Parliamentary questions
Jackie Baillie
9,397 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
2 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many legacy Warm Deal applications and legacy central heating programme installations have been carried out following the commencement of the Energy Assistance Package.
Answer · Alex Neil: The managing agent has indicated that 3,519 central heating systems and 1,132 Warm Deal installations have taken place between 1 April and the 31 August 2009.</p>
2 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to increase the volume of applications to the Energy Saving Trust for the Energy Assistance Package and how it will increase call-handling capacity.
Answer · Alex Neil: Energy Saving Trust (EST) has developed and is managing a campaign to raise awareness of the Energy Assistance Package (EAP) among fuel poor households and their influencers. Since April 2009 a number of initiatives have been underway such as direct mailings,…
2 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) households and (b) individuals are expected to contact the Energy Saving Trust for the Energy Assistance Package in 2009-10.
Answer · Alex Neil: Indicative targets set for the Energy Savings Trust were to achieve 75,000 individual contacts for the Energy Assistance Package in 2009-10. Targets for the number of households were not specified.</p>
2 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) households and (b) individuals contacted the Energy Saving Trust for the Energy Assistance Package by the end of August 2009.
Answer · Alex Neil: Information on the Energy Assistance Package, including numbers of callers and those receiving assistance at each stage of the package, is available on the Energy Saving Trust website at: </p> <p ><a href="http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland/Scotlan…
2 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding was allocated for the Energy Assistance Package and how much has been spent to date.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21692 on 1 April 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/B…
2 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the operation of the low income, low assets (LILA) route to bankruptcy and (a) abolish the £100 application fee and (b) provide access to LILA for homeowners.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: A review of the low income, low assets (LILA) route into bankruptcy after one year of operation is currently being conducted by the Accountant in Bankruptcy and a report will be published by the end of September 2009.</p> <p >The £100 application fee is paya…
1 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25945 by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 August 2009, whether the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing supports patients being able to choose to have IVF treatment where waiting times are shorter, particularly if they are near the upper age limit.
Answer · Shona Robison: Disparity in the length of waiting times for IVF across NHS boards in Scotland is due, in part, to differences in criteria and funding being applied across NHS boards which is a long standing problem.</p> <p >We are funding Infertility Network Scotland to wo…
1 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25938 by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 August 2009, when NHS boards will be asked to provide information on average waiting times for IVF treatment and whether this information will be published.
Answer · Shona Robison: NHS boards will be asked to provide information on waiting times for infertility services to Infertility Network Scotland during autumn 2009.</p> <p >Once this information is collected and verified, I will place a copy of the information in the Scottish Parl…
1 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25939 by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 August 2009, when NHS boards will be asked to provide information on waiting times for IVF treatment and whether this information will be published.
Answer · Shona Robison: NHS boards will be asked to provide information on waiting times for infertility services to Infertility Network Scotland during autumn 2009.</p> <p >Once this information is collected and verified, I will place a copy of the information in the Scottish Parl…
1 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25940 by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 August 2009, what work is being undertaken by Infertility Network Scotland and when this is likely to be implemented.
Answer · Shona Robison: Infertility Network Scotland will work with NHS boards over the next three years to help ensure fairer access to treatment and to offer patients a direct influence on the future direction of infertility care.</p>
1 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25940 by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 August 2009, which NHS boards have invested in the Infertility Network Scotland service and consequently reduced their waiting times for IVF treatment.
Answer · Shona Robison: All NHS boards in Scotland routinely refer patients for IVF treatment, therefore all NHS boards invest in this service.</p> <p >NHS Borders, NHS Dumfries and Galloway and NHS Lanarkshire have all invested further in this service to reduce waiting times.</p>
31 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether war pensions are counted as income when considering applications for student bursaries and, if so, whether this has always been the case.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: War pensions are treated like all pension income and since 1 August 2008 have counted as income in the assessment of student support in both higher and further education. This is in line with the policy of other UK Government Departments, including the Depart…
31 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what changes have been made to the eligibility criteria for student bursaries and loans from the Students Awards Agency for Scotland and when these changes were made.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The changes which have been made to the eligibility criteria for student bursaries and loans since May 2007 can be found at the following link.</p> <p ><a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/Funding-Support-Grants/FFL/PMB/Completed">http://www…
28 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff covered by its public sector pay policy have a pay rate of under £7 per hour, broken down by public body.
