Parliamentary questions
James Kelly
833 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
3 Sep 2009 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place on the draft Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Bill.
Answer · Adam Ingram : <i > This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:</i></p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0903-01.htm">http://www.scot…
21 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings the Minister for Schools and Skills has held with UK Government ministers since his appointment and what issues were discussed.
Answer · Keith Brown: I have attended the following meetings since my appointment:</p> <p >WorldSkills Ministerial Executive Group on 21 April 2009, to discuss matters relating to WorldSkills at Calgary. Present - Lord Young of Norwood Green, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Ski…
6 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the £61 million costs attributed in the Audit Scotland report Improving public sector purchasing to achieving £327 million savings have been deducted from its efficiency savings plans.
Answer · John Swinney: The Efficient Government Programme guidance states at paragraph 4.15 that, where development costs arise to meet a number of business objectives - and not solely to generate an efficiency saving - they should not be offset against efficiencies claimed. The Pu…
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions the Minister for Schools and Skills has had with the UK Government regarding teacher numbers since his appointment as minister.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Teacher numbers has not been an agenda item at either of the meetings that the Minister for Schools and Skills has had with UK Government ministers since his appointment, as education is a devolved responsibility for the Scottish Government.</p>
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will meet (a) South Lanarkshire and (b) Glasgow City Council to discuss teacher numbers.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Ministers and officials from the Scottish Government meet regularly with councils to discuss a wide range of education matters. For example, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning met with Glasgow City Council on 6 May 2009 and South Lanark…
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive at how many meetings with higher education institutions its target of reducing class sizes in primaries one to three to 18 pupils or fewer was discussed and what impact this has had on the provision of teacher training places.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Officials meet the deans of education on a regular basis where issues of mutual interest, including policy commitments on class sizes, are discussed. A teacher workforce planning exercise is conducted each year which takes into account the impact of policy co…
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many teacher training places have been available in each year since 1999, broken down by institution.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Information on how many teacher training places have been available in each year since 1999, broken down by institution, can be obtained from the Scottish Funding Council website and can be accessed using the following hyperlinks:</p> <p >1999 - <a href="ht…
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings it has had with higher education institutions since May 2007 to discuss the number of people applying for teacher training places.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Officials meet the deans of education several times each year to discuss matters of mutual interest including, on occasions, the number of people applying for teacher training places. The deans are also represented on the Teacher Workforce Planning Group, whi…
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what forward planning is being undertaken to match the number of places allocated for teacher training with the number of teaching posts available in schools.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: A teacher workforce planning exercise is undertaken annually to assess the requirements for teachers in the years ahead. This exercise takes into account the relevant recommendations of the Teacher Employment Working Group which reported in October 2008.</p>
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have (a) applied for and (b) entered teacher training in each year since 1999.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The following table shows the information available on applications and intakes to Bachelor of Education (BEd) and Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) courses:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td rowspan=3 valign=to…
7 May 2009 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the proposal to introduce Saltire labelling for Scottish food.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Any initiative which encourages consumers to support Scotland''s food and drink industry is to be warmly welcomed. Measures to improve support for Scottish produce were discussed at the First Minister''s Supermarket Summit last September.</p>
15 Apr 2009 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made on developing the detailed funding requirements of Creative Scotland.
Answer · Michael Russell : <i> This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:</i></p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0423-01.htm">http://www.scott…
26 Mar 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it has monitored the implementation of charity legislation since the enactment of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and related secondary legislation and whether it proposes to make any changes to the legislation.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Implementation of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 is monitored by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) who make recommendations of proposed changes to the Scottish Government. We have today published a consultation docu…
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on implementing the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Major progress has been made in the implementation of the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006. Eight statutory instruments covering the key areas of Development Management, Development Planning, Appeals, Schemes of Delegation and Local Review Procedures, Enforce…
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what powers are available to local authorities to deal with houses in the private sector that fall into disrepair.
