Parliamentary questions
Liam McArthur
3,646 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
18 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the deadline for compliance with the clinical audit requirements for salaried dentists has been postponed and, if so, for what reason.
Answer · Michael Matheson: There has been no general extension to the deadline for compliance with the clinical audit requirements for salaried general dental practitioners. However, for those dentists who have been given approval by NHS Education for Scotland for clinical audits wher…
18 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what sanctions NHS Education for Scotland has available to ensure compliance with the clinical audit cycle requirements for salaried dentists.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Responsibility for compliance with the clinical audit requirements by salaried general dental practitioners lies with NHS boards. Sanctions available could include referral to the board’s internal disciplinary procedures.
18 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the deadline is for compliance with the audit cycle requirements for salaried dentists.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Salaried general dental practitioners (SGDPs) on a dental list on 1 August 2010 were required to undertake 15 hours of clinical audit activities by 31 July 2013, or a pro-rata number of hours for those SGDPs who joined a list after 1 August 2010. It was expe…
18 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the objectives are of requiring all salaried dentists to complete clinical audits and what the audit requirements are.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Clinical audit is an important element of clinical governance which contributes to patient safety in dental primary care most commonly by setting a clinical standard and monitoring if the standard is being met. For this reason salaried general dental practiti…
11 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment the educational psychologists' workforce planning group has made of recent changes to postgraduate funding for educational psychology and their impact on the training of educational psychologists.
Answer · Michael Russell: The initial assessment made to date of recent changes to postgraduate funding for educational psychology is the small reduction in numbers of students currently in training based on previous years. However, we do not yet know what impact this will have in fut…
11 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what financial support in (a) loans and (b) bursaries is available for students studying a postgraduate course in educational psychology and how this compares with the support available in September 2011.
Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Government previously paid each student a bursary of £49,000 (£18,350 direct to universities for tuition fees and a bursary direct to students of £30,650) over two years. The new agreed funding position with the Student Awards Agency Scotland (S…
11 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of recent changes to postgraduate funding of educational psychology courses on the number of educational psychology students.
Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Government is working in partnership with the National Scottish Steering Group for Educational Psychologists to look at appropriate workforce planning at a national level. The impact of funding arrangements has been considered by the steering gro…
11 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to ensure a sustainable approach to the training of educational psychologists.
Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Government is working in partnership with the National Scottish Steering Group for Educational Psychologists to look at appropriate workforce planning at a national level. The group consists of representation from Association of Directors of Edu…
11 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether there has been a reduction in the number of students training as educational psychologists in the last three years.
Answer · Michael Russell: There has been a slight reduction in the number of students training as educational psychologists in the last three years. Numbers are set out in the following table. Year Dundee Strathclyde 2011-12 22 22 2012-13 21 22 2013-14 21 17 The Scottis…
11 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will place copies of the minutes of all meetings of the educational psychologists' workforce planning group in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).
Answer · Michael Russell: Should copies be requested then they would be issued.
11 Nov 2013 · Topical Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it is providing to the Philippines through its International Development Fund following Typhoon Haiyan.
4 Nov 2013 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has dropped plans to withdraw recognition from the Orkney Fish Producers Organisation.
31 Oct 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on introducing low-energy LED bulbs in street lights since May 2013.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Substantial progress is being made across Scotland in the development and delivery of street lighting energy efficiency projects. This programme is being supported by the following: Production of a Street Lighting Toolkit to assess potential financial and ca…
31 Oct 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what level of carbon emissions is caused by street lighting in each local authority area and what the cost saving would be of using low-energy LED bulbs.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government does not hold this information for each local authority. However, a high level assessment of the potential benefits of a pan-Scotland investment in street lighting LEDs undertaken by Scottish Futures Trust forecasts that the investment…
30 Oct 2013 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what representations it has received regarding the roll-out of high-speed broadband services in Orkney.
1 Oct 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the level of local government funding is per head of population for Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.
Answer · Derek Mackay: In 2013-14 Orkney Islands Council is in receipt of revenue funding amounting to £3,372 per head, Shetland Islands Council is receiving £,3906 per head and the Western Isles, £3,980 per head.
30 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that cyclists being nicer to motorists will result in a reduction in road accidents involving cyclists.
