Parliamentary questions
Ken Macintosh
1,334 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
17 Dec 2012 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £7 million available in the second round of the Housebuilding Infrastructure Loan Fund has been allocated.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Housebuilding Infrastructure Loan Fund is a key part of the Government’s package of measures to support sustainable economic growth and to increase housing supply across all tenures. We are currently considering the applications received to the second ro…
14 Dec 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Deputy First Minister on 13 December 2012 (Official Report, c.14759), whether it is its intention to negotiate an opt-out from the European single currency in the event of Scotland separating from the rest of the United Kingdom.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish Government policy is to retain Sterling and not join the Euro. For any country to adopt the Euro it would be required to meet certain criteria, including being a member of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) for two years. Participation in the…
14 Dec 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on a fiscal stabilisation pact with the United Kingdom in the event of a Scotland separated from the rest of the United Kingdom using Sterling and what (a) discussions it has had and (b) agreement it has reached in this regard with the (i) UK Government and (ii) Bank…
Answer · John Swinney: The Fiscal Commission Working Group is continuing its work to oversee the development of a robust macroeconomic and fiscal framework for an independent Scotland, and will be publishing its recommendations shortly. Scottish Ministers recognise the importance …
10 Dec 2012 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister, in light of reported comments by the chair of the independent Fiscal Commission, Sir Crawford Beveridge, what the Scottish Government’s position is on fiscal control and financial regulation in the event of Scotland separating from the rest of the UK.
7 Dec 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it remains its position that a Scotland separated from the rest of the United Kingdom would form a formal currency union with the remaining members of the United Kingdom and, if so, what (a) discussions it has had and (b) agreement it has reached on this issue in the last 12 mont…
Answer · John Swinney: Scottish Ministers have outlined that their proposal is to retain sterling as part of a formal monetary union with the rest of the UK. The Fiscal Commission Working Group is continuing its work to oversee the development of a robust macroeconomic and fiscal …
5 Dec 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-11378 by John Swinney on 29 November 2012, what contact it has had with the UK Government in the last year on the possible division of UK public sector assets in the event of Scotland separating from the rest of the UK, broken down by (a) date, (b) …
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-11378 on 29 November 2012. 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/parliamenta…
5 Dec 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-11378 by John Swinney on 29 November 2012, what contact it has had with the Bank of England in the last year regarding the possible division of UK public sector assets and liabilities in the event of Scotland separating from the rest of the UK, brok…
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-11378 on 29 November 2012. 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/parliamentar…
20 Nov 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the (a) Treasury and (b) Bank of England on the division of the UK’s gold reserves in the event of Scotland separating from the rest of the UK.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government engages in discussions with the Bank of England and UK Government on matters of importance to the Scottish economy. The division of UK public sector assets and liabilities would be subject to negotiation at the time of independence.
12 Nov 2012 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what contact the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs has had with Creative Scotland in the last month.
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-09939 by John Swinney on 30 October 2012, when it will inform the Parliament of whether it plans to lodge a legislative consent motion regarding changes to pension arrangements and what the deadline is for lodging such a motion.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government is currently considering the UK Government’s request to support a Legislative Consent Motion in relation to certain provisions within the Public Sector Pensions Bill. It will lodge a Legislative Consent Memorandum in Parliament and inf…
31 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-09939 by John Swinney on 30 October 2012, when it was first informed that a legislative consent motion might be required.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government received formal notification from the UK Government on 4 September that the UK Government believed that a LCM would be required for a narrow subset of provisions in the UK Government’s 2012 Public Service Pensions Bill.
23 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on complaints from small and medium-sized enterprises that they are being shut out of government projects because contracts are bundled together or by the requirement of a minimum size of business turnover.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that small and medium sized businesses have fair and equal access to public sector contracts in Scotland. When developing collaborative procurement strategies, we actively engage with suppliers of all sizes. S…
23 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the expenditure on its Green Investment Package in 2013-14 will arise from Barnett consequentials.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government has committed £1145.0 million climate change funding over three years of the current spending review period. These details of the funding are published on the Scottish Government’s website and can be found at the following link: http:…
23 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it will spend on its Green Investment Package in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government has committed £1,145million climate change funding over three years of the spending review period. 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 Total over 3 years £ 364.6m £411.3m £387.1m £1145.0m The details of this funding is published on the Sc…
22 Oct 2012 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the latest labour market statistics suggesting that there has been a quarterly increase in unemployment in Scotland compared with a fall across the rest of the UK.
