John Wilson

7 Sep 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-29917 by John Swinney on 21 December 2009, how many of its staff are seconded to the Improvement Service.

Answer · John Swinney: No members of the Scottish Government staff are seconded to the Improvement Service.</p>

1 Sep 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who authorised the former Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise to accept a non-executive directorship with Robert Wiseman Dairies and what consideration was given to the lieu of notice payment.

Answer · Jim Mather: The former Chief Executive''s employment contract contained provisions requiring him to obtain written consent from Scottish Enterprise if, within 12 months of the date of termination of his employment, he wished to become engaged, interested or concerned in …

24 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the individual contract value figure has been for each subcontractor procured by Scottish Water, since May 2006.

Answer · John Swinney: This information is not held centrally and I have asked the Chief Executive of Scottish Water to reply to you.</p>

20 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the subcontractors currently employed by Scottish Water

Answer · John Swinney: This information is not held centrally and I have asked the Chief Executive of Scottish Water to reply to you.</p>

20 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total value is of all subcontracted operations led by Scottish Water since May 2006

Answer · John Swinney: This information is not held centrally and I have asked the Chief Executive of Scottish Water to reply to you.</p>

20 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many subcontractors have been employed by Scottish Water since May 2006

Answer · John Swinney: This information is not held centrally and I have asked the Chief Executive of Scottish Water to reply to you.</p>

12 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Department of Work and Pensions regarding the proposals by the UK Government to review the housing benefits system.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government is considering the impact of the proposed changes to housing benefit and their impact on vulnerable households and our policy objectives, including 2012 homelessness commitments. Officials are in regular contact with colleagues in the …

12 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Department of Work and Pensions regarding changes to the Independent Living Fund.

Answer · Shona Robison: Scottish Government officials have had a number of telephone discussions and a teleconference with officials in the Department of Work and Pensions regarding changes to the Independent Living Fund.</p> <p >The Minister for Housing and Communities raised this…

12 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is regarding the recruitment process for its civil servants.

Answer · John Swinney: Copies of the main Resourcing Policy which covers recruitment to Scottish Government posts (other than those in the Senior Civil Service) are available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 51565). Senior Civil Service recruitment is ca…

12 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs it has advertised (a) externally and (b) internally since May 2003.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government retains information on recruitment exercises for <br> 12 months.</p> <p >Between 26 August 2009 and 25<b> </b>August 2010 there have been 728 jobs advertised internally and 73 jobs advertised externally.</p>

12 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many developments throughout Lanarkshire have been funded by the New Supply Shared Equity scheme since the fund was established and whether it will list these.

Answer · Alex Neil: Since the New Supply Shared Equity scheme was established, a total of five developments have been funded in Lanarkshire. These are as follows:</b></p> <p >1. Antonine Grange, Cumbernauld</p> <p >2. Castlehill Road, Gowkthrapple, Wishaw</p> <p >3. Sikeside …

4 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to improve the timescale between a GP referral and assessment of a patient by a urology clinician.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government Health Directorate''s Improvement Support Team are working with NHS boards across Scotland to redesign and transform services, including urology, as part of delivery of the 18 weeks referral to treatment target which is due to be deliv…

4 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is for an appointment with a urology clinician in Lanarkshire.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The median wait for a first outpatient consultation at a consultant-led urology clinic in NHS Lanarkshire was 27 days for the year ending 31 March 2010.</p>

4 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are plans to review single outcome agreements with a view to ensuring that indicators of poverty are included in future planning.

Answer · John Swinney: The National Performance Framework sets out the Scottish Government''s approach to tackling poverty and this provides the necessary framework within which single outcome agreements are set.</b></p>

4 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place with COSLA to ensure that indicators of poverty are included in single outcome agreements for (a) local authorities and (b) community planning partnerships.

