- Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 15 December 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans will be put in place to ease congestion on the A80 and prevent traffic increasing into Cumbernauld and neighbouring villages during the proposed upgrade of the road and what contingency plans are in place to prevent gridlock and allow emergency services access to the A80 in the event of an accident occurring.
Answer
It is not anticipated therewill be any significant increase in traffic volumes on ancillary roads as twolanes in each direction will be maintained at times of peak demand on the A80during the works contract. As a consequence the emergency services should beable to continue to access the A80 as at present.
- Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 28 October 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how long the temporary traffic arrangements at the Shawhead Interchange will be in place and what plans it has to alleviate any congestion and traffic flow problems that have arisen as a result of such arrangements.
Answer
The temporary traffic arrangements will be necessary until the upgrading is completed in December.The design of these arrangements and regular on-going consultation with Strathclyde Police, Amey Highways and North Lanarkshire Council are intended to alleviate congestion and traffic flow problems arising from the works.
- Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 15 October 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government to ensure that Scotland is covered by clause 17 of the Sexual Offences Bill, currently being considered by the UK Parliament.
Answer
We are currently considering,in consultation with Crown Office, whether the law in this area should be strengthened.
- Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the recidivism rate was for people (a) resident in and (b) released from medium secure units in each of the last 10 years, broken down by unit.
Answer
The information requested isnot collected centrally.
The first medium secure unitfor mentally disordered offenders in Scotland opened in 2001, in line with the Scottish Executive policy Health, Social Work and Related Services forMentally Disordered Offenders in Scotland, published in 1999. Medium secureunits provide an appropriate and safe care and treatment option between the State Hospital atCarstairs, which provides forensic psychiatric care in conditions of highsecurity, and individual wards in psychiatric hospitals, which accommodate awide range of patients suffering from mental illness. Patients are onlytransferred or discharged from secure units when there is agreement, followinga comprehensive risk assessment, that it is safe to do so.
- Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 July 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 10 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of housing homeless people in (a) bed and breakfast accommodation, (b) local authority-owned property, (c) hostels and (d) other temporary accommodation has been in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority.
Answer
The information requested isnot held centrally. Costs will vary considerably within each type of tenureaccording to the assessed needs of each individual homeless person as well asbetween local authorities. While local authorities should now hold improvedhomelessness data as a result of recent work to develop local homelessnessstrategies, we have no plans at present to request an analysis of such costinformation from local authorities.
- Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 July 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 19 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce legislation to address the issue of sexual grooming, similar to clause 17 of the Sexual Offenders Bill currently before the UK Parliament.
Answer
Lewd communication with a child through an internet chatroom would constitute the offence of lewd, indecent and libidinous practices. Sexual grooming can therefore already be caught under existing Scots law. In addition, depending on the exact circumstances, an adult who pretends to be a child for the purposes of securing a meeting with a child could be guilty of fraud, or an attempt to commit a sexual offence, or both. We are currently considering, whether the law in this area needs to be strengthened.
- Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 25 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to upgrade the (a) Shawhead flyover and (b) Raith interchange on the A725 and reduce the risk of congestion on the Bellshill bypass.
Answer
An improvement to the Shawhead Junction is now under construction as part of the on-going work to refurbish the A8. When opened early in 2004, this will improve the performance of the junction but will not alleviate congestion on the Bellshill bypass for northbound traffic constrained as the carriageway reduces from two to one lane.The delivery brief being pursued by Scottish Executive consultants for the completion of the M8 motorway will bring forward comprehensive proposals for new junction arrangements at Shawhead and Raith. I expect to receive the consultants' initial recommendations for these junction improvements in the spring 2004.
- Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 25 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reorganise sportscotland and when any such plans will take effect.
Answer
Sportscotland was subject to review by the Executive as part of the Review of Public Bodies in 2001. Following on from this, an independent Organisational Review made recommendations for a revised management and organisational structure which the Executive accepted in October 2001. The changes were implemented by sportscotland in 2001-02.Scottish ministers have a commitment to review non-departmental public bodies every five years. Sportscotland will be due to be reviewed again in 2006.
- Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 4 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the completion date is for the Airdrie to Bathgate rail link.
Answer
Following the Scottish Executive's decision to make available £500,000 for the advancement of the proposals, West Lothian Council is currently preparing the pre-qualification stage for a detailed feasibility study into the project. The study is expected to begin this summer and could be completed by April 2004. A private bill to promote the project could be introduced in 2005, with a view to re-opening the line in 2008.
- Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 17 June 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-33518 by Mr Jim Wallace on 7 February 2003, whether there has been any further negotiation regarding the disposal of the former remand centre at Longriggend, North Lanarkshire, and what the future use of the centre will be.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:Negotiations with the potential purchaser are still on-going. While the SPS has no knowledge of what the future use of the site will be, we would expect that any proposed development would be subject to an application to the local planning authority.
