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-16559

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 23 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive which helplines it has (a) wholly and (b) partly funded in each year since 1999, showing amount of funding allocated to, and number of calls processed by, each helpline.

Question reference: S2W-16365

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 18 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the letters of 19 February and 27 October 2004 and 6 April 2005 from its Environment and Rural Affairs Department on the employment of foreign workers at Monaghan Mushrooms, Fenton Barns, East Lothian, whether it has accessed the wage records of the foreign workers employed at Monaghan Mushrooms and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Question reference: S2W-16364

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 18 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the letters of 19 February and 27 October 2004 and 6 April 2005 from its Environment and Rural Affairs Department on the employment of foreign workers at Monaghan Mushrooms, Fenton Barns, East Lothian, what progress has been made regarding the employment of these workers and, in particular, the identification of agencies providing contract labour.

Question reference: S2W-16363

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 18 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the Operational Research Consultancy (ORCON) standards have been for the Scottish Ambulance Service in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board area.

Prior to the introduction of the priority-based dispatch system which rolled out across mainland Scotland between August 2002 and April 2004, 999 emergency calls to the Scottish Ambulance Service were dealt with on a “first come first served” basis. The speed of response depended not on the condition of the patient but on the volume of calls being responded to and the ambulance resources available at the time. The performance standards applied by the Scottish Ambulance Service varied according to population density – as with other ambulance services in the United Kingdom. These are known as the ORCON standards. In Scotland, to ensure that the standards reflected local demography, they were applied based on local authority areas. The standards were:

High Density (more than 3.0 persons per acre) – 50% of calls to be responded to within seven minutes and 95% within 14 minutes;

Medium Density (less than 3.0 but more than 0.5 persons per acre) – 50% of calls to be responded to within eight minutes and 95% within 18 minutes;

Sparse Density (less than 0.5 persons per acre) – 50% of calls to be responded to in eight minutes and 95% within 21 minutes.

Under the priority based dispatch system, which is used in all mainland board areas, 999 emergency calls are processed using well proven, clinically approved, screen based software (called Automatic Medical Priority Dispatch System). Based on the responses of the caller, the software assigns the call a response category. The categories and standards applied are:

Category A – clinically defined as “immediately life threatening”. The target is that by March 2008, 75% of such calls should be responded to within eight minutes across mainland Scotland. The ambulance service has phased the introduction of priority based dispatch and is progressing towards this target.

Category B – clinically defined as “not life threatening but still serious”. The target for this category of calls is that 95% should be responded to within either 14, 19 or 21 minutes depending on the population density of the health board.

The ambulance service continues to apply ORCON standards to their responses to calls from NHS Western Isles, NHS Shetland and NHS Orkney.

Question reference: S2W-16420

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 18 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the employment practices of Monaghan Mushrooms at Fenton Barns in East Lothian, what information it has on the request by Donegal Creameries plc, associate company of Monaghan Mushrooms, for its shares to be suspended from the Irish stock exchange due to "financial irregularities" and whether the Executive will be involved in any possible inquiries.

Question reference: S2W-16289

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 17 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of air transport for its officials in each year since 1999, broken down by purpose of travel, for example representing the Executive or fact-finding.

Question reference: S2W-16305

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Johann Lamont on 17 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has rejected a limited third-party right of appeal for inclusion in its proposed reform of planning legislation.

As one of the Partnership Agreements the Scottish Executive committed to consult on wider rights of appeal in planning. This consultation took place in summer 2004.

The consultation paper prompted a large number of responses both for and against extending the right of appeal in planning. Scottish ministers have been giving careful consideration to the arguments presented on both sides and will publish their proposals on this, and other planning matters, in a white paper. We expect to publish the white paper before the parliamentary summer recess.

Question reference: S2W-16308

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Johann Lamont on 17 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the National Planning Framework and, in particular, the setting of national policy and sector priorities, whether it will consult on the development of projects of national strategic significance and what role the Parliament will have in identifying and scrutinising such projects.

The Executive has made clear its intention to review planning legislation. To this end, ministers have been giving careful consideration to a wide range of reforms to modernise the planning system in Scotland. Proposals for this, including the future role and remit of the National Planning Framework, will be set out in a white paper, which we expect to publish before the parliamentary summer recess.

Question reference: S2W-16306

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Johann Lamont on 17 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of its proposed reform of planning legislation, whether it will provide examples of existing "projects of national strategic significance".

Under current planning legislation there is no reference to “projects of national significance”.

The Executive has made clear its intention to review planning legislation. To this end, ministers have been giving careful consideration to a wide range of reforms to modernise the planning system in Scotland. Proposals for this will be set out in a white paper, which we expect to publish before the parliamentary summer recess.

Question reference: S2W-16287

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 16 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what its expenditure was on transporting ministers by air for ministerial business in each year since 1999, broken down by (a) portfolio and (b) party political affiliation.