- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 23 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-25267 by Cathy Jamieson on 8 May 2006, how many covert surveillance operations involving the interception of 成人快手' communications it has authorised since 1999 and, of these, what percentage resulted in any formal, non-covert action by police.
Answer
Details of the number of interceptionwarrants issued by the Scottish ministers are contained in the annual reports of the Interception ofCommunications Commissioner. The most recentreport 鈥 Bib. number 37809, document number SE/2005/203 鈥 was laid before the Scottish Parliament on 3 November 2005.
It is not in the public interestto give details relating to interception warrants beyond the figures reported bythe commissioner. To do so could potentially damage the effectiveness of what is an important part of our ability to tackle seriousand organised crime.
The use of Interception as aninvestigative technique is governed by strict safeguards within the Regulation ofInvestigatory Powers Act 2000. The commissioner has stated in successive annualreports Scottish ministers take considerable care to satisfy themselves that warrantsare necessary and proportionate for the authorised purposes 鈥 preventing and detectingserious crime.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 23 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive , further to the answer to question S2W-25267 by Cathy Jamieson on 8 May 2006, how many people who were placed under covert surveillance involving interception of communications following authority from Scottish Ministers, but were not subsequently prosecuted, have made a complaint under Section 65 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.
Answer
This is a matter for the InvestigatoryPowers Tribunal. The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 23 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-25267 by Cathy Jamieson on 8 May 2006, what plans it has to introduce a convention to prevent Special Branch carrying out covert surveillance operations against 成人快手 and to extend their protection and freedom in a similar way to that provided to MPs by the Wilson Doctrine.
Answer
There are no plans to introducea convention of this sort.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 18 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it has put in place to support allied health professionals to provide adequate levels of service to children with autistic spectrum disorder, in light of the significant increase in their number.
Answer
The Scottish Executive EducationDepartment provided funding of 拢3 million per year for the last two years to NHSboards to meet their obligations under the Education (Additional Support for Learning)(Scotland) Act 2004. These resources are being used in a variety of ways, includingthe recruitment of speech and language therapists and other professionals to workwith autistic children in schools.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 18 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the recent announcement by the Department of Trade and Industry of funding for the rural post office network to 2008, whether the Executive anticipates that it will have any powers to fund Scottish post offices after 2008.
Answer
The Executive already hassome, limited, powers to support individual post office businesses. Anamendment to the Scotland Act makes an exception to the reserved status ofpostal services for 鈥渇inancial assistance for the provision of services (otherthan postal services and services relating to money or postal orders) to beprovided from public post offices.鈥 Communities Scotland has used thisprovision to enhance Government assistance to post offices through a 拢2 millioncapital grants scheme and recently-announced business improvement trainingopportunities for post offices in deprived areas. Any extension of thesepowers, through primary legislation or an order under the Scotland Act, wouldrequire the approval of both the Scottish and the UK Parliament.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 17 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional specialists were recruited among the relevant allied health professions in order to increase the provision of support available to pupils identified as having autistic spectrum disorder in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The information requested isnot held centrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 17 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional specialists were recruited among the relevant educational professionals in order to increase the provision of support available to pupils identified as having autistic spectrum disorder in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The information requested isnot available centrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 17 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to commission research into autistic spectrum disorder among primary and secondary school pupils to understand what the underlying reasons are behind the rises in pupils being identified as having autism.
Answer
The Executive and MedicalResearch Council (MRC) have been taking forward a jointly funded researchprogramme based on the agenda outlined in the MRC Review of Autism Research.The MRC has now committed over 拢3 million to new research. The awards rangefrom clinical investigations in children and adults, to environmental riskfactors, brain imaging and intervention studies.
The Scottish Executive ASDReference Group is represented on the UK Wide Autism Research Co-ordinationGroup (ARCG), which has been established by the Department of Education andSkills to provide a framework to enable greater co-ordination of autismresearch activity in the UK. ARCG has a number of aims including focusing inautism research funding on identified gaps such as biomedical research andresearch on interventions.
In addition, the ScottishInter-collegiate Guidance Network (SIGN) Council are developing a guideline forprofessionals working with children and young people up to age 18 on evidencebased approaches to diagnosis, assessment and early clinical interventions forautism. The SIGN Guideline development will cover surveillance and shouldconsider the evidence base for routine screening.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 17 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients received continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) in each year since 1999.
Answer
The information is containedin the following table.
| Health Boards | Total |
| 1999- 2000 | 2000- 01 | 2001- 02 | 2002- 03 | 2003- 04 | 2004- 05 | 2005- 06 |
| Argyll and Clyde | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Borders | 20 | 29 | 18 | 18 | 31 | 44 | 50 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Fife | 70 | 53 | 60 | 63 | 68 | 113 | 132 |
| Forth Valley | 34 | 41 | 33 | 42 | 48 | 63 | 74 |
| Grampian | 38 | 44 | 46 | 74 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Greater Glasgow | 7 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Highland | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Lanarkshire | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 19 | 21 |
| Lothian | 163 | 152 | 130 | 136 | 134 | 238 | 284 |
| Orkney | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Shetland | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 6 |
| Tayside | 61 | 49 | 43 | 54 | 70 | 81 | 98 |
| Western Isles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Northern Ireland* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Totals | 399 | 377 | 348 | 411 | 390 | 571 | 679 |
Note: *Because of limitedfacilities in Northern Ireland for people with sleep disorders, patients whorequire a "second opinion" (or the provision of a CPAP machine) inthe view of the consultant, are referred to the Edinburgh Sleep Centre at the RoyalInfirmary of Edinburgh.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 17 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what estimates have been carried out by (a) Scottish ministers, (b) local authorities and (c) NHS boards of the additional financial cost of providing adequate support and provision for pupils identified as having autistic spectrum disorder in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority and NHS board area.
Answer
The Scottish Executiveprovides significant funding each year to help local authorities make provisionfor children and young people with additional support needs, including autismspectrum disorder. Funding is allocated on the basis of each authority鈥檚 two to19-year-old population. It is a matter for local authorities to decide how toutilise this funding in the light of local needs and circumstances.
The information requested inrelation to estimates carried out by local authorities and NHS boards is notheld by the Scottish Executive.
