Section E – Written questions lodged on 8 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-28089 Ms Wendy Alexander: To ask the Scottish Executive which three primary schools in Renfrewshire had a roll less than 50% of capacity in 2008-09, as stated in Table 7.1 of the School Estate Statistics 2009.

S3W-28090 Gavin Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive which primary schools in the Lothians region have had occupancy rates of 101% or more in the most recent year for which information is available, broken down by local authority area.

S3W-28091 Gavin Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive which secondary schools in the Lothians region have had occupancy rates of 101% or more in the most recent year for which information is available, broken down by local authority area.

S3W-28092 Gavin Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive what the level of funding was in (a) 1999-00, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02, (d) 2002-03, (e) 2003-04, (f) 2004-05, (g) 2005-06, (h) 2006-07 and (i) 2007-08 for affordable housing projects in the Lothians region, broken down by local authority area.

S3W-28093 John Farquhar Munro: To ask the Scottish Executive for what reasons the Inverinate and Dorusduain Forests are being put up for sale by the Forestry Commission Scotland and whether the local community has been asked if it would like to purchase the forests for community use.

S3W-28094 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive what the current position is regarding Nether Howcleugh, a derelict smallholding that was acquired during the construction of the M74.

S3W-28095 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive by what process a member of the public could purchase Nether Howcleugh with the intention of refurbishing it as a smallholding.

S3W-28096 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-22315 by Nicola Sturgeon on 21 April 2009, what action is being taken to promote self-referral to physiotherapy services in each NHS board area.

S3W-28097 John Wilson: To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to encourage men to seek medical attention when necessary, in light of the relevant article in Scotland on Sunday on 4 October 2009.

S3W-28098 John Wilson: To ask the Scottish Executive whether extra funding will be allocated to the well men initiative, in light of evidence that a significant number of men continue to show reluctance to seek medical attention.

S3W-28099 John Wilson: To ask the Scottish Executive whether the well men initiative is subject to continuous evaluation and, if so, where such evaluation is available.

S3W-28100 John Wilson: To ask the Scottish Executive whether and, if so, how well the well men initiative is operating in the NHS Lanarkshire area.

S3W-28101 Dr Richard Simpson: To ask the Scottish Executive how many junior doctors or full-time equivalents have been required to fill European working time directive rotas in each NHS board since 1 August 2009.

S3W-28102 Dr Richard Simpson: To ask the Scottish Executive how many junior doctors or full-time equivalents were employed by the NHS on 1 August 2009.

S3W-28103 Ken Macintosh: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware that children requiring tinted glasses due to Meares-Irlen Syndrome do not receive support to purchase tinted glasses.

S3W-28104 Ken Macintosh: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any research that establishes a link between higher educational attainment and the use of tinted glasses among people affected by Meares-Irlen Syndrome.

S3W-28105 Ken Macintosh: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has taken steps to support families who have children affected by Meares-Irlen Syndrome.

S3W-28106 Ken Macintosh: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to provide financial support for families who need to purchase tinted glasses for children affected by Meares-Irlen Syndrome.

S3W-28107 Lewis Macdonald: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27617 by Jim Mather on 6 October 2009, how many responses it received to the public consultation on the draft guidelines for the Saltire Prize.

S3W-28108 Lewis Macdonald: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27616 by Jim Mather on 6 October 2009, whether it will publish details of the registrations of interest for the Saltire Prize competition and, if so, when.

S3W-28109 Robert Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to carry out a consultation on the possibility of making an order under section 5 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 in relation to contractors who provide public services, registered social landlords and local authority trusts.

S3W-28110 Robert Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to bring contractors who provide public services, registered social landlords and local authority trusts within the scope of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

S3W-28111 Robert Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to concerns raised by the Scottish Information Commissioner that the public have lost rights to information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 from certain bodies due to changes in public service delivery, whether it will proceed to formal consultation on an extension to the Act to cover contractors who provide public services, registered social landlords and local authority trusts.

S3W-28112 Robert Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to its discussion paper published on 17 November 2008 on the possibility of extending the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to cover contractors who provide public services, registered social landlords and local authority trusts, what further action it plans to take regarding this issue.

S3W-28113 Robert Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive when a decision will be made regarding whether to hold a formal consultation on the possibility of extending the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to cover contractors who provide public services, registered social landlords and local authority trusts.

S3W-28114 Johann Lamont: To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to implement the recommendations of the review of the Fresh Talent Initiative carried out in 2008.

S3W-28115 Johann Lamont: To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to implement the recommendations of the review of the Fresh Talent Initiative with regard to the employment prospects of graduates.

S3W-28116 Johann Lamont: To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to address the concerns of the 48% of graduates responding to the review of the Fresh Talent Initiative who did not consider that their employment was appropriate to their level of educational qualifications.