Parliamentary questions

Rhoda Grant

2,396 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

25 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much Scotland spends annually on international development, expressed as a proportion of the UK's spend.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The UK Government has published figures for both Scottish Government and UK Government official development assistance over the last two years. These show the Scottish Government’s spend as a proportion of the UK Government’s and are available at the attached…

25 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, if Scotland became independent, at what rate it would set married couple's tax allowance; how many couples would benefit, and what the average annual benefit would be.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-20019 on 13 March 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/parliamentaryb…

25 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how it calculated the "target revenue gain of £250 million a year by the end of the first term" set out on page xiii of Scotland's Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4O-02678 on 5 December 2013. The answer to the oral parliamentary question is available on the Parliaments website, the official report can be viewed at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/2…

25 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, if Scotland became independent, what measures it would introduce to tackle tax avoidance, and how much additional revenue these would raise.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government plans to introduce a simple and transparent tax system after independence designed to minimise the opportunities for tax avoidance that have been exposed in the UK system, which mean that too many individual and corporate taxpayers do …

25 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, if Scotland became independent, other than the shares for rights scheme and married couple’s tax allowance, what tax reliefs it would streamline.

25 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, if Scotland became independent, what tax reliefs it would need to abolish to raise the "target revenue gain of £250 million a year by the end of the first term" set out on page xiii of Scotland's Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland.

25 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much its proposed Edinburgh-Glasgow high-speed rail line would cost to build, and whether it will provide details of the expected (a) capital and operating costs, (b) line capacity, (c) stations services would call at and (d) maximum speed of services.

Answer · Keith Brown: Costs for the proposed Edinburgh-Glasgow high-speed rail line are in development, as are the details of capacity and service specifications. It is clear, however, that the case for and the detail of a high speed line between Edinburgh and Glasgow is dependent…

23 Apr 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what contingency plans are in place to allow the MV Loch Seaforth to berth should any problems arise with the newly fitted link-spans at the ports of Stornoway and UIlapool.

26 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether there will be interim funding to support improvements in the quality of life of people with dementia while the Life Changes Trust funding programme is developed.

Answer · Alex Neil: Funding to improve dementia services to help improve the quality of life for people with dementia and for the delivery of local dementia strategies continues to be drawn from the overall funds allocated to NHSScotland and local authorities by the Scottish Gov…

12 Mar 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what European funding streams are available to help safeguard the cultural heritage of communities.

10 Mar 2014 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that those who require social care services receive appropriate assistance.

26 Feb 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its response to the Health and Sport Committee’s Report on Inquiry into the Regulation of Care for Older People, when a review of National Care Standards will take place.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government has been undertaking exploratory work with a wide range of stakeholders to inform the review of the National Care Standards and will launch a formal consultation in the next few weeks from March 2014.

26 Feb 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the waiting time is to see a specialist for people who present symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.

Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested is not available centrally. Waiting times information for a first outpatient consultation is collected at specialty level only. Latest figures shows that on 31 December 2013, 95.3% of patients on the waiting list for a first outpatie…

19 Feb 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what areas of tourism it is prioritising in 2014.

17 Feb 2014 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to improve the inspection of care services.

5 Feb 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Department of Health regarding the Scottish Public Inquiry into Hepatitis C/HIV.

Answer · Alex Neil: I met with Jane Ellison, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health, on 11 February, to discuss the possible implications of the Penrose Inquiry. Officials are also in regular contact with counterparts from the other UK health departments. Unt…

5 Feb 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take in light of the delay of the publication of the report of the Scottish Public Inquiry into Hepatitis C/HIV.

Answer · Alex Neil: Lord Penrose, Chairman of the Scottish Public Inquiry into Hepatitis C/HIV acquired infection from NHS treatment in Scotland with blood and blood products (The Penrose Inquiry) wrote to me on 20 December 2013 informing me that, due to unforeseen personal circ…

3 Feb 2014 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what steps beyond minimum pricing the Scottish Government will take to tackle alcohol misuse.

