Parliamentary questions
Bill Kidd
404 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
14 Dec 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the delivery of a lasting legacy from the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I am pleased to say that we have today published the first progress report against our Games Legacy Plan, <i >A games legacy for Scotland</i>, which was launched in September 2009. Since then, working with our partners, we have made good progress across all k…
18 Nov 2010 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to improve the provision of and access to occupational health services.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government, through the Partnership Information Network (PIN) policies, sets the minimum standard NHSScotland boards must meet when providing support for staff with health issues. The PIN policy Managing Health at Work makes clear that it is cruc…
17 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what analysis it has undertaken to compare the operation of community planning partnerships in areas where they replaced social inclusion partnerships.
Answer · John Swinney: The work of social inclusion partnerships (SIPs) is now integrated into community planning partnerships (CPPs). Responsibility for the implementation of community planning lies with the partnerships themselves.</p>
17 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what analysis and methods of measurement it uses to determine whether community planning partnerships reduce duplication and create efficiencies in delivery.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government firmly believes that partnership working is key to making the best use of available resources and improving efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of public services. In particular, we are seeking efficiency savings across public…
17 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had to determine whether community planning partnerships represent value for money.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government is committed to the principle of partnership working that delivers outcomes that matter for local people. Audit Scotland carry out risk-based best value audits of local authorities, including community planning. Reports of the audits a…
17 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are employed by each local authority to facilitate community planning partnerships.
Answer · John Swinney: Responsibility for the implementation of community planning lies with the partnerships themselves. This information is not held centrally.</p> <p > </p>
17 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of funding through community planning partnerships has been allocated to strategic rather than revenue costs since their inception.
Answer · John Swinney: Responsibility for the implementation of community planning lies with the partnerships themselves. This information is not held centrally.</p> <p > </p>
17 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of community planning partnership funding has been invested in (a) private and (b) voluntary sector initiatives in each local authority area since their inception.
Answer · John Swinney: Responsibility for the implementation of community planning lies with the partnerships themselves. This information is not held centrally.</p> <p > </p>
17 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of community planning partnership funding has been spent in support of local authority-driven projects since their inception.
Answer · John Swinney: Responsibility for the implementation of community planning lies with the partnerships themselves. This information is not held centrally.</p> <p > </p>
17 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average administrative cost is per community planning partnership in each local authority area.
Answer · John Swinney: Responsibility for the implementation of community planning lies with the partnerships themselves. This information is not held centrally.</p> <p > </p>
10 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what Glasgow City Council's contribution has been to the 8,950 additional respite weeks identified in paragraph 2.1 of Respite Care, Scotland 2010.
Answer · Shona Robison: Between 2007-08 and 2009-10, Glasgow City Council''s recorded respite provision decreased by 3,560 weeks.</b></p>
10 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what Glasgow City Council’s contribution would be to the 8,950 additional respite weeks identified in paragraph 2.1 of Respite Care, Scotland 2010 based on the local government funding formula.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government provided an extra £4.19 million over two years to local authorities on top of the overall settlement to enable local authorities to deliver in full by 2010-11 the commitment in the concordat to progress towards delivering 10,000 extra …
10 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much respite funding Glasgow City Council will receive in its local government baseline for 2011-12.
Answer · Shona Robison: In assessing the overall level of funding to be provided to local authorities in 2011-12, the Scottish Government has negotiated a funding package with the COSLA leadership. For each local authority to secure its share of that package, it will be required to …
10 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the additional £4 million Scottish Government funding for respite provision Glasgow City Council received in 2009-10 and has received in 2010-11.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government allocated Glasgow City Council an additional £0.165 million in 2009-10 and £0.332 million in 2010-11 for the provision of respite. This, together with allocations to the other local authorities, was on top of the overall local governme…
10 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many respite weeks Glasgow City Council provided in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09 and (c) 2009-10.
Answer · Shona Robison: The information requested is given in Annex 1 on page 13 of An Official Statistics Publication for Scotland: Respite Care, Scotland 2010 published by the Scottish Government on 28 September 2010, a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Informa…
25 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will receive Barnett consequentials as a result of the £4.4 million recently announced by the Minister of State for Care Services for awareness-raising and capacity-building projects for carers in England.
