Parliamentary questions
Iain Smith
226 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
19 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to commission further research into the scale of problems encountered by tenants who are unable to recover tenancy deposits owed to them.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: A comprehensive survey of 1,000 tenants across Scotland is currently being undertaken for the Scottish Government as part of the government''s review of the private rented sector. This survey includes questions asking about tenants'' experiences in relation t…
19 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take to increase the protection available to tenants from landlords making unjustified deductions from their tenancy deposits.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10021 on 27 February 2008. 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/we…
19 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take to prevent situations where tenants suffer as a result of landlords being unable to repay their tenancy deposits.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10021 on 27 February 2008. 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/we…
19 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to establish a framework for the regulation and approval of tenancy deposits schemes under the provisions of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: Provisions in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 give Scottish ministers powers to introduce a mandatory tenancy deposit scheme in Scotland. The Scottish Government has established a working group of stakeholders representing the interests of private landlords a…
29 Jan 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, following the Abolition of Bridge Tolls (Scotland) Act 2008 receiving Royal Assent on 24 January 2008, on what date tolls will be abolished on the Forth Road Bridge.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Tolls were abolished on the Forth Road Bridge on Monday 11 February 2008.</p>
29 Jan 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, following the Abolition of Bridge Tolls (Scotland) Act 2008 receiving Royal Assent on 24 January 2008, on what date tolls will be abolished on the Tay Road Bridge.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Tolls were abolished on the Tay Road Bridge on Monday 11 February 2008.</p>
16 Nov 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the changes are from the 2007-08 baseline for each proposed budget line at levels (a) one, (b) two and (c) three of the Finance and Sustainable Growth portfolio resulting from Scottish Budget: Spending Review 2007, expressed in real (i) cash and (ii) percentage terms for each year of…
Answer · John Swinney: The informationrequested for levels one and two is given in Draft Budget 2008-09: Real Terms Analysis,a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre(Bib. number 44133.)</p>
26 Oct 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-4676 by Linda Fabiani on 25 October 2007, why it did not indicate the specific authorisation in terms of the Budget (Scotland) Act 2007 under which funding for the Scottish Broadcasting Commission has been provided in the current financial year and w…
Answer · Linda Fabiani: Further to the answerto question S3W-4676 on 25 October 2007, the Scottish Broadcasting Commission’spurpose is to offer ministers advice about how they might better pursue functionsconnected to the matters described in S3W-3217 on 14 September 2007, and to de…
26 Oct 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-4673 by Linda Fabiani on 25 October 2007, why it did not indicate under what specific functions of the Scottish Ministers the Scottish Broadcasting Commission was established and whether it will now provide the information requested.
Answer · Linda Fabiani: Further to the answersto questions S3W-4673 and S3W-3217,answered on 25 October 2007 and 14 September 2007 respectively, the purpose of theestablishment and conduct of the commission is to offer ministers advice about howthey might better pursue a range of th…
15 Oct 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any plans to extend the national concessionary fares scheme more widely to other forms of public transport, particularly ferries.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: We have no plansto do so.</p>
27 Sep 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive into which of the proposed enterprise network regions Fife will be placed.
Answer · Jim Mather: Fife will be part of the East Central Scotlandregion. I am aware that in areassuch as Fife there are excellent examples of effective local collaboration betweenthe enterprise networks, local authorities, the business community and others. Wheresuch strong loc…
27 Sep 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to consult on its proposal to align VisitScotland areas around the six enterprise network regions.
Answer · Jim Mather: The reforms of theenterprise networks and VisitScotland that we announced recently were welcomed byrepresentatives of the tourism industry. The realignment of the VisitScotland areasto match those of the new enterprise network regions aims to increase the eff…
27 Sep 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to consult on its plans to abolish Scottish Enterprise Fife.
Answer · Jim Mather: In pursuing our enterprisenetworks reform agenda we engaged in a significant period of discussion withstakeholders which represented a wide range of interests from across thebusiness community, local authorities, trade unions and the enterprise networksthemse…
27 Sep 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation it has conducted with the tourist industry in Fife on its proposal to align VisitScotland areas around the six enterprise network regions.
Answer · Jim Mather: The reforms of the enterprise networks and VisitScotland that we announced recently werewelcomed by representatives of the tourism industry. The realignment of the VisitScotlandareas to match those of the new enterprise network regions aims to increase theeff…
27 Sep 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation it has conducted with businesses in Fife on its proposal to abolish Scottish Enterprise Fife.
