Section E – Written questions lodged on 6 October 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-28036 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is committed to maintaining the 1,000 extra police officers recruited since May 2007.

S3W-28037 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide police forces with sufficient funding to ensure that they are able to maintain police numbers at current levels until May 2011.

S3W-28038 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the additional police officers recruited since May 2007 are engaged in community policing, broken down by police force.

S3W-28039 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive what actions it has taken to address the absence of a commonly agreed definition of and inconsistencies in approach to community policing across Scotland as highlighted in the Justice Committee’s Report on Inquiry into Community Policing.

S3W-28040 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made on implementing each of the recommendations in the Justice Committee’s Report on Inquiry into Community Policing.

S3W-28041 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive how many police forces follow the approach to community policing taken by Strathclyde Police.

S3W-28042 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive how it defines community policing.

S3W-28043 Richard Baker: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that all police forces attach sufficient priority to community policing and, if not, what action it will take.

S3W-28044Δ Christina McKelvie: To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its response to the consultation on supporting learners in higher education, Supporting a Smarter Scotland.

S3W-28045 Bill Butler: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to remove the Royal Bank of Scotland from the management group of the Scottish Centre for Financial Education and, if so, when.

S3W-28046 Gavin Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive how many children under 16 have been charged by police in the Lothians region in each of the last three years, broken down by age (a) five and under, (b) 6 to 10 and (c) 11 to 15.

S3W-28047 Gavin Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive what disposals were issued to people convicted in cases involving domestic abuse in the Lothian and Borders police force area in each of the last three years.

S3W-28048 Gavin Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were convicted in relation to the 2,720 cases of housebreaking recorded in Edinburgh between April 2008 and March 2009.

S3W-28049 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive how many contractors involved with the Energy Assistance Package operate in Dumfries and Galloway.

S3W-28050 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive how many central heating systems, excluding legacy central heating programme installations, were installed as part of the Energy Assistance Package by the end of September 2009, broken down by local authority area.

S3W-28051 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive how many central heating systems were installed as part of the central heating programme in (a) 2006-07, (b) 2007-08 and (c) 2008-09, broken down by local authority area.

S3W-28052 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason there is a four to six-month wait in Dumfries and Galloway for a boiler to be installed in a household that has qualified for Stage Four of the Energy Assistance Package.

S3W-28053 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to reduce the waiting period for central heating system installation for applicants who have qualified for Stage Four of the Energy Assistance Package.

S3W-28054 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to increase the number of central heating systems installed as part of the Energy Assistance Package.

S3W-28055 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is for central heating system installation for applicants who qualify for Stage Four of the Energy Assistance Package, broken down by local authority area.

S3W-28056 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason 43 times fewer central heating systems have been installed as part of the Energy Assistance Package compared with the central heating programme.

S3W-28057 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive how many households have received the Stage Three package of standard insulation measures under the Energy Assistance Programme, broken down by local authority area.

S3W-28058 Jamie Hepburn: To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS medical professionals can make and fit dentures.

S3W-28059 Jamie Hepburn: To ask the Scottish Executive what training in the manufacture and fitting of dentures is available to NHS employees.

S3W-28060 Jamie Hepburn: To ask the Scottish Executive what role denturists have in the NHS.

S3W-28061 Jamie Hepburn: To ask the Scottish Executive whether and, if so, by what process practising denturists can register with the General Dental Council.

S3W-28062 Jamie Hepburn: To ask the Scottish Executive what the legal requirements are on commercial bus and coach operators to allow access to their services for passengers with mobility problems.

S3W-28063 Jamie Hepburn: To ask the Scottish Executive whether commercial bus and coach operators are required to carry mobility scooters belonging to passengers.

S3W-28064 Jamie Hepburn: To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is a legal maximum load weight for commercial buses and coaches.

S3W-28065 Liam McArthur: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27342 by Stewart Stevenson on 2 October 2009, whether it will list the combined weight of freight and freight vehicles or trailers carried and the metres of deck space allocated to them on each route operated by (a) Calmac Ferries Limited, (b) Cowal Ferries Limited and (c) NorthLink Ferries Limited in each of the last 10 years for which records are available.

S3W-28066Δ Shirley-Anne Somerville: To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its response to the consultation that was held earlier in 2009 on the Carbon Reduction Commitment.