Parliamentary questions
Karen Gillon
705 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
26 Jan 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people living in the (a) ML8, (b) ML9, (c) ML10, (d) ML11 and (e) ML12 postcode areas have started their own businesses since 1999.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Data on the number of VAT registrationsare released annually by the Small BusinessService, an agency of the Department for Trade and Industry. These figures are usedto monitor the number of business start-ups; however data are not available at the postcode di…
26 Jan 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people living in the (a) ML8, (b) ML9, (c) ML10, (d) ML11 and (e) ML12 postcode areas have undertaken a modern apprenticeship since 1999.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The number of modern apprenticesbroken down by post code area and by year is an operational matter for ScottishEnterprise. This information is not held centrally.</p>
26 Jan 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children living in the (a) ML8, (b) ML9, (c) ML10, (d) ML11 and (e) ML12 postcode areas have benefited from Sure Start.
Answer · Hugh Henry: Data on the number of individual beneficiaries ofservices provided under the Sure Start Scotland programme, broken down by postcode area, are notheld centrally.</p>
26 Jan 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which transport projects in the Clydesdale parliamentary constituency have received support from the Executive in each year since 1999.
Answer · Tavish Scott: The Executive does not hold informationon transport projects based on parliamentary constituencies. The range and scaleof transport projects in Scotland varies greatly, and may impact over a number of constituencyareas. In general projects are announced eithe…
15 Jan 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are in place to encourage retailers in Clydesdale to sell alcohol responsibly.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: It is the responsibility of retailersacross Scotland to sell alcohol responsibly and act within the law. the Scottish Executive is working with representatives of retailers as part of its partnershipwith the alcohol industry announced in September 2006.</p><p…
15 Jan 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to discourage under-age drinking in Clydesdale.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executiveallocates funding to Health Scotland to provide national advertising campaigns targeting underage drinking.</p><p>The Scottish Executivealso provides £500,000 for the Choices for Life Event which is targeted at allprimary 7 children and …
15 Jan 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it provides to local authorities in relation to determining the criteria used to agree partnerships with private or voluntary sector nurseries.
Answer · Robert Brown: The Scottish Executive issuedthe <i>Guidance on Commissioning Pre-School Education Partners </i>in July 2003,which advises that authorities should provide clear guidance on the conditions thatwill be applied in selecting partner providers.</p><p>The <i>Guidan…
15 Jan 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to improve the safety of pedestrians and road users on the A702.
Answer · Tavish Scott: Transport Scotland monitors the safety performance of the trunk road networkannually to identify accident cluster sites. Identified sites are prioritisedfor remedial action.</p><p>In the case of the A702 a Route Accident Reduction Plan fromAbington to Lothian…
15 Jan 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional funding has been allocated to NHS Lanarkshire to enhance the provision of dental services in Clydesdale.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Under the Primary Care PremisesModernisation Programme NHS Lanarkshire successfully bid for £500,000 to providea new three surgery dental facility attached to the existing Health Centre in Biggar.</p>
10 Jan 2007 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in Clydesdale have benefited from the central heating programme and the Warm Deal.
Answer · Des McNulty: Information is not kept in theform requested covering Clydesdale but by postcode area. Since 2001 until December2006, 2,819 households in the ML postcode area have receivedcentral heating and 9,919 homes have benefited from Warm Deal measures.</p>
24 Nov 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what outcomes were achieved as a result of the recent visit to New Zealand by the Minister for Parliamentary Business.
Answer · Margaret Curran: During the October recess I visitedWellington, Dunedin and Auckland at the invitation of the New Zealand Government. Theprimary focus of the visit was to witness the operation of a parliamentary and governmentsystem with strong parallels with Scotland, and to…
8 Nov 2006 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that sustainable rural development and, in particular, rural employment is supported by the rural road network.
Answer · Ross Finnie: It is a matter for eachcouncil, as the roads authority for their area, to allocate resources on the basisof local needs and priorities.</p>
18 Oct 2006 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to support dairy farming in Clydesdale.
Answer · Ross Finnie: Dairy producers benefit fromsupport from the Single Farm Payment which was introduced following CommonAgricultural Policy reform in 2003.</p><p>The main concern of dairyproducers is the price of milk but I cannot intervene directly in the market toinfluence m…
13 Sep 2006 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps its Environment and Rural Affairs Department is taking to aid rural development in South Lanarkshire by securing additional resources for rural roads.
