Parliamentary questions
George Foulkes
1,927 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
12 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail all occasions on which the First Minister has visited a homelessness project since May 2007.
Answer · John Swinney: The First Minister has supported a variety of homelessness initiatives, including:</p> <p >Hosting reception for Scotland''s victorious Homeless World Cup team on 25 September 2007.</p> <p >Interview with <i >The Big Issue</i> magazine on 16 January 2008.…
12 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail all occasions on which the First Minister has visited a care home since May 2007.
Answer · John Swinney: The First Minister visited the Erskine Home for Veterans on 6 February 2008.</p>
12 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is a financial cost associated with an independence referendum.
Answer · Michael Russell: The forthcoming Referendum Bill will be accompanied by a detailed Financial Memorandum which will set out the government''s best estimates of the cost of holding the referendum.</p>
12 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the dates, locations and agenda topics, with particular reference to local income tax, of meetings between that the Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism and members of the business community, including Brian Souter, Donald Macdonald and Sir Tom Farmer, in 2009.
Answer · John Swinney: The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism has had a number of meetings with members of the business community in 2009 to discuss matters of mutual interest. However, local income tax has not been an agenda item for any of these meetings.</p> <p >Additi…
12 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the dates, locations and agenda topics, with particular reference to local income tax, of meetings between the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth and members of the business community, including Brian Souter, Donald Macdonald and Sir Tom Farmer, in 2…
Answer · John Swinney: The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth has had a number of meetings with members of the business community in 2009 to discuss matters of mutual interest.</p> <p >However, local income tax has not been an agenda item for any of these meeting…
12 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the dates, locations and agenda topics, with particular reference to local income tax, of meetings between the First Minister and members of the business community, including Brian Souter, Donald Macdonald and Sir Tom Farmer, in 2009.
Answer · John Swinney: The First Minister has had a number of meetings with members of the business community in 2009 to discuss matters of mutual interest. However, Local Income Tax has not been an agenda item for any of these meetings.</p> <p >Additionally, the First Minister ha…
11 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18397 by Nicola Sturgeon on 7 January 2009, when it expects to (a) evaluate and (b) publish responses to the National Conversation; how it plans to do this, and how much it anticipates that this will cost.
Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-18397 on 7 January 2009, which made clear that the Scottish Government and its officials are evaluating contributions to the National Conversation on an on-going basis. Work on the National Conversation is done…
11 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail (a) the total cost of hospitality for and (b) how many people attended each National Conversation event.
Answer · Michael Russell: Over 483,000 hits on the National Conversation website; 37,000 people accessing <i >Choosing Scotland''s Future</i> online, and more than 2500 people attending events organised as part of the National Conversation demonstrates widespread enthusiasm for debat…
11 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the travel costs, including foreign trips, associated with the National Conversation, indicating the minister and officials involved.
Answer · Michael Russell: National Conversation activity by ministers and officials is normally conducted as part of a programme of Scottish Government business in a particular area. As a result no additional travel costs which can be directly attributed to the National Conversation a…
11 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail its spending commitments to the National Conversation for 2009-10.
Answer · Michael Russell: Expenditure on the National Conversation during 2009-10 will be sufficient to ensure that the people of Scotland have the opportunity to debate the options set out in <i >Choosing Scotland''s Future</i> before reaching a decision in a referendum in autumn 201…
11 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the organisations, groups or agencies that have been awarded funds to participate in the National Conversation, detailing the value and terms of each award.
Answer · Michael Russell: The following table shows grants paid to organisations in respect of the National Conversation:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td valign=top > <p align=center >Organisation</p> </td> <td valign=top > <p …
2 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether all written contributions to the National Conversation must carry a name and postal address to be regarded as valid.
Answer · Michael Russell: No. There are a variety of ways to contribute to the National Conversation about Scotland''s future. Contributions made via the National Conversation website are considered valid if they are posted in accordance with the moderating criteria set out in answer …
2 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the reputation of the National Conversation would be enhanced if the IP addresses of online contributors were routinely collected and compared for consistency with the stated location of such contributors.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The general privacy statement on the Scottish Government''s main website, which includes the National Conversation pages, states that any analytical data collected will not be used to identify any user personally. This approach is consistent with conventions …
29 Jan 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on all aspects of the Working Group on Scotland Without Nuclear Weapons.
Answer · Bruce Crawford: The total spent on the Working Group on Scotland Without Nuclear Weapons to date is £117.58.</p>
29 Jan 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive who is responsible for making the final decision regarding the invitation lists for official engagements organised by it.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-20319 on 12 February 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…
29 Jan 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive to what official engagements organised by it since May 2007 local MPs have been invited.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government publishes on a quarterly basis on the Scottish Government website (<a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/14944/hospitality">http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/14944/hospitality</a>) the guest lists of those who have accepted an invit…
29 Jan 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) its policy is and (b) the arrangements are for inviting local MPs and MSPs to official functions organised by it.
