- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 27 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many disabled people performed work in the (a) Scottish Office and (b) Scottish Administration in supported employment under (i) WORKSTEP and (ii) the Supported Employment Programme in each of the last five years.
Answer
The Scottish Executive, its agencies and associated departments and the former Scottish Office has employed a small number of individuals under WORKSTEP and its predecessor, the Supported Employment Programme, over the past five years. However, we are unable to provide either figures or percentages to preserve confidentiality. In addition, we have provided a total of 16 short-term supported work placements over the same period. The Executive's Diversity Strategy has set demanding targets for the recruitment and progression of under-represented groups, including staff with disabilities. Good progress is being made towards the achievement of these targets. Currently there are 125 members of staff in the Executive's core departments who have self-declared a disability and 207 in total.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 27 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacant senior civil service posts it has currently.
Answer
There are at present two senior civil service vacancies which are in the process of being filled by open competition.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 27 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there has been any audit or follow-up audit of the recruitment system of the Scottish Administration or any part of it since May 1999.
Answer
Details of audits and follow-up audits of recruitment systems in the Scottish Administration since May 1999 are given in the table.
| Subject of Audit | Date of Audit | Date of Follow-Up Audit |
| Scottish Executive1 | March 1999 | April 2001 |
| Scottish Prison Service | September 2001 | February 2002 |
| Scottish Courts Service | July 1999 | January 2000 |
| Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service | June 2000 | - |
| Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency | September 2001 | January 2002 |
| Fisheries Research Service | March 2001 | - |
| Historic Scotland | August 2001 | April 2002 |
| Scottish Agricultural Science Agency | July 2000 | December 2000 |
Note:1. The Scottish Executive administers recruitment for Scottish Executive core departments, General Register Office for Scotland, National Archives of Scotland, Student Awards Agency for Scotland, and Scottish Public Pensions Agency. All of these areas of the Scottish Administration were included in this audit. Future audits of the Scottish Executive will include HM Inspectorate of Education and Communities Scotland, both of which have been established since the last audit took place.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 27 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies in the (a) Scottish Office and (b) Scottish Administration in each of the last five years were for (i) head or deputy head of a department, (ii) executive agency chief executive, (iii) head or deputy head of a division and (iv) NHS management posts.
Answer
The Information requested is as follows:
| | Scottish Executive | Scottish Office |
| Head/Deputy Head of Department | AgencyChief Executive | Head/Deputy Headof Division | Head/Deputy Head of Department | AgencyChief Executive | Head/Deputy Headof Division |
| 2001-02 | 1 | 1 | 26 | - | - | - |
| 2000-01 | 4 | - | 6 | - | - | - |
| 1999-2000 | 1 | 2 | 9 | - | - | - |
| 1998-99 | - | - | - | - | - | 5 |
| 1997-98 | - | - | - | 2 | 1 | 6 |
We do not hold records for NHS management posts. Anyone appointed to the Health Department will be included in the above figures.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 27 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many successful candidates for senior civil service posts in the (a) Scottish Office and (b) Scottish Administration in each of the last five years were appointed from (i) within the Scottish Office, (ii) within the Scottish Administration, (iii) elsewhere within the civil service, (iv) public sector employment other than the civil service, (v) the private sector and (vi) being unemployed.
Answer
The information requested is as follows:
| Recruitment From: | 2001-02 | 2000-01 | 1999-2000 | 1998-99 | 1997-98 |
| Scottish Office | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Scottish Executive | 16 | 2 | 2 | - | - |
| Elsewhere in the Civil Service | 1 | - | 1 | - | 1 |
| Public Sector | 7 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 6 |
| Private Sector | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | 1 |
| Unemployed | 1 | - | - | - | - |
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 27 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of its senior civil servants are (a) women, (b) from ethnic minorities, and (c) disabled.
Answer
Currently there are 49 (29.7%) women in the senior civil service in the Scottish Executive core departments.There are a small number of senior civil servants from a minority ethnic background or who have a disability. However, we are unable to provide either figures or percentages to preserve confidentiality.The Executive's Diversity Strategy, Positive about You, was launched in November 2000. It sets demanding targets for the recruitment and progression of our under-represented groups, against which good progress continues to be made.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 27 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of successful candidates for senior civil service posts in the (a) Scottish Office and (b) Scottish Administration were (i) women, (ii) from ethnic minorities and (iii) disabled, in each of the last five years.
Answer
In 2001-02, 14 women (50%) were recruited to the senior civil service in the Scottish Executive. Prior to 2001-02 only a small number of (i) women (ii) ethnic minorities and (iii) disabled were recruited to the Senior Civil Service in the Scottish Executive. We are therefore unable to provide either figures or percentages to preserve confidentiality.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 27 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of candidates for senior civil service posts in the (a) Scottish Office and (b) Scottish Administration were (i) women, (ii) from ethnic minorities and (iii) disabled, in each of the last five years.
Answer
This information is not retained by the Scottish Executive once competitions have concluded and the successful candidate is in post.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 27 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many senior civil servants were appointed to the (a) Scottish Office and (b) Scottish Administration in each of the last five years by open competition (i) chaired by the Civil Service Commissioners and (ii) run by the Scottish Executive.
Answer
The information is as follows:
| | 2001-02 | 2000-01 | 1999-2000 | 1998-99 | 1997-98 |
| Number of Senior Civil Servants Recruited to the Scottish Office/Scottish Executive | 28 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 9 |
| Chaired by Civil Service Commissioners | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Run by the Scottish Executive | 27* | 6 | 9 | 4 | 5 |
Note:*Including 19 people (both internal Scottish Executive and external candidates) recruited through one exercise.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 26 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, following the Surjit Singh Chhokar, Chris Cawley and Gordon Gibson cases, a Court of Appeal panel of judges has been appointed to review the law on trials with multiple accused persons and, if so, what the legal basis is of this review; what its terms of reference are, and what legal status its conclusions will have.
Answer
On 15 May 2002, three judges of the Court of Criminal Appeal referred an appeal (McKinnon, McKay and Norwood v Her Majesty's Advocate) to a Bench of five judges with a view to clarifying an aspect of the law of concert, which applies to situations where a number of persons are accused of acting together to commit a crime. This is a normal part of judicial process to resolve an unclear area of law.The decision of the five judges would represent an authoritative statement of the law on the point, and would be binding on all courts of criminal jurisdiction in Scotland. No date has yet been set for the hearing before five judges.
