Parliamentary questions
Lewis Macdonald
2,224 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
5 Dec 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much NHS Grampian will receive in revenue allocation in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15 and how much it would receive if the NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee formula was implemented in full.
Answer · Alex Neil: NHS Grampian received a revenue allocation of £743.8 million in 2013-14. Full implementation of the NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee formula would have given an allocation of £776.6m. The 2014-15 Budget Bill is in the process of being scrutinised by…
4 Dec 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for promotional material relating to Scotland's Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland in addition to fliers, billboards and radio and television advertisements, and at what cost.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There are no current plans for further public information material relating to Scotland's Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland.
4 Dec 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the budget is for advertising Scotland's Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland on (a) billboards, (b) radio stations and (c) television.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the Official Report of the Meeting of the Parliament on Tuesday 26 November 2013 at column 24856. The official report is available at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/OfficialReport.aspx.
4 Dec 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many fliers it has distributed to households and businesses promoting Scotland's Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland, and at what cost.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: A postcard was distributed to every residential property in Scotland as part of the public information made available for Scotland’s Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland. The total cost of the public information campaign will be £450,000.
4 Dec 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the cost was of (a) producing and (b) distributing 20,000 paper copies of Scotland's Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-18194 on 18 December 2013. 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…
20 Nov 2013 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide a substantive response to question S4W-16703 regarding the First Minister's engagements in Aberdeen in June 2013, which received a holding answer from the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs on 10 September.
13 Nov 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Sir Ian Wood's recent report on developing Scotland's young workforce, what it is doing to support collaboration between schools and colleges.
6 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to discuss with the UK Government the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre project in Aberdeen Bay and its potential contribution to meeting Scottish and UK renewables targets.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Scottish Enterprise has facilitated discussions including Vattenfall, Scottish Government and UK Government to consider all future potential investment options, recognising the importance of this project as a test and demonstration site for next generation tu…
6 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with (a) Vattenfall, (b) Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group, (c) Technip Offshore Wind and (d) other interested parties regarding finding an operating partner for the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre project in Aberdeen Bay.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Discussion with both AREG and Vattenfall takes place on a very regular basis. The last contact with both organisations was during week commencing 4 November 2013 to discuss progress in securing investment partners. Technip has no direct investment in the proj…
6 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what actions it has taken to help secure new private-sector partners in place of Vattenfall for the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre project in Aberdeen Bay.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International have maintained regular dialogue with Vattenfall in regard to the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre to help highlight investment opportunities to interested parties and to facilitate introducti…
6 Nov 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will support the development of a major new performance venue in the city as part of a new Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre.
5 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) capital and (b) revenue support Scottish Enterprise has provided to the (i) Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, (ii) Edinburgh International Conference Centre and (iii) Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre in each year since 2007, and what support will be given in th…
Answer · Fergus Ewing: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I will ask the chief executive of Scottish Enterprise to write to you with this information.
30 Sep 2013 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what public consultation there will be on the proposed closure of Scottish Fire and Rescue Service control rooms.
20 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to take action to progress the plans of the Expert Group on Prostitution to investigate indoor prostitution.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to the answer given to question S4W-17392 on 2 October 2013. 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/parliam…
20 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to tackle indoor prostitution.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Scots criminal law provides for offences which target those who seek to profit from the prostitution of others, whether this occurs on the streets or indoors. The Scottish Government legislated through the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 t…
20 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has not reconvened the Expert Group on Prostitution and when the decision was made.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Expert Group on Prostitution was established by the previous administration in 2003 and produced the report Being Outside: Constructing A Response to Street Prostitution in December 2004. The group produced no further reports. In 2007, the Scottish Parlia…
20 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-16847 by Keith Brown on 23 September 2013, what cycling projects it has supported in each of the other regional transport partnership areas and how much funding it has provided for these in each year since 2007.
