- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 18 October 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to complete work on its protocol with the Home Office on the removal of asylum seekers.
Answer
Discussions with the Home Office are at an early stage. Work will be completed as quickly as possible.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 18 October 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is bound by the terms of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Answer
The United Kingdom is bound, as a matter of international law, by the terms of the Convention. The Convention has not been incorporated into Scots or English law so it does not have direct effect in domestic law. However, the Executive seeks to reflect the aims of the Convention in our policies and legislation wherever possible.
There is no international court to enforce the Convention but, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention, the UK submits periodic reports to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child which are the subject of formal examination. These reports include Scotland.
When the UK Government ratified the Convention, it entered a number of reservations, including one on immigration and citizenship in which it reserved the right to apply relevant domestic legislation to ensure effective immigration controls.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 18 October 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive which ministers will lead the newgotiations with the Home Office in respect of the protocol on the removal of asylum seekers.
Answer
The Minister for Education and Young People is taking the lead, with support from the Minister for Communities and from me.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andrew Welsh on 27 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body who holds the copyright to the video material available from the www.holyrood.tv website and what restrictions are placed on its use by (a) members of the public, (b) organisations and (c) ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ.
Answer
The Scottish ParliamentaryCorporate Body hold the copyright to the video material on the www.holyrood.tvwebsite. The one restriction on use is that the materials are only for viewingonline; none of the contents of the site are downloadable. This restriction isapplicable to all people who access and use the website.
Specific extracts ofParliamentary proceedings which take place in the Main Chamber and committeerooms can however be ordered, (in DVD or VHS video format), at a small cost,from the Parliament’s Broadcasting Office.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 August 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how the second National Planning Framework will be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny before it is published and what opportunity there will be for the Parliament to amend it.
Answer
Scottish ministers are committedto ensuring that Parliament has the opportunity to contribute to the developmentof the second National Planning Framework. We will bring forward proposals forparliamentary involvement in the process before the introduction of the PlanningBill.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 August 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms it will put in place to allow opportunities for the public to formally object to or challenge the content of the second National Planning Framework.
Answer
Scottish ministers are keen toencourage people to engage positively with the National Planning Framework. Thepublic will have the opportunity to make representations on a consultative draftof the second National Planning Framework.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 August 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms and forums will be used to consult the public about the content of the second National Planning Framework in advance of its publication.
Answer
Scottish ministers are committedto extensive engagement with stakeholders during the preparation of the second NationalPlanning Framework. The Executive will ensure that all those with an interest aregiven opportunities to express their views on its scope and content. Consultativemechanisms will include regional and thematic seminars, meetings with representativeorganisations and the issue of a consultative draft. We will bring forward our proposalsfor stakeholder engagement on the second National Planning Framework before theintroduction of the Planning Bill.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 July 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 24 August 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any discussion with the Home Office or the European Commission in relation to a seminar to examine progress on the implementation of Article 10 of the EU framework decision on the standing of victims in criminal proceedings and what plans it has to contribute to such a seminar, particularly in the area of restorative justice in Scotland.
Answer
We discussed this possibility among many others at the planning stage for the UK Presidency of the Council of the European. There are no plans at present to hold a seminar on the implementation of Article 10.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 June 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 26 July 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive who will sit on the working group to examine its proposals on mandatory blood testing of suspects and when the working group will first meet.
Answer
The group will be chaired bythe Very Rev Graham Forbes, provost of St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh. Amember from the UK Advisory Group on Hepatitis and a member from the UK Expert AdvisoryGroup on AIDS have been invited to be members of the group. Other nominees are beingsought from the Scottish Police Federation, UNISON, Rape Crisis Scotland, HIVScotland, the Equalities Coordinating Group, Health Protection Scotland, the ScottishHIV/AIDS Group, GMC Scotland and organisations representing Occupational Healthin the police service, the Prison Service and the NHS.
The group will be asked to considerand make recommendations on all aspects of the care and advice provided to thosewho face risks of blood-borne viral infection following an occupational or criminalincident, and the remit is therefore wider than the issues raised in the recentconsultation on Blood testing following criminal incidents where there is a riskof infection. The first meeting of the group is likely to be in August or September.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 June 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 29 June 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to setting a policy on the use of the national identity register by Scottish public bodies; whether it has considered placing any constraints on what information could be requested by public bodies, and in what circumstances public bodies will be allowed to share any information released to them from the register.
Answer
Scottish public bodies will only be able to receive information from the register when the Secretary of State exercises his powers – set out in the bill – to disclose information. Disclosure of information from the register is reserved.
If Scottish public bodies receive information from the register, the use to which they put that information will be subject to their existing powers and duties, including their responsibilities under the Data Protection Act. Such usage could be modified by an Act of the Scottish Parliament.
The Secretary of State has no current plans to use the powers in the bill to disclose information from the register to public authorities in Scotland other than the police.
