To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-25486 by Allan Wilson on 14 May 2002, what decisions it has made on how to distribute the annual allocation from HM Treasury...

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has met representatives of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) of Scotland, the Scottish Crofters Federation and island councils to discuss any...

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to Her Majesty’s Government on the EU Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare’s proposals to alter the...

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it acting with Her Majesty’s Government, has made a case in Europe for the proposed rules governing transport of animals by sea to include exemptions...

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the effects on agriculture in the islands should the EU Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare’s proposals to...

To ask the Scottish Executive what advice on hormone replacement therapy and any link with an increase in breast cancer is currently available to NHS boards.

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to address the estimated 28% increase in breast cancer in the next 10 years as reported in The Scotsman on 25 September 2002.

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications have been made in the Perth and Kinross Council area to date under its central heating installation programme; how many of these applications...

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to investigate new ways of supporting private urban regeneration projects.

To ask the Scottish Executive whether consideration has been given to making domestic violence an aggravated offence and, if so, what the outcome was of any such consideration.

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been made available to help deaf, deafened, hard of hearing and deafblind victims of domestic abuse in each year since 1999-2000.

To ask the Scottish Executive what the maximum daily allowable dosage of methadone is to a drug misuser.

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have access to an after school club.

To ask the Scottish Executive how many long-term unemployed people there were (a) on 1 April and (b) on average in each year since 1996.

To ask the Scottish Executive how many unemployed people aged under 25 there were (a) on 1 April and (b) on average in each year since 1996.

To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs there were (a) on 1 April and (b) on average in each year since 1996.

To ask the Scottish Executive (a) how many people were and (b) what percentage of the labour market was working in each month of each year since 1996.

To ask the Scottish Executive when the study undertaken by Environmental Resources Management into litter legislation will be published.

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have litter plans and whether there are any plans to encourage other local authorities to develop such plans.

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to tackle fly-tipping.

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to involve police officers in a stronger enforcement of litter laws under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

To ask the Scottish Executive in which years for which figures are available public expenditure was highest in (a) cash and (b) real terms in respect of (i) health, (ii) education, (iii) policing...

To ask the Scottish Executive why Pentland Ferries, operating between St. Margaret’s Hope and Gill’s Bay, receives no tariff rebate subsidy (TRS), given that those who ship with...

To ask the Scottish Executive what action the Food Standards Agency Scotland has taken following the examination of results from the Pesticide Residues Committee on the level of pesticides...

To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) freight facilities grants and (b) track access grants it has provided and what track access grants the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) has provided in...

To ask the Scottish Executive how it verifies the accuracy of figures promoted by higher education institutions regarding the number of former students who progress to employment or further study...

To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has undertaken into how many full-time students in higher education are also in part-time employment; who carried out any such research; when, and...

To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has undertaken into the migratory behaviour of graduates from higher education; who carried out any such research; when, and over what period, any...

To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has undertaken into how many full-time students in higher education have failed to complete their course of study; who carried out any such...

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to participate in the proposed launch on 18 October 2002 by Napier University seeking funding towards the creation of a Scottish Centre for...

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were treated in hospital in each year since 1996.

To ask the Scottish Executive whether supervised drug withdrawal and safe alternative therapies are offered to all young people currently receiving Ritalin.

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in each of the last 10 years, broken down by NHS board area.

To ask the Scottish Executive whether all children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are advised of the side effects of stimulant medication before they are prescribed any such medication.

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there has been any increase in the number of people and, in particular, children being prescribed Ritalin or other drugs for attention-deficit hyperactivity...

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-25417 by Malcolm Chisholm on 10 May 2002, when it plans to publish a full report on the convention on hospital-acquired infections.

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received in regard to any concerns about the release of convicted prisoners where appeals are pending.

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28795 by Mr Jim Wallace on 2 October 2002, what the names are of the five persons convicted of murder who are now on interim...

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to note 4 on page 46 of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-2006: What the money buys , whether the structure of the Public Transport...

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average annual salary of (a) hospital doctors, (b) nurses and (c) GPs has been in each year since 1996.

To ask the Scottish Executive (a) how many people were on hospital waiting lists and (b) what the average length of waiting time for an operation was in each year since 1996.

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current target (a) average waiting time is for an appointment with a consultant and (b) target waiting time is following a referral from a general...

To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures that nurses are appropriately graded to reflect any additional duties and responsibilities which they undertake.

To ask the Scottish Executive how many bank and agency nurses have been employed in 2001-02 and what the cost has been to each NHS trust of employing such nurses

To ask the Scottish Executive how successful it has been in reducing the use of bank and agency nurses in the NHS in 2001-02.

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to introduce an independent procedure for dealing with complaints against the police.

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take to monitor and address the social and economic implications of closures of sub-post offices; whether it is aware of how many sub-post...

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the commitment given by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice to the Justice 1 Committee on 6 June 2002 ( Official Report , col 3821) to...

To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints have been made with regard to medical treatment in prisons in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001 and (d) 2002 to date.

To ask the Scottish Executive what the number of approved activities has been in each year since 1999-2000, as referred to in target 7 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland –...

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26897 by Mr Jim Wallace on 3 July 2002, why there has been no assessment of compliance with Standards of Health Care of...

To ask the Scottish Executive how many 14- to 16-year-olds have been held in adult prisons in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02 and (d) 2002-03 to date.

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all land included in the balance sheet of the Scottish Prison Service under the heading of tangible assets, showing the (a) location, (b) area...

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27777 by Mr Andy Kerr on 29 August 2002, whether it will list the (a) appointments and (b) re-appointments advertised through...

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that public transport workers, passengers and vehicles are protected from the effects of anti-social behaviour, including...

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that any records and outcomes of investigations into allegations of racism are transparent and in the public domain.

To ask the Scottish Executive whether an extension to the existing franchise of the east coast main line would be appropriate, detailing the reasons for the position on this matter.

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to allow small traders to access civic amenity sites.

To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers to be the main barriers to eliminating poverty under the devolution settlement.

To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to support the development of sports for seniors.

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with BT Scotland regarding the number of registrations of interest required before broadband technology is available in a...

To ask the Scottish Executive how many bookings for accommodation have been made through visitscotland.com since its launch (a) in total and (b) broken down by tourist board area.

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any evidence is available to link fluoridation of the water supply to cancer, brittle bone disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26397 by Cathy Jamieson on 12 June 2002 that data regarding review hearings of a change from a recommendation from a...