- 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 Hugh Henry on 27 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken and is taking to ensure that civic and business communities are aware of their responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
Answer
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) is reserved to the UK Parliament. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) is working to ensure that service providers and employers, including local authorities, are informed of the current requirements and are prepared in good time for the new duties coming into force in 2004. A UK Government campaign for 2002-03 is currently being formulated. The Scottish Executive is looking to work with the DWP and the Disability Rights Commission in Scotland in taking this and future campaigns forward.Previous awareness-raising activity has included:In 1998, a mailshot to service providers alerting them to the consultation on the code of practice on rights of access. An extensive national press and radio advertising campaign, advising service providers to call the DDA Helpline to find out more, complemented the mailshot.In June 1999 the "See the Person" campaign aimed to challenge stereotyping and raise awareness of rights and responsibilities under the DDA. It included TV and radio advertising, posters, articles and endorsements by celebrities."What have you got to offer?" launched in autumn 2000, was specifically aimed at small and medium businesses who provide goods and services to the public, focussing on practical advice and guidance.The latest campaign "Open to Change" which ran from January to March this year in the national, regional and trade press, was aimed at service providers and illustrated the types of changes they can make to improve the delivery of their goods and services to disabled people. The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) also published a new code of practice in February this year, covering the 2004 accessibility duties. The code is accompanied by a series of guides for small businesses. The DRC will take the lead in ensuring that the duties of the DDA are complied with.
- 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 Iain Gray on 27 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many modern apprenticeships have been created since May 1999.
Answer
35,700.
- 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 Hugh Henry on 27 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken and is taking to raise general awareness of disability rights issues and, in particular, changes made to such rights by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28019.
- 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: Tuesday, 30 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 27 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many dedicated anti-drugs police officers there have been in each police force in each of the last five years.
Answer
Information on the number of police officers engaged on anti-drugs work in each police force in the last five years is provided in the following table. It should be noted that for 2000-01 and 2001-02 the figures include the 100 additional police officers, funded by the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency (SDEA), who have been deployed to tackle drug misuse at a local level.
| Number of Officers |
| Force | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 |
| Central | 7 | 12 | 15 | 20 | 18 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 13 | 11 | 10 | 14 | 15 |
| Fife | 16 | 16 | 22 | 32 | 31 |
| Grampian | 9 | 12 | 10 | 27 | 26 |
| Lothian and Borders | 20 | 20 | 13 | 37 | 60 |
| Northern | 18 | 8 | 16 | 20 | 16 |
| Strathclyde | 28 | 27 | 28 | 96 | 106 |
| Tayside | 19 | 3 | 7 | 24 | 24 |
| Total | | | | | |
Source: Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary: Annual Statistical Returns.
- 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 Nicol Stephen on 27 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how much each school has spent on books in each of the last five years.
Answer
The information requested is not collected by the Scottish Executive.
- 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 Malcolm Chisholm on 27 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many new hospital developments have begun in the NHS since May 1999 and how many such developments have been funded by public private partnership (PPP) or private finance initiative (PFI).
Answer
In addition to a number of major projects under construction in May 1999, building has begun on a further 11 new hospital developments in NHSScotland since the beginning of May 1999. Of these, four have been funded publicly and seven through PPP/PFI. Details of these projects are given in the following table:
| Project Name | Construction Start Date | Capital Value(£ million) | Funding Route |
| Balivanich Hospital, Benbecula | May 1999 | 7.2 | Public |
| New Craigs Psychiatry Unit, Inverness | May 1999 | 16.5 | PPP/PFI |
| Geriatric Assessment Facility, Larkfield, Greenock | July 1999 | 10.0 | PPP/PFI |
| Care of Elderly Services at Tippethill Hospital, West Lothian | July 1999 | 2.3 | PPP/PFI |
| Geriatric Medicine and Assessment Facility, Southern General Hospital, Glasgow | September 1999 | 11.0 | PPP/PFI |
| Carseview Psychiatric Services, Dundee | September 1999 | 10.0 | PPP/PFI |
| Balfour Hospital, Orkney, Phase II | October 1999 | 5.0 | Public |
| Day Surgery and Maternity Unit, Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary | May 2000 | 10.0 | PPP/PFI |
| New Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital | August 2001 | 24.6 | Public |
| Leith Community Treatment Centre, Edinburgh | August 2002 | 8.5 | Public |
| North East Edinburgh Continuing Care (Findlay House) | August 2002 | 4.0 | PPP/PFI |
- 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.
