Parliamentary questions

David McLetchie

326 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

7 Nov 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-03448 by Nicola Sturgeon on 7 November 2011, whether it will now provide an estimate of the total receipts from excise duty only, excluding VAT, that would have been raised in 2009-10 from the sale of alcohol consumed in Scotland at the then applicab…

Answer · Michael Matheson: It is not possible to provide an estimate for excise duty receipts only. The information provided in response to question S4W-03448, answered on 7 November 2011, was drawn from the Sheffield University modelling which was carried out in 2010 to inform the set…

26 Oct 2011 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it remains its policy not to reduce the number of emergency fire control rooms.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Decisions about the future of control rooms should only be taken after further progress has been made towards the creation of a single fire and rescue service.

20 Oct 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-02894 by John Swinney on 20 October 2011, whether, on the basis of the information provided, it considers a figure of 40,000 to be an accurate estimate of the number of jobs created as a result of the introduction of the small business bonus scheme.

Answer · John Swinney: Further to my earlier answer to question S4W-02894, I can confirm that official statistics published on 27 October 2011 show the number of recipients of the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) has increased to 85,199 properties. This represents two out of five…

18 Oct 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much revenue would have been raised from excise duty on alcohol consumed in Scotland in 2009-10 at the then rates of duty if the minimum price of alcohol had been (a) 45p and (b) 50p per unit.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: As duty is applied to the volume of sales and with the introduction of a minimum price this is estimated to reduce overall, there will be an impact on duty receipts. The actual effect will depend on the specific minimum price per unit set. Total receipts fro…

22 Sep 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs it estimates have been created as a result of the introduction of the small business bonus scheme and what the revenue cost of the scheme has been in each year.

Answer · John Swinney: The Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) has removed or reduced the rates burden for tens of thousands of small Scottish businesses. Official statistics show that at least 74,000 premises benefit under the scheme. Since the introduction of SBBS in 2008, the sc…

15 Jun 2011 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with the availability and provision of drugs to treat cancer.

8 Jun 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate has been made of the receipts that will be generated from the sale of land and property by territorial NHS boards in (a) the current financial year and (b) future years.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: A figure for capital receipts attributable to the sale of assets in the health portfolio for the current financial year is given in Schedule 3.1 Health: Details of Proposed Budget, page 34 of Scotland’s Budget Documents 2011-12: Budget (Scotland) Bill support…

8 Jun 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what capital receipts were generated by each territorial NHS board from the sale of land and property in each of the last four financial years.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Capital receipts generated from the sale of land and property are included in a total figure for the “proceeds of disposal of property, plant and equipment” in a line in the audited annual Cash Flow Statement of individual territorial NHS boards. NHS boards a…

25 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has a timescale for achieving NHS Scotland Resource Allocation Committee targets in all NHS boards and, if so, what it is.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: As the target shares of NHS boards change on an annual basis to reflect changes in the relative need of their populations, it is not possible to provide a date when all NHS boards will reach their target share.

25 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the initial revenue allocation to all NHS boards (a) was in 2010-11 and (b) has been in 2011-12 and what it would have been had the NHS Scotland Resource Allocation Committee target share been used in these years.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The initial revenue allocations to the territorial NHS boards for 2010-11 and 2011-12 are shown in the following table. Please note that the allocations are not directly comparable. The 2010-11 baseline on which uplift has been calculated has been restated p…

3 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many secure tenancies it estimates fall under the (a) modernised and (b) preserved right-to-buy scheme and what changes it estimates have occurred in these numbers since the coming into force of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001.

Answer · Alex Neil: The latest official figures show that there are around 285,300 dwellings owned and managed by local authorities that are considered to be normal letting stock. It is expected that all the households currently occupying these dwellings have either preserved ri…

25 Nov 2010 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with ministers of the Government of the Republic of Ireland on the benefits of membership of the Euro.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has not had any recent discussions with ministers of the Government of the Republic of Ireland regarding membership of the Euro.

21 Oct 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the data received in response to questions B34 to B39 and C24 to C32 in the survey undertaken on its behalf by George Street Research as part of the interim review of the Home Report.

Answer · Alex Neil: The survey results for questions B34 to B39 and C24 to C3, produced by George Street Research, have been published: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/09/28094548/0 The remaining results for the same survey will be published at t…

7 Oct 2010 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the additional revenue and capital costs to local authorities of the policy of imposing a maximum number of 25 pupils in primary 1 classes.

