- Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 24 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence-based explanation it can give for the significant rise in numbers of pupils with a diagnosis of autism, as revealed by the Scottish Schools Census.
Answer
There is no evidence-based explanationfor more pupils being recognised as having autistic spectrum disorder. However,the increase is likely to be due to a number of factors, which include increasedawareness, better diagnosis and the application of wider diagnostic criteria ora combination of these.
- Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 21 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the written ministerial statement by the UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on the statutory redundancy payments scheme (Official Report, House of Commons, 2 March 2006, Vol 443, c 39WS) which states that the EU Employment Directive “provides for the possibility of Member States providing for different treatment on the grounds of age, where this difference of treatment is objectively and reasonably justified by a legitimate aim, including employment policy”, whether it now considers that publication of the legal advice it has received in respect of the abolition of the rule of 85 is in the interests of (a) the public and (b) members of the local government pension scheme and whether it will provide a detailed rationale of the reasons for its position on the matter.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-24591 on 20 April 2006. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be foundat:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 20 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the written ministerial statement by the UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on the statutory redundancy payments scheme (Official Report, House of Commons, 2 March 2006, Vol 443, c 39WS) which states that the EU Employment Directive “provides for the possibility of Member States providing for different treatment on the grounds of age, where this difference of treatment is objectively and reasonably justified by a legitimate aim, including employment policy”, whether it will give any further consideration to whether the local government pension scheme rule of 85 should be abolished on the grounds of age discrimination and whether it it will now publish the legal advice it has received on the matter in order that it can be compared to legal advice received by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-21675 on 17 January 2006. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.The rationale for having to removethe rule of 85 to be consistent with Directive 2000/78/EC is that the purpose of the Directive is to set out a general framework for equal treatment, including combatingdiscrimination on age grounds in employment and occupation. The rule of 85 in theLocal Government Pension Scheme for Scotland clearly discriminates on age grounds because two memberswith the same length of service but different ages who retire on the same day areaffected differently. Depending on their age, one would receive an unreduced pension(as they satisfy the rule), whilst the other would not. This therefore amounts toless favourable treatment on the grounds of age.
Article 6.1 of the Directiveallows for differences of treatment on age grounds in some circumstances where amember state can establish that the differences are objectively and reasonably justifiedby a legitimate aim, and the means it chooses to achieve that aim are proportionate.Hence, in order for the rule of 85 (which is considered to be discriminatory onage grounds) to be allowed to continue beyond the Directive’s deadline, it mustbe an objectively justifiable means of meeting a legitimate aim. No such legitimateaim has so far been identified that would be consistent with the Directive.
In addition, the Directive providesthat age discrimination in relation to pensions may be allowed to continue underArticle 6.2 in specific, narrow circumstances. However, the Executive does not considerthat the rule of 85 falls within the terms of Article 6.2. The rule is not a provisionfor fixing the age of entitlement to retirement benefits nor is it an actuarialcalculation. It also has a disparate impact on the grounds of sex (as proportionatelymore males would qualify under the rule than females, who tend to have shorter service).Article 6.2 cannot be used to continue an age discriminatory provision which alsodiscriminates on grounds of sex. The rule therefore cannot be retained under thisarticle of the Directive.
Member states are obliged toimplement the requirements of the Directive before December 2006 and the UK Government’spolicy is to implement them by October 2006 by means of Great Britain Regulations.Following a period of statutory consultation the Department of Trade and Industryhas laid draft Regulations before the Westminster Parliament. If approved they willcommence on 1 October 2006. In order to comply with the law, therefore, and followingthe same approach as DTI the rule of 85 will have to be removed from the Local GovernmentPension Regulations to coincide with that date.
- Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 19 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23069 by George Lyon on 21 March 2006, whether, in applying the gender duty, it will evaluate local authorities’ success in implementing equal pay and their compliance with the duty.
