- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-6086 by Mr Frank McAveety on 12 December 2002, what consideration it has given to adopting a policy in Scotland similar to that of Her Majesty's Government's of placing 700 defibrillators in 72 public places in England and Wales.
Answer
Our national advisory body on coronary heart disease will continue to keep under review the evidence on the benefits of siting automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in public places. This need not prevent local initiatives based on local assessments of cost-effectiveness.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 24 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what role rail services will play in the provision of rural transport, in the light of paragraphs 2-9 in section B of the report by the Scottish National Rural Partnership, Implementing Services in Rural Scotland: A Progress Report.
Answer
The Scottish Executive's consultation paper Strategic Priorities for Scotland's Passenger Railway, published in November 2000, included our priorities for rail services in rural Scotland.In particular, the paper outlined the Executive's expectation that the rail industry in Scotland would assist in the development of viable rural communities and the objective of tackling the peripherality of many rural communities through the delivery of reduced journey times from those communities where sufficient benefits can be generated.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 23 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what period the #150,000 announced by the Minister for Education and Young People on 14 January 2003 for the Inclusive Learning Network for children with special educational needs will cover.
Answer
The Inclusive Learning Network was formally launched on 14 January 2003. The Equity Group were awarded £150,000 to take forward this project within the period June 2002 to March 2004. Funding is paid through the Special Educational Needs Innovation Grants Programme.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 23 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the statement in paragraph 139 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that "a serious problem is the lack of throughcare and aftercare" and "prisoners serving less than four years are not subject to statutory aftercare and may receive no support after leaving prison".
Answer
We have recognised the need for improved throughcare and aftercare of prisoners in a major new policy development based on the Tripartite Group's report, Developing the Service. The report, which is to be published later this month, identifies young offenders as a priority group. Membership of the Tripartite Group is drawn from the Scottish Executive, the Scottish Prison Service and local authorities.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 22 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive in the light of the statement in paragraph 190 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that "information about the progress of young people under supervision of local authorities is limited", what data it has and what action it has taken, or plans to take, to improve the collection and collation of such data.
Answer
Information on young people on a supervision requirement is held locally by local authorities. On 19 December, we allocated £3 million to local authorities to invest in IT to improve the information on and assessment of young people who offend.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 22 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the statement in paragraph 203 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that "local authorities complain that there are too many separate funding sources, that they appear uncoordinated and too much time is required to make applications".
Answer
The Executive is actively looking at ways of achieving more integrated funding streams, following the Spending Review 2002, as part of its general drive towards more integrated services for children and young people.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 22 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the statement in paragraph 163 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that "there is no national information about the number of children in residential schools".
Answer
The statement in the Audit Scotland report reads in full:There is no national information about the numbers of young people in residential schools where offending is one of the difficulties that needs to be tackled.The Executive publishes annually figures on looked after children in residential schools. Those for 2001-02 were published on 28 November 2002 and are available via the link:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00199-00.asp.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 22 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many women under the age of 21 received (a) a custodial sentence, (b) a community penalty, (c) a monetary penalty and (d) any other penalty in (i) 1999-2000, (ii) 2000-01, (iii) 2001-02 and (iv) 2002-03 to date.
Answer
The information available, which relates to calendar years, is given in the following table.Females Aged Under 21 With a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts, by Type of Sentence, 1999-2001
| | Year of Sentence |
| Main disposal | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
| Custody | 282 | 336 | 331 |
| Community sentence | 582 | 525 | 505 |
| Monetary | 1,530 | 1,416 | 1,357 |
| Other sentence | 885 | 782 | 730 |
| Total | 3,279 | 3,059 | 2,923 |
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 22 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what data it has on the number of young people in residential and secure units and young offenders institutions that have mental health difficulties and on the staffing provision in such units and institutions, as referred to in paragraph 166 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people.
Answer
In 2001-02 there were two admissions to secure care for children with a clinically diagnosed mental health illness. In the same year, 103 young people with a clinically diagnosed mental health illness were admitted to residential accommodation. Many young people in residential care are reported to have mental health issues and there are specialist resources available that care establishments draw from to support these young people. This support should be included in the young person's care plan. In the secure estate an independent child care psychologist provides services at St Mary's Kenmure and NHS Glasgow provides sessional psychological support at Kerelaw and at Rossie implementation of an improved mental health assessment and care package has commenced.The Health Department is also conducting a review of the need for a secure facility for young people with a clinically diagnosed mental health illness. In relation to Young Offenders Institutions (YOI), Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service has responded as follows:Approximately 10% of the young offender population at Polmont YOI have mental health problems. 2-3% of those are in receipt of prescribed psychiatric medication. HM YOI Polmont has a dedicated mental health team.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 22 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its new national youth justice standards, as referred to by the Minister for Education and Young People on 5 December 2002 in its press release SEED153/2002.
Answer
The
National Standards for Scotland's Youth Justice Services report was published on 19 December 2002. It is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 25683) and on the Scottish Executive website at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/justice/nssyjs-00.asp
