Parliamentary questions
Elaine Murray
2,411 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
9 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering trials of recording sheep and goat movements by the Scottish livestock traceability research team (ScotEID) and, if so, for what reason.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: It was agreed at the joint Scottish Government/Industry Group meeting on 2 July 2013 to complete the sheep and goat part of the ScotEID database system. This will involve a stepped and controlled move across from the Scottish Animal Movement System (SAMS) whi…
8 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what rights members of a child's extended family have in relation to concerns about the child's welfare.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government recognises and appreciates the role that the wider family can play in children’s lives. The position on rights depends on the precise concerns the extended family have about the child’s welfare. Under section 11 of the Children (Scotl…
4 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will consult on its proposals to introduce legislative reforms to end automatic early release for certain categories of offender at stage 2 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The First Minister announced to parliament on 3 September 2013 in the Programme for Government statement that the Scottish Government will bring forward legislative provisions to end automatic early release for serious offenders. The announcement followed dis…
29 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which elements of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s claim under the Bellwin Scheme to cover additional expenditure incurred by the snowstorms of March 2013 were deemed ineligible for assistance because they were not (a) incurred as a result of providing relief or carrying out works to safe…
Answer · John Swinney: Dumfries and Galloway’s claim under the Bellwin scheme following the severe winter weather in late March 2013 was submitted in two parts. The second part of the claim amounted to over £794,000 for repairing the damage caused to the roads by the severe snow st…
29 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussion it had with officials from Dumfries and Galloway Council prior to the council's application under the Bellwin Scheme to cover additional expenditure incurred by the snowstorms of March 2013.
Answer · John Swinney: My officials discussed the terms and conditions of the Bellwin Scheme with council officials in the immediate aftermath of the snowstorms in late March 2013. This included an email dated 27 March 2013 to the Council’s Head of Finance confirming that I had tr…
29 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-03867 by Keith Brown on 15 November 2011, what measures (a) have been taken and (b) are planned to improve road safety on the A76 at Ellisland Farm.
Answer · Keith Brown: There are no safety measures specific to Ellisland Farm, however Transport Scotland has carried out a route accident reduction plan study along the entire length of the A76 trunk road from Kilmarnock to Dumfries and a range of road safety measures were recomm…
29 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what improvement schemes are proposed for the A76 between Dumfries and New Cumnock and when these will be implemented.
Answer · Keith Brown: There are three roads structural maintenance schemes planned for the A76 between Dumfries and New Cumnock, as follows: Route Scheme Name Implementation date A76 Newbridge Farm to Cluden Water B…
29 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) fatal, (b) serious and (c) other accidents were recorded on trunk roads and motorways in the Dumfriesshire constituency in (i) 2009, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2011 and (iv) 2012, broken down by road.
Answer · Keith Brown: The following table provides the statistics requested. Fatal Serious Slight A701 2009 0 2 6 2010 0 1 11 2011 2 4 7 2012 0 0 6 A75 2009 2 2 18 2010 1 5 13 2011 0 1 12 2012 1 1 10 A76 2009 1 5 8 2010 0 4 13 …
27 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether colleges may specify private sector halls of residence as required accommodation for the receipt of a college bursary.
Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Funding Council rules for further education student support set no eligibility requirements relating to accommodation at specific halls of residence.
27 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance is issued to individual colleges regarding eligibility criteria for college bursaries.
Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Funding Council issue the further education student support policy to colleges annually.
27 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what funding was made available to NHS Dumfries and Galloway in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13 to promote young people’s health and wellbeing and how this was allocated.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of all children and young people to ensure they have the best start in life, are ready to succeed and live longer, healthier lives. All NHS boards, including NHS Dumfries and Galloway…
19 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it will issue to residents of park homes regarding the changes to their rights arising from the Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment of Schedule1) (Scotland) Order 2013.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: We have produced a leaflet giving permanent park home residents information about their new and existing rights and responsibilities. This is being distributed to all affected residents and sites for which we have addresses. We are also writing to site owners…
16 Jul 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the recommendations of the independent expert group on opiate replacement therapies will be made available to the Parliament.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The report of the independent expert group on opioid replacement therapies was published on 22 August 2013. Notification of the publication was sent to the Scottish Parliament’s Justice and Health committees, the Cross Party Group on Drug and Alcohol Misuse a…
16 Jul 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government who the independent expert group on opiate replacement therapies has consulted.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The report of the independent expert group on opioid replacement therapies, including a full list of stakeholders consulted, is available on the Scottish Government website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2013/08/9760.