Answer · John Swinney: Community Planning Partnerships choose indicators they deem appropriate for their local priority outcomes. These are established within the context of the National Performance Framework that sets out the Scottish Government''s approach to tackling poverty.</p…

4 Aug 2010 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the estimated cost is of the 2010 Festival of Politics.

Answer · Tricia Marwick: The estimated direct cost to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body for the 2010 Festival of Politics, once estimated income from ticket sales and sponsorship has been taken into account is between £40,000 and £45,000. Once approved by auditors, the total…

4 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many private property developers were awarded funding grants in 2008-09.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Under the Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) seven private developers received grant funding monies in 2008-09.</p>

4 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many civil servants who work in its directorates are employed by the UK Government.

Answer · John Swinney: Six civil servants who work in Scottish Government directorates are employed by the UK Government. One is on a secondment and the remaining five are on loan.</p>

4 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many civil servants are directly employed by it.

Answer · John Swinney: Data on the number of Core Scottish Government employees is available within the National Statistics publication <i >Public Sector Employment in Scotland</i>. This can be accessed via the Scottish Government website at the following address (table 8a and 8b):…

4 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the nationality of the civil servants employed by it.

Answer · John Swinney: The following table provides a breakdown of the disclosed nationalities of the civil servants employed by the Scottish Government.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td width=211 valign=top > <p >Nationality</p> </…

15 Jun 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been received in remuneration by persons serving on the boards and committees of quangos, broken down by (a) job title and (b) individual payments to (i) directors and (ii) non-executive directors since 2006.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-33936 on 8 June 2010. 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/Apps2/Bu…

15 Jun 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many working groups have been established by it since 2006 and what the (a) title, (b) role and remit and (c) numbers are of members on each group.

Answer · John Swinney: This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p>

9 Jun 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the membership is of the Development Trusts Association Scotland.

Answer · Alex Neil: The membership currently stands at 145 members. Details can be accessed at <a href="http://www.dtascot.org.uk/">http://www.dtascot.org.uk</a>.</p>

9 Jun 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what projects the Development Trusts Association Scotland is undertaking, broken down by location.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Development Trust Association Scotland are an independent charity and a national organisation. The details of their activities, can be found on their website. <a href="http://www.dtascot.org.uk/">http://www.dtascot.org.uk/</a>.</p>

9 Jun 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the budget of the Development Trusts Association Scotland was in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10

Answer · Alex Neil: The Development Trust Association Scotland is an independent charity. Details of their funding sources can be found on their website at <a href="http://www.dtascot.org.uk/content/about-dta-scotland">http://www.dtascot.org.uk/content/about-dta-scotland</a>.</p…

9 Jun 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it plans to give to the Development Trusts Association Scotland in Central Scotland.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Development Trust Association Scotland (DTAS) is an independent charity and a national intermediary organisation which supports the establishment and growth of development trusts. The funding they receive from Scottish Government is therefore not targeted…

9 Jun 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to monitor the transfer of assets from local authorities to local communities under the auspices of the Development Trusts Association Scotland.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Development Trust Association Scotland (DTAS) are currently delivering a wide ranging programme on behalf of Scottish Government to support local authorities and communities to understand the costs and benefits of asset transfer. This will be achieved thr…

9 Jun 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it has provided to assist in the consultant process relating to proposed secondary stock transfer ballots in each year since 2006.

Answer · Alex Neil: Glasgow Housing Association provides funding from its own budgets to manage the second stage transfer process, including consultation. Scottish Government has provided Seedcorn funding to support local housing organisations to develop proposals for second sta…

9 Jun 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the value was of each secondary stock transfer bid that has gone to ballot since 2006.

Answer · Alex Neil: 1. The value of each second stage transfer reflects the net present value of the income and expenditure attaching to the transferring stock over a 30 year period. This produces a value at today''s prices. The value can be either positive or negative. When a v…

9 Jun 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the value was of each secondary stock transfer bid that has gone to ballot since 2006.

Answer · Alex Neil: No secondary housing stock transfers have taken place since 2006 that were not subject to ballot.</p>