Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S2W-29309

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 16 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many qualified lawyers it has employed in each year since 1997.

The number of qualified lawyersemployed by the Scottish Executive is shown in the following tables. Numbers for1997 and 1998 are not available as the Scottish Executive did not exist until 1999.

Since 1999 all solicitors andadvocates in the Government Legal Service for Scotland (GLSS) have been employedby the Scottish Executive. The following table shows that there is currently 102staff employed in the Office of the Solicitorto the Scottish Executive (OSSE). The others are employed by the Scottish Executive(SE) but are seconded or on loan to other departments and agencies in Scotland, Whitehalland Europe. These staff are not paid by the SE and do not give advice to Scottish ministers.

Qualified Lawyers employed inthe Scottish Executive from 1999 to 2006

Staff employed who give adviceto the SE

Category Employed	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Office of the Solicitor to the Scottish Executive (OSSE)	46	73	79	82	88	98	103	102
The office of Office of Scottish Parliamentary Counsel (OSPC)	8	9	9	11	13	13	16	14
Lord Advocates Office	3	6	6	6	4	2	2	3
Totals	57	89	94	99	105	114	121	119

Staff Employed Who Do Not GiveAdvice to the Scottish Executive

Category Employed	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Scottish law Commission	3	7	7	7	6	4	4	4
Scottish Parliament	2	4	4	3	3	6	11	13
Scottish Lands Court Tribunal	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Office of the Solicitor to Advocate General (OSAG)	3	8	17	19	22	25	24	24
Secondments	2	2	2	5	5 (1 in Europe)	9 (3 in Europe)	11 (4 in Europe)	10 (4 in Europe)
Civil Justice	1	3	3	3	6	5	6	6
Lord Presidents Private Office	-	-	1	1	2	2	2	3
Crofters Commission	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Communities Scotland	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	-
Staff on Career Break	-	-	1	1	1	1	3	4
Transport Scotland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Totals	13	27	38	42	49	56	65	68

Question reference: S2W-30972

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 16 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the pilots on the River Forth can be transferred as part of any prospective sale or acquisition of Forth Ports plc and, if so, what steps the Executive can take in respect of this issue in the event of ownership of the ports by a foreign buyer.

Question reference: S2W-31355

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 16 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-30909 by Cathy Jamieson on 19 January 2007, what authority the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has to put in place interim arrangements for visiting committees for young offenders institutions; where the power and authority for such action lies between the Executive and the SPS; whether the Executive or the SPS will publish the terms of the interim arrangements; when the interim arrangements were promulgated and who were advised of them, and on what basis and authority past appointees can remain in place.

I have asked Tony Cameron,Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is asfollows:

Appointments to YOI VCs havenow been made. A selection process was conducted where applicants who hadresponded to a national advertising campaign for YOI VC members wereinterviewed.

Interim arrangements wereimplemented to allow existing YOI VC members to continue in their role until theMinister ratified new appointments, these were notified to YOI VC chairs.Additionally, other YOI VC members have alsovolunteered to assist and support the induction of new YOI VC members until theend of March 2007. SPS welcome this public spirited offer to help effect aseamless transition to the new YOI VCs.

Question reference: S2W-31495

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 15 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is of proceedings in the case of William Smith v K D Scott, Electoral Registration Officer.

Question reference: S2W-30117

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 14 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many official overseas trips were made by senior staff of the Scottish Prison Service in each year since 1999, broken down by (a) member of staff, (b) destination, (c) date travelled and (d) cost.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

The Scottish Prison Service(SPS) incurred the following travel expenditure, including overseas travel, in theperiod from 1999-2000 to 2005-06:

Year	£000
1999-2000	52
2000-01	1,349
2001-02	1,140
2002-03	136
2003-04	117
2004-05	95
2005-06	104

Note: figures in earlier yearsinclude expenditure in respect of HM Prison Zeist.

The expenditure includes directtravel cost (e.g. fares) and excludes related costs (e.g. accommodation etc). Separatefigures for overseas travel, member of staff, destination and date of travel arenot held centrally by the SPS and could not be provided except at disproportionatecost.

Question reference: S2W-31490

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 13 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many Burns suppers it hosted abroad in January 2007; where they were located; who organised them; whether Scottish firms or organisations were invited to attend, and what similar information it has on Burns suppers organised by the UK Permanent Representation to the European Union (UKRep) or any other UK Government department.

The First Secretary, ScottishAffairs office in Washington organised and hosted a Burns Supper in New York to promoteTartan Week and Scotland generally to key media contacts.

VisitScotland and Scottish DevelopmentInternational hosted a Burns Supper in Boston, to launch the direct globespan flightbetween that city and Scotland. Local media, representatives of the travel industryand local Scottish organisations were invited.

The Scottish Executive EuropeanUnion Office in Brussels held a concert to celebrate Burns Night as part of the Scottish musicians’ series 2006-07, in Scotland House.

The Scottish Executive does notrecord information about events hosted by UK government departments.

Question reference: S2W-31354

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 12 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussion it has had with the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and other police and criminal justice agencies regarding the potential impact of super casinos and increased gambling on criminality and offending; whether it will publish any responses it has received and what the reasons are for its position on this matter; whether it anticipates that there will be an increase in offending and criminality as a result of increased gambling and, if so, to what extent.

Question reference: S2W-31489

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 7 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps were taken to interact and communicate with Scottish communities and societies abroad in respect of Burns Night.

Scotland-Now, www.scotland-now.com,the e-magazine which is specificallyaimed at those with an affinity for Scotland who live overseas, showcases modern Scotland as a great place to live, work, visit, study andinvest.

The special Burns edition ofScotland-Now was issued on 23 January 2007. An e-card promoting bothBurns Night and Scotland-Now wasalso sent to contacts overseas. This edition carried a variety of features on RobertBurns, and included a guide on how to host a Burns Supper. We also highlighted a range of Burns events being heldby Scottish groups and societies internationally, as well as events takingplace throughout Scotland. Details of most of these events were provided by the Scottish communities and societies abroad themselves.

Officials from the ScottishAffairs Office in Washington DC also attended Burns Suppers in New York, Boston and Washington.

Question reference: S2W-31488

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 7 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it took to use Burns Night to promote Scotland abroad.

The Scottish Executive promotesinternationally key dates in Scotland’s calendar. Burns Night 2007 was marked bya number of activities that included a direct mailing to international journalists,Global Friends and Global Scots and others through FCO posts. A special editionof the quarterly e-zine Scotland‑Now was mailed out and recipientswere encouraged to post information on Burns Night events across the world. The FirstSecretary, Scottish Affairs office in Washington hosted a Burns supper in New Yorkto promote Scotland to local media contacts. Promotional items were sent to supporta number of Burns events across the world.

Question reference: S2W-31353

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 7 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider creating a public health strategy to address gambling addiction.