- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for Aberdeen North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 November 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 25 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to complete the review of marches and parades.
Answer
The First Minister commissioned Sir John Orr to carry out an independent review of the arrangements for marches and parades in Scotland. Sir John is due to submit his report around the end of the year and it will be published shortly after it has been received.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for Aberdeen North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 November 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 19 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce a no fault compensation scheme for NHS patients who suffer medical accidents.
Answer
There are currently no plans to introduce a no fault compensation scheme for NHS patients who suffer medical accidents.
In 2002, in response to the reports published earlier that year by the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Church of Scotland, the Scottish Executive established an expert group, under the chairmanship of Lord Ross, to look at compensation arrangements for patients injured by NHSScotland. Following careful consideration, the group decided not to recommend the introduction of a general no fault compensation scheme as it felt the advantages of no fault compensation were out-weighed by the disadvantage that such a system tends not to encourage improvements in quality of care as a result of the lessons learned.
The report by the Expert Group on Financial and Other Support, was published in March 2003 and can be found at
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/finance/egfs-00.asp.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for Aberdeen North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 22 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 19 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many 50-metre competition-standard swimming pools there are in Scotland and where they are located.
Answer
There are four 50-metre swimming pools in Scotland of which two meet the depth requirements of competition-standard pools. They are located at the Tollcross Leisure Centre in Glasgow and the National Swimming Academy in Stirling. The latter is used primarily as a training facility.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for Aberdeen North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 22 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 19 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, as part of its regional sports development strategy, it has any plans to support the provision of 50-metre competition-standard swimming pools and, if so, where such pools would be located and how they would be supported.
Answer
Of the 10 successful bids made under the national and regional sports facilities strategy, one included provision for a 50-metre competition-standard swimming pool. That was by the City of Edinburgh Council who were allocated £4 million towards the upgrading of the Royal Commonwealth Pool, a national facility, to bring it and its diving pool up to competition standard.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for Aberdeen North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 22 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 19 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications for consent to refuse to sell under section 69 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 it has (a) received and (b) granted in each of the last three years, broken down by local authority.
Answer
The following table lists those local authorities which have submitted section 69 applications in the past three years, the number of applications received, and the number that obtained Scottish ministers’ consent.
Survey Period: From October 2001 to October 2004
| Local Authority | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 |
| (a) Received | (b) Granted | (a) Received | (b) Granted | (a) Received | (b) Granted |
| Aberdeen City Council | 6 | 6 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 10 |
| Aberdeenshire Council | 39 | 10 | 34 | 17 | 28 | 13 |
| Clackmannanshire Council | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| East Lothian Council | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Edinburgh City Council | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Falkirk Council | 13 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 2 |
| Midlothian Council | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| North Ayrshire Council | 10 | 4 | 13 | 11 | 23 | 18 |
| Stirling Council | 20 | 5 | 22 | 13 | 5 | 1 |
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for Aberdeen North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 November 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 17 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the grounds on which local authorities can seek to refuse applications to purchase housing under right to buy.
Answer
The Executive has no plans to review the grounds on which local authorities can seek to refuse applications to purchase housing under the right to buy. The Executive, as required under section 52 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, will report to Parliament by September 2006 on the effect of the right to buy.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for Aberdeen North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 September 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 16 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many digital hearing aids were issued in each NHS board area in the last financial year.
Answer
These details are not held centrally. NHS boards should be approached directly for this information.
However, a total of 19,079 digital hearing aids were drawn off the central contract arranged by Scottish Healthcare Supplies during the period April 2003 to March 2004.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for Aberdeen North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 16 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on registration requirements for social care provision in the voluntary sector.
Answer
All the services defined in Section 2 of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001, except adult placement services, some school care accommodation services and some independent health care services, are now being regulated by the Care Commission. Providers of regulated services, whether in the public, private or voluntary sector, have to be registered with the Care Commission.
The Scottish Social Services Council is the regulatory body for the social service workforce. All social service workers in the public and independent sector will be required to register with the Council. Registration of the workforce will be undertaken in phases. The groups of staff to be included in Phases 1 and 2 were detailed in the publication The Way Forward for Care (Bib. number 7109), which was laid before Parliament in July 2000. The council has also published the qualification criteria for all staff in the first two phases of registration.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for Aberdeen North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 16 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to make further allocations from the Cities Growth Fund and, if so, when and on what basis.
Answer
In
Building a Better Scotland: Spending Proposals 2005-2008,we announced that we would maintain in real terms our support for Scotland’s sixcities through the Cities Growth Fund in 2006-07 and 2007-08.
Funding of £40 million for 2005-06 has already been allocated to the six cities. Details of how we intend to allocate a further £41 million for 2006-07 and £42 million for 2007-08 are expected to be announced in December 2004, alongside the general funding settlement for local government for 2006-07 and 2007-08.
This will allow the six cities good time to plan ahead for their new investmentfor 2006-07 and 2007-08, reflecting our confidence in local authorities and their Community Planning partners across each City Region to deliver their City Vision strategies.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for Aberdeen North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 November 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 16 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the proposed new Scottish National Heritage headquarters in Inverness will have any provision for the collection of solar energy.
Answer
Yes. The design meets the stringent energy targets demanded by the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology “excellent” rating. One of the key elements of the proposal is that the building will be passively ventilated using solar gain within an atrium to "drive" the system.
