Parliamentary questions

John Wilson

696 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

16 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many housing associations and housing co-operatives have received a C Rating under the inspection regime since 2002.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond.Her response is asfollows:Since 2002, CommunitiesScotland has awarded C grades to 24 housing associations or co-operatives.

16 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many local authorities have been inspected since 2002 by Communities Scotland in its capacity as regulator.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: I have askedAngiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond.Her response isas follows:Communities Scotland inspects the housing and homelessness services oflocal authorities. From April 2002 to date, the agency has completed…

16 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many housing associations and housing co-operatives have never been inspected by Communities Scotland in its capacity as regulator.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: I have askedAngiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond.Her response isas follows:Ninety-fiveregistered social landlords (RSLs) have not been inspected by CommunitiesScotland, although all but 19 of these were inspected …

16 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many housing associations and housing co-operatives have received inspection visits since 2002.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: I have askedAngiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond.Her response isas follows:Since April 2002Communities Scotland has inspected a total of 71 individual housingassociations and co-operatives.

9 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-4326 by John Swinney on 26 September 2007, how it will ensure that there is balance in terms of political representation on public bodies.

Answer · John Swinney: Publicappointments to regulated bodies are made under the Code of Practice issued bythe Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland and are based on the principles first adopted by the Committee onStandards in Public Life. All appointments are therefore …

9 Oct 2007 · Written Question

Answer · Linda Fabiani: Arts and BusinessScotland has received the following public funding between 2005-07.<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <tr> <td nowrap valign=bottom> 2005-06 </td> <td nowrap valign=bottom> £115,000 </td> </tr> <tr> <td nowr…

9 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who approves appointments to the boards of local enterprise companies.

Answer · Jim Mather: Appointments to theboards of local enterprise companies are operational matters for Scottish Enterpriseand Highlands and Islands Enterprise.I shall ask the Chief Executives at each to write to you to set out their respective local enterprisecompany boa…

3 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what support is available to people with muscle disease to ensure that they have an appropriate wheelchair for their individual medical condition.

Answer · Shona Robison: Referrals to one ofScotland’s five regional wheelchair centres are, in most cases, made by a GP,consultant or occupational therapist. Details of referrals will include thenature and level of the patient’s disability and/or medical condition,lifestyle and need…

3 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what additional (a) financial and (b) professional support it will give to muscular dystrophy sufferers in the NHS Lanarkshire area.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS boards areexpected to provide such services and support from their general allocations.I understand thatNHS Lanarkshire works closely with the Scottish Muscle Network to ensure thatthose suffering from muscular dystrophy, and their families, receiv…

1 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when Wishaw and District Housing Association is next programmed to be inspected by Communities Scotland.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:Communities Scotland has no plans to inspect Wishaw and District Housing Associationin the near future. The risk based approach to regulation …

1 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when Wishaw and District Housing Association was last inspected by Communities Scotland and what the outcome was of the inspection.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:Communities Scotland published its most recent inspection report on Wishawand District Housing Association in March 2005.At that time, …

21 Sep 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-4017 by John Swinney on 18 September 2007, whether Willie Haughey OBE is a member of the board of Scottish Enterprise Glasgow and, if so, what remuneration, including expenses, he receives.

Answer · Jim Mather: Willie HaugheyOBE is a member of the board of Scottish Enterprise Glasgow. Any remuneration,including expenses, he receives is an operational matter for ScottishEnterprise. I shall ask the Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise to write toyou to detail this.<…

21 Sep 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Housing Supply Taskforce will examine the effects on registered social landlords of funding issues arising from the credit crunch in the international financial markets.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: No. The role of theHousing Supply Task Force is to increase housing supply by tackling the obstacles,such as land supply and planning issues, that have been hampering the delivery ofmore housing of all types. A discussion paper will be published later in the …

5 Sep 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-2269 by Kenny MacAskill on 9 August 2007, what the likely timetable is for ongoing monitoring and independent evaluation of the non-bench serving Justices of the Peace.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Plans are currentlybeing developed for evaluation of the strands of summary justice reform for whichqualitative data will be necessary. This includes the provision of signing servicesto the public. The reforms to summary justice will require time to bed in an…

5 Sep 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on how many Executive agency and non-departmental public body boards Willie Haughey OBE serves and what remuneration he receives for serving on these boards.

