Section E – Written questions lodged on 28 May 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-24323 Lewis Macdonald: To ask the Scottish Executive what grant funding is available to community and voluntary groups to improve the energy efficiency of community and church halls.

S3W-24324 Lewis Macdonald: To ask the Scottish Executive what grant funding is available to community and voluntary groups to improve the insulation and draught proofing in community and church halls where no microgeneration equipment is installed.

S3W-24325 Lewis Macdonald: To ask the Scottish Executive what grant funding is available to community and voluntary groups to install microgeneration equipment in community and church halls.

S3W-24326 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive how it will monitor the amount of money spent by local authorities on mental health services.

S3W-24327 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent by each local authority on mental health services in each of the last 10 years.

S3W-24328 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive when the review of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 will be published.

S3W-24329 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to ensure that NHS boards and local authorities use the same information systems in order to deliver a joined-up responsive service to people with mental health problems.

S3W-24330 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure that the Scottish Government and local partners work together to deliver services for people with mental health problems as recommended in the Audit Scotland report, Overview of mental health services.

S3W-24331 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive how it will work with local partners to collect information about services in the community to enable better planning and development of services as recommended in the Audit Scotland report, Overview of mental health services.

S3W-24332 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive how local partners will work to identify and address any gaps in mental health services and the availability of psychological therapies as recommended in the Audit Scotland report, Overview of mental health services.

S3W-24333 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that data on waiting times for mental health services are routinely collected and made publicly available.

S3W-24334 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to address waiting times for mental services as outlined in the Audit Scotland report, Overview of mental health services.

S3W-24335 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated percentage is of people with (a) drug and (b) alcohol problems whose addiction results from an underlying mental health condition.

S3W-24336 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of people with (a) drug and (b) alcohol problems is likely to develop a mental health problem as a result of such addiction.

S3W-24337 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive for what reasons the prescribing of antidepressants continues to rise.

S3W-24338 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive what services are offered in Scotland’s prisons to the 70% of prisoners identified as having a mental health problem, as highlighted in the Audit Scotland report, Overview of mental health services.

S3W-24339 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to address the vacancy rate in consultant psychiatry of 22% in Lanarkshire, 23% in Highland and 25% in Ayrshire and Arran, many of the posts having been vacant for several years, as highlighted in the Audit Scotland report, Overview of mental health services.

S3W-24340 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason NHS Fife has four times as many staff working in mental health psychology as NHS Highland, which have average waiting times for psychological therapies of 58 and 77 weeks respectively, as highlighted in the Audit Scotland report, Overview of mental health services.

S3W-24341 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason NHS Highland has the lowest level of staffing for mental health psychology services at 2.85 per 100,000 population compared to NHS Fife at 9.71 per 100,000 population, as highlighted in the Audit Scotland report, Overview of mental health services.

S3W-24342 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason there are no crisis mental health services for older people in Clyde or Highland, as highlighted in the Audit Scotland report, Overview of mental health services.

S3W-24343 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason there is no consistent process for referring people with mental health problems being released from prisons to community mental health services, as highlighted in the Audit Scotland report, Overview of mental health services.

S3W-24344 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive how the reduction in admissions to psychiatric units illustrates an improvement in patient care, this being a HEAT target.

S3W-24345 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive how reductions in antidepressant prescribing can be achieved given the high levels of vacancies and long waiting times in psychological and psychiatric services as highlighted in the Audit Scotland report, Overview of mental health services.

S3W-24346 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive how improvement in the care and treatment of people with dementia will be measured in the HEAT target.

S3W-24347 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive how the target for early diagnosis and management of patients with dementia will be measured, as highlighted in the Audit Scotland report, Overview of mental Health Services.

S3W-24348 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive whether appropriate crisis and out-of-hours services for people with mental health problems are available in each NHS board to meet local demand.

S3W-24349 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason there is a range in the amount of money transferred from the NHS to local authorities to support community mental health services, ranging from £2.72 per head of population in Fife to £35.33 in Greater Glasgow and Clyde as highlighted in the Audit Scotland report, Overview of mental health services.

S3W-24350 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in each local authority have received direct payments for their mental health care in each of the last 10 years.

