Parliamentary questions
Michael McMahon
323 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
15 Sep 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Lanarkshire.
10 Jul 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of delays in the registration of powers of attorney (a) generally and (b) with regard to the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Registration of powers of attorney under the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 is a matter for the Office of the Public Guardian, part of the Scottish Court Service. There is no requirement to register a general power of attorney with the Office of t…
10 Jul 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of mental health officer reports under the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 are provided within the required timescale.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: This information is not collected centrally.
3 Jul 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) NHS boards, (b) external groups and (c) NHS England on the introduction of robot-assisted surgery by NHS Scotland.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-22038 on 31 July 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s web site, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentaryb…
3 Jul 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase awareness and treatment of prostate cancer.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government is undertaking a range of actions that aim to increase awareness and treatment of prostate cancer. The Scottish Government’s Detect Cancer Early initiative, which was launched in February 2012 with £30 million of investment, focuses o…
3 Jul 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it established a group to develop a research proposal and review the clinical and cost-effectiveness of Da Vinci robot-assisted surgery for NHS Scotland, what its membership is and when it will report on its conclusions.
Answer · Alex Neil: Last year, the National Planning Forum (NPF) asked the Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG) to carry out a review of current evidence for this type of surgery. The review found that the clinical and cost effectiveness evidence for robotic surgery for pro…
28 Apr 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many naval vessels it considers would be required to enforce a ban on EU fishing fleets in Scottish waters if proposals for an independent Scotland's membership of the EU were not accepted.
17 Apr 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the non-profit distributing (NPD) model was developed and introduced as an alternative to the private finance initiative and what the first NPD-funded capital project was.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The current NPD model with a simplified and standardised contract and recycling of returns to the public sector, was developed by the Scottish Futures Trust. The first NPD project in the current pipeline of investments to reach financial close was Inverness C…
14 Apr 2014 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what funding it makes available to foodbanks, including the recently announced £1 million.
24 Mar 2014 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Transport Scotland regarding the development of rail freight.
27 Jan 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what advice it has received regarding an independent Scotland’s share of the UK’s overseas properties.
20 Jan 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government when ministers will next meet the board of NHS Lanarkshire.
13 Jan 2014 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the statistics for the Scottish Welfare Fund for the final quarter of 2013.
6 Jan 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the the Scottish Government when it last met Energy UK.
9 Dec 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the BBC in relation to its proposals for public service broadcasting as outlined in the white paper on independence.
2 Dec 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government when Health Improvement Scotland's review of NHS Lanarkshire will be completed and published.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to my earlier answer, to Margaret McCulloch. (S4O-02702). I can confirm that HIS will publish their report by the end of the year.
20 Nov 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Department for Work and Pensions about any additional administration costs to local authorities of administering discretionary housing payments.
Answer · John Swinney: Scottish Ministers have repeatedly challenged the Department for Work and Pensions and UK Ministers on housing benefit reform. I raised this most recently at the Finance Ministers’ Quadrilateral meeting with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury where I stress…
28 Oct 2013 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it considers the adverse environmental impacts are of pyrolysis incinerators.
10 Oct 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many dawn raids police have carried out in each of the last 10 years.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government does not hold this information.
23 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to kinship carers who provide informal care arrangements.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: Children in informal kinship care arrangements are not deemed to require formal supervision but may have other support needs. In recognition of those needs, the Kinship Care Order proposed through the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill aims to provide …
23 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what duties local authorities have in relation to informal kinship care placements and what guidance it provides to them on what support should be provided to the carers.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: Local authorities are not currently obliged to provide specific support to those in informal kinship care arrangements, except under their general duties set out in section 22 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. In 2007 and 2008 the Scottish Government publ…
23 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many informal kinship care placements under section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 have been applied for in each of the last three years and how many permanence orders were granted.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: Information on the numbers of children living in informal kinship care placements under section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 is not centrally held. The number of permanence orders granted in each of the last three years is: Number of permanence or…
23 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has researched or will research whether there is a link between kinship care and the likelihood of developing (a) foetal alcohol and methadone syndromes, (b) separation anxiety and (c) attachment disorder.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government has not researched whether there is a link between kinship care and the likelihood of developing foetal alcohol and methadone syndromes as these both develop during pregnancy as a direct result of a mother drinking alcohol excessively …
23 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what research on kinship care arrangements it has funded in each of the last three years and whether it plans to fund future research on this.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: As part of the on-going funding to CHILDREN 1st National Kinship Care service and Citizens Advice Scotland we continually seek the views of individual kinship carers, kinship carer groups and key stakeholders in respect of arrangements, resources and learning…
23 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making with its review of kinship care allowances and when it will be published.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government is currently carrying out a review of financial support to formal kinship carers, with a view to tailoring support and tackling inconsistencies across Scotland. We aim to publish the findings by the end of 2013.
9 Sep 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the effectiveness of the Douglas Street treatment suite in Hamilton and whether NHS Lanarkshire plans to introduce similar services elsewhere.
26 Aug 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that pyrolysis energy from waste plants has a role to play in achieving its zero waste target and what its position is on the comment of Pete Wishart MP that they should not be given planning permission as they are a “pollutant belching monstrosity”.
12 Jun 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the amount that will be available for projects under the Landfill Communities Fund following the devolution of additional taxation powers and how this compares with the current level of funding.
Answer · John Swinney: In 2010-11, the most recent year for which full figures are available, the maximum amount that landfill operators were able to pay into the landfill tax credit scheme that supports the current UK Landfill Tax Communities fund was set at 5.5% of their total ta…
23 May 2013 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to Audit Scotland’s report, Managing early departures from the Scottish public sector, which states that the public sector is spending £280 million a year on early departure schemes.
15 May 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to require care home dutyholders to display fire risk assessment certificates in premises for which they are responsible.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-15033 on 31 May 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/parliamentarybus…