Answer · John Swinney: Willie Haughey OBEdoes not sit on any Executive agency or non-departmental public body boards. Heis, however, the chair of the Scottish Enterprise Careers Scotland Advisory Board. This is a board internal to ScottishEnterprise to give advice on the operation …

5 Sep 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms are in place to monitor the effectiveness of the Standards Commission for Scotland.

Answer · John Swinney: The Standards Commissionworks within an agreed framework and has a set of key objectives and performancetargets relating to those objectives (which are set out in their corporate and businessplans and are approved by ministers).Performance againstthese…

29 Aug 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to relocate any of its departments and agencies to the North Lanarkshire local authority area.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the memberto the question S3W-2952 on 14 August 2007. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facilityfor which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search">http…

24 Aug 2007 · Written Question

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Strathclyde Fire andRescue Service has received capital funding from the Fire Central Government budgetas follows:<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <tr> <td width=71 valign=top> Year </td> <td width=81 valign=top> <p a…

24 Aug 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many planning applications in the South Lanarkshire Council area were subject to further investigation by the Executive in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Threeapplications were called-in by Scottish ministers in 2005 and none in 2006.

20 Aug 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ask the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to publish its detailed site investigation of the former Ravenscraig steel works in Motherwell

Answer · Michael Russell: Scottish EnvironmentProtection Agency (SEPA) has not undertaken a detailed site investigation of theRavenscraig Steel works site. However, SEPA is aware that third party site investigationshave been carried out by previous and current site owners and some of …

20 Aug 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether an alternative weekly collection for residual refuse collection in a local authority area is a prerequisite for accessing funding from the Strategic Waste Fund.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: We consider a numberof different factors, including residual waste collection methods, when assessingbids to the Strategic Waste Fund. However, alternate weekly collections are nota prerequisite for funding.

20 Aug 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has plans to standardise the various recycling initiatives undertaken by local authorities to maximise an effective Scotland-wide waste management strategy.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The type of recyclingservice provided in any given area is the responsibility of the local authority.This allows variation in housing types and other demographic factors to be takeninto account.There is a standardapproach to waste awareness campaigns i…

1 Aug 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the current level of funding for Scottish Opera will be reviewed to put it on a par with Opera North’s funding level of £9.153 million for 2007-08.

Answer · Linda Fabiani: Scottish Opera isone of Scotland’s five national performing companies. On 1April 2007, the Executive took over the Scottish Arts Council’s direct funding rolein relation to the companies, with the aim of guaranteeing first class artisticstandards whilst ensur…

1 Aug 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much public subsidy will be paid to Scottish Opera in the current financial year and how much was paid in the two previous financial years.

Answer · Linda Fabiani: A breakdown of publicsubsidy paid to Scottish Opera in the current financial year and in the two previousfinancial years is provided in the following table.<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td valign=top>   </t…

26 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much (a) North Lanarkshire, (b) South Lanarkshire, (c) Falkirk and (d) East Ayrshire councils have been allocated from the £20.85 million Zero Waste Fund for 2009-10.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: During his visit toStornoway on Monday 13 August 2007 the Cabinet Secretary forFinance and Sustainable Growth announced details of work targeted at deliveringlower ferry fares for Scotland’s island communities. The first step willbe a study to establish the m…

26 Jul 2007 · General Question

Answer · John Swinney: The Global Financial Services Conference will promote the industry's strengths and success on both the domestic and global stages, so that Scotland achieves the reputation it deserves as an international financial centre. As well as enhancing Scotland's inter…

19 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the current proposals in respect of the abolition of non-bench serving Justices of the Peace will be the subject of detailed monitoring and evaluation, particularly with regard to the practical implications for law enforcement agencies.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Yes. The changesto lay justice, including their impact on the police, prosecution and courts, willbe subject to on-going monitoring and, in due course, independent evaluation totest whether the policy objectives have been achieved and to examine outcomes.

19 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the current proposals in respect of the abolition of non-bench serving Justices of the Peace will be subject to review.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The CriminalProceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act, which includes provisions reformingthe system of lay justice, was unanimously passed by the Scottish Parliament inFebruary 2007. The reforms relating to the appointment, recruitment, trainingand appraisal …

10 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to commence clawback arrangements in respect of the £3 million regional selective assistance grant that was awarded to Freescale Semiconductor for its East Kilbride plant.

Answer · Jim Mather: None of this grant has beenpaid.

5 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many foreign nationals were allocated housing from registered social landlords in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006, shown as a percentage of the Scottish population.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: The information requested isnot held centrally.