Margo MacDonald

21 Oct 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on Police Scotland's reported decision to ask the City of Edinburgh Council to grant licences for saunas only on the condition that items of a sexual nature are not allowed on the premises.

16 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many non-medical (a) managerial and (b) administrative posts there are in each NHS board, also expressed as a percentage of the number of employees.

Answer · Alex Neil: SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT WRITTEN ANSWER 12 November 2013 Index Heading: Health and Social Care Margo MacDonald (Lothian) (Independent): To ask the Scottish Government how many non-medical (a) managerial and (b) administrative posts there are in each NHS boar…

16 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much each NHS board paid in commissioning work from non-medical consultants in the latest year for which information is available, and what information it has for organisations that the NHS uses to help provide services.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government does not hold centrally information on how much each NHS board paid in commissioning work for non-medical consultants and it also does not hold details of what organisations the NHS uses to provide these services.

16 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many public relations posts there are in each NHS board, and what information it has for organisations that the NHS uses to help provide services.

Answer · Alex Neil: Information on how many public relation posts there are in each NHS board is not centrally held. However, NHS boards may be in a position to provide information on the number of staff involved in public relations and corporate communications work if approache…

16 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of each NHS board's budget is taken up by administration costs, and what information it has for organisations that the NHS uses to help provide services.

Answer · Alex Neil: Table 1 shows the percentage of each NHS Board’s total costs taken up by administration costs for financial year 2011-12. The information is based on data from the 2011-12 Scottish Health Service Costs Book publication which includes data on the 14 territoria…

16 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what organisations the NHS uses to help provide services, broken down by the (a) cost of the service, (b) number of employees and (c) ratio between highest and lowest paid employee.

Answer · Alex Neil: Detailed information on NHSScotland expenditure is available on the NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) Information Services Division (ISD) website. ISD publish the Scottish Health Service Costs (known as the Cost Book) which provides a detailed analysis of …

30 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to conduct a review of the effectiveness of Police Scotland's (a) set-up and (b) operations before April 2015.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Police Scotland operates independently of Ministers. The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) has a statutory function of delivering continuous improvement of policing and holding the Chief Constable to account. At the end of each financial year the SPA will prepa…

13 Jun 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers were involved in the recent raids on saunas in Edinburgh, broken down by local policing area.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The number of officers involved in the recent raids on Saunas in Edinburgh is an operational matter for the chief constable.

13 Jun 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost was of the recent Police Scotland raids on saunas in Edinburgh.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The cost associated with the recent raids on Saunas in Edinburgh is an operational matter for the Chief Constable.

10 Jun 2013 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that recent actions by Police Scotland reflect a change in emphasis in local policing.

5 Jun 2013 · Written Question

To as the Scottish Government how many officials are on loan to it from other UK civil service departments, broken down by (a) directorate and (b) grade, and from what departments.

Answer · John Swinney: At 7 June 2013 there were 8 staff on loan from another government department to the Core Scottish Government. 1 employee at C1 grade assigned to Directorate for Digital from Cabinet Office. 1 employee at Fast Stream grade assigned to Directorate for Health …

5 Jun 2013 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body to which departments of the UK civil service staff from the Scottish Parliament have been seconded, broken down by year.

Answer · David Stewart: The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has seconded staff to the following UK Civil Service Organisations in the last three years: 2010/11 – The Scottish Government and Audit Scotland 2011/12 – The Scottish Government 2012/13 – The Scottish Government

5 Jun 2013 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many officials are on secondment to it from UK civil service departments, broken down by (a) directorate and (b) grade, and from what departments.

Answer · David Stewart: The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body currently has one inward secondee in the Communications and Research Group at Grade 5. The host department is the Scottish Government.

23 May 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will use the criminal justice system to establish whether people have been transported illegally through Scottish airports and discourage it from happening again.

2 May 2013 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the recent Foreign Affairs Committee report on the consequences of Scottish independence.

19 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in the event that the Scottish Independence Referendum (Franchise) Bill is enacted, whether it considers that criminal courts should take account of the possible loss of the right to vote in the referendum when sentencing and, if so, how it will ensure that they do.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The independence of the judiciary is essential to the rule of law and a fundamental guarantee of a fair trial in any modern civilised country. That is why section 1 of the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008 provides that Scottish Ministers must not seek…

28 Jan 2013 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister for what purpose the Scottish Government has recently contacted the foreign ministries of EU member states.

7 Nov 2012 · SPCB Oral Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will consider providing a dedicated HR specialist for members' staff.

Answer · David Stewart: Members’ staff are employed by individual Members not the Corporate Body. Human Resource Advisers provide an advisory service to Members in order to assist Members in their role as employers. It would confuse the employment relationship between the Member a…

22 Oct 2012 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will discuss with the further education sector the feasibility of establishing short courses on the setting-up and management of community businesses and credit unions.

30 Nov 2011 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in order to inform voters ahead of the proposed independence referendum, when it will publish its position on the issues that are currently reserved.

14 Sep 2011 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to consult professional bodies on changes to the legal system that might arise following any constitutional changes.

13 Sep 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cold weather-related deaths there were during the winter of 2010-11, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There is no recognised standard definition of cold weather-related deaths. Many illnesses may be exacerbated by cold conditions, but it is impossible to quantify the role of such an effect in any resultant deaths. Information on Increased Winter Mortality in…

15 Jun 2011 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to legislate for the election rather than appointment of judges.

24 May 2011 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body for what reason it spent £500,000 on a scoping exercise on additional security measures for the Parliament which, it has been reported, it has acknowledged might not be introduced.

Answer · Tricia Marwick: Last month, the SPCB awarded a contract to secure an architect-led team to produce a design for an external screening facility for visitors.  No money has yet been spent on the contract. The contract incorporates four stages at key points within the overall…

2 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the view expressed by the Chairman of the EU Energy Performance Buildings Directive Implementation Advisory Group that the method of displaying energy certificate ratings in Scotland is “quite meaningless”.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Scotland complies with the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) through the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 and the Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2008 in terms of displaying Energy Performance Certificates.</p>

2 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, given its commitments evidenced in both primary and secondary legislation to set future energy usage targets, whether it uses information contained in building energy performance certificates as one of its base measurements of energy use.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The methodology used in the production of EPCs is used to assess and report on the Scottish Government''s policy objective to reduce carbon dioxide emissions arising from new buildings.</p>

2 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to introduce a scheme equivalent to the English system that takes account of the actual energy usage of a building as occupied rather than its theoretical usage as provided at the planning and building stage.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: There are currently no plans to amend the Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2008. The Regulations will be reviewed in light of any changes to EPBD. Work is in progress to investigate the benefits that operational ratings could play in fut…

2 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, given that building energy certificates can significantly underreport the actual energy consumption of a building, whether it considers that commercial organisations might come under financial pressure as a result of relying on the information in such certificates.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) does not require the actual energy consumption of a building to be reported. Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) are calculated using an asset rating and as a consequence it is considered that commercial …

2 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to commitments set out in its published environmental policy, what its position is on the need for a reassessment of the method of reporting of building energy usage as described in the Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2008 and for the actual rather than the…

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: There are currently no plans to amend the Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2008. The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) used in Scotland complies with the terms of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). The Regulations w…

25 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, given the potential additional energy costs associated with wrongly rated energy performance certificates, what its position is on the ability of commercial organisations to rely on the accuracy of information in building energy performance certificates when making decisions regarding lo…

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: All Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) are produced using an asset based rating that follows the methodology framework set out in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). The rating shown on the EPC states the energy efficiency of a building b…