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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S3W-21852

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 23 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether under existing legislation it can pay compensation to workers affected by short-time working during the economic downturn.

Question reference: S3W-21856

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 23 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to introduce measures to combat the varroa mite in bee colonies.

The Scottish Government does not intend to introduce measures to combat the varroa mite in bee colonies. Varroa is now considered endemic in Scotland and is neither a notifiable nor reportable disease.

The Scottish Government does have an interest in the mite and the impact it has on honey bees if not managed properly. To assist and educate beekeepers in the recognition of varroa and methods to manage the mite, the Scottish Government funds a full-time post of a specialist bee adviser at the Scottish Agricultural College to provide free advice and training for beekeepers.

Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture, part of the Rural Payments and Inspectorate Directorate, also provides a free diagnostic service to beekeepers to confirm the presence of varroa in hive debris.

Question reference: S3W-21590

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many mobile phones are provided to staff in each of its directorates; who is responsible for payment of the accounts; what the cost was in 2007-08, and what the estimated cost is for 2008-09.

Question reference: S3W-21592

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are used to determine whether SNP should be used before the word government in its press releases or official publications.

Question reference: S3W-21757

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 19 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the opening of another lap dancing club in Edinburgh, whether it considers that amendments to the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 are required to ensure tighter regulation of adult entertainment on licensed premises.

We are presently in the transition from the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976 regime to the new regime of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 which comes into force on 1 September 2009. This means any new premises will at present be operating under the 1976 act.

We do not intend to amend the 2005 act with regards to adult entertainment. It already enables local licensing boards to limit, through their policy statements, the number and location of premises offering adult entertainment after 1 September. It also enables local boards to apply relevant conditions and for anyone to make representations against such a licence application. Once licences are granted, anyone can call for a hearing to review the operation of the licence.

Question reference: S3W-21855

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of tuberculosis there were in each NHS board area in the most recent year for which figures are available and how these figures compare with those for the preceding four years.

In Scotland the greatest burden of tuberculosis (TB) is borne by Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board with around half of all reported cases, but in any one year individual NHS boards can have marked variation in numbers of TB cases. These local variations in case numbers over short time periods continue to prove a challenge for TB control programmes for NHS boards in Scotland.

The data requested for TB cases by NHS board is shown in the following table:

Tuberculosis Cases by NHS Board

NHS Board	2007*	2006*	2005*	2004	2003
Argyle and Clyde**	0	9	30	17	34
Ayrshire and Arran	13	13	6	6	10
Borders	4	7	1	3	6
Dumfries and Galloway	6	4	5	6	1
Fife	7	13	15	15	17
Forth Valley	18	4	4	5	12
Grampian	41	36	23	22	18
Greater Glasgow**	0	37	161	174	168
Greater Glasgow and Clyde**	188	133	0	0	0
Highland	8	9	11	8	7
Lanarkshire	27	51	25	35	29
Lothian	73	55	75	84	53
Orkney	0	0	0	0	0
Shetland	0	0	1	0	2
Tayside	22	11	7	16	11
Western Isles	1	0	1	1	0
All Scotland	408	382	365	392	368

Source: Health Protection Scotland (HPS)

Notes:

*Provisional data is subject to change.

**Greater Glasgow and Argyll and Clyde NHS Boards merged to become Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board on 1 April 2006.

Question reference: S3W-21849

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 19 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many racially motivated crimes (a) were recorded by police, (b) resulted in a police caution and (c) were prosecuted in each of the last three years, broken down by police force area.

(a) The information requested is given in Table 1 on page 10 of the Scottish Government Statistical Bulletin Racist Incidents Recorded by the Police in Scotland 2003-04 to 2005-06 which was published in March 2007. Copies of this publication are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 42705).

An updated version of this statistical bulletin, which will include information for financial years 2004-05 to 2007-08, will be published on 31 March 2009.

(b) Information on the number of racially motivated crimes which resulted in a police caution is not held centrally. This is a matter for individual police forces.

(c) The following table shows the number of persons proceeded against in Scottish courts for racially motivated ¹ offences by police force, for financial years 2004-05 to 2006-07. These are the latest years for which information is available.

Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts for Racially Motivated¹ Offences by Police Force, for Financial Years 2004-05 to 2006-07

Police Force	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
Central	112	100	111
Dumfries and Galloway	23	31	21
Fife	64	52	83
Grampian	70	103	102
Lothian and Borders	223	246	296
Northern	46	51	55
Strathclyde	705	660	691
Tayside	115	115	151
Scotland	1,358	1,358	1,510

Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services.

Note: 1. Includes proceedings where the main crime was neither racially aggravated harassment nor racially aggravated conduct but where a racial aggravator was recorded.

Question reference: S3W-21851

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 19 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are taken to ensure that long-term prisoners are prepared for return to the community on completion of their sentences.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

All long-term prisoners are managed through an enhanced version of the SPS Integrated Case Management (ICM) process. ICM is a collaborative, multi-agency approach for managing offenders which is focused on addressing needs in prison and managing identified risks.

Initially, prisoners are assessed during a Core Screen process to identify needs and risks. An action plan is developed to address as many of these as possible during the period in prison. Outstanding needs and management of risk is included in a Community Integration Plan (CIP).

The enhanced ICM process includes annual case conferences to review progress and a final pre-release case conference. These are attended by prison staff, prison and community based social work and other relevant community based support service providers. The aim of the pre-release case conference is to ensure appropriate arrangements are in place through the CIP to support the offender''s community reintegration and to address any outstanding needs (such as appropriate accommodation, benefits, continuation of treatment) and to ensure effective information sharing with support providers and supervision agencies.

Paramount is the management of the offender''s level of risk. This may include Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) or information exchange to support statutory supervision requirements.

Question reference: S3W-21756

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 19 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-3785 by Kenny MacAskill on 11 September 2007, whether any recommendations of the Adult Entertainment Working Group have been implemented and, if so, which ones.

Licensing boards have been made aware of the Adult Entertainment Working Group report. It is for them to choose which of the recommendations to apply in light of local circumstances. Such an approach does not limit what the local licensing board may wish to do and allows a tougher regime to be pursued if this is considered appropriate.

Later this year, the Government will take the opportunity to remind Licensing Boards of the range of possible conditions when we update the statutory guidance under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.

In line with the Adult Entertainment Working Group recommendation that the Scottish Executive should develop a co-ordinated strategic approach to the issue of gender based exploitation, a cross-government group has been formed to ensure a cohesive approach in addressing gender-based violence both within the government and in our work with the National Group on Violence against Women, local government and other public bodies.

Question reference: S3W-21773

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 19 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-21401 by Stewart Stevenson on 9 March 2009, what temporary changes have been made to the management of Transport Scotland since the appointment of its new chief executive and when the Scottish Government expects any framework changes to be implemented.