- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 01 November 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 13 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to reduce the number of women prisoners held at HM Prison Cornton Vale to 100 as referred to in Women Offenders: A Safer Way and, if so, when this target will be met.
Answer
The Executive has determined no such target. Decisions whether to commit people to custody or to the various and increasing alternatives to custody provided by the Executive are for the judiciary.
- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the recent study published in volume 325, issue 7368 of the British Medical Journal on the link between insulin resistance and socio-economic position in childhood and adulthood and what action it intends to take in the light of the study.
Answer
The study provides yet further evidence of the link between socio-economic circumstances and health experience, and also underscores the importance of a good start in life. These will be important themes in our forthcoming health improvement strategy.Additionally, it is recognised that insulin resistance is an important factor not only in the development of cardiovascular disease but also Type 2 diabetes and obesity. The groups responsible for implementing our Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke Strategy and our Scottish Diabetes Framework will work together to address the effects of deprivation and reduce inequalities.
- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 October 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 12 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any monitoring arrangements are in place to ensure that public money committed to purchase private sector goods or services is not committed to any organisation operating a tax avoidance policy by establishing accounts in offshore tax havens and, if not, whether it will investigate establishing such an arrangement to ensure that only firms that properly pay taxation within the UK benefit from public money used to purchase goods or services on behalf of the taxpayer.
Answer
No monitoring arrangements are in place in respect of tax avoidance schemes. However, organisations bidding for Scottish Executive contracts are expected to have met their legal obligations in respect of taxation and it is standard practice that they are asked to disclose any convictions.European public procurement rules provide for certain circumstances when companies can be excluded from competing for public sector business, such as failure to pay taxes in accordance with UK (or other relevant) legislation. However, it does not allow for exclusion of companies on the basis that they pay their taxes in another country. To exclude a company on these grounds would be unlawful. Generally, companies are required to pay taxes in the country of their incorporation. In the case of partnerships, partners are required to pay taxes in the country in which they are domiciled.
- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 October 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the article in the Sunday Mail on 27 October 2002 regarding the drop-out rates of student nurses from their courses and the relationship of these rates to bursary levels is accurate; if so, what it intends to do to address this situation, and whether it intends to introduce a living salary system for student nurses to replace the current bursary system.
Answer
The drop-out rate of student nurses is currently 22.4%.There are a number of reasons why student nurses leave their course and we are taking a number of steps to address attrition including improving financial support - the Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary has increased by 21% since 1998 - and developing proposals for distance learning and flexible access to courses to make sure that as many of our gifted students as possible complete their training and go on to work in NHSScotland.We do not intend to re-introduce a salary system for student nurses to replace the current student nurse bursary. Following a major review of nurse training in 1992, it was agreed that student nurses and midwives should no longer be regarded as employees but that they should have full student status like all other health profession students.
- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 28 October 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 6 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to secure the jobs at Richard Roberts Knitwear in Ayrshire.
Answer
Since Richard Roberts Knitwear entered its consultation period, officials at Scottish Development International and Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire have been in close, regular contact with senior management at the company. A number of options were discussed with the company, including the possibility of financial support to help keep the facility open.The company has, however, now taken the decision to close the factory. The majority of redundancies will take place on 17 December. In order to support the employees to find new jobs, support was offered to the company under the Executive's PACE (Partnership Action for Continuing Employment) framework. The PACE services will be in place from 18 November and are likely to include sessions by JobcentrePlus, Careers Scotland and the Inland Revenue along with North Ayrshire Council Welfare rights and the Small Business Gateway.
- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 October 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 31 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the views expressed by the Deputy Prime Minister on 22 October 2002 in the House of Commons on lack of necessity and justification for the firefighters' industrial action.
Answer
We are pleased that, through the intervention of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and the local authority employers are meeting again this week in the National Joint Council. We hope that the resumption of negotiations and the work of the Independent Review under Professor Sir George Bain will encourage the FBU to suspend their future planned industrial action and participate in the review process.
- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mary Mulligan on 27 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to improve the current provision of free dental care and increase the number of NHS dentists throughout Scotland as a result of the Spending Review 2002.
Answer
The Spending Review 2002 will enable us to continue to implement recommendations contained in An Action Plan for Dental Services in Scotland. These include improving access to NHS dental services and measures to recruit and retain NHS dentists in Scotland.
- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 September 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 26 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, since the inception of Scottish Water, how many (a) contractors it has appointed, (b) tenders for work it has received, (c) contracts it has awarded and at what value and (d) contracts have commenced.
Answer
This is a matter for Scottish Water. The Chief Executive's response is as follows:Scottish Water contracts a wide variety of services from construction to IT support to estate management. It is estimated that in relation to Scottish Water's capital programmes (a) 50 contractors have been appointed for 91 contracts and 12 partnerships have been awarded 34 packages of work, (b) between five and eight tenders are received each month, (c) 125 contracts have been awarded at a value of £42 million, with an additional £261 million previously committed by the three water authorities and (d) 125 contracts have commenced.
- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 24 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many learning providers were recipients of Individual Learning Account (ILA) payments in each year since the scheme was introduced and how much each provider was paid.
Answer
Account information held on learning providers participating in the scheme is commercially sensitive. It would, therefore, be inappropriate to provide financial details in respect of each individual learning provider.According to the ILA Centre's records, the amounts paid to learning providers are as follows:in the first financial year of the national scheme's introduction 410 learning providers received a total of £1,890,270;in the second financial year of the scheme's introduction 1,023 learning providers received a total of £10,976,725, andin the first six months of this financial year 284 learning providers received a total of £1,727,789.A table giving a more detailed breakdown of payments made to learning providers is included.Number of Learning Providers Receiving Payments in each Specified Payment Band (£)
| Year | 0-9,999 | 10,000-49,999 | 50,000-99,999 | Over 100,000 | Totals |
| 2000-01 | 359 | 48 | 1 | 2 | 410 |
| 2001-02 | 835 | 139 | 26 | 23 | 1,023 |
| 2002-03 | 241 | 39 | 2 | 2 | 284 |
- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 August 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 23 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there has been any economic analysis of the impact on the economy of (a) using different types of tendering process, (b) using different forms of consultancies, (c) using consultants based in Scotland, (d) using in-house expertise and (e) recruiting special teams of objective and impartial staff in respect of appointing consultants for proposed PPP/PFI schemes and housing stock transfers and, in particular, whether Audit Scotland has been asked to consider such matters.
Answer
No such analysis has been conducted. European law prohibits discrimination in favour of firms based on geographic location. Audit Scotland carried out a recent study of the PFI procurement of schools by Scottish councils on behalf of the Accounts Commission. The resulting report was published earlier this year and includes a commentary on the financial consequences of the first round of schools PFI contracts and on the tendering and appraisal processes for such schemes, including the need for objective appraisals. This report did not include any assessment of the wider impact of these projects on the Scottish economy.
