- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Elish Angiolini on 5 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-25069 by Colin Boyd on 29 April 2002, what the reason is for the rise in the number of cases marked "no proceedings" as a result of delay by the procurator fiscal since 1998-99.
Answer
The proportion of these cases is very small, having risen from 205 to 451. There are likely to be a number of factors leading to this, including the need to devote resources to serious cases and other competing pressures on the time of Procurators Fiscal.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Elish Angiolini on 5 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service set criteria to indicate which cases should be sent to the district court and which are eligible for an alternative to prosecution and whether any such criteria will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
Answer
Procurators Fiscal are instructed that cases which may be competently taken in the district court should be taken there unless there is some good reason for prosecuting in the sheriff court or the Lord Advocate directs otherwise. The Lord Advocate has directed that: (a) proceedings should not be taken in the district court for a breach of a Sex Offenders Order, or any offence aggravated by a breach of a Sex Offender Order; (b) proceedings should not be taken in the district court where the prosecutor considers a Non-Harassment Order to be appropriate, and (c) proceeding should not be taken in the district court where the offence is racially aggravated or contrary to section 50A of the Criminal Law (Consolidated) (Scotland) Act 1995. The criteria for the use of alternatives to prosecution are set out in the Prosecution Code which has been published and made available on the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service website.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Elish Angiolini on 5 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service prioritise cases; whether there is any guidance to staff of these offices on how to prioritise cases, and whether any such guidance will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
Answer
The training received and written guidance held by procurators fiscal identifies particular classes of case as generally requiring priority. These include, for example, cases involving children, cases in which the accused is in custody and cases in which a time bar is approaching. The allocation of priorities as between the several cases which a given member of staff or a given office requires to deal with at a particular time is a matter for professional judgement in light of training and experience and depends on consideration of all of the circumstances of each case.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 5 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what figures are available regarding the number of threats, assaults and other criminal activity involving sub-postmasters.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 5 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered, or will consider, making business advisers available to sub-postmasters in rural and deprived urban areas, on a similar basis to the use of the #700,000 spent under the Phoenix Fund for such a scheme in England.
Answer
Responsibility for business support services in Scotland rests largely with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) networks. Access to business advisers for small businesses in Scotland, including sub-postmasters, is already available. It is accessible in the Scottish Enterprise area through the Small Business Gateway and in the HIE area by contacting the Local Enterprise Company (LEC) direct. Dedicated training for subpostmasters on business planning and diversification has been offered in a number of Scottish Enterprise LEC areas, and more is planned in the HIE area.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 5 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many speech therapists there have been in each NHS board area in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02 and (d) 2002-03 to date.
Answer
The following table shows the latest centrally available data for headcount and whole-time equivalent of speech therapists by NHS board in Scotland:Speech Therapists in Scotland by NHS Board at 30 September
| Headcount | WTE |
1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001P | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001P |
Scotland | 824 | 844 | 887 | 882 | 686.4 | 708.1 | 744.4 | 739.6 |
Argyll and Clyde | 62 | 62 | 62 | 66 | 52.4 | 52.9 | 53.7 | 56.2 |
Ayrshire and Arran | 41 | 46 | 49 | 54 | 36.2 | 40.2 | 41.7 | 45.8 |
Borders | 18 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 15.5 | 16.0 | 16.7 | 17.2 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 25 | 28 | 26 | 29 | 22.3 | 25.5 | 22.2 | 23.8 |
Fife | 63 | 46 | 67 | 50 | 49.4 | 37.9 | 51.6 | 40.1 |
Forth Valley | 42 | 46 | 53 | 54 | 34.1 | 36.5 | 43.5 | 43.3 |
Grampian | 94 | 101 | 101 | 96 | 70.9 | 78.3 | 78.9 | 74.4 |
Greater Glasgow | 139 | 147 | 155 | 156 | 122.6 | 128.1 | 136.3 | 137.6 |
Highland | 31 | 29 | 28 | 33 | 27.2 | 24.6 | 24.2 | 28.4 |
Lanarkshire | 104 | 107 | 100 | 102 | 94.5 | 95.4 | 89.7 | 90.3 |
Lothian | 133 | 138 | 148 | 143 | 100.4 | 109.2 | 117.9 | 112.9 |
Orkney | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.4 |
Shetland | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3.7 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
Tayside | 58 | 64 | 66 | 66 | 48.7 | 53.4 | 56.6 | 57.3 |
Western Isles | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 5.8 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 |
PProvisionalNote:1. These data are released under National Manpower Statistics from Payroll.2. Whole-time equivalent (WTE) is calculated by dividing the number of contracted hours by the conditioned hours for the group of staff.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 5 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what the current average time is from GP referral to the first consultation with a neurologist in respect of a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease in each NHS board area.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally. Data on waiting times for a first out-patient appointment with a consultant is collected at speciality level only. The median waiting times for a first out-patient appointment with a consultant in Neurology, following referral by a General Medical Practitioner, in the year ending 31 December 2001, by NHS board of residence, is given in the table.NHSScotland: Median Waiting Times for a First Out-patient Appointment with a Consultant in Neurology, Following Referral by a General Medical Practitioner, by NHS Board of Residence. Year Ending 31 December 2001
PNHS Board | Median Wait |
Argyll and Clyde | 80 days |
Ayrshire and Arran | 97 days |
Borders | 78 days |
Dumfries and Galloway | 101 days |
Fife | 66 days |
Forth Valley | 70 days |
Grampian | 88 days |
Greater Glasgow | 95 days |
Highland | 59 days |
Lanark | 106 days |
Lothian | 28 days |
Orkney | 120 days |
Shetland | 97 days |
Tayside | 66 days |
Western Isles | 56 days |
Scotland | 69 days |
pProvisional.Source: ISD Scotland.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 5 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to waive prescription charges for people with chronic disabling illnesses such as Parkinson's disease.
Answer
We have no plans to do so.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 5 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-25671 by Cathy Jamieson on 21 May 2002, what the criteria were for accessing the Special Educational Needs Innovation Grants Programme funding and in what ways Independent Special Education Advice failed to meet those criteria.
Answer
The following criteria and priorities were set out in the grant application pack:
- promoting inclusive policies in mainstream and special schools
- approaches to improving links, and sharing skills/expertise between special and mainstream schools
- empowering parents to enable them to participate fully in their children's education
- improving children's participation in decisions which affect them
- promoting integrated and co-ordinated approaches to service delivery (e.g. key worker role)
- offering new approaches to advice and resolution of disagreements between professionals and families
We are writing to those unsuccessful applicants who have requested feedback on their bids. This includes Independent Special Education Advice and a letter outlining the reasons for refusing funding was issued to them on Thursday 30 May.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 29 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to establish in full a scheme in Scotland similar to the Phoenix Fund which operates in England to encourage entrepreneurship in disadvantaged areas.
Answer
We have no plans to do so. The Enterprise Networks already target entrepreneurship in disadvantaged areas through a range of measures - including the holding of Personal Enterprise Shows in such areas. We have also introduced recently a specific Scottish Enterprise Network annual target for the number of business start-up assists from residents in disadvantaged areas.