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Scotland: Chief Constables' Accountability
Lord Hogg of Cumbernauld asked Her Majesty's Government:
- To whom chief constables are accountable in operational matters and on what specific matters chief constables are accountable to police boards.[HL154]
Lord Sewel: Chief Constables in Scotland must submit to their police authority or joint board an annual report on the policing of their force area. These reports must also be copied to the Secretary of State and to the sheriff principal for the area. In addition, the police authority or joint board, the Secretary of State, or the relevant sheriff principal may require the chief constable to submit to them a report at any time on any matter connected with the policing of the force area.
Scottish Police: International Conference Attendance
Lord Hogg of Cumbernauld asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether any costs attach to the Scottish Office as a consequence of any Scottish police officer attending the International Association of Chiefs of Police in Taiwan; and whether any guidance has been offered to police boards on the attendance of officers at international conferences.[HL153]
Lord Sewel: Police grant is paid by the Scottish Office to police authorities and joint police boards on expenditure for police purposes. Costs of attendance by a police officer at an international conference would be eligible for police grant as long as they met that criterion. No guidance has been issued on attendance of police officers at international conferences.
Scottish Police Conduct: Inquiry Procedures
Lord Hogg of Cumbernauld asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What powers the Secretary of State for Scotland has to require an external independent inquiry to be conducted into a Scottish police force in any matter he deems appropriate.[HL152]
Lord Sewel: Section 29 of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 empowers the Secretary of State to arrange for a local inquiry to be held by a person appointed by him, into any matter connected with the policing of any area.
Lord Hogg of Cumbernauld asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What powers a chief constable has to require an external independent inquiry into any operational matter conducted by the police force for which he has responsibility.[HL151]
Lord Sewel: A chief constable may invite the chief constable of another police force to provide an investigating officer to carry out such an inquiry, under
Regulation 5 of the Police (Conduct) (Scotland) Regulations 1996. It would be within the chief constable's general discretion to arrange for a less formal type of inquiry, since chief constables are responsible for operational matters.
Lord Hogg of Cumbernauld asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What powers police boards in Scotland have to require an independent inquiry into the conduct of any operational matter conducted by the police force they oversee.[HL150]
Lord Sewel: The chief constable alone is responsible for operational matters within his force. Under Section 15(2) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967, however, a police authority may require a chief constable to submit a report to them on any matter connected with the policing of the area for which he is responsible.
Scottish School Leavers: Qualifications
Lord Hogg of Cumbernauld asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many pupils in each of the past five years left full-time education in Scotland unable to read or write.[HL95]
Lord Sewel: This information is not held centrally in the form it has been requested. The department does, however, hold information, based on Scottish qualifications authority data, which shows that for session 1995-96 the percentage of school leavers who held a Standard Grade English Award at Grades 1-7 was 88.5 per cent. In addition the Scottish School Leavers Survey showed that in Spring 1995 4 per cent. of 18-19 year olds have no qualifications.
Scottish Primary Schools: Studies
Lord Hogg of Cumbernauld asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many hours on average in each week are spent teaching reading, writing and arithmetic in Scottish primary schools.[HL94]
Lord Sewel: The national guidelines set out in the document The Structure and Balance in the Curriculum 5-14 recommend that Scottish primary schools spend 15 per cent. of curriculum time (3¾ hours per week) on each of language (reading and writing) and mathematics. This total of 30 per cent. on language and mathematics can be increased by an additional 20 per cent. of built in flexibility time (5 hours per week) wherever there is concern with standards of literacy or numeracy. This allows for a total of 50 per cent. (12½ hours) of curriculum time to be devoted to language and mathematics. It is a matter for education authorities and individual schools to decide how much time to spend on language and mathematics within these parameters.
Scotland: Roads Programme
Lord Hogg of Cumbernauld asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What are the arrangements for public participation in their review of the roads programme in Scotland.[HL93]
Lord Sewel: Our consultation document Developing an Integrated Transport Policy, which we published last August, invited views about the future role of trunk roads within an integrated transport system. We have received nearly 500 responses which are currently being analysed in order to help inform the development of policy. Furthermore, as part of the strategic review of motorways and trunk roads in Scotland, the Scottish Office will issue a consultation document in the spring on the revised trunk road appraisal system which is one of the key components of the review.
Scotland: NHS Non-core Services
Lord Hogg asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is their policy on the future of non-core services such as hospital meals, laundries and sterile supply service units in the National Health Service in Scotland.[HL61]
Lord Sewel: The Government's aim is to ensure greater consistency in the organisation of important support services like hospital meals, laundries and sterile supply service units across Scotland, as well as to eliminate waste and duplication. The focus of our efforts is to provide higher quality services for patients.
Scotland: Opencast Mining Applications
Lord Hogg of Cumbernauld asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is their policy in relation to green belt areas where local authorities receive or approve planning applications for opencast mining.[HL6]
Lord Sewel: Where planning authorities receive applications for opencast mining within designated green belt it falls to them, in the first instance, to consider such applications against the development plan and all other material planning considerations, including the Government's policy for the protection of green belt areas. Planning authorities are, also, required to notify the Secretary of State where they propose to grant permission for certain types of development, for example where they consider the development is a significant departure from the approved structure plan or affects a site of special scientific interest or certain classes of agricultural land, although there is no separate notification requirement for mineral workings in green belt areas. My right honourable friend can then consider whether or not to call in the application for his own determination.
Broadly similar planning policy and procedures apply in England and Wales.
Greengairs: Public Inquiry
Lord Hogg of Cumbernauld asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When the public inquiry into the proposed opencast mine at Greengairs in North Lanarkshire will take place and when it is anticipated that it will report.[HL59]
Lord Sewel: The public local inquiry into the planning application for a proposed opencast coal mine at Greengairs is expected to commence some time in April. The precise timing depends on agreement being reached with the parties to the inquiry. If the inquiry takes place in April, the reporter should be in a position to present his report to my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Scotland by early August.
Scottish Parliament Building
Lord Hogg of Cumbernauld asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What arrangements they have put in place to select architects to design the proposed parliamentary building at Holyrood in Edinburgh.[HL58]
Lord Sewel: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Scotland announced on 26 January the arrangements for the selection of a design team for the Scottish Parliament building. Advertisements will be placed in the Official Journal of the European Communities and professional journals inviting architect-led design teams to register their interest. From those applicants, the most suitable 12 or so will be interviewed and from these a shortlist of three or four invited to produce indicative design approaches for the building. Those design approaches will be put on public display, following which the successful design team will be selected.
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