Answer
The gender duty is containedin the Equality Act 2006 and does not come into force until April 2007. TheEqual Opportunities Commission (EOC) will be initially responsible for issuingcompliance notices to public authorities who are deemed to be in breach of thegender duty. The Commission for Equality and Human Rights will take over thisrole when the EOC ceases later in 2007.
- Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 19 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in respect of equal pay, it is aware of agreements and legal waivers that women have been asked to sign by some local authorities in relation to compensation, the value of their equal pay claims and their right to pursue such claims and, if so, whether it has issued any guidance to local authorities in respect of their obligations under equal pay, sex discrimination and gender duty legislation.
Answer
The Executive is aware thatoffers of compensation have been made by some local authorities in return foremployees waiving their right to pursue equal pay claims through the courts.These are issues for local authorities and their employees to determine and the Executive has no involvement in such matters.
The Executive has not issuedany specific guidance to local authorities in relation to their obligationsunder equal pay. General advice and guidance on such matters has, however, beenpublished by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC). The Executive is workingclosely with the EOC on the Code of Practice and accompanying guidance for thegender duty, which will be published in the summer of 2006. Gender dutylegislation is contained in the Equality Act 2006 and does not come intoeffect until April 2007.
- Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 19 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what urgent action will be taken to provide parents with the alternative of single vaccines on the NHS, in light of the decision by the Chiron Corporation to withdraw its MMR vaccine from Italian and developing world markets because it may be associated with a higher rate of adverse side effects than other such vaccines.
Answer
There are no implicationsfor the childhood immunisation programme in Scotland because the MoruparMMR vaccine produced by the Chiron Corporation is not used in the UK.
- Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 19 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional funding it has budgeted to make available to assist local authorities to meet their obligations in respect of equal pay.
Answer
The core local government financesettlement for 2006-07 was approved by the Parliament on 8 February 2006.This includes provision for the salaries and wages paid by local authorities. The settlement is largely unhypothecated and it is forcouncils themselves to determine how they spend this in line with local needsand priorities.
While the Executive’s overallspending plans in the period up to 2007-08 have been announced, we have saidthat within the overall total we remain prepared to look again at the fundingposition for local government for 2007-08, subject to their on-goingsatisfactory progress on the efficient government programme.
- Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 5 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to initiate an investigation into the link between landfill sites and environmental pollution and, in particular, whether there is a relationship with birth defects.
Answer
A review of theenvironmental and health effects of waste management was carried out by theenvironmental consultants Enviros and the University of Birmingham, and was published by the Department for Environmentaland Rural Affairs in May 2004.
With regard to birthdefects, the review found no evidence to suggest a causal link.
We have no plans to initiateany further investigations.
- Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 29 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what urgent action is planned to investigate environmental factors influencing the increase in, and medical symptoms associated with, the diagnosis of autism, in light of recent statistics issued by education authorities indicating an over 300% increase since 1998 in the numbers of schoolchildren diagnosed with autism.
Answer
The Executive is unaware ofany peer-reviewed evidence that the prevalence of autism has actually increased.However, due to a variety of factors, including increased awareness, betterdiagnosis and wider diagnostic criteria more children and young people arebeing diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. What is important is that theirneeds are identified as early as possible and are supported appropriately. the Scottish Executive’s policy focuses on service development on the basis ofcurrent, evaluated evidence that autism is a lifelong condition. As such the Executive does not currently consider there is a need to investigateenvironmental factors in relation to the incidence of autism.
- Asked by: Carolyn Leckie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 27 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23632 by Cathy Jamieson on 13 March 2006, what the Minister for Justice’s policy intentions are in relation to pre-recorded messages and whether the Minister is satisfied that the Executive is not at risk of a successful legal challenge.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron,Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is asfollows:
The pre-recorded telephonemessage is a proportionate measure to ensure the prevention of crime and theprotection of victims. We intend to keep it. The outcome of any legal challengewould be for the court to decide but we are confident that the measure is “inaccordance with the law” and “necessary in a democratic society” and has alawful aim as required under Article 8 of the European Convention on HumanRights.
