Parliamentary questions
Elaine Murray
2,411 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
13 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made in reopening the Solway cockle fishery.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Following a series of consultative meetings with stakeholders, Marine Scotland has drawn up innovative management measures and these have been recently trialled as part of a cockle management study. The study was operated by a local contractor and enabled co…
10 Nov 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether its preference is for NHS general dental services to be provided by independent contractors rather than salaried dentists employed by the NHS and, if so, for what reason.
Answer · Michael Matheson: It is the policy of the Scottish Government that patients receive the treatment most appropriate to their needs. In the main this is delivered by independent contractors providing NHS services, complemented by the public dental service for patients with compl…
10 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Advisory Group on Tackling Sectarianism in Scotland has met representatives of football clubs, governing bodies or player trade unions and, if so, whom and when.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Advisory Group on Tackling Sectarianism in Scotland has held a number of meetings and attended events in relation to football, specifically: Date Organisation In attendance 07-12-2012 Football Coordination Unit Scotland (FoCUS) Superintendent Step…
10 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to continue its tackling sectarianism funding stream in 2015-16 and, if so, at what level of funding.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-23088 on 20 November 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentary…
10 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to continue its equality funding stream in 2015-16 and, if so, at what level of funding.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-23088 on 20 November 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentary…
10 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the additional £3 million in 2015-16 to support community-based initiatives to tackle sectarianism and further develop understanding through research it will make available solely for antisectarian initiatives.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government’s Draft Budget 2015-16, published on 9 October 2014, stated that in 2015-16 the budget for promoting equality will be £20.3 million. It also stated we will invest over £3 million to support community based initiatives to tackle sectari…
10 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the minimum distance required is between a wind turbine and a (a) community and (b) single property.
Answer · Derek Mackay: There is no minimum distance between individual wind turbines or wind farms and communities or individual properties. Scottish Planning Policy Table 1, Group 2 provides the policy on community separation. Table 1: Spatial Frameworks Group 1 – Areas where…
3 Nov 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on changes to the workload of officers and support staff since the establishment of Police Scotland.
27 Oct 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent under the non-profit distributing model and on how many projects.
23 Oct 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what funding is available in the Scottish Draft Budget 2015-16 for infrastructure that supports active travel.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Draft Budget 2015-16 includes funding to build, maintain and promote infrastructure for active travel within the following budget lines: £25 million in the support for sustainable and active travel budget; and £8 million ring fenced funding for…
20 Oct 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address youth unemployment in Dumfries and Galloway.
10 Oct 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how and where Transport Scotland advertises trunk road closures arising from community events.
Answer · Keith Brown: Transport Scotland publish information notices in relation to temporary traffic regulation orders providing for trunk road closures (including those closures which are necessary in connection with the holding of a community event) in line with relevant curren…
24 Sep 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will support families living at a distance from the new national prison and regional units wanting to visit imprisoned female relatives.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows: ‘‘The SPS set up the women offenders project to design and build an establishment specifically for the needs of female offenders at In…
24 Sep 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is developing alternatives to custody for female offenders.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government is working in partnership with justice bodies and other agencies to deliver the recommendations of the Commission on Women Offenders. In addition to the range of community-based sentences, diversion from prosecution and other non-cust…
22 Sep 2014 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Dumfries and Galloway Council regarding its role in the proposed national resilience centre in Dumfries.
