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-26108

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 2 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in replanting the trees that were removed to enable the Auchenkilns grade-separated junction to be constructed.

Approximately 40,000 native treesand some 500 metres of native hedgerow have been planted as part of the AuchenkilnsJunction Improvement. The landscaping works are now complete. Although thecontractor remains responsible for five years for maintenance and replacement plantingwhere growth failure occurs.

Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more informationif required.

Question reference: S2W-26105

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 2 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider improving road access into and out of the Seafar and Ravenswood areas of Cumbernauld as part of the upgrade of the A80 to address the issue of limited access when traffic is diverted from the A80 to the A8011 as a result of accident or works on the A80.

Question reference: S2W-26107

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 2 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has monitored traffic flow on the A80 at the upgraded Auchenkilns intersection to assess any improvement since the roundabout was replaced by a grade-separated junction and, in particular, whether issues have arisen as a result of tailbacks on the A73 at its junction with the A80.

Question reference: S2W-25543

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 May 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 2 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, given (a) the statement by the Minister for Justice on 22 April 2006 at the launch of the Mulhearn Action Plan for the Scottish Fingerprint Service that, in order to restore public confidence in the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO), “I am determined to ensure that the Scottish Fingerprint Service is recognised - at home and abroad - as truly world class”, (b) that the Scottish Ministers have concluded that the identification by SCRO experts of the Shirley McKie print is wrong and that the Mulhearn report confirmed this conclusion, (c) the statements made by the Director and the Deputy Director of SCRO to the Justice 1 Committee on 26 April 2006 that a majority of experts at SCRO disagreed with the Scottish Ministers who said the print was wrong (Official Report, Justice 1 Committee, c. 2878) and (d) that these experts had confirmed these beliefs in a letter, dated 14 November 2005, to Lord Cullen of Whitekirk, whether it would agree that the experts’ behaviour (i) undermines the Minister’s goal of a “truly world class” fingerprint service, (ii) reduces public faith in that service and (iii) constitutes a danger to any persons appearing before Scottish courts on the basis of fingerprint evidence, whether it will revoke with immediate effect the expert status conferred on those SCRO experts under the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 to make expert reports and to give expert evidence in the courts and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

In presenting The ScottishFingerprint Service Action Plan for Excellence to the Justice 1 Committee on26 April 2006, Deputy Chief Constable Mulhern described the fingerprintservice as “a collective of people who are very keen to act corporately to takethe service forward”. The Plan, alongside the work that has already been undertakenand referred to in the answer to question S2W-23158 on 17 February 2006, is intendedto command the confidence of the criminal justice system and the wider public inthe fingerprint evidence presented to Scottish courts. Copies of the plan have beenplaced in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 39556).All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The fingerprint officers involvedin the court presentation of fingerprint evidence in the Marion Ross murder caseare not providing and are not eligible to provide fingerprint evidence in court.

Question reference: S2W-26041

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2006
Current Status: Answered by George Lyon on 1 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the population of each of Scotland’s six cities was in each census year since 1951; what it is in each city now, and what it projects the population will be in each city in each census year up to 2051.

The following table sets outthe information for each of the six cities for all census years back to 1951and for the most recent year for which figures for these areas are available.

Population of Scotland's Cities:Census Years 1951 to 2001 and 2003

City	1951	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001	2003
Glasgow¹	1,140,841	1,103,026	941,235	754,586	658,379	629,501	630,140
Edinburgh	466,761	468,361	453,584	408,822	400,632	430,082	430,440
Aberdeen	182,729	185,390	182,071	186,757	182,133	184,788	179,480
Dundee²	180,759	186,452	188,542	172,294	157,808	154,674	152,610
Inverness	28,107	29,774	34,839	38,204	40,918	40,949	40,470
Stirling³	26,962	27,551	29,776	36,640	29,768	32,673	32,710

Notes:

1. Includes Rutherglen andCambuslang for all years.

2. Includes Monifieth for allyears.

3. 1981 figure for Stirlingincludes Bannockburn.

Information on futureprojected populations is only available for local authority and NHS board areasand not for the areas in the table.

Question reference: S2W-26035

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 1 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has sought compensation from the state of Arkansas for providing HIV and hepatitis C-infected blood from prisoners for use in medical procedures in Scottish hospitals.

Further to the answer to questionS2W-26034 on 1 June 2006, the Executive has not sought compensation from thestate of Arkansas since the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Servicedid not import plasma from Arkansas prisoners. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility forwhich can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Question reference: S2W-26040

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 1 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what provisions are being made to allow young offenders to transfer to the open estate when it is deemed that a young offender is suitable for such transfer.

Question reference: S2W-26034

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 1 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what communications it has had with the US Government or officials of the state of Arkansas to establish (a) how HIV and hepatitis C-infected blood extracted from prisoners in Arkansas came to be used in medical procedures in Scottish hospitals and (b) whether the governor of the state at the time when blood, subsequently discovered to have been infected with HIV and hepatitis C, was extracted from prisoners in that state was aware that this blood was infected.

Question reference: S2W-26017

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 1 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive when the guidance issued to schools in respect of holding prescription drugs was last updated.

Question reference: S2W-26042

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2006
Current Status: Answered by George Lyon on 1 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the population was of each of Scotland’s designated new towns in each census year since 1961; what it is in each new town now, and what it projects the population will be in each town in each census year up to 2051.

The following table sets outthe information for each of the five new towns for all Census years back to1961 and for the most recent year for which figures for these areas areavailable.

Populationof Scotland's New Towns : Census Years 1961 to2001 and 2003

New town	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001	2003
East Kilbride	31,970	64,118	70,454	70,579	73,796	74,320
Livingston	2,063	13,567	38,671	42,178	50,826	52,920
Cumbernauld	4,924	31,557	47,517	49,507	51,587	51,430
Glenrothes	12,750	27,355	33,639	38,320	38,679	38,720
Irvine	16,911	23,019	32,507	33,406	33,090	32,680

Information on futureprojected populations is only available for local authority and NHS board areasand not for the areas in the table.