Parliamentary questions
Rhoda Grant
2,396 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
13 Mar 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on Argyll and Bute Council's proposal to close the Struan Lodge care home in Dunoon and whether it considers that there should be a temporary suspension on admissions to the home until its future is confirmed.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-13643 on 25 March 2013. 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…
13 Mar 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that older residents in care homes are not moved into poorer-quality accommodation if the home is closed.
Answer · Alex Neil: The local authority has a duty to act in the best interests of the care home residents by ensuring that their care needs continue to be met in an appropriate setting. Across Scotland, local authorities commission the majority of care places from the independ…
13 Mar 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether local authority care homes should not be closed for financial reasons alone.
Answer · Alex Neil: Alex Neil: The statutory responsibility for delivering or commissioning services at a local level, including care home provision, lies with local authorities and NHS boards. It is for each local authority to decide how their funding is allocated ensuring that…
13 Mar 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what procedures must be followed by a local authority proposing to close a care home.
Answer · Alex Neil: We would expect local authorities to follow national guidance, Good Practice Guidance on the Closure of a Care Home, which the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities issued on managing care home closures. This guidance was developed by the National Continge…
13 Mar 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to increase the number of people willing to be organ donors.
Answer · Michael Matheson: We have implemented a range of measures to increase the donation rate in Scotland. We have improved the donation infrastructure across the country, removing some of the barriers to organ donation. We have appointed seven additional Specialist Nurses in Organ…
12 Mar 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the condition rating was for each school in the (a) Moray and (b) Argyll and Bute Council area in (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: This information is published on the Scottish Government website as supplementary data to the Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland publication. Data for 2012 is available in table 9 of the following link: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics…
27 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people were unemployed and what the unemployment rate was in each local authority area between (a) October 2010 and September 2011, (b) January and December 2011, (c) April 2011 and March 2012, (d) July 2011 and June 2012 and (e) October 2011 and September 2012, also broken down…
Answer · John Swinney: The preferred measure of unemployment at a local authority level is the modelled based unemployment estimates produced by the Office for National Statistics. However, these estimates do not provide a breakdown by gender. Therefore the estimates from the Annua…
25 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements are in place to factor its crofting estate and related assets on Raasay; when any such factoring arrangements were last put out to competitive tender, and what plans there are to put such work out to tender again.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government’s Rural Payments and Inspections Division does all the factoring of the Scottish Ministers’ crofting estate. This work has never been put out to tender and there are no plans to do so.
25 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the commitment made by the Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department in 1999 to "take account of the local community perspective when considering offers for sporting rights on the Scottish Ministers' Estates" is still in force.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: It is standard practice for the principles behind the Estate’s Charter to be taken into account, when managing the Scottish Ministers’ estate, alongside other Scottish Government policies and the requirements of the Scottish Public Finance Manual. In light o…
25 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what factors it assessed to decide whether best value was achieved in the decision to award the lease to manage shooting and fishing on Raasay to a company from Ayrshire and what weighting it gave to each factor considered.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-13255 on 8 March 2013. 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/parliamentarybu…
25 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it gave to its policies on (a) community empowerment and renewal, (b) the transfer of assets to community organisations, (c) the support of communities identified as fragile by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and (d) land reform, in deciding to award the lease to mana…
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The original award decision taken by RPID on behalf of Ministers, but without ministerial involvement, was based on the highest rental value for the sporting rights, taking account of a basic quality test that the new leaseholder would be capable of managing …
25 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discretion it has to consider actions other than sale or lease for land that it owns.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Scottish Ministers have most of the freedoms of private landowners. In addition to selling or leasing, the Scottish Government can grant servitudes, way-leaves and licences over land it owns, for example for access, pipe-lines and cables. Normally the Scottis…
25 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its officials told the crofters on Raasay about the consideration that would be given to tenders received for the lease to manage shooting and fishing on the island.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Notice to Quit was issued to the Raasay Crofters Association on 1 November 2011. The duplicate Notice was signed by the Association on 25 November 2011 and returned as acknowledgement of receipt. No further contact was made by the Association throughout the y…
25 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the decision was taken to put out to tender the lease to manage fishing and shooting on Raasay and whether authorisation was sought from ministers.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Under normal estate management practice, sporting rights have been advertised on the open market at the end point of a current lease. The Raasay sporting rights were advertised for let during the weeks of 19 and 26 November 2012. It is not standard practice t…
25 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the lease held by the crofters on Raasay to manage fishing and shooting on the island was due to end.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The lease for the Raasay sporting rights held by the Raasay Crofters Association expired on 28 November 2012 and a notice to quit was issued on 1 November 2011. However, as the First Minister announced on 28 February, the notice to quit has been revoked and t…
20 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce Scotland's carbon footprint.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government is reducing Scotland’s carbon footprint in a number of ways. Many of the actions to reduce domestic emissions that are detailed in the recent draft report on proposals and policies will also lower the emissions linked to the consumptio…
20 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the impact would be on its carbon control emissions targets if the UK Government was to set Scotland's power generator emissions targets.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Our recent draft Second Report on Proposals and Policies (RPP2) published on 29 January 2013 sets out our intention to help meet Scotland’s emissions reduction targets with a Scottish 2030 decarbonisation target to achieve a grid average of 50g CO2/kWh of ele…
20 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what impact oil and gas sector production has on its plans to reduce Scotland's carbon footprint.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The carbon footprint measures the emissions that are generated in the production of the goods and services we consume in Scotland (so-called “consumption-based” emissions), regardless of whether they are produced at home or abroad. Oil and gas sector producti…
19 Feb 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it supports students wanting to go into postgraduate education.