Answer · Keith Brown: The following grants have been made to local authorities within regional transport partnerships (RTPs) under the Cycling Walking Safer Streets programme: Grant £millions 2007-8 2008-9 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 RTP Total Aberdeen City 0.365 0…
16 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it gives to local authorities for the supervision of people serving fiscal work orders.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government currently provides £50,000 a year to each local authority in which a Fiscal Work Order pilot scheme is running. These funds are paid through the annual grant to Community Justice Authorities as part of the ring-fenced funding allocatio…
16 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making with its plan to roll out fiscal work orders nationally and whether this will be completed before the end of 2013.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Work is underway in collaboration with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Criminal Justice Social Work and the Scottish Police Authority to ensure that robust processes are in place to support the use of fiscal work orders nationwide. The roll-o…
16 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many offenders in each trial area of the Fiscal Work Order Pilot Scheme whose fiscal work orders were (a) not completed and (b) returned to the Procurator Fiscal (i) had their case marked for court proceedings and (ii) subsequently appeared in court in relation to their original char…
Answer · Lesley Thomson: This information is not held in a manner which can be obtained electronically from the COPFS database. There is information from the Evaluation of Fiscal Orders published in January 2011 which provides data in relation to the first 2 years of the operation of…
16 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many offenders there were in each trial area of the Fiscal Work Order Pilot Scheme in each year since 2008.
Answer · Lesley Thomson: The information is provided in the following table. Fiscal Work Orders have been available in West Lothian, West Dunbartonshire, South Lanarkshire and Highland since 2008. Their availability was extended to Edinburgh City, Dundee City and Aberdeen City in 201…
11 Sep 2013 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the participation of police officers makes a positive difference to road safety education in schools.
9 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the stage 1 application for support from the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund submitted by (a) Aberdeen City Council for all-weather pitches for Riverbank Primary School and (b) Tillydrone Community Trust for the Wallace Tower was not accepted.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Regeneration Capital Grant Fund Investment Panel considered all applications submitted at stage 1. The panel’s view was that these projects did not meet all the criteria or the wider aims of the fund. Scottish Government officials met with officials from…
9 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many stage 1 applications for support from the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund have been (a) accepted and (b) not accepted, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: There were 147 stage 1 applications to the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund. The Investment Panel invited 41 projects to submit stage 2 applications. A list of the projects successful at stage 1 is on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.scotland.go…
9 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the budget will be for the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The draft budget allocation for 2014-15 for the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund is £25 million.
23 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) meetings and (b) correspondence the First Minister has had with the UK Government since April 2012 regarding (i) the Aberdeen Coastguard and (ii) coastguard management in Scotland, what matters were considered and with which UK Ministers.
Answer · Keith Brown: Details of Scottish Government correspondence and meetings with the UK Government on this subject were set out in the answer to question S4W-16567 on 21 August 2013. The First Minister has not had any meetings or correspondence with the UK Government since Ap…
23 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it has taken to complete the National Cycle Network since 2007, what funds have been invested in each and by whom.
Answer · Keith Brown: Since 2007 the Scottish Government has worked in partnership with Sustrans, local authorities, Scottish Canals, Scottish Natural Heritage, Forestry Commission Scotland and the National Parks to develop the National Cycle Network. Table 1 below identifies in…
23 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what cycling projects in the NESTRANS area it has supported and how much funding it has provided for these projects in each year since 2007.
Answer · Keith Brown: The following grants have been made under Cycling Walking Safer Streets in the NESTRANS area Grant £millions 2007-8 2008-9 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Total Aberdeen City Council 0.365 0.365 0.365 0.365 0.307 0.252 0.232 2.251 A…
23 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that sufficient progress has been made toward achieving its Cycling Action Plan for Scotland target of 10% of all journeys to be by bike by 2020 and, if so, how this progress can be demonstrated.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Cycling Action Plan for Scotland (CAPS), updated in June 2013, sets out an aspirational vision shared with all our key stakeholders of 10% of everyday journeys by bicycle; it is not a target. This Scottish Government has a leadership role in providing inv…
23 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it has taken to improve trunk roads since 2007 in order to make them safer for cyclists, how much each measure has cost and what funding it will provide in 2013-14.
Answer · Keith Brown: Scottish Ministers take full account of cycling needs during investment in the trunk road network. The following cycling improvements have been delivered since 2007: Scheme Value Financial year A82 Lochybridge to Torlundy £2.9 million 2007-2008 A835 To…