- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 8 February 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make available additional funding to meet the cost for the recruitment of 25 additional police officers as requested by Lothian and Borders Police.
Answer
It is for Chief Constables, in consultation with their Police Authorities, to determine their staffing priorities within GAE levels. The methodology for the distribution of police GAE in Scotland is currently under review including whether there are special factors within individual force areas that need to be taken into account.
- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 8 February 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what legal advice it has had as to whether the Cubie recommendations do or do not breach EU law and whether there is a possibility of the recommendations being legally challengeable.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has considered the legal implications of the Cubie recommendations. It has concluded that, were these recommendations to be implemented, there would be a serious risk of the UK being held to be in breach of EU law, insofar as these recommendations extended to Scottish domiciled students attending institutions in other parts of the UK. The Executive's own proposals which have just been announced are accordingly restricted to Scottish and EU students attending institutions in Scotland.
- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 8 February 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether Glasgow City Council will receive additional grant-aided expenditure funding to deal with the accommodation costs for Kosovo refugees until such time as these costs are reimbursed by the Home Office; whether the Home Office have provided the necessary funds to Glasgow City Council and if not, whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government to find out why.
Answer
Proposals for a Special Grant to reimburse Scottish local authorities for additional expenditure incurred in connection with the acceptance of displaced persons from Kosovo under the UNHCR Humanitarian Evacuation Programme were sent to local authorities for consultation on 10 December. The consultation period ended in January.We are expecting to lay a Special Grant Report before Parliament on 14 February for this purpose. Subject to Parliamentary approval, grants should be paid in the current financial year. The total amount of grant in 1999-2000 is expected to be £4.9 million, and this is being met in full by the Treasury's UK Reserve.
- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 7 February 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding local authorities top slice from the #1,175 allocation per place in respect of nursery provision.
Answer
The rate of grant is negotiated between local authorities and private and voluntary providers concerned. We have recommended that within the £1,175 grant paid this year to local authorities per part-time place a minimum of £880 per place be paid on to their partners. Authorities are required to use any funds retained for the benefit of their partners and to account for this in annual reports to the Executive.
- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 31 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of the proposals to install a six million gallon water tank and a three million gallon tank in Corstorphine woods on Corstorphine Hill, Edinburgh and whether it will ensure that Scottish Natural Heritage is consulted on these proposals.
Answer
The Scottish Executive was informed about these proposals in November last year. I am aware that the East of Scotland Water Authority wrote in general terms about the scope of the scheme to Scottish Natural Heritage in October 1999. This was followed in November 1999 when the consultants commissioned by EoSWA to produce an environmental impact assessment of a number of options wrote to SNH and others about these proposals.SNH raised a number of matters with the consultants, and will be consulted again when the preferred sites for these tanks have been identified.
- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 26 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what the actual costs of the implementation of the European Convention of Human Rights have been during 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 to date.
Answer
The information requested is not available. Costs resulting from the consideration of ECHR issues cannot readily be disaggregated from other costs which are incurred in civil or criminal proceedings, including Legal Aid, prosecution and court costs.
- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 24 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions there have been for fraudulent housing benefit claims, and in which local authority areas.
Answer
Housing benefit is an issue reserved to Westminster. When local authorities undertake prosecutions, they act as agents for the Department of Social Security. The Scottish Executive does not itself collect figures on these prosecutions.
- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 December 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 11 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many telephone tappings it has authorised since 1 July 1999 and what discussions it has had with the Home Secretary on this matter.
Answer
During the period 1 July to 20 December 1999 Scottish Ministers authorised 119 telephone interception warrants against targets engaged in serious crime.Under the Scotland Act 1998, national security and the interception of communications are reserved matters. Responsibility for issuing warrants on national security grounds transferred to the Home Secretary on 1 July 1999. All relevant agencies and Government Departments were fully consulted on these arrangements.
- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 December 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 11 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of a proposal to privatise the General Medical Practitioners Service of the Scottish Prison Service, whether it considers that this proposal would create a precedent for publicly funded health services, and whether it will make an announcement on this subject in due course.
Answer
The Scottish Prison Service's Board has accepted the recommendation of its Medical Service Review Group that, to ensure the consistent and cost effective delivery of medical services in Scottish prisons they should be contracted out. SPS is therefore developing a detailed service specification and will shortly test the level of interest by advertising SPS's intent to contract out these services.
I do not consider that a precedent will be created.
- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 December 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 11 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received the Quigley Report on tuition fees or when it expects to receive it, and when it will bring this matter before the Parliament with its response.
Answer
No. The Quigley Committee is required to provide a report in time for it to be laid before each House of the Westminster Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly not later than 1 April 2000. The Executive will consider its response when the report is received.
