Liz Smith

11 Jan 2016 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what criteria the Scottish Government is using to allocate funding and teacher support for schools in deprived communities.

5 Jan 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in encouraging young people to try golf.

21 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many full school inspections have taken place in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each year since 2000.

Answer · Angela Constance: Education Scotland, our national improvement agency for education, undertakes a wide range of activities to promote assurance and improvement in the quality of education provided by Scottish schools, including undertaking a sample of full inspections annually…

21 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) since 5 August 2015 regarding the method of payments made to cover the costs of requests to review marking of SQA examinations.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government is in frequent discussion with the Scottish Qualifications Authority on a range of matters relating to the national qualifications, including the post results services.

14 Dec 2015 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in processing applications for rural payments, and how many payments have yet to be made.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: As I indicated earlier, the Scottish Government has now issued payments to around 3,500 farmers and crofters with a total value of around £33 million. Payments to the majority of farmers and crofters will continue throughout January 2016, with all final insta…

10 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has allocated to flooding schemes for 2016, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Aileen McLeod: The Scottish Government provides funding of £42 million a year through the local government settlement until 2015-16, for local authorities to continue to invest in major new flood protection schemes. Local authorities were able to apply for this funding on t…

10 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many cleaners have been employed by each NHS board in each year since 1999.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-28621 on 2 December 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentary…

10 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many attacks there have been on (a) ambulance, (b) fire and rescue and (c) accident and emergency personnel in each year since 1999, and how many led to a (i) prosecution and (ii) conviction.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Data on attacks against ambulance, fire and rescue and accident and emergency personnel is not held in the format requested. Since 2009-10, and following the introduction of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005, all of Scotland’s legacy police forces (no…

10 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided to support tennis projects in each year since 1999.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: sportscotland capital funding into tennis projects in each year since 1999 (key capital programmes: Sports Facilities Fund and Legacy 2014 Active Places Fund). This funding comprises of Scottish Government and lottery funding. Additionally, this funding is f…

2 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what grants it has provided to Linlithgow’s Party at the Palace event and its organisers.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government has not provided any grants to Linlithgow’s Party at the Palace event and its organisers, nor has it been approached for funding. Event Scotland supported the event through their national programme in 2015 where £10,000 was spent on m…

2 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which ministers have met representatives of Linlithgow’s Party at the Palace and on what dates.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government has received no requests from representatives of Linlithgow’s Party at the Palace for meetings with ministers. There have been no meetings with Linlithgow’s Party at the Palace in a ministerial capacity.

25 Nov 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been (a) reported to the procurator fiscal and (b) fined by their local authority for illegal dumping in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Frank Mulholland QC: Illegal dumping or fly-tipping is covered by section 33(1)(a) and (6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 which makes it an offence to deposit “controlled waste” unless the deposit is authorised by a waste management licence. The following table contains…

25 Nov 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) it has and (b) each of its agencies have spent on commissioning (i) opinion polls and (ii) research by focus groups in each year since 1999.

Answer · John Swinney: Opinion polls: (a) (i) The Scottish Government has not commissioned opinion polls during this period and therefore does not hold the cost information requested. (b) (i) We are unable to provide information on opinion polls commissioned by Scottish Governmen…

19 Nov 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many children have been home schooled in each year since 1999.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: The information being requested was first published in 2002 and was discontinued in 2009. The 2002 publication includes data for the 2000-01 and 2001-02 school year. The link below to the Scottish Government website provides the annual publications for each …

19 Nov 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many cleaning staff have been employed in NHS Scotland in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Shona Robison: While information on how many cleaning staff have been directly employed in each NHS board in each year since 1999 is not centrally held, information on the pre- Agenda for Change ancillary staff group from 30 September 1999 to 30 September 2006 is published …

19 Nov 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the projected cost is of the delayed implementation of the new IT system for the NHS24 Future Programme.

Answer · Shona Robison: NHS24 are carrying out a full review, and will be looking to reintroduce the system as soon as it is safe to do so. Any costs arising from the decision to pause the system will be assessed once this has happened.

18 Nov 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in establishing new regional development officer posts as part of the £10 million investment to develop club sport.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: I have asked the Chief Executive of sportscotland, Stewart Harris, to write to you directly and provide you with a detailed update.

18 Nov 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the £10 million investment to develop club sport has been spent.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: I have asked the Chief Executive of sportscotland, Stewart Harris, to write to you directly and provide you with a detailed update.

18 Nov 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the pilot scheme in England to move some statutory advertising online will have on its advertising policy.

Answer · John Swinney: It is not yet possible to know what impact or lessons might be drawn from the pilots, given they have not yet been evaluated.

17 Nov 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) total and (b) average debt of students from the 20% poorest backgrounds has been in each year since 2011-12, and what information it has regarding how this compares with students from (i) Wales and (ii) Northern Ireland.

Answer · Angela Constance: The data requested are not held centrally. The Student Loans Company is responsible for publishing data on student loans, debt and repayment for Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The latest Student Loans Company figures show that, for students …

16 Nov 2015 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what discussions the Scottish Government has had with NHS24 regarding the provision of winter resilience measures.

6 Nov 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time is to see a hearing specialist, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Shona Robison: The average waiting time to see a hearing specialist is not available centrally as audiology data is collected from an aggregate return and not based on individual patient records. Information is available against the 18 weeks referral to treatment standard –…

6 Nov 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are waiting for a hearing aid, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Shona Robison: The number of patients on the waiting list for the fitting of hearing aids on 30 June 2015 by NHS board is provided in the following table: NHS Board Number of Patients Waiting Ayrshire and Arran 945 Borders 246 Dumfries and Galloway 165 Fife * For…

26 Oct 2015 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to establish a small business conciliation service.

Answer · John Swinney: The UK Government intends to establish a Small Business Commissioner (which replaced their proposals for a small business conciliation service) as part of the provisions in the Enterprise Bill. The Scottish Government is discussing the provisions of the Enter…

19 Oct 2015 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with third sector organisations regarding changes to funding allocated under schemes such as the Community Innovation Fund.

13 Oct 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it became aware that criminal charges had been brought against the Moray-based teacher and named person for pupils who was recently convicted for child sex offences.

Answer · Angela Constance: Scottish Ministers were not informed in advance that criminal charges would be laid against the teacher concerned. However, the teacher's employer and the General Teaching Council for Scotland were informed and took appropriate actions to suspend the individu…

30 Sep 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which ministers met Geoff Ellis of DF Concerts to discuss the £150,000 grant provided to T in the Park and on what dates.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-26910 on 14 August 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentaryb…

30 Sep 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date in July 2015 the letter from Malcolm Pentland, Head of Major Events, on behalf of the Scottish Government was sent to DF Concerts outlining the powers under section 23 of the National Heritage (Scotland) Act 1985 as they affected the conditions of the £150,000 grant provided…

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The letter from the Scottish Government offering DF Concerts and Events a one off grant of £150,000 to support the transition of the T in the Park event from Balado to Strathallan was sent on 2 July 2015. It was published by the Scottish Government on 28 Sept…

21 Sep 2015 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what discussions the Scottish Government has had with the Scottish Rugby Union about the safety of pupils playing rugby in schools.

17 Sep 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many fines have been issued and how much has been raised as a result of average speed cameras since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Derek Mackay: This information is not held by the Scottish Government. This is a matter for Police Scotland.