- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 14 February 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many freedom of information requests it received from Labour (a) MSPs and (b) councillors in each month since January 2005 and what percentage of those requests resulted in exemptions being applied and non-disclosure of the information requested.
Answer
We do not have any FOIrequests centrally recorded which identified the requester as a labour MSP.
We do not have any FOIrequests centrally recorded which identified the requester as a Labourcouncillor.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 14 February 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Labour councillors have requested a review of a decision by Scottish ministers to withhold information from disclosure under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 by applying exemptions under the Act and what proportion of those decisions were subsequently upheld.
Answer
We do not have any freedomof information review requests centrally recorded which identified therequester as a labour councillor.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 14 February 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the longest time was for an ambulance to attend an incident following a 999 call in each year since 2000, broken down by Scottish Ambulance Service division.
Answer
The information requestedcould only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 January 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 13 February 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its social enterprise strategy.
Answer
It is our intention to publisha social enterprise strategy in the near future.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 February 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 12 February 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it will save as a result of changes it has made to the way in which it administers European structural funds for projects operated and supported by the voluntary sector.
Answer
Enterprise, Transport and LifelongLearning Department
Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive howmuch it will save as a result of changes it has made to the way in which it administersEuropean structural funds for projects operated and supported by the voluntary sector.
(S2W-31652)
Allan Wilson One of the key principle fordeveloping future programmes has been a desire to reduce the administrative costsfor all project sponsors. However, it is not possible to quantify the extent ofany savings for projects operated by any individual sector. This will depend onthe final agreed changes in the eligibility criteria for projects, the scope ofeligible activity and final allocations, and other changes in the administrationof projects. Until the Operational Programmes have been finalised and agreed withthe European Commission, these changes cannot be specified.
One set of costs that will notincur to partners in the 2007-13 period is the voluntary management subscription.At present, all projects are invited to make such subscriptions towards paying halfthe costs of the Programme Management Executives. In the new period, the Executivewill pay this share of the costs of the new Intermediate Administration Bodies ratherthan partners. The cost to all partners of such subscriptions was £16.2 millionfor 2000-06.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 February 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 12 February 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation it has had with the voluntary sector in the last 12 months in respect of changes that ministers have made in the way that European structural funds are administered for projects operated by charities and other organisations in the voluntary sector.
Answer
Extensive consultation has takenplace with the voluntary sector (as well as with other Scottish partners) on thedevelopment of the new Structural Funds programmes. In addition to representationon the European Structural Funds Forum which has met to discuss future programmedevelopment twice in the period in question, the voluntary sector has been invitedto discuss new programme proposals through several sets of consultations. At thestart of 2006, a series of partner meetings were held across Scotland, settingout the Executive’s proposals. During the second quarter of 2006, Scottish partnerswere invited to respond to the DTI’s consultation on the National Strategic ReferenceFramework, the overarching strategic document on future Structural Funds in theUK,which has a dedicated chapter on Scotland. Lastly, in the last quarter of 2006, the sector hadthe opportunity to respond to the public consultation on the draft Operational Programmesfor Scotland (the consultation finished on 8 January 2007). As part of this publicconsultation, workshops were held on each of the priorities in the different programmes– members of the voluntary sector took part in each workshop.
In addition, my officials andI had several bilateral meetings with key representatives of the sector, particularlythe Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, throughout 2006.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 8 February 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many qualified ambulance personnel there were in each year since 2000, broken down by Scottish Ambulance Service division.
Answer
The whole-time equivalent numberof paramedics and technicians employed in each Scottish Ambulance Service divisionfrom 2000 is listed in this table:
| Division | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 |
| North East | 184.0 | 185.0 | 185.0 | 216.3 | 215.3 | 216.3 |
| North West | 203.4 | 205.8 | 205.8 | 217.8 | 199.1 | 199.1 |
| East Central | 311.5 | 321.5 | 321.5 | 348.7 | 350.7 | 372.0 |
| West Central | 384.5 | 408.5 | 406.5 | 464.0 | 458.0 | 468.0 |
| South East | 284.5 | 288.5 | 288.5 | 310.0 | 310.0 | 317.0 |
| South West | 399.0 | 398.0 | 393.0 | 434.0 | 445.0 | 481.0 |
Note: Information supplied bythe Scottish Ambulance Service.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 8 February 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive after how many 999 calls for an ambulance it took more than an hour for a crew to attend in each year since 2000, broken down by Scottish Ambulance Service division and also expressed as a proportion of 999 calls for an ambulance over the same period.
Answer
The figures requested are listedin the following table. The Scottish Ambulance Service rolled out a priority baseddispatch system during 2002-04, so the figures from 2000-03 relate to all 999 emergencycalls and the figures from 2003-06 relate to Category A (life-threatening) and CategoryB (serious but not life-threatening) calls. In 2005-06, the ambulance service respondedto all Category A calls in an average of 8.4 minutes.
Number of Responses Over OneHour and Proportion of 999 Calls
| Division | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 |
| Number | Proportion | Number | Proportion | Number | Proportion |
| North East | 6 | 0.03% | 5 | 0.02% | 8 | 0.03% |
| North West | 9 | 0.10% | 11 | 0.12% | 11 | 0.11% |
| East Central | 14 | 0.02% | 9 | 0.02% | 27 | 0.05% |
| West Central | 10 | 0.01% | 62 | 0.06% | 56 | 0.06% |
| South East | 9 | 0.02% | 3 | 0.01% | 31 | 0.06% |
| South West | 23 | 0.04% | 9 | 0.02% | 15 | 0.03% |
Number of Responses Over OneHour and Proportion of 999 Calls
| Division | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 |
| Number | Proportion | Number | Proportion | Number | Proportion |
| North East | 5 | 0.02% | 3 | 0.01% | 1 | 0.04% |
| North West | 13 | 0.13% | 15 | 0.15% | 14 | 0.12% |
| East Central | 11 | 0.02% | 13 | 0.02% | 17 | 0.02% |
| West Central | 51 | 0.05% | 41 | 0.04% | 96 | 0.09% |
| South East | 18 | 0.04% | 9 | 0.02% | 27 | 0.04% |
| South West | 33 | 0.06% | 30 | 0.06% | 34 | 0.06% |
Note: Information supplied bythe Scottish Ambulance Service.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 8 February 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of 999 calls for an ambulance where it took more than an hour for a crew to attend subsequently resulted in the patient dying (a) on the way to hospital and (b) within five hours of arrival at hospital in each year since 2000, broken down by Scottish Ambulance Service division.
Answer
This information is not available.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 8 February 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to promote full religious equality and an end to institutionalised discrimination.
Answer
Discrimination on the groundsof religion or belief is now unlawful in employment and training and in the provisionof goods, facilities and services. The Executive’s Equality Strategy published in2000 made clear our commitment to promoting equality for all and tackling prejudiceand discrimination. Among other things, we have mechanisms in place to allow forregular dialogue with all Scotland’s faith communities, and as part of the Executive’smainstreaming equality programme, departments must assess the impact of their policiesor proposed policies on faith/religious groups and the results must be published.
