Questions · John Wilson

20 Apr 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions are being held with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency regarding the eradication of the Japanese knotweed plant.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-33277 on 5 May 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="www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/P…

1 Apr 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the Water Industry Commission for Scotland spent on entertainment in each of the last three financial years.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-33042 on 29 April 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="www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Busines…

1 Apr 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the Water Industry Commission for Scotland paid to meet the subsistence costs of its chief executive in each of the last three financial years.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-33042 on 29 April 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="www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Busines…

1 Apr 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the Water Industry Commission for Scotland paid to meet the subsistence costs of its chairman in each of the last three financial years.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) is the independent economic regulator for the water industry in Scotland. Its detailed operating costs, including subsistence and entertainment costs, are matters for WICS to determine. I have asked Alan Suthe…

24 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what reporting mechanisms are in place to monitor the work being carried out by the 2020 Delivery Group.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The 2020 Climate Delivery Group has been convened by Ian Marchant, Chief Executive of Scottish and Southern Energy, and aims to ensure that all sectors of Scotland''s economy and civic society contribute fully to achieving Scotland''s world-leading target of…

24 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to support urban regeneration in Lanarkshire in its economic recovery plan.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Economic Recovery Plan sets out a number of priorities to accelerate economic recovery and increase sustainable economic growth across Scotland. The plan contains measures that will support urban regeneration in Lanarkshire and elsewhere; including our jo…

24 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensured that an adequate sample was consulted as part of its SME Access to Finance survey, published in July 2009.

Answer · John Swinney: The survey sampled 1,001 small and medium-sized businesses, sourced from Dun & Bradstreet/Experian databases. The SME population in Scotland is dominated by micro firms (94%), and therefore, small and medium-sized businesses were over-sampled relative to …

24 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what organisations were consulted as part of its SME Access to Finance survey, published in July 2009.

Answer · John Swinney: The survey interviewed 1,001 SMEs across all sectors (with exception of public and not-for-profit organisations), and from self-employed firms to businesses with up to 250 employees. The sectors that were included were agriculture, construction, manufacturing…

24 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many organisations were consulted as part of its SME Access to Finance survey, published in July 2009.

Answer · John Swinney: The SME Access to Finance survey published in July 2009, interviewed 1,001 small and medium-sized enterprises. A more detailed note on methodology can be found on pages 10-11 of the main report at: <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics…

12 Mar 2010 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many vacancies have been advertised externally since May 2003.

Answer · Mike Pringle: Externally advertised vacancies, broken down by year, are shown in the table below. <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td width=134 valign=top > Year </td> <td width=87 valign=top > Permanent </td> <td …

12 Mar 2010 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many permanent vacancies have been advertised internally only since May 2003.

Answer · Mike Pringle: Permanent internally advertised vacancies are broken down by year below. <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td width=134 valign=top > Year </td> <td width=152 valign=top > <p align=left …

12 Mar 2010 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, further to the answer to question S3W-31930 by Mike Pringle on 10 March 2010, whether it will provide a breakdown by party affiliation of MSP staff members who attended training.

Answer · Mike Pringle: The breakdown by party affiliation of MSPs staff who have attended training using the Bray Leino Broadskill training services contract is: Number of Staff Attending Training <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=347 > <thead> …

12 Mar 2010 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many Parliament staff have used the Bray Leino Broadskill training services since the contract began.

Answer · Mike Pringle: Since the start of the Bray Leino Broadskill contract in June 2009, a total of 439 Parliament staff have attended training available on the SPCB Corporate Training Programme which is delivered using the Bray Leino Broadskill contract. Bray Leino Broadskill ha…

24 Feb 2010 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many MSP staff members have used the Bray Leino Broadskill training services since the contract began.

Answer · Mike Pringle: Since the start of the Bray Leino Broadskill contract in June 2009, a total of 49 MSP staff have attended training using the Bray Leino contract. Of those, 19 MSP staff have attended courses on the Corporate Training Programme and 30 MSP staff have attended …

18 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what changes are being made by the North Lanarkshire Partnership to the tender specification for the allocation of awards through the working engagement fund for 2010-11.

Answer · Keith Brown: The tender for North Lanarkshire''s Working Engagement Fund is largely the same specification as the previous tender for the Specialist Job Brokerage Fund. The name of the fund has been changed to more accurately reflect the nature of the activities that the …

18 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what third sector organisations were awarded contracts through North Lanarkshire Council’s working engagement fund in 2008-09.

Answer · Keith Brown: North Lanarkshire Partnership''s Specialist Job Brokerage Fund, now known as North Lanarkshire''s Working Engagement Fund, was tendered in 2008-09 for the delivery of employability focused services aimed at helping the hardest to reach client groups within No…

18 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to ensure the delivery of employability services for the hardest to reach unemployed residents in North Lanarkshire.

Answer · Keith Brown: North Lanarkshire''s Working is North Lanarkshire''s employability partnership. It has responsibility for ensuring the delivery of employability services to all workless groups in the North Lanarkshire area. In the past year, the partnership, which works with…

22 Jan 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the impact of the 1% increase in employers’ national insurance contributions is on (a) police and (b) fire and rescue services throughout Scotland.

Answer · John Swinney: Employers'' National Insurance contributions are to increase by a total of 1% from 1 April 2011. The estimated additional costs for the police and fire services are £8.3 million for Police and £2.1 million for Fire and Rescue services.