- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 3 December 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22478 by Patricia Ferguson on 12 February 2002, how many joint ministerial committees and sub-committee meetings have been convened since 12 February 2002; where each meeting took place, which minister attended, and what was discussed.
Answer
Since 12 February 2002 one plenary meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC), and five meetings of the functional committees have taken place.The Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) Plenary was held on 22 October in London. The First Minister and I attended. The committee reviewed progress over the past year and reaffirmed its continuing support for devolution despite the previous week's setback in Northern Ireland. The meeting also discussed reform of public services and the Fire Service dispute.The Joint Ministerial Committee (Europe) met on 7 March, 11 June, 27 September and 22 October in London. I attended on 7 March, 11 June and 22 October, and the First Minister on 27 September and 22 October.On 7 March JMC (Europe) discussed the Barcelona European Council and the Future of Europe. On 11 June it discussed preparations for the Seville European Council and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. On 27 September the committee discussed the Future of Europe and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. On 22 October the committee focused on preparations for the Brussels European Council.The Joint Ministerial Committee (Poverty) met on 18 September in London. Andy Kerr MSP, Minister for Finance and Public Services and Margaret Curran MSP, Minister for Social Justice, attended. The JMC (Poverty) meeting discussed actions to deliver policies for alleviating poverty in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 3 December 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all sub-committees of the Joint Ministerial Committee and detail their membership.
Answer
The Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) has met in the following functional groups: JMC Poverty, JMC Health, JMC Europe and JMC Knowledge Economy. Each sub-committee consists of UK Ministers, the First and Deputy First Ministers from the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Executive, and other ministers from each administration with an interest in the relevant sectoral area.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 3 December 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings of the Joint Ministerial Committee and its sub-committees have been planned up to December 2003, detailing where and when each meeting will be held, which minister is to attend and what matters will be discussed.
Answer
The Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) meets annually and met most recently in London on 22 October 2002. JMC sub-committees meet as and when necessary.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 October 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 31 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that car parking charges at hospitals are affordable for patients, visitors and staff.
Answer
The department expects NHS trusts to consult fully with staff and the public when considering the introduction, and subsequent operation of, car parking charges. Revised guidance is currently under consideration and consultation will be a feature of that guidance.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 02 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 16 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils have been refused places at their chosen secondary schools where those pupils lived in the official catchment area for the school in question in each year since 1998, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 28 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many policy analysts were employed by the Scottish Office in each year from 1995 to 1999.
Answer
Numbers of policy analysts (administration grade C1) employed between 1995 and 1999 are given in the following table.Count of admin C1 officers, Scottish Office core departments. As at 1 April 1995 - 1999
| Year | Count |
| 1995 | 152 |
| 1996 | 164 |
| 1997 | 171 |
| 1998 | 177 |
| 1999 | 217 |
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 28 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many policy analysts (a) it employs currently, broken down by department and (b) it has employed in each year since 1999.
Answer
Numbers of policy analysts (administration grade C1) broken down by department are given in the following table.Count of permanent admin C1 officers, Scottish Executive core departments, by department, as at 1 April 2002
| Department | Count |
| Total | 259 |
| Finance and Central Services | 41 |
| Environment and Rural Affairs | 41 |
| Development | 39 |
| Health | 35 |
| Enterprise and Lifelong Learning | 32 |
| Education | 28 |
| Justice | 17 |
| Corporate Services | 16 |
| Ministerial Group | 4 |
| Centrally Managed Staff | 6 |
Numbers of policy analysts (administration grade C1) employed between 1999 and 2002 are given in the following table.Count of permanent admin C1 officers, Scottish Executive core departments as at 1 April 1999 - 2002
| Year | Count |
| 1999 | 217 |
| 2000 | 227 |
| 2001 | 234 |
| 2002 | 259 |
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 26 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 23 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27061 by Malcolm Chisholm on 10 July 2002, whether it will collect and hold centrally information on performance against local waiting time targets.
Answer
Monitoring and reporting performance against local waiting times targets is likely to be most effective when carried out by individual NHS boards and trusts. The National Waiting Times Unit is currently working with NHS boards on developing local waiting times standards which will focus on tackling the longest waits for first out-patient appointments with a specialist and for diagnostic tests. Information about performance against these local standards will be included in the National Waiting Times Database, which the unit is currently developing, and which will be available by the end of 2002.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what support the New Deal Implementation Support Group has given to West Lothian Healthcare NHS Trust in order to enable it to achieve compliance with the limit of 56 hours of work per week for junior doctors.
Answer
Members of the Implementation Support Group have been meeting regularly with trust representatives to provide advice and guidance on producing rotas that are New Deal compliant.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27066 by Malcolm Chisholm on 10 July 2002, why it does not hold centrally information on the average number of hours worked by junior doctors in the NHS.
Answer
The Scottish Executive requires trusts to report on compliance with the contractual requirements of the New Deal for junior doctors and available data covers whether junior doctors meet the limit of 56 hours per week. Considerable efforts have been focussed on ensuring that accurate information is recorded and gathered from trusts on this key objective.It is the responsibility of trusts to ensure compliance with New Deal. Trusts are currently further updating their information systems to ensure that working patterns of junior doctors, including the average hours worked, are recorded for junior doctors.
