Section E – Written questions lodged on 17 September 2009

Questions marked with a triangle (Δ) are initiated by the Scottish Executive in order to facilitate the provision of information to the Parliament.

Questions in which a member has indicated a declarable interest are marked with an "R".

S3W-27411 Cathie Craigie: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-26533 by Nicola Sturgeon on 14 September 2009, how many consultant outpatient appointments were not attended as a result of the failure of patient transport arrangements to collect the patient, broken down by NHS board.

S3W-27412 Jeremy Purvis: To ask the Scottish Executive what the definition of lightweight camping is as referred to in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

S3W-27413 Jeremy Purvis: To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been given to police boards and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) so that they are able to understand the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 and respond to reports of irresponsible campers.

S3W-27414 Rhona Brankin: To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken in respect of the recommendations in the report, Valuable Assets - the role and status of classroom assistants, published by the Equal Opportunities Commission in May 2007.

S3W-27415 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25699 by Kenny MacAskill on 23 July 2009, what update it can provide on what the motivational element to encourage further participation of prisoners in appropriate interventions, such as the Sex Offender Treatment Programme, is likely to involve and how it is intended to be used.

S3W-27416 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive,further to the answer to question S3W-25269 by Kenny MacAskill on 2 July 2009, what update it can provide on when it expects the Scottish Prison Service to (a) complete and (b) roll out the new Sex Offender Treatment Programme.

S3W-27417 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of comments by the chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service, as reported in The Herald on 11 September 2009, in relation to a one-in-one-out model to deal with prison overcrowding.

S3W-27418 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive what impact a one-in-one-out model to deal with prison overcrowding, reported in The Herald on 11 September 2009 as raised by the chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service, would have on public safety.

S3W-27419 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is considering a one-in-one-out model to deal with current levels of prison overcrowding, as reported as raised by the chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service in The Herald on 11 September 2009.

S3W-27420 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that Scotland’s prisons are universities of crime and, if so, what action it is taking in prisons to address this.

S3W-27421 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to communicate to consumers changes to alcohol licensing introduced in the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, broken down by (a) date and (b) nature of action.

S3W-27422 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that (a) consumers and (b) licensees were adequately informed of changes to alcohol licensing introduced by the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 and that came into effect on 1 September 2009.

S3W-27423 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive how many licensing boards have banned or plan to ban alcohol multi-buy promotions in the off-trade, broken down by (a) board and (b) date of commencement of ban.

S3W-27424 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive from how many licensing boards it has received formal notification of an intention to ban alcohol multi-buy promotions in the off-trade.

S3W-27425 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive how many days’ notice was given to retailers prior to the introduction by licensing boards of any bans on alcohol multi-buy promotions in the off-trade and whether it considers such notice adequate.

S3W-27426 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the reported recent comments of the Lord Advocate in relation to life sentences that in some exceptional cases a punishment part of the sentence that exceeds natural life expectancy may be appropriate.

S3W-27427 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on reported comments of the Lord Advocate that in relation to life sentences there may be a need to review the range of punishment parts available to the courts to better reflect the seriousness of a crime, given the relatively compressed scale from 12 to 30 years that currently exists.

S3W-27428 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers 30 years an appropriate maximum punishment part of a life sentence.

S3W-27429 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of reported calls from the Lord Advocate for guidance to be given to judges dealing with violent crimes involving knives and swords to reflect statistics that indicate that just under half of the killings in Scotland were committed by individuals using sharply pointed weapons.

S3W-27430 Pauline McNeill: To ask the Scottish Executive what the purpose is of the presumed North Sea capital allocation fund, as referred to in The Herald of 17 September 2009.

S3W-27431 Pauline McNeill: To ask the Scottish Executive how much is set aside for the presumed North Sea capital allocation fund, as referred to in The Herald of 17 September 2009.

S3W-27432 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive what the sources of the pollution were that resulted in bathing waters at Sandyhill beach being assessed as of poor quality during the 2009 bathing season.

S3W-27433 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive what the sources of the pollution were that resulted in bathing waters at Ettrick Bay beach being assessed as of poor quality during the 2009 bathing season.

S3W-27434 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive what the sources of the pollution were that resulted in bathing waters at Heads of Ayr beach being assessed as of poor quality during the 2009 bathing season.

S3W-27435 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive what the sources of the pollution were that resulted in bathing waters at Saltcoats and Ardrossan beaches being assessed as of poor quality during the 2009 bathing season.

S3W-27436 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive what the sources of the pollution were that resulted in bathing waters at Irvine beach being assessed as of poor quality during the 2009 bathing season.

S3W-27437 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason daily information on predicted water quality is provided at only 11 out of 80 EC designated bathing water sites, and how these sites were selected.

S3W-27438 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase reporting of predicted water quality at EC designated bathing water beaches.

S3W-27439 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in establishing a soil focus group.

S3W-27440 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to complete its revision of the Prevention of Pollution from Agricultural Activities Code.

S3W-27441 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s report into the state of contaminated land in 2009 to be published.

S3W-27442 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive what input it has had into the review of the National Emission Ceilings Directive 2001/81/EC.

S3W-27443 Patrick Harvie: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-21390 by Jim Mather on 10 March 2009, whether it has made representations to the UK Government in relation to calls for a public inquiry into the request for justification of proposed new nuclear reactors. 

S3W-27444 Patrick Harvie: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports calls for the UK Government to hold a public inquiry into the request for justification of proposed new nuclear reactors.

S3W-27445 Patrick Harvie: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers it appropriate that the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change to appoint himself as the justifying authority in relation to the justification process for new nuclear reactors.

