Pauline McNeill

17 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what new investment it will make in the Glasgow transport network.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: We are investing and planning to invest record sums in the Glasgow and West of Scotland area. Current projects include the M74 Completion; M80 Stepps to Hagg; M8 Baillieston to Newhouse (including the Raith Interchange and the Associated Network Improvements …

17 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will support the Clyde Fastlink project.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Yes. The Scottish Government will support measures to improve public transport in Glasgow, including a financial contribution to the first phase of a Clyde Fastlink initiative.</p>

17 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings it has had in 2009 to discuss the Clyde Fastlink proposal.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Transport Scotland, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) and Glasgow City Council (GCC) have been working closely together over recent months to develop a shared vision for transport in Glasgow and the West of Scotland. The Clyde Fastlink proposal has …

17 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much is set aside for the presumed North Sea capital allocation fund, as referred to in The Herald of 17 September 2009.

Answer · John Swinney: No money has been set aside for the North Sea capital allocation fund as there is no fund nor are there any plans to introduce such a fund.</p>

17 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the purpose is of the presumed North Sea capital allocation fund, as referred to in The Herald of 17 September 2009.

Answer · John Swinney: I can confirm that the Scottish Government has no plans to introduce a North Sea capital allocation fund.</p>

10 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to hold a referendum on any matter.

Answer · Michael Russell: The forthcoming Referendum Bill will confer any necessary powers for the holding of a referendum on Scotland''s constitutional future.</p>

10 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has requested that the civil service develop workstreams on any matters reserved to Westminster.

Answer · Michael Russell: Scottish Government officials are examining the effects of changes to the constitution on the range of issues currently devolved or reserved in the Scotland Act.</p>

10 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish ministers have encouraged submissions to the National Conversation from stakeholders.

Answer · Michael Russell: All stakeholders, whether they are individuals or organisations, are encouraged to participate in the National Conversation. They can do so by attending public or stakeholder events, through the website or by commenting on National Conversation publications.<…

10 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many lawyers were employed by it in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007 and (d) 2008 to draft legislation.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The table below sets out the number of lawyers employed by the Scottish Government Legal Directorate (known as the Office of the Solicitor to the Scottish Executive before 2007) and the Office of Scottish Parliamentary Counsel in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.</p…

10 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many lawyers are employed by it to draft legislation.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government employs 122 lawyers in the Scottish Government Legal Directorate (SGLD). Lawyers within SGLD are not employed solely to draft subordinate legislation, but drafting Scottish Statutory Instruments makes up a significant part of the work …

10 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all of the public meetings on the National Conversation, showing their locations and those in attendance representing the Scottish Government.

Answer · Michael Russell: Information about National Conversation events directly organised by the Scottish Government and involving ministers is available on the National Conversation website at <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/a-national-conversation/nctimeline">http://www…

10 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions its officials have had with UK Government officials on any of the 14 workstreams relating to the National Conversation.

Answer · Michael Russell: Scottish Government officials discuss the development of policy with a wide range of interests including, where appropriate, officials in the UK Government.</p>

10 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much working time is devoted to the National Conversation workstream on a fairer Scotland.

Answer · Michael Russell: Policy development work on the National Conversation is carried out by officials as part of their normal duties and is not separately quantified.</p>

10 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what stakeholders it intends to consult on matters relating to the National Conversation.

Answer · Michael Russell: Scotland''s National Conversation is already successfully engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, with the voluntary sector, faith groups, business, trades unions, local government, academics, young people and ethnic minority groups all taking part.</p>

10 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when its proposals on the proposed Referendum Bill will be published.

Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-27095 on 6 October 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/…

10 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its officials are part of the National Conversation team.

Answer · Michael Russell: The team which manages the National Conversation and Referendum is responsible for the Scottish Government''s policy on developing Scotland''s constitution, and responding to related initiatives such as the UK Government''s Governance of Britain programme, th…

10 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list each of the 14 workstreams relating to the National Conversation.

Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-27034 on 6 October 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/Apps…

2 Sep 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to safeguard the future of the Lighthouse in Glasgow.

Answer · Michael Russell : <i >This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:</i></p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0910-01.htm">http://www.scot…

23 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what advantages to bus users were considered in relation to outline planning consent being granted to Buchanan Partnership (Land Securities and Henderson Global Investors) to extend the Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Scottish ministers are unable to provide the requested information as outline planning permission was granted by Glasgow City Council. In reaching a decision, on 9 October 2008, to clear the application back to the city council to deal with, Scottish minister…

23 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on when a decision will be made on the planning application for the site formerly known as Holiday Inn, 177 Bothwell Street, Glasgow.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: This application was notified to Scottish ministers on 30 March 2009 and, after careful consideration, was cleared back to Glasgow City Council on 28 April. I understand that Glasgow City Council has not yet granted planning permission but will do so on concl…

16 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make a decision about the allocation of Gaelic medium education funding.

Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-25884 on 11 August 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…

16 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will reply to Glasgow City Council regarding its bid for Gaelic medium education funding.

Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-25884 on 11 August 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/Apps…

16 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider the Glasgow Gaelic School (Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu) for a share of the capital allocation funds for Gaelic medium education.

Answer · Michael Russell: During this year the Scottish Government has received bids for funding from the Gaelic School capital fund from Highland Council, Glasgow City Council and Argyll and Bute Council. On 3 August the First Minister announced that an additional £800,000 would be c…

13 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how long a provision in primary legislation can he held in abeyance before coming into force once passed by the Scottish Parliament.

Answer · Bruce Crawford: There is no set period of time.</p>

13 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will issue guidance to local authorities on houses in multiple occupation.

Answer · Alex Neil: Guidance for licensing authorities on the current system of licensing of houses in multiple occupation was published in 2004. We do not expect to issue further guidance until the lead up to the implementation of Part 5 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, whic…

17 Jun 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it plans to spend on the National Conversation.

Answer · Michael Russell: Expenditure on the National Conversation will be at the level required to ensure that the people of Scotland are in a position to make an informed choice about their future in a referendum.</p>

17 Jun 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on the National Conversation.

Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-23202 on 1 July 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…

17 Jun 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it (a) has spent and (b) is planning to spend on distributing (i) Scotland’s Future: Join the Debate: Education and Lifelong Learning, (ii) Scotland’s Future: Join the Debate: Finance and Sustainable Growth, (iii) Scotland’s Future: Join the Debate: Health and Wellbeing, (iv) Sco…

Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-24927 on 25 August 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/Apps…

17 Jun 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of producing (a) Scotland’s Future: Join the Debate: Education and Lifelong Learning, (b) Scotland’s Future: Join the Debate: Finance and Sustainable Growth, (c) Scotland’s Future: Join the Debate: Health and Wellbeing, (d) Scotland’s Future: Join the Debate: Justice, (e…

Answer · Michael Russell: <i >Scotland</i><i >''s Future: Join the Debate</i> leaflets are an important contribution to informing the public debate successfully generated by the National Conversation. Over 4,500 people have attended public events, there have been over 500,000 hits o…

15 Jun 2009 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government welcomes the conclusion in the final report of the Calman Commission on Scottish Devolution that devolution has been a real success and is popular with the people of Scotland.

Answer · Alex Salmond: <i > This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:</i></p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0618-01.htm">http://www.scot…