S3W-24351 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-23810 by Alex Neil on 21 May 2009, how many applicants to the Low-cost Initiative for First-time Buyers successfully purchased a home under each category of the scheme (a) in 2007-08, (b) in 2008-09 and (c) to 30 April 2009, broken down by local authority.

S3W-24352 Alison McInnes: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-23364 by Stewart Stevenson on 8 May 2009, how potential locations for the installation of variable-message signs on the trunk road network are identified prior to the specific siting criteria being applied. 

S3W-24353 Jackie Baillie: To ask the Scottish Executive what type of rolling stock will be deployed on the Airdrie to Bathgate line.

S3W-24354 Jackie Baillie: To ask the Scottish Executive whether the cost for the procurement of rolling stock for the Airdrie to Bathgate line remains the same as in the original projections and, if not, what the revised cost is.

S3W-24355 Jackie Baillie: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has finalised the rolling stock procurement plan for the Airdrie to Bathgate line and whether the plan is in the public domain.

S3W-24356 Jackie Baillie: To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the comments of the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change on 23 April 2009 (Official Report c. 16704) that "the figure of 3 per cent growth in the rail network grossly understates the growth that we have seen in recent years, so we must be conscious of that", what planning assumptions have been made about patronage of the Airdrie to Bathgate line.

S3W-24357 Jackie Baillie: To ask the Scottish Executive whether class 334 Juniper trains will be deployed on the Airdrie to Bathgate line.

S3W-24358 Jackie Baillie: To ask the Scottish Executive what the capacity is of the trains planned for the Airdrie to Bathgate line in terms of (a) seating and (b) number of coaches.

S3W-24359 Jackie Baillie: To ask the Scottish Executive what the capacity is of the existing Helensburgh to Airdrie line in terms of (a) seating and (b) number of coaches.

S3W-24360 Tavish Scott: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail the comparison between the allocated grant and the uptake of grant under the Housing Association Grant scheme in each of the last three years for which information is available, broken down by local authority.

S3W-24361 Tavish Scott: To ask the Scottish Executive when the criteria for making funding allocations to housing associations were changed from approvals to completions.

S3W-24362 Tavish Scott: To ask the Scottish Executive what indices were used to make the Housing Association Grant allocations announced in the Affordable Housing Investment Programme 2009-10 and whether these indices alter according to region or are determined and applied nationally.

S3W-24363 Tavish Scott: To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are upper or lower limits on the area of a croft or farm unit eligible for support under the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme and, if so, what these limits are; when they were introduced, and for what reasons.

S3W-24364 Tavish Scott: To ask the Scottish Executive what financial allocations it is making to the third sector for 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12.

S3W-24365 Gavin Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive how many fires there were in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in the Lothians region in each of the last 10 years and what proportion of these was started deliberately.

S3W-24366 Gavin Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has allocated to drug treatment programmes in the Lothians region in each year since 1999.

S3W-24367 Gavin Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive how many people referred to drug treatment programmes in the Lothians region in each of the last five years entered such a programme.

S3W-24368 Gavin Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug addicts have re-entered drug treatment programmes in the Lothians region in each year since 1999.

S3W-24369 Pauline McNeill: To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources have been allocated to Glasgow City Council for a reduction in class sizes from 2007 onwards.

S3W-24370 Pauline McNeill: To ask the Scottish Executive what reference there is to class sizes in the single outcome agreement relating to Glasgow City Council.

S3W-24371 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been developed on the welfare of seals by it and members of the Scottish Seals Forum.

S3W-24372 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-7020 and supplementary questions by Adam Ingram on 21 May 2009, (Official Report c.17756) what form area support teams will take.

S3W-24373 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-7020 and supplementary questions by Adam Ingram on 21 May 2009, (Official Report c.17756) what responsibilities area support teams will have.

S3W-24374 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-7020 and supplementary questions by Adam Ingram on 21 May 2009, (Official Report c.17756) whether area support teams will receive clerical or professional support from their local authority.

S3W-24375 Patrick Harvie: To ask the Scottish Executive how many opencast coal sites have been approved for new operations or expansion since May 2007, giving details of (a) site name and location, (b) new site or extension size in hectares and (c) granted coal reserves in tonnes.