Answer · Michael Russell: The financial effects of The Education (Lower Primary Class Sizes) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2010 were addressed in the related Executive Note. The Scottish Government consulted widely prior to introducing the regulations. The vast majorit…

2 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) the housing debt has been, (b) new housing debt has been contracted, (c) old debt has been repaid, (d) receipts have been derived from right-to-buy sales and (d) the housing stock has been in each local authority in each year since 1999.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information on housing debt, new housing debt contracted, repayment of old debt and receipts derived from right-to-buy sales is shown by local authority area in tables 1 to 4, respectively (overleaf). For tables 1 to 3 information is available for th…

10 Jun 2010 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its latest and best estimate is for the total liability still to be met by local authorities in settling equal pay claims.

Answer · John Swinney: This is a matter for local authorities as independent corporate bodies. It is not information which is held centrally by the Scottish Government.

18 Mar 2010 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a briefing to opposition spokespersons on the implications of the judgements in cases C-197/08 Commission v France, C-198/08 Commission v Austria and C-221/08 Commission v Ireland for the legal competence of the Scottish Government’s use of mechanisms referred to i…

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: On 15 December I wrote to party leaders offering a briefing on the Alcohol Bill and I welcome the fact that the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and SNP members took up that offer. In respect of the recent ruling on tobacco I am …

10 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list every (a) non-departmental public body, (b) Executive agency and (c) associated department for each year since 1998.

Answer · John Swinney: Details of public bodies which are the responsibility of the Scottish Government and/or the Scottish Parliament are published on the public bodies web pages of the Scottish Government website at <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/public-bod…

1 Oct 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to develop Scotland’s waste infrastructure to ensure that it is sufficient to meet the demands of current and future waste policy.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government has allocated £42 million from the Zero Waste Fund direct to local authorities for the period 2008-10 to deliver waste management infrastructure. The Scottish Government intends to allocate further funding for 2009-10 and 2010-11. This…

16 Sep 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with COSLA regarding the provision and funding of personal care services.

Answer · Shona Robison : This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link: <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0924-01.htm">http://www.scott…

10 Sep 2009 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what discussions he has had with the head of the civil service regarding relations with the UK Government.

Answer · Alex Salmond: I have not had any such discussions with the UK Head of the Civil Service, Sir Gus O''Donnell. But I discuss matters of importance to the Scottish Government with Sir John Elvidge, as Head of the Civil Service in Scotland, on a regular basis.

25 Aug 2009 · Written Question

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The cost of providing general medical services in Scotland in (a) 2002-03, (b) 2003-04, (c) 2004-05 and (d) 2005-06, broken down by contract type is shown in the following table. <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td no…

14 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average net income of GPs on a general medical services contract was in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information on GP earnings is published by the NHS Information Centre. Figures for 2006-07 were published on 19 May 2009 and are available at: <a href="http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/primary-care/general-practice/gp-earnings-and…

14 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of providing general medical services in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08, broken down by contract type.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The cost of providing general medical services in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08, broken down by contract type was as follows: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td valign=top > Contract Type </td> <td va…

25 Jun 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce legislation to further limit class sizes.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Under the terms of the concordat, local government will make year-on-year progress on class size reduction. Already across Scotland, class sizes in primary schools have fallen to an all-time average low of 23.2. However, we need to ensure legislation properly…

23 Jun 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the improvements made to the fabric of schools and nurseries over the last two years, the schools and nurseries concerned and the cost of improvements in each case, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government does not collect detailed information about improvements made to the fabric of individual schools and nurseries. Details of the capital expenditure on the school estate for 2006-07, broken down by local authority, is contained…

10 Jun 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish regular progress reports on the implementation of the specified set of commitments contained in the concordat agreed between the Scottish Government and COSLA.

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

8 Jun 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to publish reports on an annual or other regular basis setting out in a single document the progress achieved by it and local authorities in fulfilling the specified set of commitments detailed on pages four and five of the Concordat between the Scottish Government and lo…

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S3O-7396, on 18 June 2009. All answers to oral parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at: <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.…

21 May 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to repeal Part 3 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: At present, we have no plans to repeal part 3 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001. However, we will consider this at the next legislative opportunity.

18 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what index or indices it uses to analyse movements in house prices.

Answer · Alex Neil: Each data source on house prices has a unique view of the market, with different strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, the Scottish Government analyses house prices by considering a wide array of data sources. Scottish house price data that the Scott…