Parliamentary questions
Richard Baker
2,136 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
26 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many women have been prescribed anti-epilepsy drugs during pregnancy in each of the last five years.
Answer · Alex Neil: This information is not held centrally.
26 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many children have been given special educational needs' statements in each of the last five years.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: The term special educational needs does not apply in Scotland. In Scotland we have a broader, more inclusive system which refers to additional support needs. A child or young person can have an additional support need for any reason, short or long term. Conse…
26 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of its education budget has been spent on children with special educational needs in each of the last five years.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: The term special educational needs does not apply in Scotland. In Scotland we have a broader, more inclusive system which refers to additional support needs. A child or young person can have an additional support need for any reason, short or long term. The 2…
26 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much Aberdeen City expects to collect in business rates in each of the next three years.
Answer · John Swinney: The amount of non-domestic rates income estimated to be collected at a local authority level in each of the next three years is a matter for individual councils to consider.
26 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much Aberdeen City has collected in business rates in each of the last five years.
Answer · John Swinney: The information requested, as returned to the Scottish Government by Aberdeen City Council, is set out in the following table. The figures provided represent the final audited amounts for each of the years in question. Non-domestic rates collected by Aberdee…
25 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the impact of college regionalisation has been on how (a) colleges progress capital projects and (b) (i) it, (ii) the Scottish Futures Trust and (iii) colleges progress procurement for capital projects.
Answer · Michael Russell: Regionalisation has had no impact on planned college estates projects or their progress. These continue to be delivered by individual colleges within their recently established regions. The three NPD projects at Inverness College, City of Glasgow College and…
25 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S4W-12698, S4W-12909 and S4W-12910 by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 February 2013, what non-profit distributing programme forecast profile was used in the (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14 draft budget for the delayed projects for (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii…
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: As set out in my response to question S4W-12698 the aggregate forecast for all Non-Profit Distributing (NPD) and hub projects, including colleges and schools, in a graph in the 2012-13 Draft Budget, was a high level estimate, and not based on agreed, detailed…
25 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S4W-12698 and S4W-12903 by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 February 2013, what non-profit distributing programme forecast profile was used in the (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14 draft budget for college projects for (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15, brok…
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-13271 on 8 March 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/parliamentarybu…
25 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S4W-12698 and S4W-12902 by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 February 2013, what non-profit distributing programme forecast profile was used in the (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14 draft budget for schools projects for (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15, bro…
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-13271 on 8 March 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/parliamentarybu…
25 Feb 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth has had with the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities on the funding arrangements for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route.
12 Feb 2013 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect communities in the north east from flooding.
8 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors whether dental practices funded by grants through the Scottish Dental Access Initiative scheme comply with the requirement that 80% of their work is NHS treatment.
Answer · Michael Matheson: It is a condition of receiving a Scottish Dental Access Initiative grant that the grantee(s) submits to the relevant NHS board a certificate from a qualified chartered accountant (prior to 2007 an auditor’s certificate or a copy of the practice accounts) inde…
8 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many dental practices in the Grampian area have offered only NHS treatment in the last five years.
Answer · Michael Matheson: This information is not held centrally.
8 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many dental practices in the Grampian area have offered private treatment in the last five years.
Answer · Michael Matheson: This information is not held centrally.
8 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS registered dental patients in the Grampian area have attended for treatment in the last five years.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The number of NHS registered patients (adults and children) in the Grampian area who attended for treatment (participated) in the period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2012 was 327,106.
8 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS registered dental patients in the Grampian area have received repeat check-ups in the last five years.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The specific information requested is not available as routine child dental examinations cannot be identified from the available data. The number of NHS registered adult patients (18 years and over) in the Grampian area who had two or more NHS dental examinat…
8 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS registered dental patients in the Grampian area have received check-ups in the last five years.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The specific information requested is not available as routine child dental examinations cannot be identified from the available data. The number of NHS registered adult patients (18 years and over) in the Grampian area who had one or more NHS dental examinat…
8 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many people in (a) Aberdeen and (b) Aberdeenshire will be affected by the proposed changes to housing benefits.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: Table 3 in the following paper gives an estimate of the number of households affected by the under-occupancy penalty by local authority. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/supply-demand/chma/Benefitchanges/BenefitChangesUnderOccupanc…
8 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many inpatient beds there have been in NHS Grampian in each of the last five years.
Answer · Alex Neil: The number of available staffed beds by NHS board is routinely published by Information Services Division and is available on the beds section of their website http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Hospital-Care/Beds/. Information on the average number of…
8 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many consultants have been employed in NHS Grampian in each of the last five years.
Answer · Alex Neil: The number of consultant staff in post in NHS Grampian as at 30 September from 2006 to 2012 is presented in the following table: Table 1 shows the total whole time equivalent (WTE) of consultants in NHS Grampian from September 2006 to September 2012 Sep…
8 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many newly qualified nurses have gone into nursing in (a) Aberdeen and (b) Aberdeenshire in each of the last five years.
Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested is not centrally available. However, the latest information on NHS Grampian employees as of 30 September 2012 is published on the NHS National Services Scotland, Information Services Division (ISD) website at: http://www.isdscotland.…
8 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many departments in NHS Grampian worked below their minimum staffing level in each of the last five years.
Answer · Alex Neil: It is for each NHS board to decide how best to plan and deliver their services to meet the needs of their population. This includes how best to utilise funding and staff, taking account of national and local priorities to meet local health needs.
8 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of the price of private rented accommodation in Aberdeen.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: Information on the price of rented accommodation at a local authority level is not held centrally. Planning authorities are required to examine local rent levels as part of their Housing Need and Demand Assessments (HNDAs) which are then appraised by the Sco…
8 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school teachers have been employed in (i) Aberdeen and (ii) Aberdeenshire in each of the last five years.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: Information on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers is published on the Scottish Government website as supplementary data to the Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland publication. Primary school teacher information by local authority is avai…
8 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made by the forum that it established to promote cycling tourism and when its action plan will be published.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: A scoping meeting for the establishment of a forum was held in April 2010 after stakeholders highlighted in Cycling Scotland’s Best Value Review that there was a need for greater coordination in cycle tourism. Cycling Scotland then went onto establish the for…
8 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it is giving to cycling tourism initiatives in North East Scotland.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Promotion of cycling tourism initiatives in NE Scotland by VisitScotland takes place through regional and national marketing. Cycling opportunities are featured in relevant regional “What to See and Do” guides and are also promoted regionally through sales p…
5 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants worked on the updated infrastructure investment plan that was published on 4 February 2013.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-12919 on 4 March 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/parliamentaryb…
5 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants are working on infrastructure workstreams.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There are four members of staff within the Infrastructure Investment Unit, which leads on the production of the Infrastructure Investment Plan and co-ordinates analysis and advice to Ministers on public sector infrastructure investment issues. In carrying ou…
5 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants are working on constitutional reform workstreams.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: As part of their normal duties, civil servants provide support on relevant aspects of the Scottish Government’s work. Staff contribute to constitutional policy development from within their own subject areas as and when required. The amount of time staff spe…
5 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which projects in the non-profit distributing programme will be delayed as a result of the reduction of the forecast spend from £686 million to £338 million for 2013-14.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to my answer to question S4W-12698 on 25 February 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…