S3W-24376 Patrick Harvie: To ask the Scottish Executive how many planning applications for opencast coal operations were referred to it between 1 July 2007 and 1 April 2009 under the terms of Planning Circular 5/2007 and how many it (a) approved and (b) rejected.

S3W-24377 Patrick Harvie: To ask the Scottish Executive what advice ministers received from (a) Scottish Natural Heritage and (b) the Scottish Environment Protection Agency with regard to the removal from Planning Circular 3/2009 of environmental impact assessments as a central trigger for Scottish Executive planning notification.

S3W-24378 Patrick Harvie: To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation took place with communities in regions with a concentration of opencast coal mining operations prior to the policy changes contained in Planning Circular 3/2009.

S3W-24379 Patrick Harvie: To ask the Scottish Executive how it decides whether local authorities have a financial interest in opencast coal planning applications and whether this includes (a) sponsorship by coal companies of local projects or services and (b) existing contributions made by coal companies to community trusts on a levy-per-tonne basis.

S3W-24380 Patrick Harvie: To ask the Scottish Executive what its best estimate is of the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by burning one tonne of Scottish coal in a power station that does not have any form of carbon capture technology.

S3W-24381 Patrick Harvie: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers climate change a matter of national interest in the context of Planning Circular 3/2009.

S3W-24382 Patrick Harvie: To ask the Scottish Executive what appeal procedures exist for communities to challenge planning decisions that have been made by local authorities but will no longer be considered by the Scottish Executive.

S3W-24383 Patrick Harvie: To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has carried out into the energy input/output ratio of coal extraction by opencast methods and in particular into the quantity of diesel required in the excavation, extraction and transportation of coal.

S3W-24384 Duncan McNeil: To ask the Scottish Executive on what date it revised its guidance for its energy assistance package with regard to broken heating systems.

S3W-24385 Duncan McNeil: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it announced its revised guidance for its energy assistance package with regard to broken heating systems on the Scottish Government website and, if so, on what date.

S3W-24386 Duncan McNeil: To ask the Scottish Executive to what organisations it has written with information on its revised guidance for its energy assistance package with regard to broken heating systems, broken down by organisation and date on which the correspondence was sent.

S3W-24387 Duncan McNeil: To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason it introduced revised guidance for its energy assistance package with regard to broken heating systems.

S3W-24388 Duncan McNeil: To ask the Scottish Executive what organisations it consulted prior to introducing revised guidance for its energy assistance package with regard to broken heating systems.

S3W-24389 Duncan McNeil: To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in (a) Inverclyde and (b) Scotland have been refused a new central heating system under the energy assistance package since 22 May 2008.

S3W-24390 Duncan McNeil: To ask the Scottish Executive how many people refused a new central heating system under stage four of the energy assistance package would now be eligible under the revised guidance, broken down by local authority area.

S3W-24391 Duncan McNeil: To ask the Scottish Executive how many people it has reassessed as being eligible for a new central heating system under the revised guidance for stage four of the energy assistance package, broken down by local authority.

S3W-24392 Duncan McNeil: To ask the Scottish Executive when it introduced a rule excluding people from receiving help from stage four of the energy assistance package more than once in a 10-year period.

S3W-24393 Duncan McNeil: To ask the Scottish Executive how many applicants have been refused a new central heating system under the central heating programme on the basis that they have already received assistance within a 10-year period, broken down by local authority.

S3W-24394 Ms Wendy Alexander: To ask the Scottish Executive when data on healthcare associated infections, including Clostridium difficile, broken down by hospital, will be publicly available online.

S3W-24395 Elizabeth Smith: To ask the Scottish Executive how many placing requests for children in primaries one to three there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

S3W-24396 Elizabeth Smith: To ask the Scottish Executive how many appeals there have been in relation to placing requests for children in primaries one to three in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

S3W-24397 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to question S3W-12096 by Mike Russell on 1 May 2008 and question S3W-20212 by Mike Russell on 6 February 2009, whether it has received recommendations on the future regulation of snaring from the legislation, regulation and guidance sub-group of the Partnership Against Wildlife Crime Scotland.

S3W-24398 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to question S3W-12096 by Mike Russell on 1 May 2008 and question S3W-20212 by Mike Russell on 6 February 2009, when it intends to bring forward regulations to govern the use of snares.