16 Jul 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether, as stated on the Scottish Drugs Strategy Delivery Commission website, the independent expert group on opiate replacement therapies made recommendations to it in Spring 2013 and, if so, whether these were made available to the Parliament and what the reasons are for its position …
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The independent expert group on opioid replacement therapies made no recommendations to the Scottish Government in Spring 2013. The report of the independent expert group is available on the Scottish Government website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publicatio…
16 Jul 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether ministers have had meetings with the independent expert group on opiate replacement therapies to discuss progress on evidence gathering.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs had no meetings with the independent expert group on opioid replacement therapies to discuss progress on evidence gathering. However, the minister met with the researchers for the group, as a stakeholder, to…
16 Jul 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings of the independent expert group on opiate replacement therapies have taken place.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The independent expert group on opioid replacement therapies met four times. The group also corresponded electronically outwith these meetings. The report of the independent expert group is available on the Scottish Government website: http://www.scotland.g…
3 Jul 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will issue a public consultation on extending the powers of the Scottish SPCA to investigate wildlife crime and, if so, when.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: We regret that resource pressures did further delay the public consultation on the possible extension of the Scottish SPCA powers. I can confirm however that the consultation document will be published later this year.
24 Jun 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed its fares policy with community groups who use Northern Isles ferry services.
Answer · Keith Brown: In preparation for the tendering of the 2012-18 Northern Isles ferry services contract, in June 2010, the Scottish Government launched a detailed consultation on all aspects of the Northern Isles ferry services. The views of ferry service users and other stak…
24 Jun 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the judicial review of its procurement for the 2012-18 Northern Isles ferry services contract to be concluded.
Answer · Keith Brown: The court action being brought against Scottish Ministers by Shetland Line (1984) Ltd is a commercial action, rather than a petition for judicial review. The next session in the Commercial Court is scheduled for 28 August 2013.
24 Jun 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the concessionary fare schemes available to (a) pensioners, (b) students and (c) school pupils in (i) 2006-07, (ii) 2007-08, (iii) 2008-09, (iv) 2009-10, (v) 2010-11 and (vi) 2011-12 on Northern Isles ferry services.
Answer · Keith Brown: The previous Northern Isles ferry services contract operated from 2006 to 2012. While few concessions were specified in the contract, during that period the following fare concessions operated: Islander discount a 30% discount on passenger and car fares for …
24 Jun 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) pensioners, (b) students and (c) school pupils have used Northern Isles ferry services in each of the last six years.
Answer · Keith Brown: Collating data on passenger carryings is a matter for ferry service operators and not the Scottish Government. The passenger data which is gathered by the operators relates specifically to the various ticket types available. Therefore, no precise record is k…
24 Jun 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the extra revenue that Serco will receive over the duration of the Northern Isles ferry services contract as a result of increases in concessionary fares for (a) pensioners, (b) students and (c) school pupils and when the company will next review fare levels…
Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-16022 on 22 July 2013. 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/parliamentarybu…
24 Jun 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the extra revenue that Serco will receive in 2013-14 as a result of increases in concessionary fares for (a) pensioners, (b) students and (c) school pupils.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government has made no estimate of projected revenues in relation to concessionary fares. However, it is important to note that the Northern Isles contract (Volume 1, Section C) includes a tightly defined payments mechanism which guards against …
24 Jun 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Serco regarding increases in concessionary fares for (a) pensioners, (b) students and (c) school pupils on Northern Isles ferry services; when the company informed (i) it and (ii) Transport Scotland of its intention to increase these fares, and wha…
Answer · Keith Brown: Along with the other bidders for the Northern Isles ferry services contract, Serco NorthLink’s fares proposals were set down in their bid for the 2012-18 Northern Isles ferry services contract. There have been no recent discussions with Serco NorthLink regar…
24 Jun 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had regarding safeguards for concessionary fare schemes for school pupils with (a) Serco and (b) other bidders during the tendering process for the 2012-18 Northern Isles ferry services contract and whether it will make public the details of any such discussions.
Answer · Keith Brown: When tendering for the 2012-18 Northern Isles ferry services contract, a range of mandatory fare discounts and concessions were stipulated in the bid documentation. These were: Islander Discount: a 30% discount on passenger and car fares for island residents…
5 Jun 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that its recently published statistics on house building indicate a potential shortfall in the number of new homes needed to meet demand.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: Whilst recent house building statistics are below the projections of household formation, the Scottish Government has put in place significant support to stimulate housebuilding activity across all tenures, including the private market. Nevertheless, operatin…
5 Jun 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it will carry out on its building targets for social housing and whether the target to build 6,000 affordable homes will be met in 2013-14.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government aims to deliver at least 20,000 social rented homes from within its five year target of 30,000 affordable homes during the lifetime of this parliament. Almost 12,900 affordable homes were completed to the end of March 2013, including 9…
24 May 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the (a) owner and (b) driver of a taxi or private hire car can appeal the decision of a licensing authority’s testing centre with regard to the work needed to be carried out on the vehicle.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The legislation which provides for the licensing of taxi and private hire cars, the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (the 1982 Act), does not outline an appeals process specifically for the decisions of a local authority testing centre. Each local authori…
24 May 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the number of testing centres licensing authorities must provide for the testing of (a) taxis and (b) private hire cars.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The number of testing centres a local authority authorises for the testing of taxis and private hire cars is a matter for the local authority. They will consider what system best meets the needs of their local area, taking into consideration the requirements …