Parliamentary questions
George Foulkes
1,927 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
23 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the salary scales are for each Scottish Futures Trust post advertised in Scotland on Sunday on 21 June 2009.
Answer · John Swinney: I have asked Barry White, Chief Executive of the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The salary scales will be made public pending appointments in accordance with SFT''s publication scheme.</p>
19 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what studies have been carried out on the potential impact of the Forth Replacement Crossing on existing routes for cyclists, pedestrians and equestrians.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The environmental impact assessment being undertaken for the proposed scheme includes consideration of the potential effects on pedestrians, cyclists, equestrians and community facilities. The assessment includes the identification of local paths, core paths,…
19 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what studies have been carried out on the potential effect on local wildlife of building the Forth Replacement Crossing.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The environmental impact assessment being undertaken for the proposed scheme includes consideration of ecology and nature conservation. Ecological surveys have been carried out over an extensive corridor covering a wide array of species and habitats.</p> <p …
19 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what traffic studies have been undertaken in connection with the Forth Replacement Crossing.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Traffic studies for the Forth Replacement Crossing project have been undertaken using the Transport Model for Scotland (TMfS), with micro-simulation modelling to assess local traffic movement. The modelled base year is 2005 and the traffic model assignments w…
19 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings have been held with (a) MSPs and (b) local people concerning the Forth Replacement Crossing, showing the dates, locations and who was invited.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The ongoing Forth Replacement Crossing Communications Strategy has involved significant and sustained engagement with affected communities, more widely affected or interested stakeholders, and the appropriate elected members.</p> <p >Community engagement tak…
18 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail the cost, including that of ministerial aides, civil servants, travel and hospitality, associated with the National Conversation event that was held in Livingston on 16 June 2009.
Answer · Michael Russell: The event held in Livingston on 16 June 2009 cost approximately £3,300 including venue hire, catering, audio visual support and official travel.</p>
18 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the invitation list for the National Conversation event that was held in Livingston on 16 June 2009.
Answer · Michael Russell: In line with Scottish Government policy, we do not intend to publish the invitation list for the National Conversation event held in Livingston on 16 June as it contains personal data for a number of delegates.</p> <p >However, over 170 representatives of th…
18 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it booked the venue for the National Conversation event that was held in Livingston on 16 June 2009.
Answer · Michael Russell: The Howden Park Centre, the venue for the National Conversation event held in Livingston on 16 June, was booked on 18 May 2009.</p>
18 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-23634 by John Swinney on 18 June 2009, on which dates and to which engagements the First Minister travelled by train.
Answer · John Swinney: The First Minister travelled from London to Edinburgh by train on 16 December on the final leg of his return journey from his official visit to Barcelona.</p>
9 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much the recent redesign of its website cost.
Answer · John Swinney: The cost of the recent redesign of the Scottish Government''s website from concept to implementation was £14,837 excluding VAT.</p>
3 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to introducing legislation to prevent people under the age of 18 from gaining access to coin-operated sunbeds.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Public Health etc. (Scotland) Act 2008 contains provisions to regulate the use, sale and hire of sunbeds including prohibiting the use of sunbeds by under 18s and prohibiting the use of unsupervised sunbed parlours. These provisions will ensure that under…
3 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many primary schools provide one-to-one reading support.
Answer · Keith Brown: The information requested is not held centrally.</p>
3 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions ministers have had with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator about the charitable status of private schools and what the outcome has been.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Ministers have had no discussions with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) about the charitable status of private schools. The charitable status of private schools is a matter for OSCR, as an independent regulator.</p>
3 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been paid in performance-related pay to senior civil servants in the last two years.
Answer · John Swinney: Senior Civil Service pay is a reserved issue with decisions on framework taken by the UK Government. Senior civil servants (SCS) would have been eligible for both a consolidated performance pay increase and a non-consolidated performance payment. In 2007 and …
3 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the gender pay gap is in each of its directorates and agencies.
