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European Scrutiny Committee
Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) civil servants saw the European Scrutiny Committee questions brief in advance of the appearance of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State before the Committee on 16 February. [77848]
Mr. Macdonald [holding answer 19 March 1999]: It has been a common, but not universal, practice over a long period for Committees to agree to give officials an indication of the broad areas they intend to cover at the hearing to ensure that the evidence session is as effective and productive as possible. I was informed of the broad areas of questioning in advance of the Committee hearing on 16 February.
Census Returns
Mr. John M. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the total annual storage and maintenance costs for all 1841 to 1991 decennial census returns in Scotland. [78435]
Mr. McLeish: Annual costs of storage and maintenance of all the 1841 to 1991 decennial census returns for Scotland are estimated at £75,000.
From 1 July 1999, this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
Mr. John M. Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list all Public Records Act 1958 instruments that have prescribed periods of (a) extended retention or (b) extended closure of decennial census returns for Scotland; and if he will list the class numbers, census years and periods mentioned in the schedules. [78443]
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Mr. McLeish:
The legislation referred to does not apply to Scotland. Scottish census records remain in the custody of the originating department, the General Register Office for Scotland, and under the control of the Registrar General for Scotland.
The present position in Scotland is that the census returns up to and including those of 1891 are open to public inspection. The Registrar General's policy on census returns for 1901 or later years was agreed in 1974 by the then Secretary of State for Scotland and announced in Parliament on 23 May 1974, Official Report, columns 272-73. This confirmed that Scottish census returns would not be made available until 100 years after the census to which they relate, and that only in exceptional circumstances could closed census returns be accessed. These public access provisions were affirmed by the present Government in the 2001 Census White Paper published on 4 March. The circumstances are:
From 1 July 1999, this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
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Mrs. Ewing:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he will announce the results of the strategic review of the Scottish trunk road programme; and if he will list in his announcement the starting date of the agreed projects. [79240]
Mr. Macdonald:
I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale (Mr. Morgan) on 23 March 1999, Official Report, column 149.
From 1 July 1999, this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
Mr. Wallace:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland in respect of each hospital in Scotland, how many outpatient appointments were made during 1998; and, in each case, what was the number of patients who waited (a) three to six months and (b) more than six months from referral to appointment. [78735]
Mr. Galbraith:
Information on waiting times for outpatient appointments is available for the length of time patients waited for their first outpatient appointment following referral by a general medical practitioner (GMP)/general dental practitioner(GDP).
Data on the total number of outpatient attendances, the number of patients who received a first outpatient appointment following GMP/GDP referral, and the number of patients who waited three to six months and more than six months for a first outpatient appointment following GMP/GDP referral, by NHS Trust, during 1998, is provided in the table.
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where application is made to the Registrar General for specific information to be supplied from records of a closed census, taken on or before 1931; and
where this application is made for the specific purpose of assisting an individual to resolve a question of his or her legal inheritance.
The closure period is intended to safeguard the confidentiality of the personal information collected in the census, and successive Governments have honoured an undertaking that the information would remain confidential. Protection of the credibility of the undertaking is crucial to maintaining the quality of the information collected.
(14) Provisional
(15) Excludes patients who did not attend their appointment
Source:
ISD, Scotland
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From 1 July 1999, this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
Mr. Wallace:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much has been allocated to each local education authority in Scotland since 9 March 1999 for the purchase of library books in pursuance of the Budget announcement of additional funding for library books by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. [78733]
Mrs. Liddell:
The information requested is given in the following table.
From 1 July 1999, this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
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