- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 15 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to introduce the Speed Enforcement Camera System to more roads in Scotland.
Answer
We are currently not aware of any plans by safety camera partnerships to introduce the Speed Enforcement Camera System (SPECS) to more roads in Scotland. SPECS has been introduced on the A77 from Bogend to Ardwell as a trial and as part of an integrated road safety strategy for the A77 that includes £20 million investment in road engineering improvement, increased road policing activity and an education programme. The first review of the effects of the system will be at the end of twelve months and will inform future decisions on the inclusion of this type of equipment in the Scottish Safety Camera Programme.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 15 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring is in place to judge the effect of the Speed Enforcement Camera System on the A77.
Answer
Speed monitoring is carried out on an on-going basis by the SPECS system and other permanent recording equipment on the road. Personal injury crash and casualty records are also maintained on an on-going basis. All these statistics will be used over time to establish the effect of the system.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 15 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are classes or types of vehicles which cannot be captured by the Speed Enforcement Camera System on the A77.
Answer
The Speed Enforcement Camera System (SPECS) detects all classes of vehicles with front-facing number plates. It does not detect motorcycles. Speeding motorcycles and other vehicles will be detected by normal road policing patrols in marked and unmarked vehicles along the route.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 15 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there have been cutbacks in the provision of sexually-transmitted disease clinics within the NHS Lanarkshire area since 1999.
Answer
No.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 15 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it expects the Speed Enforcement Camera System on the A77 to reduce the need for police officers to patrol this stretch of road.
Answer
The Speed Enforcement Camera System (SPECS) does not affect road policing patrols on the road. The system is operated by Strathclyde Safety Camera Partnership under the Scottish Safety Camera Programme. At the discretion of the Chief Constable, local police forces can undertake speed enforcement out with the Scottish Safety Camera Programme.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 14 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is offering the Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland to ensure that the office remains impartial and free from political pressure.
Answer
The Executive provides £1.2 million per annum to the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body, which has direct responsibility for supporting the commissioner’s office and activities. The commissioner was appointed by Parliament and her accountability to Parliament is set out in the commissioner for Children and Young People (Scotland) Act. The commissioner is fully independent of the Executive.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 14 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether ministers were involved in the decision to award the final contract for the Scottish Intelligence Database.
Answer
The decision to award the contract was made by Strathclyde Police on behalf of the Scottish Police Service and was approved by Strathclyde Joint Police Board. Ministers were not involved in the decision making process.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 14 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria were applied in the selection of a winning bid for the tender for the Scottish Intelligence Database.
Answer
All bids were assessed on the basis of the following weighted criteria: User Functionality (35%), Technical (25%), Timescales (5%), Training (5%) and Price (30%).
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 14 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that public procurement policies were adhered to during the tendering process for the Scottish Intelligence Database system in 2001.
Answer
The procurement was carried out in full accordance with European Union procurement rules under the Open Procurement procedures. This included advertising in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 14 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what role tenants have in the local application of community ownership.
Answer
I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows.
Tenants play a vital role in the application of community ownership. The landlord’s governance process must ensure that the arrangements for membership of the governing body reflect the composition of the community that the organisation serves, enable tenants and the wider community to influence the governing body and enable tenants, and the wider community if they wish, to participate in the management of the organisation.
Social landlords are required to develop and implement a tenant participation strategy and consult with tenants groups and individual tenants on a range of issues. Landlords use a number of informal tools to seek tenant views such as conferences, focus groups or tenant satisfaction surveys.
Where local authorities intend to put proposals to tenants for the transfer of the council’s housing into community ownership, tenants or their representatives must be consulted and involved at every stage. Scottish ministers attach great importance to the manner in which a council consults the tenants whose homes are included in a transfer proposal and ministers cannot consent to a transfer unless the majority of tenants voting in the transfer ballot support the proposals.
More information on tenant participation can be found on Communities Scotland’s website at:
http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/webpages/cs_008388.hcsp#TopOfPage.
In addition, more information on tenant involvement in the large scale stock transfer process is available on the Communities Scotland’s website at:
http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/webpages/cs_007154.hcsp#TopOfPage.