S3W-27446 Marlyn Glen: To ask the Scottish Executive what level of core funding is projected for the Scottish Youth Parliament over the next three years.

S3W-27447 Gavin Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive how many grants have been made under the Cashback for Communities initiative to applicants in each parliamentary constituency in the Lothians region and what the value of each grant was.

S3W-27448 Gavin Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost has been of drugs for the treatment of alcohol dependence dispensed by NHS Lothian in each of the last five years.

S3W-27449 Margaret Smith: To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance in respect of the adjudication or litigation record of potential contractors or their parent companies is provided by Procurement Scotland to local authorities and other organisations considering bids for public contracts.

S3W-27450 Margaret Smith: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers the adjudication or litigation record of a contractor or its parent company to be a material factor in assessing bids for public contracts.

S3W-27451 Pauline McNeill: To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings it has had in 2009 to discuss the Clyde Fastlink proposal.

S3W-27452 Pauline McNeill: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will support the Clyde Fastlink project.

S3W-27453 Pauline McNeill: To ask the Scottish Executive what new investment it will make in the Glasgow transport network.

S3W-27454 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is concerned at the report in The Press and Journal on 17 September 2009 that a record 177 prisoners have been recalled to prison following release and, if so, what action it will take.

S3W-27455 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the reported comment of HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland that resourcing problems are limiting prisoners’ access to the Violence Prevention Programme and what action it is taking to address this issue.

S3W-27456 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners accessed the Violence Prevention Programme while serving a custodial sentence in each of the last three years, broken down by prison.

S3W-27457 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive in which prisons the Violence Prevention Programme runs and whether the Scottish Government plans to increase the number of such prisons in future.

S3W-27458 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland’s comment that he does not think that prison is a "skoosh", as reported in The Herald of 17 September 2009.

S3W-27459 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is concerned at the comment of HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland that "On the other hand, I have spoken to a number of prisoners, particularly younger ones, who have found a community sentence more demanding", as reported in The Herald of 17 September 2009, and, if so, what action it will take.

S3W-27460 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to curb the supply of illegal drugs in prisons.

S3W-27461 Dr Richard Simpson: To ask the Scottish Executive how many extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machines will be available by 1 October 2009.

S3W-27462 Dr Richard Simpson: To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional ventilators are being acquired to support the announced increase in intensive care beds.

S3W-27463 Dr Richard Simpson: To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional specialist nursing staff will be required to support the announced increase in intensive care beds.

S3W-27464 Dr Richard Simpson: To ask the Scottish Executive what steps the Scottish Emergencies Coordinating Committee and the eight strategic coordinating groups have taken to ensure that NHS retired doctors, nurses and technicians, with previous intensive care experience have been (a) listed, (b) contacted and (c) offered a training update.

S3W-27465 Robert Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents of domestic abuse against (a) women and (b) men have been recorded by the police in each of the last 10 years, broken down by police force.

S3W-27466 Robert Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were (a) prosecuted, (b) convicted and (c) given a custodial sentence in cases involving domestic abuse in each of the last 10 years, broken down by police force area.

S3W-27467 Robert Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities offer (a) residential places and (b) non-residential community-based services, broken down by NHS board.

S3W-27468 Robert Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive how many residential places there are for (a) alcohol and (b) drug rehabilitation, broken down by NHS board area.

S3W-27469 Robert Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive how many non-residential places there are for community-based (a) alcohol and (b) drug rehabilitation, broken down by NHS board area.

S3W-27470 Robert Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities are used to their full capacity.

S3W-27471 Robert Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities have the potential to be used further to help meet the current high demand for treatment services.

S3W-27472 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware that students up to the age of 60 in England and Northern Ireland are eligible for student loans.

S3W-27473 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that its policy of limiting eligibility for student loans to students under the age of 55 could be considered to be age discrimination.

S3W-27474 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason £3.7 million has been transferred from the Scottish National Heritage budget line to Local Government in 2009-10 and 2010-2011, as described on page 110 of the Scottish Draft Budget 2010-2011.

S3W-27475 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason £0.3 million has been transferred from the Animal Health budget line to Local Government in both 2009-10 and 2010-2011, as described on page 110 of the Scottish Draft Budget 2010-2011.

S3W-27476 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason £0.7 million has been transferred from the Zero Waste budget line to Food Industry Support in 2010-2011, as described on page 111 of the Scottish Draft Budget 2010-2011.

S3W-27477 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive whether the £25.3 million and £26.3 million transferred from the Zero Waste budget line to Local Government, as described on page 111 of the Scottish Draft Budget 2010-2011, will be spent on waste reduction and, if so, how this will be ensured.

S3W-27478 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive what its justification is for the reduction in the budget of Marine Scotland from £75.5 million in 2009-2010 to £65.3 million in 2010-2011, as described on page 116 of the Scottish Draft Budget 2010-2011.

S3W-27479 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive how much was applied for under the private water supply grant scheme was in (a) 2006-07, (b) 2007-08 and 2008-09.

S3W-27480 Bill Butler: To ask the Scottish Executive how many school openings Scottish ministers have attended since 17 May 2007, broken down by (a) date (b) school and (c) local authority.

S3W-27481 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive when it will provide an answer to question S3W-25603, which was due for answer on 31 July 2009.

S3W-27482 Nanette Milne: To ask the Scottish Executive how many positron emission tomography (PET) scanners are available, broken down by NHS board.

S3W-27483 Nanette Milne: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers there to be sufficient capacity for the number of positron emission tomography (PET) scanners required for (a) treatment and (b) research.

S3W-27484 Nanette Milne: To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are plans in place for additional positron emission tomography (PET) scanners and, if so, where they will be sited.