Answer · John Swinney: The gender pay gap is a comparison of the average salary of females with the average salary of males for work of equal value. For equal pay purposes, staff in the same pay range are taken as doing work of equal value.</p> <p >The information in respect of st…
3 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its expenditure on advertising has been, including for recruitment, for each of its agencies and directorates in the last two years for which information is available.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the Scottish Government website, which details the advertising spend for all advertising campaigns, by department, in the financial years 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08: </p> <p ><a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/Director…
3 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what use has been made of hire cars for ministers’ travel since May 2007; what companies have been used, and what the total cost has been.
Answer · John Swinney: The use of private hire cars for ministerial travel is shown in the following table:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td valign=top > <p align=center >Period</p> </td> <td valign=top > <p align=center >Number of Journey…
20 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the responsibilities are of the non-executive board members of Transport Scotland.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: There are two non-executive members of the Transport Scotland Board, Dr Iain Docherty and Dr Jacqueline Redmond. Both also sit on the Audit Committee, which Dr Redmond chairs. Their responsibilities are to advise the chief executive and to provide independent…
20 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings have taken place between any minister and any officer or executive of the Scottish International Education Trust.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: No meetings have taken place.</p>
20 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list what experience each member of senior management of Transport Scotland has of transport in the private sector in the United Kingdom or elsewhere.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: All Transport Scotland senior management regularly have experience working with private sector transport operators on issues relevant to their responsibilities. In addition, the Director of Rail Delivery and the Director of Major Transport Infrastructure Proj…
20 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether all severance, early retirement or redundancies of Scottish Government staff have complied with paragraph 6 of the Severance, Early Retirement and Redundancy Terms, published in January 2006 and updated on Monday 19 November 2007.
Answer · John Swinney: Where Scottish Government staff are given the opportunity to leave early under the Civil Service Compensation Scheme early severance or early retirement terms, their leaving arrangements require to take account of the guidance detailed in paragraph six of the…
20 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the differences in accountability and responsibility are between agencies such as Transport Scotland and the Scottish Prison Service and the directorates of the Scottish Government in areas like finance, staffing and operational matters.
Answer · John Swinney: Government agencies and directorates form constituent parts of the Scottish administration. They are financed from the Scottish block and are bound by the same requirements of propriety and regularity, and the general financial and accounting principles and g…
20 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the arrangements are for the appointment of a new chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service and what changes there are in the terms of reference and conditions of employment as compared with the present incumbent.
Answer · John Swinney: Arrangements for the appointment of a new chief executive will be put in place in due course. Terms of reference and conditions of appointment cannot be finalised until an appointment is made.</p>
20 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the arrangements are for the departure of the chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service to work with the Scottish International Educational Trust.
Answer · John Swinney: Mike Ewart, the current Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, will take early retirement in March 2010. It would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment on information regarding his future employment plans.</p>
15 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what efficiency savings have been made by the Office of the First Minister since May 2007 and how much is attributed to the (a) First Minister, (b) Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution and (c) Minister for Parliamentary Business.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to his question S3W-21400 on 4 March 2009. 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/App…
13 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what changes have been made to the senior management structure of Transport Scotland since the departure of Malcolm Reed as chief executive.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Prior to the retirement of Dr Reed, the responsibilities of the Director of Finance and Corporate Services post were combined with those of the Director of Business Improvement, as an interim measure. The Permanent Secretary has agreed with the current Chief …
13 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what efficiency savings have been made by Transport Scotland since May 2007.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21400 on 4 March 2009. 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/B…
13 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what efficiency savings have been made by the Directorate for Culture, External Affairs and Tourism since May 2007.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21400, on 4 March 2009 and S3W-24040, on 27 May. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at: </p> <p ><a href="http…
13 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many voluntary redundancies there have been in each of its directorates and agencies since May 2007.
Answer · John Swinney: There have been limited opportunities since May 2007 for Scottish Government employees to leave on a voluntary basis under the Approved Early Retirement and Flexible Early Retirement/Severance provisions offered under the Civil Service Compensation Scheme arr…
13 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what targets for recycling have been given to each of its directorates and agencies and what the latest achievement figures are for each.
Answer · John Swinney: The core Scottish Government has an internal target to reduce the amount of office waste going to landfill, by recycling 80% of its total waste by March 2011. The figures achieved in 2007-08 were:</p> <p align=left >17 per cent less waste produced than in t…