- Asked by: Brian Fitzpatrick, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 15 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are proposed or are being considered regarding the marking of cases by members of the procurator fiscal service for trial by sheriff and jury, in the light of the arrangements for the prosecution of serious crime in the High Court set out in Modernising the Effective Prosecution of Serious Crime - Appointment and Role of Advocate Deputes: The Way Forward, and the announcement by the Lord Advocate on 17 December 2002.
Answer
The paper Modernising the Effective Prosecution of Serious Crime - Appointment and Role of Advocate Deputes: Proposals for Change, published in September 2002, provided details of the proposed arrangements for the marking of sheriff and jury cases: paragraphs 24-30, in particular paragraph 29.
- Asked by: Brian Fitzpatrick, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 15 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what safeguards will be put in place to address any perceived lack of independence of procurators fiscal appointed on an ad hoc basis and to ensure that a fiscal appointed as ad hoc advocates depute are not required to act as an ad hoc advocate depute in any case in which they had any prior involvement as a procurator fiscal or that has originated in the region where their office is currently located, in the light of the arrangements for the prosecution of serious crime in the High Court set out in Modernising the Effective Prosecution of Serious Crime - Appointment and Role of Advocate Deputes: The Way Forward the announcement by the Lord Advocate on 17 December 2002.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-32753 today. 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/search_wa.
- Asked by: Brian Fitzpatrick, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 15 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what improvements are being considered in the time to be made available to advocates depute for the preparation of trials allocated or to be allocated to them, in the light of the arrangements for the prosecution of serious crime in the High Court set out in Modernising the Effective Prosecution of Serious Crime - Appointment and Role of Advocate Deputes: The Way Forward and the announcement by the Lord Advocate on 17 December 2002.
Answer
The proposals announced in the paper Modernising the Effective Prosecution of Serious Crime - Appointment and Role of Advocate Deputes: The Way Forward are intended to improve the preparation of High Court cases, particularly those which are serious and complex. Additional preparation time will be made available to Advocate Deputes.
- Asked by: Brian Fitzpatrick, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 December 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 10 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what target-setting and performance evaluation it has commissioned, or is planning to commission, on the commercialisation of research in universities and research institutions.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-32714 today. 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/search_wa.
- Asked by: Brian Fitzpatrick, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 December 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 10 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it holds, or is planning to obtain, on the commercial outputs being generated from research conducted in universities and research institutions.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-32714 today. 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/search_wa.
- Asked by: Brian Fitzpatrick, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 December 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 10 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it holds, or is planning to obtain, on the (a) number of start-up companies created since 1997 supported by the commercialisation of research conducted in universities and research institutions, (b) sectoral range of start-up companies created since 1997 supported by such commercialisation, (c) (i) number and (ii) percentage of start-up companies that have their registered office in Scotland and were created since 1997 supported by such commercialisation, (d) number of universities and research institutions holding equity in their start-up companies and the extent of any such holdings, (e) number of licensing arrangements established since 1997 to further the commercialisation of research in universities and research institutions and (f) gross incomes from any such licences yielded since 1997.
Answer
At present, comprehensive information in the form requested in this question, and questions S1W-32711, S1W-32712 and S1W-32713, is not available. Information on commercialisation of university research is available from the UK Higher Education-Business Interaction (HE-BI) survey, which is based on activities reported by universities. This annual survey was commissioned in 2001 by the Higher Education Funding Council for England on behalf of a group of stakeholders, including the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council. The UK report was published in December 2001 by the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies at the University of Newcastle and is available at
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/Pubs/hefce/2001/01_68.htm. Key Scottish results have been published in the Scottish Economic Report January 2002 and is available at
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/finance/ser5-11.asp, based on the responses from 17 Scottish institutions. For the academic year 1999-2000, 37 new spin-off companies were reported in which the Higher Education Insititution (HEI) held equity, compared with a total of 54 in the preceding five years. There are presently no reliable data on the number of companies started where the HEI had some interest but no equity ownership. Of the 17 Scottish HEIs which responded to the survey, 16 had an equity share in at least one spin-off company. One hundred and twenty-two licensing agreements were reported by Scottish HEIs in 1998-99 and 114 in 1999-2000, the only years for which figures are available. Total revenues from Intellectual Property Rights (including income from licensing agreements as well as royalties on patents and copyrights) accruing to Scottish universities were reported as £6.9 million in 1998-99 and £7.7 million in 1999-2000. Results for the 2000-01 academic session are expected to be published for the UK shortly; the Scottish Executive will provide an analysis of the Scottish results.Information on the commercialisation activity of the Scottish Agricultural and Biological Research Institutes (SABRIs) has been collected since 2000 and is included in their annual reports. On average each year, for financial years 2000-01, 2001-02 and 2002-03 (estimate), the SABRIs have filed 10 new patents, there have been 70 new licences and two new spin-out companies. Income from Intellectual Property Rights has amounted to approximately £650,000 annually.Improving the commercialisation of university and research institute research is a high priority for the Executive and we have set a target of assisting 150 joint academic and industry ventures by 2006. It is important that suitable measures are available to assess the extent and value of commercialisation activity. The UK HE-BI survey is relatively new, and the intention is to develop it further. At this stage it is not possible to say whether future surveys will include the additional items covered by these parliamentary questions, since the cost of collection and extent to which universities and other bodies are able to provide them will need to be assessed. Developing better measures of commercialisation activity is also currently being considered as part of the Review of the UK Research Assessment Exercise in which the Executive is participating.
- Asked by: Brian Fitzpatrick, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 December 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 10 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what benchmarking data it holds, or is planning to obtain, on the commercialisation of research in universities and research institutions.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-32714 today. 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/search_wa.
- Asked by: Brian Fitzpatrick, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mary Mulligan on 6 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to set targets for reducing morbidity caused by excess alcohol consumption.
Answer
We have no plans at present to set targets to reduce alcohol-related deaths but we say in Plan for Action on alcohol problems that we want to see the current upward trend reversed over time.
- Asked by: Brian Fitzpatrick, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 December 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 6 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32216 by Iain Gray on 13 December 2002, how many clients of the Dumbarton and Lomond Inclusiveness Project are resident at addresses in the East Dunbartonshire Council area.
Answer
Twenty clients, resident in the East Dunbartonshire Council area, are receiving Key Worker support (as at December 2002).Forty-three East Dunbartonshire young people are engaged in an On-Track programme.
- Asked by: Brian Fitzpatrick, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking, or plans to take, to set national standards of care for preventing and treating coronary heart disease.
Answer
The Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke Strategy for Scotland provides the framework for the future organisation and delivery of services. Services should be developed in line with all relevant NHS Quality Improvement Scotland Standards and SIGN Guidelines. The Strategy encompasses plans for the prevention and treatment of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), taking into account lifestyles and life circumstances, including those risk factors associated with CHD. These policies include initiatives such as the national health demonstration project Have a Heart Paisley. The Strategy also includes an implementation plan with defined timescales and milestones.