Kenneth Gibson

3 Jun 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on The Range and Magnitude of Alcohol's Harm to Others, which was commissioned by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education in Australia.

3 Jun 2013 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what impact the UK Government's proposed spending reductions for 2015-16 will have on the Scottish Government's budget.

28 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the impact on the Scottish economy, what its response is to the recent warning from the International Monetary Fund about growth prospects for the UK economy and that bringing forward infrastructure spending would be a "wise course of action".

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government welcomes the International Monetary Fund’s statement on the 22 May 2013, calling on the UK Government to accelerate the infrastructure spending to support the UK's recovery. Capital investment can make an important contribution to the …

28 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to protect mobile home residents from rogue site operators.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government is taking forward two areas of work that will strengthen the rights of mobile home residents. The first is to improve the contractual conditions that apply to all residents. The Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment of Schedule 1) (Scotlan…

23 May 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the State of Nature report and the challenges it contains to prevent further loss of biodiversity.

23 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government to what extent independence would give Scotland the ability to design and implement a tax system best suited to Scotland’s needs.

Answer · John Swinney: This government believes that Scotland’s interests will best be served by all decisions affecting Scotland being made in Scotland. Taking full fiscal responsibility would allow this Parliament to legislate for and set all taxes in the interests of stimulating…

20 May 2013 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the claims in the Treasury analysis paper regarding an independent Scotland's ability to provide protection for savers and pensioners.

13 May 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria are used when selecting set Scottish texts for the new national qualifications for English.

10 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people (a) over and (b) under 18 have received NHS speech and language therapy for stammering in each year since 2010, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Alex Neil: Information is not held centrally to enable us to identify the specific issue for which people are referred for speech and language therapy or to distinguish between those under and over 18. The number of people referred to NHS speech and language therapy se…

3 May 2013 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what improvements have been made to dental services in NHS Ayrshire and Arran since May 2007.

1 May 2013 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will (a) allocate the financial transactions' Barnett consequentials that it has been allocated and (b) manage the £54.8 million reduction in its 2013-14 resource DEL budget arising from the 2013 UK Budget.

Answer · John Swinney: The UK Budget 2013 and the UK Government’s Help to Buy initiative have generated financial transactions consequentials for Scotland of £109 million in 2013-14 and £157.5 million in 2014-15. There are also financial transactions consequentials of £24.3 million…

22 Apr 2013 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the statement in the Electoral Commission advice on spending limits for the referendum on independence for Scotland that “It is clearly important that the campaign rules should not encourage perceptions of unfairness that could damage voters’ trust in the referend…

22 Apr 2013 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government what payments it has made to HM Revenue and Customs in relation to implementing the financial provisions of the Scotland Act 2012.

Answer · John Swinney: During the period from October 2012 to March 2013, £165,141 has been incurred on the Scottish Rate of Income Tax implementation project, and £18,153 has been incurred on the Stamp Duty Land Tax “switch off” project. Payment of these sums was made on 19 April …

27 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what systems are in place to monitor the private health sector to ensure that operations in private hospitals are carried out (a) safely and (b) to a high standard.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Healthcare Environment Inspectorate is currently undertaking a series of inspections of private healthcare providers and this includes private hospitals who undertake surgical procedures. Independent Healthcare providers are inspected against a number of …

25 Mar 2013 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to assist people without power in Arran, Kintyre and elsewhere following the recent severe weather.

12 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how an independent Scotland’s per capita GDP would compare with that of other countries.

Answer · John Swinney: Estimates of Scotland's International Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per Capita ranking in 2011 were published on 11 March 2013 and are available at; http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Economy/Publications/GDP-Per-Capita When an illustrative geographic share o…

12 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made in establishing marine protected areas.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Report to Parliament on progress on identifying an MPA network was laid in Parliament on 14 December 2012, and was accompanied by Scottish Natural Heritage(SNH) and Joint Nature Conservation Committee’s (JNCC) detailed scientific network advice. All of th…

26 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the possibility of Scotland’s European Structural Funds budget being reduced as a result of a new allocation formula.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government is particularly concerned with recent reports that Structural Funds allocations for Scotland may drop significantly more than in other parts of the UK. We had anticipated that Structural Fund budgets would decline for Scotland, and st…

25 Feb 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of the reserves of oil and gas remaining in Scottish waters.

28 Jan 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with the Cumbrae Public Reference Group on reviewing and improving health services on the island.

28 Jan 2013 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether any economic benefits will accrue to Scotland from High Speed 2.

7 Jan 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the University of London regarding the future of the University Marine Biological Station Millport.

17 Dec 2012 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made on developing grassroots football.

10 Dec 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the reduction has been in the number of hospital acquired infections in the NHS Ayrshire and Arran area since May 2007.

10 Dec 2012 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what impact the Scottish Government expects the additional capital resources announced in the Autumn Statement to have on Scottish employment.

7 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-07334 by Richard Lochhead on 7 June 2012, whether it will act to ban the training of dogs using electronic shock collars following the review by the Companion Animal Welfare Council on research into banning such collars published in Veterinary Recor…

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Neither the CAWC report nor the Defra research referred to in SW-07334 have provided clear objective evidence that electronic training aids cause long-term harm to dog welfare when used appropriately. A ban on electronic training aids cannot, therefore, be ju…

26 Nov 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to boost manufacturing employment and output.

12 Nov 2012 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review beta blocker prescribing recommendations following a study recently published in The Journal of the American Medical Association suggesting that beta blockers did not prolong the lives of patients.

5 Nov 2012 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to encourage the renewables industry to invest in North Ayrshire.

29 Oct 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the level of crime in North Ayrshire was in 2007 and what it is now.