medical practitioner, by NHS board of residence, in the year ended 30 September 2005, is given in the table.
NHSScotland: Number of First Out-Patient Appointments and Median Waiting Times for a First Out-Patient Appointment with a Consultant in the Specialty of Neurology, Following Referral by a General Medical Practitioner, by NHS Board Area of Residence, Year Ended 30 September 2005P
| NHS Board | Number of Appointments | Median Waits (Days) |
| Argyll and Clyde | 1,226 | 101 |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 547 | 95 |
| Borders | 323 | 100 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 264 | 85 |
| Fife | 1,197 | 118 |
| Forth Valley | 671 | 74 |
| Grampian | 1,924 | 54 |
| Greater Glasgow | 3,750 | 92 |
| Highland | 395 | 130 |
| Lanarkshire | 1,067 | 127 |
| Lothian | 4,758 | 36 |
| Orkney | 16 | 60* |
| Shetland | 22 | 74* |
| Tayside | 1,401 | 188 |
| Western Isles | 55 | 168 |
| | | |
| Scotland | 17,616 | 83 |
Source: SMR00, ISD Scotland.
pProvisional.
Notes:
*Figures should be treated with caution as they are derived from a possible unrepresentatively small number of appointments (more than 14 but less than 50).
Excludes patients with an Availability Status Code.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 26 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of individuals convicted of violent assault since 1999 have reoffended within one year of their release.
Answer
The available information is given in the following table.
Persons Released from a Custodial Sentence or Given a Non-Custodial Sentence in 1999-2002 Whose Index Conviction1 was for a Violent Crime: Percentage Reconvicted Within One Year
| | Percentage Reconvicted Within 1 Year |
| | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
| All Violent Crime | 22 | 24 | 23 | 24 |
| Serious assault and homicide 2 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 19 |
| Robbery | 36 | 37 | 35 | 39 |
| Simple assault | 22 | 24 | 23 | 24 |
| Other Violence | 17 | 18 | 22 | 21 |
Notes:
1. For each offender in the cohort, this is the conviction which resulted in a non-custodial sentence being served or the one which had originally led to a custodial sentence being served.
2. Includes murder, culpable homicide, attempted murder and serious assault.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 25 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to assist the Borders textile industry and, in particular, cashmere production, in light of recent redundancies at Douglas of Scotland and John Laings of Hawick.
Answer
The Scottish Textiles teamin Scottish Enterprise has a remit to assist the sustainable development andgrowth of the textile industry throughout Scotland, including the Borders. The team works with a numberof partners to deliver a wide range of support measures to address theindustry’s issues such as workforce development, image technical capability andoverseas development. In addition, Scottish Enterprise Borders has provided financialand administrative support to the Cashmere Club which represents 85% of theBorders based cashmere industry over a four year period.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 25 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what role there is for the Scottish Textiles Forum in respect of the redundancies in textile production in the Scottish Borders.
Answer
The Scottish Textiles Forumprovides a central coordinating body linking industry with government. The forumwill therefore continue to work with industry and key partner organisations todevelop strategic direction for the industry and appropriate measures ofsupport.
Scottish Enterprise Bordersis working closely with other agencies such as Careers Scotland, ScottishBorders Council and JobCentre Plus through the PACE initiative to help thosemade redundant find suitable new employment.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 25 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been provided to support textile production in the Scottish Borders in each of the last six years; where the funding has been allocated, and for what purpose.
Answer
Since 2001 ScottishEnterprise has provided over £1.7 million through Scottish Textiles to supportthe Scottish textiles industry. A further breakdown to show specific figuresfor the Borders and purpose of the funding is not available asdisproportionately high costs would be attached to obtaining this information.
Scottish Enterprise Bordershas provided a financial contribution of £419,000 over a four year period from2001-05 to the Borders based Cashmere Club. This is in addition to £130,000from Scottish Borders Council and up to £632,000 from the EU. This funding wasused for brand promotion and enhancing the brand image. In addition, localenterprise companies provide a range of business support services assistingtraining and business development.
From 2000 the ScottishExecutive has provided some £538,000 in Regional Selective Assistance toScottish Textiles companies in the Borders to support capital investments of £2.4million creating or safeguarding 110 jobs. Scottish Development Internationalprovides £50,000 per annum to support and promote the industry internationally.