Answer · Keith Brown: The campaign messages called on all roads users to be more respectful towards each other with a view to supporting a reduction in road accidents involving cyclists. The campaign is intended to raise awareness about the issues that can lead to accidents. This…
30 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers the Nice Way Code campaign to have been good value for money.
Answer · Keith Brown: The evaluation of the campaign will determine how successful it has been and its value for money. Cycling Scotland anticipate that the evaluation will be completed by the end of October.
30 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many accidents involving cyclists occurred during the Nice Way Code campaign and during the same months in (a) 2012, (b) 2011 and (c) 2010.
Answer · Keith Brown: The campaign was run in August and September and the following table shows accidents involving pedal cyclists in August and September from 2010 to 2012: August September 2010 105 92 2011 74 83 2012 104 104 The statistics for 2013 are still …
30 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what feedback it has received from cycling groups regarding the Nice Way Code campaign.
Answer · Keith Brown: There has been positive feedback from various cycling groups such as CTC, Sustrans, Scottish Cycling and Cycling Scotland who all supported the campaign. There has been concerns from some other cycling groups and individual cyclists who for various reasons do…
30 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints (a) it, (b) the campaign's advertising agency and (c) any other body received about the Nice Way Code campaign and what the nature was of any such complaints.
Answer · Keith Brown: (a) Scottish Government received nine complaints directly though the Ministerial correspondence system. The nature of these complaints was as follows: Four did not like the campaign materials Three felt the money spent on the campaign could be better spent …
30 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the planned outcomes were of the Nice Way Code campaign and whether they were achieved.
Answer · Keith Brown: The planned outcomes of the campaign were to educate all road users about the importance of mutual respect, highlighting key behaviours that would help foster better relations between different road user groups and stimulate debate about these issues. The mai…
30 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what impact assessment was carried out in advance of the launch of the Nice Way Code campaign.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Nice Way Code campaign was undertaken following the success of Cycling Scotland’s Give Me Cycle Space campaign, which asks drivers to watch out for children cycling to school and give them plenty of space when passing. In 2012, 85% of drivers surveyed in …
2 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many eagle owls have escaped from captivity in each of the last five years and what action was taken or is being taken to deal with these incidents.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: It was estimated in 2008 that there were at least 3,000 eagle owls kept in the UK and that up to 65 birds escape or are lost on an annual basis. This estimate was based on the Independent Bird Register and CITES Article 10 certificates, as no register is kept…
2 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on eagle owls (a) being released into the wild and (b) escaping captivity.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The release of non-native animals can have unpredictable and serious impacts on biodiversity and human health. For these reasons it is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) to release, or allow to escape, any animal outwith its native range…
2 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what representations it has received since 2007 regarding the need for additional protection for brown hare and what its response was.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Representations were received from the Hare Preservation Trust in 2010 as part of the consultations on the Wildlife and Natural Environment Bill. The Wildlife and Natural Environment Act (Scotland) Act 2011 subsequently introduced close seasons for brown hare…
2 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether there is a need for additional protection for brown hare (a) across the country or (b) in those areas where the species is considered to be under threat.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government believes that full legal protection for brown hares is unlikely to reverse the declines that the species has experienced. Hares are shot both as game and because of the damage they can cause to crops. There is evidence that even though…
2 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many brown hare there have been in (a) Scotland and (b) Orkney in each of the last five years.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: No accurate population data for the period requested is available. The last brown hare population estimate for Scotland was in 1995. This indicated a population of 187,250 (+/- 25%). Population trend data for Scotland is available from the Game & Wildlife Con…
22 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the levels of prospective adopters; what funding it has provided to (a) charitable and (b) independent adoption providers in each year since 2008-09, broken down by organisation, and what the eligibility criteria were.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government has been working with all key organisations in the sector including local authorities, voluntary adoption agencies and other adoption services providers to improve the adoption services in Scotland and extend the reach of voluntary ado…
8 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-15816 by Kenny MacAskill on 25 July 2013, whether it will provide a breakdown of the (a) full-time and (b) part-time wildlife crime liaison officers by local policing area.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The deployment of wildlife crime liaison officers within Police Scotland is an operational matter for the Chief Constable.