- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 27 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the Department of Trade and Industry regarding the withdrawal of funding for the Scottish National Minimum Wage helpline.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is inregular contact with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). This is a pilotproject which the Department of Trade and Industry believes will have run its courseand where in the DTI’s view resources would be better targeted at enforcement andcriminal prosecutions of non-compliant employers.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 26 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how frequently the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and COSLA publicly report on the number of persistent young offenders with whom they are dealing.
Answer
The Scottish Children’s ReporterAdministration publish validated youth justice data both quarterly and annually.
They also circulate monthly managementdata to local youth justice agencies on offence referral patterns and timelinessindicators.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 23 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it provides to Planning Aid for Scotland.
Answer
In the financial year2006-07, Planning Aid for Scotland will receive up to £225,283 from the ScottishExecutive. This is made up of the following four streams:
Core funding - £100,000from the Scottish Executive Planning Division;
Funding for a VolunteerDevelopment Officer - £24,000 from the Planning Development Budget;
Reach Out - £43,796from the Race Equality, Integration and CommunitySupport Fund, and
Planning for People - £57,487from the Sustainable Action Fund.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 23 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff at Historic Scotland were disciplined following allegations of staff purchasing irregularities in 2004-05.
Answer
No staff at Historic Scotlandwere disciplined following allegations of staff purchasing irregularities in 2004-05,because the individual concerned resigned. Subsequent to that, however, the individualwas subject to the appropriate legal process, resulting in a custodial sentence.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 21 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to calling in the proposed development of two supermarkets in Galashiels.
Answer
Scottish ministers were askedto call in a planning application for the proposed Tesco supermarket at the formerGovernment Buildings, 53 Market Street. Ministers took the view that no issues ofsignificant national importance had been raised to warrant their intervention inthe case.
A planning application by Asdafor the development of a retail unit at Currie Road has recently been notified to Scottishministers and is currently being considered.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 21 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Scottish Borders Council and local agencies, such as Scottish Enterprise, with regard to the proposals to develop two large supermarkets in Galashiels.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has discussednature conservation issues with Scottish Natural Heritage and Historic Scotlandhave had contact with the council both over the proposed demolition of the GovernmentBuildings in relation to the planning application by Tesco for a supermarket at53 Market Street.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 20 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its staff were disciplined as a result of alleged (a) misconduct, (b) expenses irregularities and (c) travel and related expenses irregularities in each year from 1999-2000 to 2005-06, broken down by department.
Answer
The following table showsnumber of Scottish Executive staff who have been disciplined as a result ofmisconduct broken down by year and core department.
Department NumberPer Year
| Department | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | Total |
| Development Department | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Education Department | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| Environment and Rural Affairs Department | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 24 |
| Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Dept | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Finance and Central Services Department | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Health Department | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Justice Department | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Office Of The Permanent Secretary | 2 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 23 |
| Total | 3 | 16 | 11 | 18 | 17 | 12 | 7 | 84 |
In the period 1999-2000 to2005-06, one member of staff was disciplined as a result of expensesirregularities and one as a result of travel and related expensesirregularities.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 20 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff were disciplined following investigation into the fraudulent manipulation of witness expense claim forms at the Procurator Fiscal’s Office in Glasgow in 2004-05.
Answer
One member of Crown Officeand Procurator Fiscal Service staff was suspended from duty during theinvestigation into the allegations and has since been successfully prosecuted. Theformer member of staff resigned before being dismissed.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 19 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what concerns it has expressed to Scottish Borders Council regarding the proposal to demolish the historic Government Buildings in Galashiels as part of a proposed supermarket development.
Answer
Historic Scotland, a ScottishExecutive agency, sought to recognise the historic merit of the Government Buildings(former Textile College) in Galashiels by listing the property as a buildingof special architectural and historic interest in 2004. In doing this, they tookthe exceptional step of listing in the faceof a live planning application, against stated policy. Ensuing action by Tesco Supermarketsaw the listing reduced by the Court of Session in June 2004.
In the absence of statutory protectionHistoric Scotland no longer has any formal locus in the case or remit under planninglaw to intervene. However, in May 2006 the agency formally invited the Scottish Borders Council to alert them shouldTesco decide not to demolish the buildings on the site, as this could give themthe opportunity to consider statutory protection afresh.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 16 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been allocated to the Additional Support Needs Tribunal since its inception; what its running costs are, and how often it has sat.
Answer
The funding allocated to theAdditional Support Needs Tribunal since its inception to 31 March 2006 totals£626,543. This figure includes running costs of £274,862.
The Additional Support NeedsTribunal has sat on two occasions to date.