7 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average single bus fare is and how this compares with 2006-07.
Answer · Keith Brown: A fares growth table is included in Bus and Coach statistics and Scottish Transport Statistics : http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/strategy-and-research/publications-and-consultations/j251205-044.htm.
5 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it consulted anyone external to the civil service when drafting the paper, Scotland’s Future: from the Referendum to Independence and a Written Constitution.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government prepared Scotland’s Future: from the Referendum to Independence and a Written Constitution without employing external consultants.
5 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) civil servants and (b) special advisers worked on the paper, Scotland’s Future: from the Referendum to Independence and a Written Constitution, and how long they spent working on it.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Scotland’s Future: from the Referendum to Independence and a Written Constitution was drafted by a lead author civil servant with contributions from other civil servants, special advisers and ministers. For all of the individuals involved, consideration of th…
30 Jan 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that patients requiring radiotherapy after surgery receive it as soon as possible.
23 Jan 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to involve communities in the decision-making process in relation to new special protection areas required under EU directives.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies use the UK Special Protection Area selection guidelines to identify the most suitable territories for the bird species that are covered by the provisions of the EU Wild Birds Directive. Once suitable locations have bee…
14 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when Protected Geographical Indicator status for Stornoway black pudding is expected to be granted.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Protected Geographical Indicator status (PGI) for Stornoway Black Pudding is expected to be granted around the end of January/mid February 2013. The EU wide consultation ended on 15 December following which the Commission will start making arrangements for th…
9 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether Amazon has created an additional 200 posts at its fulfilment facility in Gourock as announced in the Scottish Government news release of 15 November 2011, Amazon opens in Fife.
Answer · John Swinney: This project was supported by a £750,000 regional selective assistance grant from Scottish Enterprise. All job numbers associated with RSA grants are the company's forecast figures, and are subject to change depending on future economic conditions and other …
9 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether Amazon has created (a) 750 permanent new jobs and (b) a further 1,500 temporary jobs during the peak Christmas period at its fulfilment centre at Dunfermline as announced in the Scottish Government news release of 15 November 2011, Amazon opens in Fife.
Answer · John Swinney: This project was supported by a £1.4 million regional selective assistance (RSA) grant from Scottish Enterprise. All job numbers associated with RSA grants are the company's forecast figures, and are subject to change depending on future economic conditions …
9 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many of the planned 200 jobs referred to on page 84 of the Scottish Spending Review 2011 and Draft Budget 2012-13 Mitsubishi Power Systems Europe Ltd has created.
Answer · John Swinney: Mitsubishi Power Systems Europe has indicated that it is still within the five year period of creating these jobs (as stated in its original announcement of 3 December 2010) and as such the figures for the planned jobs are currently unavailable. However, it i…
9 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 180 jobs referred to on page 84 of the Scottish Spending Review 2011 and Draft Budget 2012-13 Gamesa has created at its offshore wind technology centre at Strathclyde Business Park.
Answer · John Swinney: In June 2011, Gamesa announced it would create up to 180 jobs as part of a new offshore wind technology centre. This project was supported by a £1.5 million regional selective assistance (RSA) grant from Scottish Enterprise. All job numbers associated with R…
9 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether Gamesa has created the 300 jobs referred to on page 84 of the Scottish Spending Review 2011 and Draft Budget 2012-13.
Answer · John Swinney: Gamesa confirmed in March 2012 that it has selected Leith as a location for its new offshore wind turbine manufacturing facility. This project is yet to proceed. The company is in close regular contact with Scottish Enterprise around the implementation of thi…