Former Member of the Scottish Parliament

Bill Wilson

Unknown party

At a glance Bill Wilson was a Member of the Scottish Parliament.

Questions101 tabled

Bill Wilson has tabled 101 questions in the Scottish Parliament.

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make representations to the UK Government regarding the Council of Europe’s … 3 Mar 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make representations to the UK Government regarding the Council of Europe’s Charter for Regional and Minority Languages and agreement of part III undertakings for the Scots language and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop · 14 Mar 2011

At this time we have no plans to extend Part III coverage to the Scots language. There is still some work to do to fully meet the Part II provisions and it is fitting that we complete this work before considering the requirements of the Part III provisions in respect of Scots.

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have (a) sat and (b) passed exams for qualifications in British Sign Lang… 1 Mar 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have (a) sat and (b) passed exams for qualifications in British Sign Language in each year since 2007.

Answer · Alex Neil · 14 Mar 2011

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. There are many providers who offer various levels of British Sign Language (BSL) training in a variety of settings in Scotland, and these organisations and individuals have different accreditation bodies, such as the Scottish Qualifications Authority, Signature and the British Deaf Association. The examination statistics are not collected by the Scottish Government, however, this information would be held by these accrediting bodies. The Scottish Government has funded a training initiative through Heriot-Watt University for Deaf BSL tutors to teach BSL. Since 2007, 18 deaf tutors have undertaken these courses: 10 graduated from the first Training of Trainers (ToTs) course in 2007, and a further eight are currently completing and due to graduate from the second ToTs intake in 2011. The Scottish Government has also funded the Building Bridges project, a work-based route to BSL interpreter training in Scotland through the Scottish Association of Sign Language Interpreters (SASLI). It is anticipated that their 10 apprentices on this programme will graduate at the end of March 2011.

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-38364 by Michael Russell on 19 January 2011, wheth… 21 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-38364 by Michael Russell on 19 January 2011, whether it will provide the information that it holds regarding the funding of Scots language education in each year since 1990.

Answer · Michael Russell · 2 Feb 2011

There have been Scots language education initiatives since 1990, funded by Government or Scottish public bodies. The Scottish Government does not have a full list of these initiatives nor the funding attached to them. We provided Learning and Training Scotland with £690,500 in 2008-09, £690,500 in 2009-10 and £600,000 in 2010-11 to produce support resources for Literacy and Numeracy, of which Scots is part. Scottish Language Dictionaries received £200,000 and the Scots Language Centre received £70,000 in both 2009-10 and 2010-11. This was as a result the Scottish Government assuming responsibility for direct funding of these two organisations in February 2009, after its current allocations of funding from the Scottish Arts Council expired in 2009. We spent £19,500 on research costs for the Audit of Current Scots Language Provision in Scotland published in January 2009. We spent a further £16,900 on research costs for the Public Attitudes Towards the Scots Language survey which explored public perceptions of, and attitudes towards, the Scots language amongst the general public of Scotland, which was published in January 2010. The Scottish Government has provided the National Trust for Scotland with a grant of £8.6 million to develop £21 million Robert Burns Birthplace Museum which was officially opened on 21 January this year.

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding will be allocated to Scots language education in 2011-12. 14 Dec 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding will be allocated to Scots language education in 2011-12.

Answer · Michael Russell · 19 Jan 2011

Our commitment to national languages will remain in the financial year 2011-12, including the place of Scots within Curriculum for Excellence. We expect to continue supporting educational practitioners on Scots through our continued programme funding for Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS). We are considering the recommendations of the recently published Scots Language Working Group report, including those relating to education, and I will meet with LTS shortly to consider the implications for their work.

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated to Scots language education in each year since 1990. 14 Dec 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated to Scots language education in each year since 1990.

Answer · Michael Russell · 19 Jan 2011

We do not hold a full breakdown of funding for Scots language education since 1990. Today, the value of Scots is recognised within the Curriculum for Excellence guidance, which indicates teachers should promote and encourage the use of Scots in developing young people''s literacy skills. In order to support practitioners with this, our ongoing programme funding for Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) across a number of curriculum areas has enabled the production of Scots resources, including the Scotland''s Songs and Stories website and the online Scots Knowledge of Language Module. Other recent funding which supports Scots language education includes the provision of £8.6 million to the National Trust for Scotland to develop the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, due to open in January 2011, which will be the first development in the country to use the Scots language to explain its collection. Also, the Scots Language Centre and Scottish Language Dictionaries, have been in receipt of funding since 2009-10, with £70,000 provided in 2009-10 and 2010-11 for to the Scots Language Centre and £200,000 in 2009-10 and 2010-11 for the Scottish Language Dictionaries.

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will enhance the (a) coverage, (b) quality, (c) representativeness and (d) connect… 16 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will enhance the (a) coverage, (b) quality, (c) representativeness and (d) connectivity of protected areas as a contribution to the development of representative systems of protected areas and coherent ecological networks, as agreed by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham · 24 Nov 2010

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-37558 on 24 November 2010. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will (a) promote the application of the ecosystem approach that integrates protect… 16 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will (a) promote the application of the ecosystem approach that integrates protected areas into broader land or seascapes for the conservation of biological diversity and (b) facilitate sustainable use within protected areas, as agreed by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham · 24 Nov 2010

The tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) met in Nagoya in October 2010, and agreed a new ten year Strategic Plan, alongside many other decisions. This plan contains twenty headline targets, organised under five strategic goals that address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss, reduce the pressures on biodiversity, safeguard biodiversity at all levels, enhance the benefits provided by biodiversity, and provide for capacity building. We welcome the agreements reached at Nagoya which should help to provide fresh impetus to international efforts to secure improvement in the condition of global biodiversity and in its capability to deliver the services on which we all depend. We need to take time to assess how best to take forward the individual elements in the many decisions that came from Nagoya which have potential application in Scotland. The Scottish Government for its part is assessing the new CBD Strategic Plan, and considering with partners, including Scottish Natural Heritage, the need to revise our own Biodiversity Strategy and the actions planned under that strategy. In making this assessment, we shall have to take account of new EU Biodiversity targets agreed in March 2010 and the forthcoming EU Biodiversity Strategy, expected in early 2011. We shall also have to consider the connections between these objectives for our Biodiversity Strategy and other policies and programmes that impact on the terrestrial and marine environment.

To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to raise awareness of the Scots language question in the 2011 census. 30 Apr 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to raise awareness of the Scots language question in the 2011 census.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop · 12 May 2010

The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) has, and will continue to, engage with Scots language organisations who can provide guidance on completion of the question on the Scots language in the 2011 census. The intention is to provide context-specific help which will be available both via the census website <a href="http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk" title="http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/">www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk</a> and the census helpline, in due course. The Scottish Government will, with GROS, consider options for raising awareness of the question.

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Motions lodged187 lodged

22 Mar 2011	Hypercapitalism and the Demon Drug Myth	1 sig.
8 Feb 2011	The Bush Torture Indictment	4 sig.
25 Jan 2011	Decriminalise the Chewing of Coca Leaves	2 sig.
21 Jan 2011	Scotland's Potential Adoption of the International Criminal Court's Definition of the Crime of Aggression	6 sig.
14 Dec 2010	UN Resolution 65/55 on Depleted Uranium	10 sig.
14 Dec 2010	Sentencing of Mohammed Sandia	6 sig.

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Seat & career1 seat held

West of Scotland (region) Regional MSP · Dissolution 3 May 2007 – 22 Mar 2011

Source: this MSP's profile on parliament.scot.

Source: this MSP's official Scottish Parliament profile. Last updated 26 Jul 2026.