- Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 30 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether instructions issued to procurators fiscal from the Lord Advocate are binding and whether procurators fiscal can exercise any form of discretion in regard to such instructions.
Answer
Instructions issued to procurators fiscal by the Lord Advocate are binding, but may allow for the exercise of discretion.
- Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 30 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of causing death by dangerous driving under section 1 of the Road Traffic Act 1972 were prosecuted in each of the last 12 months, broken down by cases heard in the (a) sheriff court and (b) high court.
Answer
Figures for prosecutions for causing death by dangerous driving under section 1 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 in 2001 are not yet available. I will write with details once the figures have been collated.
- Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 29 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how much financial support it has provided in total to date for the funding of the Motorola Task Force; whether it will give details of any further funding proposed, and over what timescale any such funding will be provided.
Answer
On 25 April 2001, Wendy Alexander announced in the Parliament that the Scottish Executive was setting aside up to £10 million to help fund the Motorola Task force's action plan. On 20 December 2001, Wendy Alexander further announced that the Scottish Executive would provide £6 million (from the £10 million which had been set aside) to the West Lothian Strategic Action Plan, a three-year programme for the economic development of the area.Expenditure reports from Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothians (SEEL) for the financial year 2001-02 show costs of £3.3 million. SEEL's projected costs for the financial year 2002-03 are £150,000. The total costs from both the financial years amount to £3.45 million.For 2001-02: Business Start-up training costs were £119,800; employee wages were £728,174; expenses were just under £5,000; advertising costs were £27,455, and training costs just over £2 million.There has been no subsidised employment. The task force has directly assisted 1,646 people through a variety of training initiatives in the period up to 28 February 2002. All training programmes and strategies formulated as part of the Motorola Action Plan gave consideration to individuals' benefit entitlement.
- Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 29 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made or instructions it has given, to whom and when regarding any shortage of chiropodists in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency area.
Answer
None. It is for NHS boards and trusts to assess the need for local services and to meet that need through the delivery of individual services by appropriately trained staff.
- Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 29 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many persons have been given positions through subsidised employment or training schemes under the Motorola Task Force in each year that the task force has been operating.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to S1W-25902.
- Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 29 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been received by the Motorola Task Force in each year that the task force has been operating, in total and broken down by (a) start-up costs, (b) task force employee wages, (c) expenses, (d) advertising costs and (e) costs of providing subsidised employment or training.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-25902.
- Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 29 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Motorola Task Force took into account any impact on benefit entitlement for the users of the task force when formulating action plans, strategies, programmes and advice.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-25902.
- Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive why a 70 year old person in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency area who is practically housebound owing to swollen nerves in the foot has been informed that, even with an urgent referral, there will be a wait of at least four to five months prior to receiving treatment and what action it will take in order to resolve this and any similar situations.
Answer
Tackling waiting at all stages of the patient's journey is a key priority for the Scottish Executive. That is why extra resources have been made available to help NHSScotland to reduce waiting times. The National Waiting Times Unit is currently undertaking a programme of visits to all mainland boards and trusts to review their plans for ensuring delivery of national waiting times targets and the development of local waiting time standards. These local standards will reflect local priorities and focus on tackling the longest waits for outpatients clinics and diagnostic tests.
- Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time for medical treatment in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency area has been in each of the last 12 months and what timescale would be an unacceptable waiting period.
Answer
Information on waiting times within the NHS in respect of individual NHS board and NHS trust areas is published quarterly by ISD Scotland and is available in the Scottish Health on the Web (SHOW) website at:
http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/isd/acute_activity/index.htm.Waiting for diagnosis and treatment may occur at several points in a patient's journey. Acceptable limits of waiting will vary depending on the circumstances. Tackling waiting is a key priority. The Executive has set waiting times targets for the NHS and information about performance against these targets will be published. Extra resources have been made available to NHSScotland to help reduce waiting times.
- Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 28 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider placing in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre details of the types of information it holds centrally that would aid the formulation of parliamentary questions, broken down by department and division and detailing the reasons behind its position on this matter.
Answer
We do not have a central record of all information held by each division within the Scottish Executive and one could only be provided, and maintained, at disproportionate cost. However, through the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information, Scottish ministers emphasise the importance we attach to making factual information as widely available as possible. To that end, copies of key Scottish Executive publications such as consultation papers, White Papers, annual reports and departmental circulars are made available to the Parliament's Reference Centre.