Answer · Shona Robison: The £4.4 million announced by the Minister for Care Services in October 2010 is not new investment. It is being reinvested from the Caring with Confidence programme which came to an end in July 2010. Therefore this money does not carry any Barnett consequenti…
20 Aug 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ask the fuel poverty forum what impact the removal of winter fuel allowance from people aged 60 to 65 would have on fuel poverty.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum has considered the issue of the winter fuel allowance. In its report published in October 2008 it recommended that the Westminster Government carry out a thorough review of both Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments to…
20 Aug 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged 60 to 65 are in fuel poverty.
Answer · Alex Neil: In 2008 (the most recent year for which figures are available), there were approximately 137,000 people aged between 60 and 65 (inclusive) living in fuel poverty.</p>
20 Aug 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact it considers raising the age threshold for receipt of the winter fuel allowance to 66 will have on fuel poverty
Answer · Alex Neil: The Winter Fuel Payment is included in the annual household income which is used to calculate fuel poverty. If this is deducted from the income of all 60 to 65 year olds approximately 1,100 more households would be in fuel poverty.</p>
20 Aug 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged 60 to 65 receive the winter fuel allowance.
Answer · Alex Neil: DWP have informed the Scottish Government that for winter 2008-09 (the latest period for which figures are available) there were 3,282,870 winter fuel payment recipients aged between 60 and 64 in Great Britain as a whole and 289,030 in Scotland. They expect t…
4 Aug 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it would have cost to keep Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi under supervision (a) in a hospice and (b) at home since his release from prison.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Advice from Strathclyde police, at the time of Mr Al-Megrahi''s release, indicated that, if Mr Al Megrahi had been released to his home in Newton Mearns, the cost of maintaining the appropriate level of protection would have been in the region of £100,000 a w…
23 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost is of building a primary school with pupil numbers between 400 and 450.
Answer · Keith Brown: The information that would be needed to calculate, by pupil numbers, an average cost of building a school is not held by the Scottish Government. Therefore, we are not able to provide an average cost for building a primary school with between 400 and 450 pupi…
27 May 2010 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what further progress has been made in response to the campaign championed by Ryan McLaughlin with regard to the importance of taking vitamin D supplements to combat multiple sclerosis and potentially other illnesses.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: We are working closely with the McLaughlin family and the Multiple Sclerosis Society to support a summit on vitamin D. Unfortunately the summit was postponed in May because of the volcanic ash, but has been rescheduled for 21 September 2010.</p> <p >In addit…
22 Apr 2010 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations the Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution has made to Culture and Sport Glasgow regarding its decision to close 12 community centres throughout Glasgow and what the current situation is regarding community buy-outs of these facilities.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: This is a matter for Glasgow City Council and local communities in Glasgow. However, I understand that efforts are underway locally to find alternatives to closure of these facilities or alternative ways of meeting the needs of communities where these facilit…
4 Mar 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether a judge, at any level, can hear an appeal regarding a case that he or she heard in the first instance.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: There is no written rule about this, but for reasons of common sense judges do not sit on appeals against their own decisions.</p> <p >In civil procedure, this is avoided institutionally by the existence of the separate appellate judiciary of the Inner Hous…
23 Feb 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the proposed timeframe is for the creation of a Scottish academy of literature and what further steps the Literature Working Group plans to take regarding its implementation.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-31895 on 5 March 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…
23 Feb 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Literature Working Group plans to include playwrights in the Scottish academy of literature.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-31895 on 5 March 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…
23 Feb 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the goals of the Literature Working Group are regarding the creation of a Scottish academy of literature.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-31895 on 5 March 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…
23 Feb 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will respond to the Literature Working Group’s recommendations for the establishment of a (a) Scottish academy of literature, (b) Gaelic literary magazine, (c) government body to report on public libraries, (d) compulsory question at higher grade on Scottish literature and (e) sepa…
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Literature Working Group was tasked with recommending a new approach to public sector support for literature, focussing particularly on writing and publishing. The independent group''s report was published on 12 February 2010. I have written to the Chief …
11 Feb 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many violent crimes were reported in each of the last 10 years.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Information on the number of violent crimes recorded by the police over the last ten years is given in tables 1 and 2 of the annual statistical bulletin series Recorded Crime in Scotland. The statistical bulletin Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2008-09 can be obt…