Answer · Jim Mather: We consulted witha broad cross section of the Scottish business community during the process todevelop the enterprise networks reform proposals. No particular geographicareas were targeted.</p>
27 Sep 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive under what specific authorisation in terms of the Budget (Scotland) Act 2007 funding has been provided for the Scottish Broadcasting Commission in this financial year.
Answer · Linda Fabiani: I refer the memberto question S3W-3217 on 14 September.All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’swebsite, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search">http://ww…
27 Sep 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated budget is for the Scottish Broadcasting Commission in 2008-09.
Answer · Linda Fabiani: I refer the memberto answer to question S3W-4674 on 25 October 2007. Allanswers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website,the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.sear…
27 Sep 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what budget has been allocated to the Scottish Broadcasting Commission in this financial year.
Answer · Linda Fabiani: The amount of fundingprovisionally identified to support the work of the commission is up to £500,000.This amount is only an estimate and any budget set or actual spend during this financialyear or 2008-09 will be subject to an agreed work programme but costs…
27 Sep 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive under what specific functions of the Scottish Ministers the Scottish Broadcasting Commission was established.
Answer · Linda Fabiani: I refer the memberto the answer to S3W-3217 on 14 September 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questionsare available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search…
17 Aug 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make summaries of events, meetings, surveys and other related information publicly available during the course of its national conversation on Scotland's constitutional future.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Yes.</p>
17 Aug 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will determine which organisations, communities and individuals who wish to host their own events on the national conversation on Scotland's constitutional future will be supported to do so.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The white paper invitespeople to sign up for the national conversation, and indicate how they wish to contribute.The paper also invites people to suggest how the conversation would best be structuredto ensure the greatest possible involvement of the people of…
17 Aug 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many focus groups and citizens' panels it intends to host for its national conversation on Scotland's constitutional future; who will chair them; where it expects to hold them, and over what timescale.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The white paper invitespeople to sign up for the national conversation, and indicate how they wish to contribute.The paper also invites people to suggest how the conversation would best be structuredto ensure the greatest possible involvement of the people of…
17 Aug 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many opinion surveys it intends to carry out for its national conversation on Scotland's constitutional future; who will be surveyed; who will carry out the surveys; how many people will be surveyed, and over what timescale.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The white paper invitespeople to sign up for the national conversation, and indicate how they wish to contribute.The paper also invites people to suggest how the conversation would best be structuredto ensure the greatest possible involvement of the people of…
17 Aug 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what web-based information and interactive facilities will be available for its national conversation on Scotland's constitutional future.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The government website<a href="http://www.anationalconversation.com/">www.anationalconversation.com</a>provides a range of up-to-date information about the progress of the national conversation.It includes down-loadable versions of the white paper, with summ…
17 Aug 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many events targeted at local communities, young people and minority groups it expects to hold to hear and exchange views on its national conversation on Scotland's constitutional future; how it defines "local" in this context, and how it will ensure that groups are representative of …
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The white paper invitespeople to sign up for the national conversation, and indicate how they wish to contribute.The paper also invites people to suggest how the conversation would best be structuredto ensure the greatest possible involvement of the people of…
17 Aug 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many events involving political and civic leaders, business people and public servants, academics and teachers it has planned to hear and exchange views on its national conversation on Scotland's constitutional future; where such events will take place; how it will encourage attendanc…
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The white paper invitespeople to sign up for the national conversation, and indicate how they wish to contribute.The paper also invites people to suggest how the conversation would best be structuredto ensure the greatest possible involvement of the people of…
17 Aug 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many public meetings it has planned for ministers to hear and exchange views from the public on its national conversation on Scotland's constitutional future.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The white paper invitespeople to sign up for the national conversation, and indicate how they wish to contribute.The paper also invites people to suggest how the conversation would best be structuredto ensure the greatest possible involvement of the people of…
17 Aug 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many public meetings it has planned for the First Minister to hear and exchange views from the public on its national conversation on Scotland's constitutional future.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The white paper invitespeople to sign up for the national conversation, and indicate how they wish to contribute.The paper also invites people to suggest how the conversation would best be structuredto ensure the greatest possible involvement of the people of…
17 Aug 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to carry out or publish any research to support its national conversation on Scotland's constitutional future.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The exact form of the national conversation including any supporting research will depend on the responsesreceived, but the government is determined to support a conversation that ensuresthat all sectors of Scottish society have the opportunity to contribute.…
17 Aug 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what budget has been allocated to carrying out its national conversation on Scotland's constitutional future.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The cost of producingand translating the document is around £35,000 (including the web version, the design,printing and the summary in eight languages and a full Gaelic version). Distributionof the document cost a further £5,000, and the cost of the launch ev…