Answer · Alex Neil: Local authorities currently have powers under the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 to deal with defective and dangerous buildings and under the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 to deal with houses in serious disrepair.</p> <p >The Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 gives lo…
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many planning appeals relating to the South Lanarkshire Council area have been (a) upheld and (b) rejected by the Scottish Ministers in each year since devolution.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The information requested is set out in the following table:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td nowrap rowspan=2 > <p align=center >Decisions Issued</p> </td> <td nowrap colspan=2 valign=bottom > <p a…
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what duties are placed on businesses in terms of the management and disposal of waste.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: A variety of duties are placed on businesses in relation to the management and disposal of waste and these arise primarily from Sections 33 and 34 of the Environment Protection Act 1990 as amended. Section 33 prohibits the unauthorised or harmful deposit, tre…
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what powers are available to local authorities in relation to the management of waste by businesses.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Under Section 45 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 local authorities may arrange, if requested, to collect industrial waste and must, again only if requested, arrange to collect commercial waste in their areas. In both cases, collection would be subjec…
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18174 by Maureen Watt on 9 December 2009, given that the answer indicates that class sizes have been reduced in some schools, whether it considers that, in respect of the South Lanarkshire Council area, it has fulfilled the SNP manifesto commitment t…
Answer · Keith Brown: Under the concordat, local government have undertaken to reduce class sizes as quickly as possible and to deliver year-on-year progress towards meeting the class size target. The September 2008 School Census shows that the proportion of primaries 1 to 3 pupil…
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18174 by Maureen Watt on 9 December 2009, whether it has had discussions with South Lanarkshire Council on the implementation of the class size reduction policy in every school in accordance with the SNP manifesto commitment on this policy.
Answer · Keith Brown: I am in regular contact at official level and ministerial level with all councils on a wide range of education matters including the implementation of the class size reduction policy</p>
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18193 by Linda Fabiani on 9 December 2008, what discussions have taken place with the Water Industry Commission for Scotland regarding the measures that it is taking to promote fair trade.
Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21204 on 5 March 2009. 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/Apps2/B…
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18193 by Linda Fabiani on 9 December 2008, what discussions have taken place with VisitScotland regarding the measures that it is taking to promote fair trade.
Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21204 on 5 March 2009. 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/Apps2/B…
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18193 by Linda Fabiani on 9 December 2008, what discussions have taken place with sportscotland regarding the measures that it is taking to promote fair trade.
Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21204 on 5 March 2009. 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/Apps2/B…
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18193 by Linda Fabiani on 9 December 2008, what discussions have taken place with the Scottish Social Services Council regarding the measures that it is taking to promote fair trade.
Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21204 on 5 March 2009. 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/Apps2/B…
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18193 by Linda Fabiani on 9 December 2008, what discussions have taken place with Skills Development Scotland regarding the measures that it is taking to promote fair trade.
Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21204 on 5 March 2009. 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/Apps2/B…
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18193 by Linda Fabiani on 9 December 2008, what discussions have taken place with Scottish Water regarding the measures that it is taking to promote fair trade.
Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21204 on 5 March 2009. 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/Apps2/B…
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18193 by Linda Fabiani on 9 December 2008, what discussions have taken place with Scottish Screen regarding the measures that it is taking to promote fair trade.
Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21204 on 5 March 2009. 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/Apps2/B…
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18193 by Linda Fabiani on 9 December 2008, what discussions have taken place with the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) regarding the measures that it is taking to promote fair trade.
Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21204 on 5 March 2009. 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/Apps2/B…
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18193 by Linda Fabiani on 9 December 2008, what discussions have taken place with Scottish Natural Heritage regarding the measures that it is taking to promote fair trade.
Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21204 on 5 March 2009. 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/Apps2/B…
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18193 by Linda Fabiani on 9 December 2008, what discussions have taken place with the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council regarding the measures that it is taking to promote fair trade.
Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21204 on 5 March 2009. 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/Apps2/B…