11 Sep 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when local authorities received funding to enable them to fully mitigate the so-called bedroom tax.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The initial allocation of £20 million was included in the 2014-15 local government finance settlement from 1 April 2014 and is being paid to individual local authorities on a weekly basis as part of their general revenue grant allocations. An additional £15 m…
11 Sep 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been allocated each local authority in 2014-15 to enable them to fully mitigate the so-called bedroom tax through the use of discretionary housing payments.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The information requested can be found in the following table: DWP funding SG funding allocated to date Total Aberdeen £308,438 £842,096 £1,150,534 Aberdeenshire £480,948 £441,326 £922,274 Angus £357,857 £328,376 £686,233 Argyll and Bute £4…
8 Aug 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether a complaint can be lodged against a solicitor regarding a report to a sheriff on the proposed arrangements for the care and upbringing of a child and, if so, to whom.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: I assume the member is referring to cases where a judge or sheriff has appointed a child welfare reporter (formerly known as a bar reporter) to assist in cases such as contact or residence under section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. Child welfare r…
14 Jul 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-08399 by Keith Brown on 27 July 2012, for what reason the anticipated completion date of early 2014 for the A75 Hardgrove to Kinmount improvement scheme has not been met, and on what date it will be completed.
Answer · Keith Brown: The £9 million Hardgrove to Kinmount improvement project was opened to traffic on 27 June 2014. This was a significant achievement given its construction took place over one of the wettest winters in recent memory.
1 Jul 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when a decision will be made on whether Lemtrada, a treatment for relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis, will be made available in NHS Scotland.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) published advice for Alemtuzumab (Lemtrada®) for the treatment of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis on 7 July 2014. SMC reviewed this medicine in April 2014. However, publication of the advice was withheld at the m…
26 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on (a) how many and (b) what proportion of primary school teachers who qualified in each year since 2010 had qualifications in (i) higher mathematics, (ii) higher chemistry, physics or biology and (iii) standard grade chemistry, physics or biology.
Answer · Michael Russell: This information is not held centrally.
26 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many vacancies for full-time equivalent secondary school teachers in (a) mathematics, (b) chemistry, (c) physics and (d) biology there have been in each year since 2010.
Answer · Michael Russell: This information is not held centrally.
26 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent secondary school teachers in (a) mathematics, (b) chemistry, (c) physics and (d) biology there have been in each year since 2010.
Answer · Michael Russell: Information on the number of full-time equivalent secondary school teachers by main subject taught is given in table 3.9 of the teacher census supplementary dataset to the ‘Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland, No 4: 2013 Edition’ publication. A link to…
26 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the number of science specialists in primary schools.
Answer · Michael Russell: Whilst recruitment of teachers is the responsibility of local authorities, the Scottish Government recognises the importance of a good grounding in science in the primary years and is providing support for primary school teachers to build their knowledge and …
26 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the General Teaching Council for Scotland on increasing the minimum entry requirements for primary school teachers to include qualifications in mathematics, chemistry, physics or biology.
Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Government discussed this and other matters with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) during the consultation period prior to the GTCS publishing the June 2013 version of the Memorandum on Entry Requirements to Programmes of Initial T…
26 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on (a) how many and (b) what proportion of primary school teachers who qualified in each year since 2010 had a degree in mathematics, chemistry, physics or biology.
Answer · Michael Russell: This information is not held centrally.
26 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many vacancies for full-time equivalent primary school teachers there have been in each year since 2010.
Answer · Michael Russell: This information is not held centrally.
26 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent primary school teachers there have been in each year since 2010.
Answer · Michael Russell: Information on the number of full-time equivalent primary school teachers is published in table 1.1 of the Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland, No 4: 2013 Edition publication. A link to this publication which is on the Scottish Government website is as…
25 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will implement the UK Crime and Courts Act 2013 provisions in relation to drug driving; whether it will bring forward secondary regulations in this regard, and, if so, on what timescale.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: It is a criminal offence to drive in an impaired way while under the influence of drugs. A new drug driving offence was provided for in the UK Crime and Courts Act 2013 which makes it an offence to drive with above specified levels of certain drugs within a …
6 Jun 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what financial assistance it makes available toward the cost of flood defences for homeowners who have experienced repeated flooding.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: We are providing funding through the local government settlement for local authorities to continue to invest in major new flood protection schemes. Local authorities can apply for this funding on the basis of criteria agreed by the Scottish Government and CO…