29 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether its consultation on strengthening the governance and accountability of NHS boards will consider measures to ensure that non-executive directors are appointed in a way that gives a balanced geographical representation of board areas.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government’s engagement on developing governance and accountability will explore a range of issues relating to the appointment of non-executive directors and representation on health boards. Non-executive directors have a responsibility to maint…

29 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when its consultation on strengthening the governance and accountability of NHS boards will (a) begin and (b) report.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government’s engagement on developing governance and accountability of NHS boards will begin in March 2014 and I expect to report on the outcome before the summer recess.

24 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications there were to the Town Centre Housing Fund and how many came from (a) private sector bodies, (b) housing associations, (c) other landlords and (d) local authorities in the Highlands and Islands region.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government received 25 applications for the Town Centre Housing Fund, two of which were from Highlands and Islands region. Of those applications from the Highlands and Islands region, one was from the Hebridean Housing Partnership and the other f…

20 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the Scottish Cosmetic Interventions Expert Group will report on setting up a feasibility study on a breast implant register.

Answer · Alex Neil: Scottish Government officials remain in active contact with NHS England and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency over this and related matters. Once further information on the proposed breast cancer registry and feasibility study is availab…

10 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-18946 by Roseanna Cunningham on 10 January 2014, what priorities and objectives it has set for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Scottish Ministers’ priorities and objectives for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service are set out in the: Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2013, as detailed in section 40 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 (as amended).

6 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discounted rates are available for commercial traffic using CalMac Ferries; on which routes these discounts apply; what the eligibility criteria are; what companies are eligible and how much they can save; what companies have applied for discounts, and whether details of these disco…

Answer · Keith Brown: The information requested is set out in Table 1. Table 1: Discount ApplicableRoutes Eligibility Criteria What Companies are Eligible? How much can be saved? Are details publicly available? Live Seafood Transport RET Routes Vehicles over 6.0m used …

30 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will request that the Department of Health include Scotland in the proposed registration scheme for breast implant surgery or plans to implement its own scheme.

Answer · Alex Neil: Scotland has already set up the Scottish Cosmetic Interventions Expert Group which is chaired by Andy Malyon, Chief Medical Officer Specialty Advisor. The group will also consider the feasibility study on a new breast implant register.

20 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the independent investigation into the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde IT failure not establishing "the exact root cause", whether it has established the cause of the failure and what its position is on the effectiveness of the proposals for future prevention.

Answer · Alex Neil: The source of the information, communications and technology incident at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde was Active Directory, but the specific root cause of the original corruption of data has yet to be determined. The supplier of Active Directory is monitorin…

20 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the financial position of the company, Charteris, will have an impact on NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's IT systems.

Answer · Alex Neil: The financial position of Charteris is not relevant to the overall effectiveness of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s IT Systems. The reason for this is that this company is just one of a number of IT service providers that are engaged to support a range of sys…

17 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on developing a rural recruitment strategy for the NHS, as referred to by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing in paragraph 4 of his letter of 10 September 2013 to the chair of NHS Highland.

Answer · Alex Neil: My letter to the chair of NHS Highland of 10 September 2013 recorded my agreement with a view expressed at the NHS Highland Area Clinical Forum that there was a need for a rural recruitment strategy. As the letter also recorded, this followed discussions with…

16 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what basis it would refer part or all of the report, Property Estate - Strategic Intent, back to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Property Estate - Strategic Intent is a Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) paper which was considered at its board meeting on 26 September 2013. Decisions in relation to the SFRS’s property estate requirements for specified support functions are for the …

16 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to ensure that, through its structures and practices, it engages fully with communities across the Highlands and Islands.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 (as amended) confers a duty to participate in community planning on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), and sets out at Section 41J(2)(c) that this duty must be delegated to the designated Local Senior Officer for each lo…