- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 18 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received a report from the Scottish Law Commission in respect of proposed legislation on the conversion of long leases.
Answer
We expect to receive a report by the end of 2004, as explained at page 15 of the Scottish Law Commission’s Annual Report for 2003 (Scot Law Com No 194) published by The Stationery Office in 2004, a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 32268).
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 16 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are statutory limits on the time that children can be away from home in order to attend school.
Answer
There are no statutory limits on the time that children can be away from home in order to attend school.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 16 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what safety requirements for children are placed on primary schools once the school day ends from when they are waiting for school transport until delivery to agreed pick-up point.
Answer
Education authorities have a legal duty to take reasonable care of the safety of pupils when under their charge. Scottish Executive guidance to authorities on school transport matters includes a focus on the safety of pupils.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 16 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-2516 by Malcolm Chisholm of 3 June 2004, whether it will commission research into the incidence of road traffic accidents in which sleepiness was a contributory factor.
Answer
The Scottish Executive’s transport research programme for 2004-05 does not include research on sleep-related road accidents.
The UK Government has been conducting research into sleep related road accidents for over 10 years and has published reports on a number of studies, including accidents on selected trunk roads and motorways. Current research by the Department for Transport, on sleep related road accidents on different types of road, is due to be published later this year.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 10 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1F-1882 by Mr Jack McConnell on 9 May 2002, how often guidance to police forces is updated on (a) any innovations in detection and identification of date rape drugs and (b) best practice in dealing with victims of drug rape in order to maximise the ability to secure convictions.
Answer
In 2002 the Association of ChiefPolice Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) issued Drug Assisted Sexual Assault - Guidefor Investigators to Scottish Police Forces. The guide is subject to annual review.In addition, advice on new and emerging trends concerning Drug Assisted Sexual Assault(DASA) is disseminated to forces as and when required by the Scottish Drug EnforcementAgency.
Apresentation on DASA was also delivered a recent ACPOS Drugs Conference in March2004, where delegates heard expert testimony on this subject.
ACPOS recognise the need to standardisethe way forces collect forensic evidence during investigations of DASA and, afterextensive consultation, new forensic evidence sampling kits specifically designedand developed for use in the investigation of such assault are in the final stagesof development.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 9 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7076 by Nicol Stephen on 2 April 2004, when the consultation paper on concessionary travel, due to be published in April, will be published.
Answer
The consultation paper on concessionarytravel will be issued soon.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 9 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, regarding the 2930 parliamentary questions to date that received the answer that the information requested was not held centrally, in how many cases the information requested is now available and what measures are being put in place to hold information sought by MSPs centrally.
Answer
When replying to parliamentaryquestions, the Executive strives to provide the member with as much informationas is available at the time. On some occasions the information sought will not beheld centrally and this will be reflected in the answer.
It would be an extensive taskto review each of these questions to assess if the information requested then isnow available. In cases where information is not available centrally but is availableelsewhere, we advise where it can be obtained or we direct to published sources.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 9 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, of the 337 parliamentary questions that have been answered to date where the question addressed a health issue and the answer stated that the information requested was not held centrally, in how many cases the information is now available centrally.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer I gave to S2W-8363 on 9 June 2004. All answers to which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 4 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what weighting will be given to social inclusion criteria in deciding whether or not there should be a stop at Stow on the Borders railway.
Answer
The specification for the proposedBorders Railway – including the location of stations along its route – is the responsibilityof the Waverley Railway Partnership. The Scottish Executive requires that our ScottishTransport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) is applied to all significant transport schemes.The STAG assessment process gives fair consideration to a scheme’s potential toimprove: the environment; safety; the economy; integration; accessibility, and socialinclusion.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 4 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive with reference to the article “Screening Saves Lives” in the May edition of Health Quarterly, Holyrood Policy Journal, what plans are in place to implement (a) a national colorectal screening programme following the successful pilot schemes in Grampian, Tayside and Fife and (b) a concerted drive to raise awareness of the disease and to encourage participation, given that there are approximately 3,500 cases and almost 2,000 deaths from colorectal cancer each year.
Answer
Following the positive evaluationof the UK Colorectal Cancer Screening Pilot the Executive has re-affirmed the commitmentgiven in Cancer in Scotland to introduce a national bowel cancer screeningprogramme. The planning process, which will take around five years, has begun andthe key components are outlined in the Bowel Cancer Framework for Scotland whichwas published in April 2004. A copy of the Framework is available in the Parliament’sReference Centre (Bib. number 32698). The role of public awareness campaigns, whichis primarily for NHS boards, is covered in the Framework.
