- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 3 October 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many dental practitioners are currently working in the NHS in (a) Renfrewshire, (b) Inverclyde and (c) Scotland and what the comparable figures were in 1998.
Answer
Number of Dentists
1,2 Working in the NHS at 30 September 2005.
| | 2004 | 1998 |
| Renfrewshire | 86 | 90 |
| Inverclyde | 33 | 29 |
| Scotland | 2,161 | 1,961 |
Source: MIDAS (Management Information & Dental Accounting System).
Notes:
1. Comprises non-salaried and salaried principals, assistants and vocational trainees active in the NHS general dental service.
2. An NHS general dental practitioner may have more than one contract with an NHS board if he/she has more than one practice, or a contract with more than one NHS board if he/she practises in more than one NHS board area.
- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 3 October 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions have taken place with NHS Argyll and Clyde and dental practitioners in respect of proposals to tackle dental health and hygiene in (a) Renfrewshire and (b) Inverclyde.
Answer
Scottish Executive officials meet regularly with lead officers from NHS Boards, including NHS Argyll and Clyde, to discuss the implementation of the Action Plan for Improving Oral Health and Modernising NHS Dental Services in Scotland.
- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 3 October 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether a date has been set for awarding a contract for the construction of a near-water fisheries protection vessel for the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency.
Answer
The procurement process used by the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA) is set out in EU Procurement Directives. The SFPA sought expressions of interest to construct this vessel on 18 August 2005, for return by 26 September 2005. On current plans, the agency aims to short-list the yards expressing such interest and invite tenders by for return by end-November. Thereafter, the received tenders will be assessed to identify a preferred bidder with whom a contract will be negotiated. It is usual practice for the period of time for tender assessment to be kept flexible, and therefore no date has been set of the award of “preferred bidder” status or for the final contract award.
- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Elish Angiolini on 30 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being implemented to increase the conviction rate of individuals who have committed rape and how the effectiveness of the measures will be assessed.
Answer
The role of the prosecution in criminal proceedings is to ensure that all relevant and admissible evidence is presented to the court. It is for juries in solemn proceedings to determine the verdict in individual cases and conviction statistics are not, therefore, a measure of the success or otherwise of the quality of the prosecution.
In order to ensure that the prosecution fulfils its role effectively, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) embarked on a review of the investigation and prosecution of rape and other sexual offences at the end of last year. The principal aim of the review is to make recommendations for the improvement of prosecution policy and practice to ensure that the prosecution deliver a high standard of service in these cases.
The COPFS review is working closely with experts in this field and in close liaison with the Scottish Law Commission's review of the law in this area and a parallel review being conducted by the Association of Chief Police Officers of Scotland.
The review will report to the Lord Advocate and, subject to consideration by him, the implementation of appropriate recommendations will commence in 2006. Measures to assess the effectiveness of changes to policy and practice will be identified in the implementation programme. Whether conviction rates in rape cases will increase will ultimately be determined by juries.
- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 29 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the staffing level was of (a) police officers and (b) ancillary staff in X division of Strathclyde Police in each of the last six years.
Answer
This information is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 29 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio is of men to women police officers from the rank of constable to chief constable in each police force and how this has changed in the last six years.
Answer
The information requested is shown in the following table.
Female Officers as Percentage of Total Strength
| Force | 30 June 1999 | 30 June 2005 |
| Central | 14% | 20% |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 18% | 21% |
| Fife | 15% | 20% |
| Grampian | 17% | 20% |
| Lothian and Borders | 15% | 18% |
| Northern | 13% | 21% |
| Strathclyde | 15% | 21% |
| Tayside | 17% | 22% |
| Total | 15% | 21% |
- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 26 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many dental practitioners are currently working wholly in the private sector in (a) Renfrewshire, (b) Inverclyde and (c) Scotland and what the comparable figures were in 1998.
Answer
Information about the number of dental practitioners currently working wholly in the private sector in (a) Renfrewshire (b) Inverclyde and (c) Scotland is not held by the Scottish Executive. However, the Care Commission are currently compiling a list of wholly private dental practitioners.
- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 26 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the dates are for handing over the fisheries protection vessels ordered from a Polish shipyard.
Answer
At this time the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency has identified Remontowa of Gdansk, Poland as the preferred bidder for one fisheries protection vessel and it is in negotiation with the Polish yard to finalise a contract. The delays to the contract assessment process mean that a date for handover of the vessel has not yet been fixed.
- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 23 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the age profile is of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency fleet and how many replacement vessels are likely to be ordered between now and 2009.
Answer
The age profile of the Scottish Fisheries Protection fleet is as follows:
| Vessel | Age (Years) |
| Minna | 2 |
| Sulisker | 25 |
| Vigilant | 23 |
| Norna | 18 |
A replacement for Sulisker is currently under construction at Ferguson’s of Port Glasgow. A contract for a replacement for Vigilant is being negotiated with Remontowa of Poland. It is intended to invite tenders for a replacement for Norna in 12 to 18 months time.
- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 22 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions its officials have travelled to Poland in connection with the construction of passenger ferry vessels for Caledonian MacBrayne; how many officials have been involved in these visits; what the cost of these visits has been, and whether more such visits are planned.
Answer
No Scottish Executive officials have visited Poland in connection with the construction of vessels for CalMac and no such visits are planned for the future. Responsibility for the procurement of Caledonian MacBrayne vessels rests with that company rather than with Scottish ministers.
