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-18264

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 August 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 18 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the waiting list figures for cancer care were in each NHS board area in each of the last 10 years, broken down by NHS board are.

There are no discrete waiting lists for cancer treatment which can take place in either an out patient or in patient setting. As soon as a cancer diagnosis is confirmed treatment is discussed and agreed between the consultants concerned and their patient and appropriate arrangements made to commence that treatment as rapidly as possible, dependent on the patient’s own circumstances.

Performance of NHS boards against the Scottish Executive 2005 national waiting times target for cancer is currently available for breast, colorectal, lung and ovarian cancers and can be found on the Executive’s website at www.scotland.gov.uk.

Question reference: S2W-17903

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 17 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many established full-time equivalent educational psychologist posts there are in (a) each local education authority and (b) Scotland and how many such posts are vacant.

The information requested is provided in the following table. The permanent column covers permanent established posts for the complement of the Psychology Service. The project-based column covers non-permanent posts funded from temporary funding streams.

Educational Psychologist Vacancies as at 18 February 2005

Education Authority	Complement		Advertised Vacancies		Of these, Vacant for More Than 3 Months
	Permanent	Project-Based	Permanent	Project-Based	Permanent	Project-Based
Aberdeen City	13.5	3.5	1.5	1.0	-	-
Aberdeenshire	19.6	-	-	-	-	-
Angus	8.0	-	-	-	-	-
Argyll and Bute	6.0	2.8	-	-	-	-
Clackmannanshire	6.0	-	-	-	-	-
Dumfries and Galloway	11.0	-	-	-	-	-
Dundee City	11.4	2.4	1.0	-	1.0	-
East Ayrshire	9.0	-	-	-	-	-
East Dunbartonshire	4.6	-	-	-	-	-
East Lothian	7.5	-	1.0	-	1.0	-
East Renfrewshire	19.4	-	-	-	-	-
Edinburgh, City of	32.2	-	-	-	-	-
Eilean Siar	2.5	-	-	-	-	-
Falkirk	11.4	-	0.8	-	-	-
Fife	23.9	-		-	-	-
Glasgow City	52.5	-	2.0	-	2.0	-
Highland	13.8	-	-	-	-	-
Inverclyde	7.3	-	-	-	-	-
Midlothian	8.3	0.2	-	-	-	-
Moray	8.3	-	2.0	-	-	-
North Ayrshire	11.0	-	-	-	-	-
North Lanarkshire	28.1	-	2.6	-	2.6	-
Orkney Islands	2.0	-	1.0	-	1.0	-
Perth and Kinross	9.2	0.5	-	-	-	-
Renfrewshire	14.0	44.3	-	-	-	-
Scottish Borders	6.7	1.4	1.0	0.4	1.0	0.4
Shetland Islands	1.0	-	-	-	-	-
South Ayrshire	8.0	-	-	-	-	-
South Lanarkshire	21.0	1.0	-	-	-	-
Stirling	6.5	-	-	-	-	-
West Dunbartonshire	9.5	1.5	-	-	-	-
West Lothian	13.1	-	-	-	-	-
Scotland	406.3	57.6	12.9	1.4	8.6	0.4

Source: Teacher and Educational Psychologist Vacancies Survey.

Question reference: S2W-17902

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 17 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time was between the referral of a child to an educational psychologist and the child’s appointment in (a) each local education authority area and (b) Scotland in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S2W-18030

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 17 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many letters to it remain unanswered after more than a month, broken down into those which are (a) one month, (b) two months, (c) three months, (d) four months and (e) over six months old.

Question reference: S2W-18107

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 17 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-33267 by Mr Andy Kerr on 23 January 2003 and in light of the review by the Financial Reporting Advisory Board referred to therein, whether it now agrees with Kilmarnock Prison Services Ltd (KPSL) that the prison was sold to the public sector and, if it does agree, on which public department’s or agency’s books the asset is held; if it disagrees, what steps it has taken, or intends to take, with relevant bodies to correct the statement made by KPSL, and, if it is unable to either agree or disagree at this time, what steps it plans to take to clarify on which balance sheet the asset, and its concommitant liabilities, should properly be held.

The Scottish Executive’s view of the accounting treatment has not changed and is reported in the Scottish Prison Service’s (SPS) annual accounts for 2004-05 published in July (laid in the Scottish Parliament (SE/2005/137) and available at www.sps.gov.uk ). The prison property itself does not appear on the SPS Balance Sheet, but the SPS does account for its commitments under the contract and for its reversionary interest in the asset.

The Executive supported the review by the Financial Reporting Advisory Board (FRAB). Information on this review can be found at www.frab.gov.uk. It was not, however, the FRAB’s role to consider the detail of individual cases with a view to revising the accounting treatment adopted: it is for each party to conduct their own assessment, according to relevant accounting standards and guidance. In the present case, the SPS and the private sector contractor have both applied the relevant guidance and in both cases the respective auditors have accepted the conclusion reached.

The Executive is committed to proper accounting practice and to achieving a satisfactory resolution to the apparent problem of anomalous treatment. The Executive will therefore comply with, and promote compliance with, applicable guidance in this area, including therefore any revised guidance issued in due course.

Question reference: S2W-18272

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 August 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 17 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many bus drivers were charged with (a) drink driving, (b) speeding and (c) operating a mobile phone while driving in each of the last five years, broken down by police force area.

Question reference: S2W-17828

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 16 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many primary school-aged children it is estimated that there will be in each of the next five academic years.

The information requested is set out in the following table.

Year	Projected Number of 4 to 11-Year-Old Children*
2005-06	454,100
2006-07	444,300
2007-08	437,000
2008-09	429,800
2009-10	421,000

Note: *Ages at June of each year.

The figures above are taken from the General Registers of Scotland population projections. Not every four-year-old or 11-year-old will be in primary school and not every child will be in public sector schools.

Question reference: S2W-18133

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 16 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils have been found to be in possession of (a) a weapon or (b) drugs on school premises in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S2W-17964

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 16 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) men and (b) women became teachers in the maintained school sector in (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in each year since 1970.

Question reference: S2W-17966

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 16 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many company directors have been (a) imprisoned and (b) fined over the last 10 years for approving accounts which do not comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 1985 and what the maximum (i) prison sentence and (ii) fine is which may be imposed for this offence.