Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S2W-11717

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 October 2004
Current Status: Answered by Johann Lamont on 9 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is required of local authorities in monitoring the impact of planning decisions on town centres under sections 90 and 91 of National Planning Policy Guideline - Town Centres and Retailing - Planning Policy Series: NPPG 8 Revised 1998.

Question reference: S2W-12068

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 9 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in relocating public sector jobs to Dumfries and Galloway.

We have made good progress. I am pleased to announce that we will relocate the National Health Service Central Register (NHSCR) to Dumfries.

The NHSCR, part of the General Register Office for Scotland, has the core function of maintaining and operating a register of NHS patients in Scotland. It comprises a team of 17 staff and is a vital component to the smooth running of the NHS in Scotland. It will relocate to Dumfries in the spring of 2005.

The Executive are committed to our relocation policy and to ensuring it is a policy for the whole of Scotland. This small unit relocation represents a significant step forward in the Executive’s programme for moving public sector job opportunities across Scotland.

Question reference: S2O-03877

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 October 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 4 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that sex offenders are properly supervised in the community.

We are implementing reforms stemming from the Cosgrove and McLean reports to make the arrangements for managing the risks from sex offenders more robust. Additional funding has also been made available to local authorities to develop an enhanced throughcare service for prisoners, including sex offenders, from point of sentence and following release. And we have introduced a bill to protect potential victims from sexual harm from offenders.

Question reference: S2O-03854

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 October 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to assist local authorities in upgrading recycling points and centres.

Question reference: S2W-11174

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 October 2004
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 3 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-4835 by Allan Wilson on 9 January 2004, whether the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement has now been fully implemented in Scotland and what the reasons are for the position on the matter.

The Environmental Protection (Restriction on Use of Lead Shot) Scotland(No.2) Regulations 2004 (SSI 2004/358) have been laid before Parliament with the intention that they should come into force on 31 March 2005. These Regulations will fulfil an obligation under the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) to phase out the use of lead shot over wetlands.

The implementation of other obligations under AEWA relating broadly to species and habitat conservation, management of human activity, research and monitoring, education and information is on-going.

Question reference: S2W-09756

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 11 October 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how licenses for the control of sparrow-hawks under the Countryside and Wildlife Act 1981 can be applied for.

Question reference: S2W-10389

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 17 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive which agencies are involved in securing the protection of areas of land that are habitats to rare plants or animal species.

Question reference: S2W-09768

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 10 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS dentists there have been per 1,000 population in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board area.

The following table shows the total number of NHS dentists per 100,000 population by NHS board area as at 30 September in each year since 1999.

Table: NHS Dentists^{1, 2} per 100,000 Population, by NHS Board Area as at 30 September³

	1999⁴	2000⁵	2001⁶	2002⁷	2003⁷
Scotland⁴	49.4	50.0	50.4	51.5	51.8
Ayrshire and Arran	45.3	45.8	44.3	43.0	45.0
Borders	39.7	41.4	43.0	45.6	44.7
Argyll and Clyde	49.3	50.0	52.5	50.1	50.1
State Hospital	-	-	-	-	-
Fife	49.6	50.0	51.2	51.3	49.3
Greater Glasgow	67.1	67.5	67.2	68.5	68.0
Highland	55.0	55.9	57.0	53.8	56.2
Lanarkshire	44.0	44.3	43.0	44.3	46.8
Grampian	40.5	40.0	38.4	39.4	40.9
Orkney	66.9	72.6	57.2	62.5	83.3
Lothian	53.1	56.0	56.4	61.0	57.8
Tayside	62.9	64.0	64.8	66.9	65.8
Forth Valley	39.5	40.9	41.2	40.8	41.9
Western Isles	69.8	74.7	68.1	57.3	53.4
Dumfries and Galloway	38.5	36.6	35.9	40.7	38.7
Shetland	62.2	67.6	68.3	77.5	91.2

Source: MIDAS (Management Information & Dental Accounting System).

Medical and Dental Staff Census, ISD Scotland.

GRO Mid Year Population Estimates.

Notes:

1. Includes dentists in the Hospital, Community Health Services (HCHS) and the General Dental Service (GDS) in NHS Scotland.

2. Excludes emergency service dentists and staff with locum appointments within HCHS

3. Some dentists working in the General Dental Services may also work in the hospital or community dental services (usually as a hospital practitioner or a clinical assistant (para 107)). These dentists will be counted twice in the Scotland and NHS Board Area figures.

4. Population figures at mid year 1999; Source GRO population estimates.

5. Population figures at mid year 2000; Source GRO population estimates.

6. Population figures at mid year 2001; Source GRO population estimates.

7. Population figures at mid year 2002; Source GRO population estimates.

Question reference: S2W-09847

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 30 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 27 August 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many licenses for the control of predatory birds were (a) applied for and (b) granted in (i) 2001, (ii) 2002 and (iii) 2003.

Information on licences grantedfor the “control of predatory birds” is not held separately. However, informationon all the bird licences issued under Article 9 of the Birds Directive (79/409/EEC)is published in annual EC Derogation reports, listed under derogation and species.

These reports are compiled centrally for the UK by theDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and are submitted to the European Commission. The 2001and 2002 reports are held in the Parliament’s Reference Centre, and the 2003 reportis currently being compiled. The Bib. numbers for the reports are 33419 for 2001and 33420 for 2002.

Question reference: S2W-09827

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Mary Mulligan on 19 August 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what action can be taken by a resident if a building warrant has been granted for a house where the conditions of the warrant have not been fulfilled.

I have asked Dr Paul Stollard,acting Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency, to answer. Hisresponse is as follows:

If the resident is the owner,and a completion certificate has not been granted, it is the resident’s responsibilityto take the necessary action to ensure that the conditions of the building warrantare fulfilled. If the resident is not the owner, it is the owner’s responsibilityto take the necessary action.

If a completion certificate hasbeen granted and the terms of the building warrant have not been complied with,the resident should consider seeking independent legal advice, as an offence mayhave been committed under section (9)4 of the Building (Scotland) Act 1959. Althoughbreaches of this section may be reported by the police or local authority, any individualis entitled to report a suspected offence to the Procurator Fiscal.

In the circumstances where thework has been carried out by a NHBC-registered builder, the owner may have recourseto the NHBC complaints process. However, a resolution should always be attemptedin the first instance between the owner and the builder.