- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the activation of Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and reports by investigative journalists into the use of rendition flights and notwithstanding the terms of the answer to question S2W-20910 by Cathy Jamieson on 7 December 2005, how it can be satisfied that no US prisoners transported in UK airspace or which landed in Scottish airports were not being transported via Scotland with a view to being subjected to torture once they reached their destinations.
Answer
The request for information by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, in terms of Article 52 of the European Convention of Human Rights, has been made to the UK Government, as a Party to the Convention and the Scottish Executive will assist the UK Government with any information required in order to fulfil the request made by the Secretary General.
The Scottish Executive has no knowledge of any person or persons being transported via Scotland with a view to being subjected to torture once they reached their destinations
- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 18 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has distributed to the public to provide specific advice on protecting them in the event of a major oil incident.
Answer
None. The issuing of advice to the public in the event of an incident at an oil installation is a matter for the site operator and the responding emergency services: in the case of evacuation, this advice will primarily be given by the police acting on information drawn from a number of sources (e.g. Fire and Rescue, site operator, health professionals and the Health and Safety Executive.) Under the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations, 1999, site operators and local authorities are required to draw up plans to manage a major incident including arrangements for warning and informing the public.
- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 18 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the advice available to the public following the major oil incident at Hemel Hempstead.
Answer
No immediate plans. The issuing of advice to the public in the event of an incident at an oil installation is a matter for the site operator and the responding emergency services: in the case of evacuation, this advice will primarily be given by the police acting on information drawn from a number of sources (e.g. Fire and Rescue, site operator, health professionals and the Health and Safety Executive.) Under the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations, 1999, site operators and local authorities are required to draw up plans to manage a major incident including arrangements for warning and informing the public.
The oil incident at Hemel Hempstead is currently being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The Scottish Executive will consider any relevant recommendations which emerge from the investigation should they apply to Scotland.
- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 18 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what estimates have been made in respect of the number of likely casualties resulting from a major explosion at oil installations across Scotland, broken down by site.
Answer
This information is not held centrally. The assessment of risks associated with oil installations across Scotland is primarily a matter for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) under the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations in close liaison with the site operator and Category 1 responders such as the police and fire service.
- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what risk assessments it has carried out in respect of the potential for radioactive contamination in the event of a major incident at a Scottish oil establishment.
Answer
The assessment of risks associated with oil installations across Scotland is primarily a matter for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) under the Control of Major Hazards (COMAH) Regulations in close liaison with the site operator and Category 1 responders such as the Police and Fire Service.
As part of the COMAH regulations, the HSE calculates the risk for the COMAH sites. In addition, HSE provides general risk assessments for industrial and associated hazards for the Scottish Strategic Co-ordinating Group (SCG) areas (same as Police and Fire areas) for inclusion in their area risk registers as required under the Civil Contingencies Act (CCA)
The CCA will help to consolidate the planning at the SCG area level since Category 1 responders are required to develop generic arrangements for warning and informing the public.
- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 09 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 18 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many female heads of service it has had in each of its departments in each year since 1999, expressed also as a percentage of the total number of heads of service in its departments in the same timescale.
Answer
The first female head of department in the Scottish Executive was appointed in 2001 and remains in post. Since eight people currently hold head of department posts, (not including the Permanent Secretary) this is 12.5% of the complement.
The percentage of women in the Senior Civil Service in the Scottish Executive as a whole is currently 31.3%.
- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 09 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 18 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to eradicate gender stereotyping among young people.
Answer
The Executive is committed to addressing gender inequalities and stereotyping among young people in Scottish schools. Specific initiatives - past and on-going - are detailed in the answer to question S2W-22055 on 12 January 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
Executive work to tackle discrimination and prejudice and promote gender equality in all aspects of Scottish life is relevant and will benefit people of all ages, including the young. For example, in recognition that there are a complex set of factors which influence career choice, the Executive has recently agreed to set up an interdepartmental working group on occupational segregation. Officials are currently liaising with the Equal Opportunities Commission Scotland over the remit, membership and duration of the group. Careers Scotland, which has done a lot of work on gender stereotyping and the career choices of young men and women, is likely to be involved with the group.
The Executive is also involved in raising awareness of occupational segregation in the context of equal pay through its involvement with the Close the Gap partnership project.
- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 18 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its employees from a black or minority ethnic background have been awarded an honour in the (a) Queen’s Birthday Honours List or (b) New Year’s Honours List in each year since 1999.
Answer
The Scottish Executive does not hold information on the number of employees from a black or minority ethnic background who have been awarded an honour in Her Majesty the Queen’s Honours Lists since 1999.
- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 16 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many transport movements involving naturally occurring radioactive materials waste from the oil industry have taken place from Scottish ports in each year since 1999.
Answer
This information is not held centrally. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has responsibility for licensing the disposal and storage of radioactive waste from the Scottish oil industry under the terms of the Radioactive Substances Act 1993.
- Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 16 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many head teachers are from a black or minority ethnic background, expressed also as a percentage of the total number of head teachers.
Answer
Figures published in Teachers in Scotland 2004, available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 36291) show that there were five head teachers from minority ethnic groups, from a total of 2,520 head teachers with known ethnicities (0.2 per cent). In addition, 2.5 per cent of head teachers had unknown ethnicity through either non-disclosure or missing data.