S3W-24399 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it is making available to Dumfries and Galloway Council for the provision of pre-school education in 2009-10.

S3W-24400 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) three-and (b) four-year-olds in Dumfries and Galloway are receiving their entitlement to free pre-school education in 2009-10.

S3W-24401 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is making any funding available to enable voluntary and private sector providers of pre-school education in Dumfries and Galloway to provide contact for three and four-year-olds with a qualified teacher.

S3W-24402 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive what sanctions are available to local authorities against the dropping of used chewing gum in public places.

S3W-24403 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has given any consideration to the possibility of introducing a levy on chewing gum and, if so, what conclusions it has reached.

S3W-24404 Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that information on the influenza A(H1N1) virus is communicated effectively to black and ethnic minority communities.

S3W-24405 Willie Coffey: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20991 by Alex Neil on 11 March 2009, when the equalities impact assessment of the work of the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum will be published and how disabled people’s organisations will be consulted about the outcome.

S3W-24406 Willie Coffey: To ask the Scottish Executive whether the employment outcomes of recent teaching graduates are being monitored and when the results of any monitoring will be published.

S3W-24407 Willie Coffey: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-23606 by Kenny MacAskill on 11 May 2009, whether it will place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) a copy of the consultation carried out in accordance with section 32 of the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007.

S3W-24408 Willie Coffey: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-23606 by Kenny MacAskill on 11 May 2009, when the consultation carried out in accordance with section 32 of the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 will be published on the website of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.

S3W-24409 Willie Coffey: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with the progress being made by the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission to publicise the outcomes of its consultations.

S3W-24410 Willie Coffey: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with the progress being made to establish the website of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.

S3W-24411 Willie Coffey: To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission carried out a consultation in January 2009 under section 29(4) of the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 and, if so, when a copy of that consultation will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).

S3W-24412 Willie Coffey: To ask the Scottish Executive what the number and value of grants made under Cashback for Communities are to applicants in the Kilmarnock and Loudoun Scottish Parliament constituency.

S3W-24413 Willie Coffey: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7080 by Tom McCabe on 1 April 2004, what additional services for people with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalopathy (CFS/ME) have been established since February 2003.

S3W-24414 Gavin Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-23866 by Shona Robison on 21 May 2009, whether it will provide an answer that specifically addresses the issue raised in the question.

S3W-24415 Gavin Brown: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-23867 by Shona Robison on 21 May 2009, whether it will provide an answer that specifically addresses the issue raised in the question.

S3W-24416 Mary Mulligan: To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing has had with NHS Lothian regarding the return of emergency surgery and trauma orthopaedics to St John’s Hospital from the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

S3W-24417 Mary Mulligan: To ask the Scottish Executive when emergency surgery and trauma orthopaedics will return to St John’s Hospital from the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

S3W-24418 Mary Mulligan: To ask the Scottish Executive what discussion the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing has had with NHS Lothian regarding the shelving of rezoning plans for Edinburgh and West Lothian.

S3W-24419 Mary Mulligan: To ask the Scottish Executive what the timetable is for implementation of Part 5 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006.

S3W-24420 Mary Mulligan: To ask the Scottish Executive how many first-time buyers were able to purchase homes under the Low-cost Initiative for First-time Buyers scheme in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2007-08, broken down by (i) new supply shared equity/shared ownership, (ii) open market shared equity pilot, (iii) rural home ownership grant and (iv) grant for owner occupation (GRO) scheme.

S3W-24421 Jackson Carlaw: To ask the Scottish Executive how many licensed premises went out of business in each year since 1999, also broken down by local authority.

S3W-24422 Jackie Baillie: To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Facing Dementia publication is routinely issued by GPs and consultants to people newly diagnosed with dementia.

S3W-24423 Jackie Baillie: To ask the Scottish Executive how it monitors the distribution of Facing Dementia to people newly diagnosed with dementia.

S3W-24424 Nanette Milne: To ask the Scottish Executive what the average audiology waiting time has been for adults, broken down by NHS board, in each year since 1999.

S3W-24425 Nanette Milne: To ask the Scottish Executive what the average audiology waiting time has been for neonates, broken down by NSH board, in each year since 1999.