Answer · Ross Finnie: It is a matter for South LanarkshireCouncil, as the roads authority for the area, to allocate its funding resourceson the basis of local needs and priorities. This would include provision for additionalspending on local roads.</p>
1 Jun 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings it has had with the Federation of Small Businesses to discuss the Corporate Homicide Expert Group report; what the dates were of the meetings; whether a note was taken of each meeting, and, if so, whether such notes will be made available to the Parliament.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: There have been no meetingswith the Federation of Small Businesses to discuss the Corporate HomicideExpert Group.</p>
30 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish proposals to close a loophole in Scots Law in respect of corporate homicide following the Transco appeal court judgment.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive remainscommitted to closing the gap in the law highlighted by the <i>Transco</i> case.We are currently considering options for achieving this in what is a highlycomplex area of law.</p>
25 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings it has had with the Institute of Directors to discuss the Corporate Homicide Expert Group report; what the dates were of the meetings; whether a note was taken of each meeting and, if so, whether it will be made available to the Parliament.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: There have been no meetingswith the Institute of Directors to discuss the Corporate Homicide Expert Groupreport.</p>
25 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings it has had with the Scottish Trades Union Congress to discuss the Corporate Homicide Expert Group report; what the dates were of the meetings; whether a note was taken of each meeting and, if so, whether it will be made available to the Parliament.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Officials met with the STUCon 8 March 2006. The Lord Advocate and I also met with the STUCon 24 May 2006 and again on 6 June 2006. </p><p>I do not intend to make thenotes of meeting available to the Parliament as they relate to the formulationof policy.</p>
25 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings it has had with CBI Scotland to discuss the Corporate Homicide Expert Group report; what the dates were of the meetings; whether a note was taken of each meeting and, if so, whether it will be made available to the Parliament.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: A meeting was held betweenofficials and CBI Scotland on 15 February 2006.</p><p>I do not intend to make thenote available to the Parliament as it relates to the formulation of policy.</p>
25 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings have taken place between Scottish ministers and UK ministers to discuss the Corporate Homicide Expert Group report; what the dates were of the meetings; whether a note was taken of each meeting and, if so, whether it will be made available to the Parliament.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: There have been no meetingsarranged between Scottish Ministers and UK Ministers specifically to discuss the CorporateHomicide Expert Group Report. </p><p>Ministers have discussedvarious issues relating to corporate homicide in the context of the UKGovernment’…
25 May 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings have taken place between its officials and UK Government officials to discuss the Corporate Homicide Expert Group report; what the dates were of the meetings; whether a note was taken of each meeting and, if so, whether it will be made available to the Parliament.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Scottish Executive and HomeOffice officials met to discuss the expert group report and related issues on 23 January 2006 and22 May 2006.</p><p>I do not intend to make thenotes available to the Parliament as they relate to the formulation of policy.</p>
10 May 2006 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how its Partnership Agreement commitment to ensure that sufficient resources are available for the non-trunk road network is being implemented in Clydesdale.
Answer · Tavish Scott: We are meeting our PartnershipAgreement commitment to make additional funding available to help local authoritiesinvest in local roads and transport through increasing Grant Aided Expenditure allocationsby £16.6 million in total (increase of 3.8%) in 2005-06.…
20 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been given to South Lanarkshire Council to support recycling and waste minimisation.
Answer · Ross Finnie: South Lanarkshire has received a total of £16,089,000, from 2003-04 to 2007-08, and an indicative award of £50,137,000, from 2008-09 to 2020, through the Strategic Waste Fund, to support recycling and waste minimisation.</p>
20 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hours per week on average children participate in PE in schools, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Peter Peacock: In May 2005 the Scottish Executive Education Department asked schools to provide the average curriculum time per pupil set aside in the 2004-05 school year for mandatory, taught physical education within the standard school week. The purpose of this survey wa…
9 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the report by the Expert Group on Corporate Liability for Corporate Homicide.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have today published the report of the Expert Group on Corporate Homicide. I am very grateful to the members of the group - including Ms Gillon - for their hard work on this complex issue. They have produced a thorough report and have come up with innovativ…
24 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers have been suspended in each year since 1999 following allegations of abuse by a pupil or pupil representative and how many of these complaints were upheld.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The information requested is not held centrally.</p>
24 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will issue its new planning guidance on opencast mining.
Answer · Johann Lamont: <i>Scottish Planning Policy 16: Opencast Coal</i> was published today.</p>
24 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to support the provision of education on climate change outside formal education.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Executive supports arange of initiatives aimed at educating the public about climate change outwiththe formal education system. For example, we sponsor the Carbon Trust and theEnergy Saving Trust to inform businesses and householders of action they can ta…
24 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many objections have been received to the Clydesdale wind farm application.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The Executive has received 186 public objections to this proposal, including a petition containing 115 signatures. We are at present considering these representations together with those of the stakeholders who were consulted by us in terms of the Electricity…
24 Jun 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints have been received by NHS 24 from people living in the Clydesdale constituency and how many of these have been upheld.
Answer · Andy Kerr: NHS 24 was rolled out to NHS Lanarkshire in November 2004. Six complaints have been received from the Clydesdale constituency, three of which were upheld.</p>