11 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS boards can access national contingency funding to meet the cost of dealing with individual patient treatment requests (IPTR).
Answer · Alex Neil: NHS boards are expected to meet the cost of medicines which have been approved for use locally for individual patients via the Individual Patient Treatment Request (IPTR) process from their funding allocation.
11 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-06515 by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 April 2012, what monitoring is carried out of the effectiveness medicines introduced via individual patient treatment requests (IPTR) and whether this informs decisions made by the Scottish Medicines Consortium.
Answer · Alex Neil: Information on the effectiveness of medicines introduced via Individual Patient Treatment Requests (IPTRs) on a “case by case” basis for individual patients is not held centrally. The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) appraises the clinical and cost-effect…
11 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the work of the Scottish Medicines Consortium.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) is a consortium of NHS Board Area Drug and Therapeutics Committees and produces advice for NHSScotland on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of newly licensed medicines. NHS boards operate within the accountability fr…
11 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on making monoclonal antibodies available.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) appraises all newly licensed medicines (including licensed therapeutic monoclonal antibodies) and provides advice to NHS boards on their clinical and cost-effectiveness. Where SMC accepts a newly licensed medicine, NHS …
11 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many individual patient treatment requests (IPTR) were made for patients with colon cancer in 2011-12.
Answer · Alex Neil: NHS board data for the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 provided to the Scottish Government, indicates that 22 IPTRs were made for medicines to treat colon cancer and colorectal cancer, of which 13 were approved (59%).
11 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-06212 by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 March 2012, whether all NHS boards now have a practising medical consultant on all individual patient treatment request (IPTR) panels.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government guidance published on 13 February 2012 under cover of SGHD/CMO(2012)1, clarified that from 1 April 2012, NHS Board Individual Patient Treatment Request (IPTR) panels are expected to include a practising medical consultant with (or with…
11 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much in fees has been paid out for orthodontic treatment in each year since 2007.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The amount in fees that has been paid out for orthodontic treatment in each year since 2007 is shown in the following tables. Practitioner Services Division Total Fees Paid to Orthodontic Specialists Item of Service Treatments During Period Orthodontic Fee …
11 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) children and (b) adults have received orthodontic treatment in each year since 2007.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The number of people who have received NHS orthodontic treatment under the General Dental Services (GDS) and the number who have attended an outpatient orthodontic specialty are shown in the following tables. General Dental Services Orthodontic Treatment …
11 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the criteria are for approving orthodontic treatment; when these were agreed and what changes were made to previous criteria as a result.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The purpose of NHS General Dental Service (GDS) provision, including orthodontics, is to secure and maintain the oral health of the patient. Orthodontic cases have always been assessed on this basis. Orthodontic Treatment Need gives an evidence based framewor…
11 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) NHS and (b) National Services Division's budget has been for orthodontic treatment in each year since 2007.
Answer · Michael Matheson: There is no separate budget for the provision of NHS orthodontic treatment. Funding in Scotland under the NHS is available for all cases where the treatment is necessary to secure and maintain oral health.
10 Sep 2012 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish its plans for broadcasting in an independent Scotland before the referendum.
29 Jun 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish prescribing guidelines for the drug, eculizumab.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has issued two pieces of advice for eculizumab (Soliris®) for NHS Scotland. Number 436/07 was issued on 8 November 2011 and is not recommended for use in NHS Scotland for the treatment of patients with paroxysmal noctu…
27 Jun 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of how it calculated the underspend in the (a) Rural Affairs and the Environment, (b) Education and Lifelong Learning and (c) Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth portfolio that were reported in Provisional Outturn 2011-12 and Shovel-Ready Project…
Answer · John Swinney: The Provisional Outturn 2011-12 and Shovel-Ready Projects paper of 27 June 2012 provided unaudited figures in respect of performance against budget. As in previous years, the Scottish Government will publish an Analysis of Major Variances (including these DEL…
19 Jun 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what reduction there has been in the length of police training for new recruits in each of the last eight years.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-08040 on 27 June 2012. 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…
19 Jun 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what major changes there have been in police training over the last eight years.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-08040 on 27 June 2012. 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…