- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 23 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received any communications from Disclosure Scotland during the last year in respect of disclosure certificates for Home Office officials working in Scotland.
Answer
The Executive has received no communication from Disclosure Scotland about disclosure certificates for Home Office officials during the last year. Disclosure Scotland would not normally be expected to inform the Scottish Executive about checks it carries out.
- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 22 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Home Office officials involved directly with the removal of children in “dawn raids” in Scotland have had a full disclosure from Disclosure Scotland.
Answer
It is for individual employers, in this case the Home Office, to decide whether a particular member of staff working in Scotland is in a child care position under the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003 and whether they require a disclosure check.
- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 21 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to adopt the Race for Opportunity scheme, currently in place in England, which promotes ethnic diversity in the labour market.
Answer
The Scottish Executive recognises the benefits to be derived from an ethnically and culturally diverse workforce, and is committed to becoming an exemplar employer whose staff is representative of Scotland’s population. We are due to publish our new Race Equality Scheme on 30 November, which will set out how we are meeting our duties to give due consideration to the promotion of race equality and elimination of discrimination, both as an employer and in relation to our functions and policies, under existing race relations legislation.
In addition to its corporate responsibilities, the Scottish Executive is committed to tackling the current inequalities that exist for minority ethnic communities in the labour market in Scotland. The strategic group referred to in my answer to S2W-19178 on 20 September 2005, will be working with public and private sector employers, and it may wish to consider whether membership of the Race for Opportunity scheme will assist the Scottish Executive in achieving those long-term outcomes given in my previous answer.
All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 17 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest date is by which it expects to have a formal written protocol in place with the Home Office with regard to the role of Scottish children’s services in future removals of asylum seeker families with children.
Answer
Discussions with the Home Office are being taken forward as a matter of urgency. These are complex matters and the work will be completed as quickly as possible.
- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 16 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to publish any legal advice it or any of its agencies hold regarding the remit of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and how that Act applies to children of asylum seekers.
Answer
We have no such plans.
- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 16 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many times the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration has been in contact with officials at the Scottish Executive to express concern about the removal of asylum seekers’ children since January 2005.
Answer
The Scottish Childrens Reporter Administration has never been in contact with officials at the Scottish Executive to express any such concern.
- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 16 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received any advice from clinical child psychologists on the potential psychological harm to children of asylum seekers who are referred to the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration but deported before investigations by the Children’s Reporter were completed.
Answer
No.
- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 16 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-19584 by Robert Brown on 24 October 2005, whether it will publish any concerns which it raised directly with the Home Office regarding the welfare of children removed from their home in October and November 2005 with any personal or individual information properly redacted.
Answer
Ministers have expressed concerns that the removal of all asylum seeker families with children should be handled sensitively, humanely and proportionately. The agreement that we are developing with the Home Office will help address these concerns.
- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 16 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings its officials have had with colleagues at the Home Office with regard to the removal of asylum seeker families with children in Scotland since April 2005.
Answer
Four.
- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 16 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how it or its agencies monitor the care and protection of children referred to the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration who are in the intervening investigation period deported by the Home Office.
Answer
Once a child has been removed responsibility for the monitoring of care and protection rests with the authorities of the receiving state.