Answer · John Swinney: The information requested is not held centrally.</p> <p >Contact details for each of the bodies subject to the Scottish Government''s Public Sector Pay Policy are as follows:</p> <p >The Scottish Government and its associated departments: <a href="http://ww…
28 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what it would cost per annum to implement a minimum pay rate of £7 per hour for all staff covered by its public sector pay policy.
Answer · John Swinney: The information requested is not held centrally.</p> <p >Contact details for each of the bodies subject to the Scottish Government''s Public Sector Pay Policy are as follows:</p> <p >The Scottish Government and its associated departments: <a href="http://w…
28 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the lowest hourly pay rate is for staff covered by its public sector pay policy and how many staff are employed at that rate, broken down by public body.
Answer · John Swinney: The information requested is not held centrally.</p> <p >Contact details for each of the bodies subject to the Scottish Government''s Public Sector Pay Policy are as follows:</p> <p >The Scottish Government and its associated departments: <a href="http://w…
13 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people it anticipates will not qualify for the Education Maintenance Allowance in the 2009-10 academic year who would have qualified under the previous maximum qualifying income threshold.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government does not hold exact details of the level of income for all households that contain a 16 to 19-year-old in school or further education. As such it isn''t possible to calculate a precise figure for the number of young people who would no…
13 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it anticipates spending on the provision of Education Maintenance Allowances in the 2009-10 academic year following the reduction in the maximum qualifying income threshold.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The budget for Education Maintenance Allowances is determined on a financial year basis rather than by academic years. In financial year 2009-10 the budget for the scheme is £33.25 million.</p>
13 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people it anticipates will qualify for the Education Maintenance Allowance in the 2009-10 academic year following the reduction in the maximum qualifying income threshold.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government does not hold exact details of the level of income for all households that contain a 16 to 19-year-old in school or further education. As such it isn''t possible to calculate a precise figure for the number of young people who would qu…
13 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on the provision of Education Maintenance Allowances in the (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09 academic years.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The spend on Education Maintenance Allowances (EMA) is recorded in financial years rather than academic years. The total amount spent on the scheme was £37.2 million in financial year 2007-08 and £36.5 million in financial year 2008-09. These figures include …
13 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people received an Education Maintenance Allowance in the (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09 academic years.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The total number of people who received an Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is given in Table 1 of <i >Education Maintenance Allowances 2007-08</i>:</p> <p ><a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/01/23112534/0">http://www.scotland.gov.uk/…
13 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will encourage the new chair of the public inquiry into Clostridium difficile to meet with the families of those affected by the outbreak at the Vale of Leven hospital before determining, with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, the terms of reference of the public …
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Lord Coulsfield met with the Vale of Leven families and relatives affected by the C Difficile outbreak on 12 June to listen to their views and concerns. These issues featured in discussions between Lord Coulsfield and the Cabinet Secretary on the terms of ref…
13 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the terms of reference for the public inquiry into Clostridium difficile will be sufficiently wide to enable consideration of the actions of all agencies, including government departments, executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies in tackling Clostridium difficile.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-26914 on 4 September 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/App…
13 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the terms of reference for the public inquiry into Clostridium difficile will be sufficiently wide to enable consideration of the incidence of Clostridium difficile at hospitals across Scotland, while maintaining the focus on the Vale of Leven hospital outbreak.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-26914 on 4 September 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/App…
13 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it anticipates that the public inquiry into Clostridium difficile will now commence.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-26914 on 4 September 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/App…
13 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce the new chair of the public inquiry into Clostridium difficile, following the announcement on 25 June 2009 by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing that Lord Couslfield had stood down.
10 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will report on the strategic review of National Park Authorities.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: I have signed off the Strategic Review of National Park Authorities. A report setting out the next steps, taking account of the public consultation on the Review recommendations, was published on 19 August. The report is available through the following link <…
10 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what role it considers National Park Authorities have in managing visitor access to national parks.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Both National Park Authorities have a key role in promoting and managing responsible visitor access. One of the statutory aims of the National Parks is to promote understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the area by the public. The two National…
10 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the visitor numbers have been for (a) Loch Lomond and The Trossachs and (b) Cairngorms National Park in each year since their establishment.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The estimated number of visitors to the Cairngorms National Park is shown in the following table:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td width=144 valign=top > <p align=center >Year</p> </td> <td width=60 valign=top > <p a…
31 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive who monitors the work of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is available on the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland''s website at <a href="http://www.mhtscotland.gov.uk/">www.mhtscotland.gov.uk</a>.</p>