Answer · John Swinney: There is no policy regarding this issue, however, the commissioning policy area within the Scottish Government in consultation with stakeholders and the ministerial host determine the compilation of invitation lists for official engagements organised by the S…
26 Jan 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-19757 by Fiona Hyslop on 23 January 2009, which minister attended each meeting and what topics were discussed.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The following table provides information on which Scottish minister attended which meeting with the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) and what topics were discussed.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td …
26 Jan 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-19167 by Stewart Stevenson on 19 January 2009, what the purpose was of each visit to Barcelona by Guy Houston of Transport Scotland and when each meeting took place.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Mr Houston visited Barcelona between 1 and 5 July 2008 to attend the Transfin 2008 Conference. The conference, attended by delegates from across the world, discussed the financing of transport and infrastructure projects.</p>
26 Jan 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-19396 by John Swinney on 19 January 2009, how many members of the senior civil service were considered for the post of chief executive of Transport Scotland; what criteria were used in making the appointment, and what the terms are of Mr Middleton’s …
Answer · John Swinney: David Middleton was selected for appointment as the new Chief Executive of Transport Scotland, taking into account the skills and experience required for the post, from the group of around 40 Director level staff within the Scottish Government. He will take u…
26 Jan 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-19159 by John Swinney on 19 January 2009, on what terms the chief executive of Transport Scotland will retire.
Answer · John Swinney: The Chief Executive of Transport Scotland is leaving the Scottish Government on normal retirement terms in line with the Civil Service Pension arrangements.</p>
26 Jan 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to questions S3W-19163 and S3W-19170 by Stewart Stevenson on 19 January 2009 and given that Transport Scotland has 291 employees and this figure does not include consultants, for what reasons it considers it impossible to separate out the cost of consultancy work.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The suppliers who provide consultancy advice to Transport Scotland are often responsible for wider service provision as part of an overall package. This could include engineering and support services. For this reason it is not always possible to separate out …
26 Jan 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-19169 by Stewart Stevenson on 19 January 2009, what elements are included in Transport Scotland’s budget for communications.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The communications budget of £115,000 for 2007-08 covered the preparation and publishing of a range of corporate documents and publicity material, the distribution of press releases, and running the Transport Scotland website.</p>
22 Jan 2009 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many newly qualified teachers will graduate from Scottish educational institutions this year.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: For the purposes of teacher workforce planning we estimate that around 3,100 new teachers will go on to be employed in the probationer induction scheme.</p>
14 Jan 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many accounts submitted to it by contractors had not been settled within a 10-day period as at 10 January 2009, also expressed as a percentage of the transactions paid within that period.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government monitor payment performance on a monthly basis and information is collated by calendar month. During the month of December 2008, the Scottish Government paid 12,032 transactions within 10 working days. This equates to approximately 84%…
14 Jan 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many accounts submitted to it by contractors had not been settled within a 10-day period as at 10 December 2008, also expressed as a percentage of the transactions paid within that period.
Answer · John Swinney: Between 11 November and 10 December, the Scottish Government paid 9,897 transactions within 10 working days. This equates to approximately 61% of transactions paid within the period.</p> <p >The Scottish Government has established a monitoring process which …
14 Jan 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list meetings that it has had with representatives of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama since May 2007, broken down by date and location.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Our records show that the following meetings with representatives of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) have taken place since May 2007:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td width=139 valign=top > …
14 Jan 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what targets have been set in relation to the First Minister’s commitment to “building an economy that is the envy of Europe” and to turning Scotland into a “Celtic lion” economy as outlined in a speech at Harvard University on 31 March 2008, and how success in this area will be measured.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government has defined its purpose as increasing sustainable economic growth. The purpose lies at the heart of the economic aspirations for Scotland in the First Minister''s speech to Harvard University. A set of seven targets to measure success …
14 Jan 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards achieving the First Minister’s commitment to “building an economy that is the envy of Europe”, as outlined in a speech at Harvard University on 31 March 2008, and what contribution the Small Business Bonus Scheme will make in this area.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government has defined its purpose as increasing sustainable economic growth. Progress is being made through implementation of the <i >Government Economic Strategy</i>, which set out seven targets to measure success in delivering the purpose.</p>…
14 Jan 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards turning Scotland into a “Celtic lion” economy, described by the First Minister in a speech at Harvard University on 31 March 2008 as the “defining mission” of the Scottish Government, and what contribution the Small Business Bonus Scheme will make in th…
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government has defined its purpose as increasing sustainable economic growth. Progress is being made through implementation of the <i >Government Economic Strategy</i>, which set out seven targets to measure success in delivering the Purpose.</p>…