Parliamentary questions
Patricia Ferguson
1,079 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
3 Dec 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it considers an acceptable period of time that may elapse between (a) a sudden and (b) an unexplained death and a post mortem and what guidance it produces on this.
Answer · Lesley Thomson: It is a matter for the Procurator Fiscal whether or not a post mortem examination is required following the report of a sudden and unexplained death to The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). The Procurator Fiscal will instruct a post mortem …
3 Dec 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many pathologists the Southern General Hospital employs and how many vacancies there are, broken down by grade.
Answer · Shona Robison: Information on how many pathologists the Southern General Hospital employs is not centrally held. However, information on the number of pathologist staff in post, broken down by grade, in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is available and can be found in the fol…
3 Dec 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) average and (b) median time is between (i) a sudden and (ii) an unexplained death and a post mortem at the Southern General Hospital.
Answer · Lesley Thomson: The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) is responsible for the investigation of all sudden, suspicious, accidental and unexplained deaths in Scotland. COPFS may instruct post mortem examinations in all these categories of deaths but is not resp…
20 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been carried out of the impact on communities of its decision to close some police stations and reduce the opening hours of others.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Police Scotland regularly review and check whether its approaches and structures provide the most efficient and effective mechanisms to ensure that the high quality delivery of policing in Scotland is maintained and enhanced. Police Scotland undertook a revi…
20 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it considers should be the maximum distance that a police officer’s base should be from the area that the officer patrols.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The distance from an officer’s base to where he patrols is an operational matter for Police Scotland and its Chief Constable.
20 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether a community police officer should be based in the area that the officer patrols.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The decision on where officers carry out patrols is an operational matter for Police Scotland and its Chief Constable.
20 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether a police officer should be based as close as possible to the area that the officer patrols.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The area where an officer patrols is an operational matter for Police Scotland and its Chief Constable.
19 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many dogs have been fitted with a transponder under the terms of the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government does not hold centrally, figures relating to the number of dogs that have been fitted with an electronic transponder under the terms of the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010. However, the issue of a Dog Control Notice (DCN) under th…
19 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many dog control orders have been issued by each local authority under the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010.
Answer · Michael Matheson: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-22841 on 27 October 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/parliamentar…
13 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what other sources of funding it would recommend to the Scottish Youth Theatre in light of it not receiving regular funding from Creative Scotland.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Youth Theatre will be eligible for support from the new £1 million that the First Minister announced on 14 November 2014. In addition, they remain eligible for Open Project Funding from Creative Scotland, worth up to £150,000 per project. They ar…
13 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on Creative Scotland's decision not to provide the Scottish Youth Theatre with regular funding.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Creative Scotland’s funding decisions are a matter for the Creative Scotland board and we accept those decisions made following a robust assessment process. Difficult decisions had to be made with £212 million worth of applications for a final fund of just un…
13 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Creative Scotland has decided not to provide the Scottish Youth Theatre with regular funding.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: These are decisions for Creative Scotland to make; Scottish Ministers are prevented by legislation from playing any part in their artistic or cultural decision making. Creative Scotland has not made any of their detailed assessments public, having assured app…
13 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will support the Scottish Youth Theatre in future years.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The outgoing First Minister announced on 14 November that £1 million funding was being provided by the Scottish Government and Clyde Blowers to support the Scottish Youth Theatre and allow all the national youth companies to take centre stage in the countdown…
6 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that Creative Scotland should provide an analysis of its decisions concerning the awarding of regular funding.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Creative Scotland’s website provides a comprehensive summary of its decisions by art form and regional impact with commentary at: http://www.creativescotland.com/funding/latest-information/funded-organisations/regularly-funded-organisations-2015-18/the-portf…
6 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will encourage Creative Scotland to publish a list of all organisations that unsuccessfully applied for regular funding for 2015-18.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: No. Creative Scotland do not publish details of unsuccessful applicants to any of its funding programmes and this includes applicants to the regular funding programme for 2015-18. Creative Scotland advised applicants that they would not publish a list of all …
6 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support Creative Scotland makes available to youth arts organisations.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Creative Scotland provides significant support to youth arts organisations in Scotland in the following ways: On 14 November 2014 the Scottish Government announced a £1 million package of public and private funding to engage more young people in culture and …
6 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what alternative funding routes are available to organisations that bid unsuccessfully for regular funding from Creative Scotland.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: A number of alternative funding routes are available to organisations that bid unsuccessfully for regular funding from Creative Scotland. These include: Creative Scotland’s new open project fund (http://www.creativescotland.com/funding/funding-programmes/o…
6 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what feedback Creative Scotland provides to organisations that bid unsuccessfully for regular funding.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Creative Scotland provides a detailed written assessment of the outcome of the decision-making process to those organisations which were unsuccessful in their applications for regular funding. Creative Scotland also offers face to face meetings to all unsucc…
3 Nov 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been set aside in the 2015-16 draft budget for measures to help tackle climate change.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: A summary detailing the principal lines within the Scottish Government’s draft budget, which support the delivery of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe), and has been published on th…
2 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-19780 by Fiona Hyslop on 28 February 2014, when it will announce the location of a film studio for Scotland.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: We are committed, together with our partners Scottish Enterprise and Creative Scotland, to secure a permanent film studio for Scotland. We are also considering how we can build on our existing support for the film sector and will make an announcement as soon …
2 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to ensure that organisations receiving grants from Creative Scotland pay staff at least the living wage.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government fully supports the Living Wage campaign. We recognise the real difference the living wage makes to the people of Scotland. (The current rate is £7.65 per hour for pay settlements from 1 April 2014. On 3 November 2014 it was announced t…
14 Oct 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what processes it has put in place for the disbursement of money held in the community capacity and resilience fund.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-22847 on 7 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/parliamenta…
14 Oct 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what organisations will be eligible to apply for community capacity and resilience funding.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-22847 on 7 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/parliamenta…
14 Oct 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much money it will set aside for community capacity and resilience funding.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-22847 on 7 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/parliamenta…
14 Oct 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has set aside money to form a community capacity and resilience fund and, if so, how much.
Answer · John Swinney: We will be investing £2.5 million over 2014-15 and 2015-16 to build the capacity and resilience of communities and local third sector organisations, helping them to respond to the worst effects of welfare reform. A stakeholder group, formed of a partnership …
23 Sep 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what residential support is available to people with Prader-Willi syndrome.
Answer · Michael Matheson: There are no centrally held data on the numbers of people with Prader-Willi syndrome in local authority residential care settings. Clare House in Dunblane, which opened in 2009, is part of a national network of residential support for people with Prader-Will…
23 Sep 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assistance and support is available in the community to people with Prader-Willi syndrome.
Answer · Michael Matheson: People with Prader-Willi syndrome potentially require a wide range of health, social care and community services according to their specific needs. The Single Gene Complex Needs (SGCN) service, which works primarily with adults living with rare diseases of s…
15 Sep 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time is for children who require an upgraded cochlear implant processor.
28 Aug 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Scotland have been diagnosed with Prader-Willi syndrome.
Answer · Michael Matheson: This information is not held centrally.
28 Aug 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what advice it offers to local authorities seeking to support people with Prader-Willi syndrome.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Prader-Willi Syndrome Association (www.pwsa.co.uk) provides advice to local authorities and to families affected by the condition.