Parliamentary questions
Michael Matheson
1,154 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
22 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Cultural Commission will be required to publish accounts and, if so, when they will be published.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The Scottish Executive has published the Cultural Commission’s Work Plan, which contains details of the Commission’s budget, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 34513). The Executive intends to publish a statement o…
22 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the Cultural Commission’s budget is to be spent on research.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-12457, answered on 7 December 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:</p><p><ahref="http://www.scotti…
22 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how the Cultural Commission advertised for companies to tender for any public relations and marketing contracts.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-12457 answered on 7 December 2004. All answers to written parliamentary are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:</p><p><a href="http://www.scottish.parliam…
22 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Cultural Commission has received public relations and marketing support from any commercial organisation.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: This is an operational matter for the Cultural Commission. However, the member may wish to consult the Cultural Commission’s Work Plan, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 34513).</p>
19 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many consultants were used by the Scottish Arts Council and what level of expenditure was incurred on consultants in each of the last five years.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: This is an operational matter for the Scottish Arts Council. The information requested is not held centrally.</p>
19 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation took place prior to the decision in respect of the location of the National Theatre; who was consulted, and whether it will publish the outcome of the consultation.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: Scottish ministers’ decision to name the Arts Factory in Greater Easterhouse as the preferred location for the National Theatre of Scotland administrative office followed discussions with the Scottish Arts Council and City of Glasgow Council. The location was…
19 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what development grant aid is provided to sports organisations, showing the level of grant provided and the organisations in receipt of the grant.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: Annual development grant aid is provided by <b>sport</b>scotland to governing bodies of sport in Scotland. This information is published in <b>sport</b>scotland’s Annual Reports. The report is laid annually before Parliament and copies can be obtained from th…
17 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to bid for the hosting of international swimming events in the next five years and which events it plans to bid for.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: EventScotland was established to deliver a portfolio of major events to attract visitors to Scotland as well as enhancing our international profile. Although at an early stage, EventScotland is currently looking at the possibility of attracting the European S…
17 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many swimming pools over 25 years old (a) have been refurbished in the last two years and (b) are due to be refurbished in the next two years, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The information requested is not held centrally.</p>
17 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has set in respect of school pupils learning to swim.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The primary responsibility for the delivery and management of swimming provision within the curriculum rests with local authorities.</p><p>However, in 2002 an audit of swimming provision in schools was conducted in order to gather information on the level of …
17 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to promote swimming as an activity in its public health strategy.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: Scotland has national physical activity targets for adults andchildren and swimming can make a contribution to daily activity.</p><p>As part of the National PhysicalActivity Strategy for Scotland, the Scottish Executive has committed £24 million fundingto <b>…
17 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people used local authority swimming pools in each of the last five years.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: Information on the number of people using local authority swimming pools is not available nationally.</p>
17 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many swimming pools in each local authority area are over 75 years old.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The information requested is set out in the following table. Although there are 13 pools over 75 years old, some such as Portobello Swimming Pool have been extensively refurbished. In any event, the owners and operators of swimmingpools have a duty of care ov…
17 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many school swimming pools there are in each local authority area and how many of these are open to the public outside school hours.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: I refer the member to the answer to S2W-11318 answered on 3 November 2004. 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/webap…
17 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many local authority swimming pools there are, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The information requested is set out in the table. It does not include swimming pools attached to schools.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>Local Authority</p> </td> <td> <p align=center>Number of Pools</p> <…
17 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated in each of the last five years to assist disabled artists, broken down by organisation in receipt of funding.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: Ministers are committed to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to participate in cultural activities. The Scottish Arts Council currently provides annual support for five organisations which work primarily with arts and disability. (Table illustrates a…
10 Nov 2004 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it is providing to theatre.
Answer · Euan Robson: Executive support for theatre, as for all art-forms, is largely channelled through the Scottish Arts Council (SAC). The total SAC drama budget for 2004-05 is £12,792,900. This includes initial funding of £3.5 million for the National Theatre of Scotland for w…
5 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8237 by Mr Frank McAveety on 11 June 2004, whether the Cultural Commission’s budget has been confirmed and, if so, how much it will be and from which budget it will be allocated.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: I can confirm that the Cultural Commission’s budget has been set at £487,000. We expect to commit £400,000 of this from programme expenditure, and the remainder from the Executive’s Administration Budget.</p>
5 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what recruitment process was followed for the appointment of staff to the Cultural Commission’s secretariat; whether any of the posts were publicly advertised and, if so, which posts.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The secretariat comprises two Scottish Executive secondees and two consultants. The Executive canvassed internally to fill the two secondment opportunities; none of the appointments was advertised externally. The Cultural Commission’s Chairman appointed consu…
3 Nov 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-5226 by Colin Boyd QC on 13 January 2004, whether all the cataloguing of relevant material regarding the shooting at Dunblane school has now been completed by the officials of the National Archives of Scotland and whether the papers are available to …
Answer · Colin Boyd: Officials from the National Archives of Scotland (NAS) completed the cataloguing process in February 2004 in accordance with NAS business objectives. </p><p>The relevant documents were transferred to Crown Office in March 2004 in order that they could be rev…
26 Oct 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the Lord Advocate’s guidelines are with regard to the level of speed at which speed limits are enforced for (a) enforcement action and (b) court proceedings.
Answer · Colin Boyd: The Lord Advocate’s Guidelines on the Operation of Police Conditional Offers of Fixed Penalty, that contain instructions on the relevant thresholds for speeding offences, are confidential. It would not be in the public interest for those who are intent on dri…
26 Oct 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11071 by Cathy Jamieson on 25 October 2004, what the projected cost is for the redevelopment of Parliament House, Edinburgh, at 2004 prices and whether the original timescale for completion remains as scheduled.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the question S2W-11072 answered on 2 November 2004. All answers 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/…
25 Oct 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average spend is per child on the provision of a wheelchair, or other similar mobility aid or piece of equipment, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-11654, answered on 8 November 2004. All answersto written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, thesearch facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parlia…
25 Oct 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is for a child between assessment for a new wheelchair, or other similar mobility aid or piece of equipment, and provision of the equipment, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-11654, answered on 8 November 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parl…
25 Oct 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is for a child to be assessed for a new wheelchair, or other similar mobility aid or piece of equipment, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: This information is not held centrally but some or all may be available from individual NHS boards.</p><p>The Rehabilitation Technology Information Service (ReTIS), which is being developed by NHS boards, should be able to provide this type of information whe…
25 Oct 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-10185 by Hugh Henry on 11 October 2004, whether it can give specific dates when it will complete its consideration of the responses to the consultation on a Scottish human rights commission and deliver its commitment to establish a commission.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The Executive is fully committed to the creation of a Scottish Human Rights Commission within the lifetime of this Parliament. We are making the necessary progress on detailed consideration of all aspects of policy, including follow up on the consultation res…
7 Oct 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it has given to the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts in each of the last five years.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: Neither the Executive nor The Scottish Arts Council has been approached by the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts for assistance. </p>
7 Oct 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many school swimming pools are fitted with equipment and facilities to facilitate access by disabled children and young people.
Answer · Peter Peacock: This information is not held centrally.</p>
7 Oct 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many school swimming pools there are.
Answer · Peter Peacock: Although this information is not held centrally by the Scottish Executive, I understand that <b>sport</b>scotland estimate that there are 196 school swimming pools.</p>
7 Oct 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines are issued to school sports co-ordinators on supporting children and young people with disabilities to participate in physical activities at school.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: I refer the member to the answer to S2W-11314 on 2 November 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parlaiment.uk/webapp/wa.searc…