- Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 9 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it proposes to reconsider or review the Police (Scotland) Act 1967.
Answer
We have no plans to reconsider or review the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 as a whole, although parts of the Act, such as common police services, as part of the Review of Police and Fire Structures, have been under review or may be subject to review in the course of policy development.
- Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 2 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the rail operating companies and what advice and guidance it has given to the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority since the railway incident at Hatfield.
Answer
Railway safety is a reserved matter. On 30 October I met Railtrack and the train companies operating in Scotland to discuss the impact on Scottish rail services of safety measures applied after the Hatfield accident.
- Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 26 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has undertaken any assessment of any additional costs to local authorities as a result of the climate change levy, whether it will detail any such costs broken down by local authority and whether it intends to make an allocation in next year's local government finance settlement to cover any such costs.
Answer
Local authorities will be expected to make their own assessment of the impact of the climate change levy on their costs and to take whatever mitigation measures they consider appropriate. The levy is intended to encourage organisations in both the public and private sector to become more energy efficient. It would be counter-productive therefore to meet local authority costs through the local government finance settlement. However, there will be an opportunity for CoSLA to discuss this as part of the local government finance settlement consultations if they wish.
- Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 9 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any research has been carried out in Scotland, or whether it has any plans to conduct such research, into the current health of polio survivors from the epidemic in the 1950's.
Answer
The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) of the Scottish Executive Health Department is not funding any research on this subject at present, but would be prepared to consider soundly-based proposals for such research.
- Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 26 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made an assessment of any additional costs it will incur as a result of the climate change levy and whether it will detail any such costs broken down by department.
Answer
The Scottish Executive have put in place a new electricity and energy management services contract with Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) from 1 July 2000. The new contract is for two years with a possible extension of a further one year and covers 12 Scottish Executive bodies and 14 other Scottish public sector organisations across Scotland.
Projected savings in comparison to the previous contract for the period 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002 are £515,000. After taking account of the market effect of the proposed climate change levy (CCL) of approximately £290,000; a net saving of £225,000 is anticipated.
CCL is revenue neutral. The monies raised will be returned in full through a reduction in National Insurance Contributions and through support for energy efficiency measures. This cannot, as yet, be calculated by the Scottish Executive.
The terms of the contract negotiated with SSE provide for energy management services in the following areas: customer needs analysis, energy audits, consumption data, advisory services and the delivery of energy awareness programmes to staff. Promoting energy conservation will reduce energy bills and the subsequent level of greenhouse gas emissions.
It is not possible to break down these savings and the effect of CCL by department, as buildings are shared and departmental areas are not separately metered.
- Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 July 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 8 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-8365 by Henry McLeish on 13 July 2000, what criteria are used to determine whether an answer can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
Answer
A major study to establish the average cost of dealing with Scottish Parliamentary Questions is nearing completion. As part of this study consideration will being given to setting a threshold beyond which the Executive may decline to answer a question on the grounds that to do so would incur disproportionate cost.
In the meantime, the Executive is using as a guide the advisory cost limit of £550 that is used by the Westminster Parliament as a threshold for disproportionate cost written questions. The limit was announced in Mr Timms's reply of 15 May to question number 122509 and is based on eight times the average marginal cost of dealing with written Westminster PQs.
- Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 30 August 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made an assessment of any additional costs to health boards as a result of the climate change levy and whether it will detail any such additional costs broken down by health board.
Answer
Subject to enactment of the Finance Bill 2000 the UK Government intends to introduce the levy on 1 April 2001. To safeguard competitiveness in the private sector their intention is to recycle all revenues raised through a 0.3% reduction in employers' National Insurance Contributions ensuring the levy package as a whole will be broadly cost neutral.
It is for health boards and NHS Trusts to respond to these provisions. A range of work is underway in the NHS in Scotland to improve energy efficiency.
- Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 22 August 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will estimate the number of persons in Scotland who contracted polio in the 1950s.
Answer
The following table shows the number of confirmed cases notified:
| Males | Females | Total |
| 1950 | 596 | 516 | 1112 |
| 1951 | 177 | 139 | 316 |
| 1952 | Not recorded | 217 |
| 1953 | 189 | 179 | 368 |
| 1954 | Not recorded | 421 |
| 1955 | 364 | 241 | 605 |
| 1956 | 181 | 97 | 278 |
| 1957 | 106 | 67 | 173 |
| 1958 | 249 | 197 | 446 |
| 1959 | 24 | 10 | 34 |
| 1950-59 | | 3970 |
Source:Common Services Agency for the NHS
- Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 22 August 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will estimate the number of persons currently living in Scotland who contracted polio during the 1950s epidemic.
Answer
This information is not available.
- Asked by: Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 28 July 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive (a) how many licences for on-street can collections were granted and (b) what sum of money was raised in total from such licences in each year since 1990-91 broken down by local authority.
Answer
This information is not collected centrally.
