- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 19 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the additional cost was to the NHS to cover costs incurred on staff cover to replace excluded staff, including salary costs, management time and legal costs, in each of the last five years.
Answer
This information is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 19 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children under 16 have been prescribed Ritalin in each of the last seven years.
Answer
Prescription data collected centrally do not relate to the number of patients receiving treatment but to the numbers and cost of prescribed items dispensed in the community by community pharmacists and dispensing doctors.
These data cannot be used as a proxy for the number of patients receiving treatment with any particular drug.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 13 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will promote a criteria-based or map-based approach to onshore wind farm planning policy.
Answer
National Planning Policy Guideline (NPPG) 6: Renewable Energy Developments (Bib. number 18113) already asks councils to use their development plans to either define areas considered suitable for wind farms or else to set out criteria to guide the location of new developments.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 13 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has set any visual distance threshold from houses in relation to wind farm applications and, if so, what the threshold is.
Answer
No specific thresholds have been set since impacts will vary from proposal to proposal depending on the siting, layout and size of wind farms in relation to local land form and landscape characteristics. Advice on addressing potential disturbances, such as noise and visual impact, is given in Planning Advice Note 45: Renewable Energy Technologies (Bib. number 18913) must be satisfactorily addressed before planning permission is granted.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 November 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities underspent their housing expenditure programmes in respect of the (a) New Housing Partnership programme, (b) Rough Sleepers Initiative and (c) Empty Homes Initiative.
Answer
Information on each of the programmes is set out.
New Housing Partnership programme
With the exception of Angus Council, all local authorities participated in the programme. Of these 31 authorities, all but Aberdeenshire, East Ayrshire and Orkney Islands Councils incurred underspends against allocations in one or more of the financial years from 1998 to 2004.
Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI)
Over the period 1997–2002, the 11 local authorities listed below incurred underspends which exceeded 1% of their grant allocations.
Angus
Argyll and Bute
Dumfries and Galloway
City of Edinburgh
Glasgow City
Inverclyde
North and South Ayrshire
Renfrewshire
Stirling
West Dunbartonshire
Since 2002-03, there have been underspends in RSI capital projects in two council areas, namely East and West Dunbartonshire. The revenue element of RSI funding has been distributed to councils through Revenue Support Grant since 2002-03.
Empty Homes Initiative
Over the period 1997-2004, the 20 local authorities listed below incurred underspends which exceeded 1% of their grant allocations.
Aberdeen City
Aberdeenshire
Argyll and Bute
Clackmannanshire
Dumfries and Galloway
East Ayrshire
East Lothian
City of Edinburgh
Eilean Siar
Falkirk
Inverclyde
Moray
North Lanarkshire
Orkney Islands
Perth and Kinross
Scottish Borders
Shetland Islands
South Ayrshire
South Lanarkshire
Stirling.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 21 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how Highland Council can comply with the provisions in The same as you? as they affect resettlement plans for patients in the New Craigs Learning Disability Hospital, Inverness, in light of reductions in supporting people funding.
Answer
We expect NHS Highland and the local authority to find solutions consistent with the principles set out in
The same as you? and the resources available.
In May 2000 health boards and local authorities were advised to plan to close all remaining long‑stay hospitals for people with learning disabilities by 2005. This is not therefore a new requirement, and the target remains.
Supporting People funds the housing support needs of individuals: it was not introduced to deliver the policy of closure of long-stay learning disability hospitals. That said, in 2005‑06 Highland Council will benefit from about £13 million of Supporting People grant, which was not envisaged when The same as you? was published in 2000.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 21 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) reoffending and (b) reconviction rate is after release from prison after (i) six months, (ii) one year and (iii) two years.
Answer
The information available centrally relates to reconvictions only. The latest figures on reconviction rates, which are for the cohort of offenders discharged from custody in 1999, are given in the table.
Persons Discharged from Custody in 1999, Scotland
| Reconvicted1 Within: | Percentage2 |
| 6 months | 35 |
| 1 year | 47 |
| 2 years | 60 |
Notes:
1. Reconvicted for a crime, common assault, breach of the peace, racially aggravated conduct or harassment, firearms offences or social security offences.
2. Provisional data.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 November 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 20 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Skye Bridge debt will be paid off on the basis of current toll charges and traffic levels.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-2090, answered on 10 November 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 16 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the allocation within Scottish Water's investment programme for easing constraints on new housing and assisting with first-time connections to existing housing has been committed and how much has been spent.
Answer
This is an operational matter for Scottish Water. I have asked the Chief Executive of Scottish Water to write to you about this matter.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 16 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding would have to be allocated from Scottish Water's budget to address all known development constraints if water customers were to cover the entire cost of addressing such development constraints through water charges.
Answer
The information requested is given in paragraph 4.11 of Investing in Water Services 2006-2014, a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 33325). All MSPs received a personal copy of this document and the accompanying document Paying for Water Services 2006-2010, a copy of which is also available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib number 33326).
