Parliamentary questions

Liz Smith

954 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

17 Nov 2014 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government will take to ensure that all children receive their full two years entitlement of nursery provision.

6 Nov 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how (a) many people have been employed in and (b) much money has been generated by the film industry in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government does not hold information centrally on how many people have been employed and how much money has been generated by the film industry each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

4 Nov 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many miles of new rail line it has opened in each year since 1999.

Answer · Keith Brown: The following table shows the number of miles of rail line open in Scotland in each year since 1999: Total miles of rail lines Change since previous year (miles) 1999-00 1,696 - 2000-01 1,696 0 2001-02 1,696 0 2002-03 1,696 0 2003-04 1,696 …

4 Nov 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many miles of new road it has opened in each year since 1999.

Answer · Keith Brown: The following table shows the equivalent road lane length of new trunk road constructed or opened in each year since 1999: Year Lane-miles (estimated) 1999-00 15 2000-01 20 2001-02 3 2002-03 6 2003-04 15 2004-05 55 2005-06 67 2006-07 4 2…

4 Nov 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many children have been disciplined in relation to phone use in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Michael Russell: This information is not collated centrally. In November 2013 the Scottish Government published Guidance on Developing Policies to promote the Safe and Responsible Use of Mobile Technology in Schools. The purpose of this guidance is to provide schools and loc…

20 Oct 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will investigate tax breaks for sports clubs.

3 Oct 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what specialist child and adolescent mental health service provision there is in Scotland for people with complex autism and learning difficulties.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Ensuring that child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) meet the needs of their local population is the responsibility of NHS boards. This includes meeting the needs of children and young people with mental illness and learning disability and autism…

3 Oct 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many children and young people with (a) mental health issues, (b) challenging behaviour and (c) learning difficulties are sent to England for treatment, broken down by (i) local authority and (ii) NHS board, and who pays for such placements.

Answer · Michael Matheson: NHS National Services Scotland (National Services Division) funds placements of children and young people with mental health problems who require secure inpatient care. The following table below shows placements over the last three years and includes young pe…

3 Oct 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what inpatient psychiatric provision there is in mental health services for children with autism who do not have learning difficulties.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Mental health services for all children and young people, including those with autism, will be met by child and adolescent mental health services from the appropriate NHS board. Children and young people who require psychiatric care and who have autism would …

3 Oct 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many inpatient psychiatric units there are in Scotland for children and young people with (a) mental health issues and (b) severe learning difficulties.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The following table shows the three regional adolescent inpatient units operating across Scotland based in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee: Unit No. of beds Area served Royal Edinburgh Hospital 12 South East of Scotland (Lothian, Fife and Borders) Skye …

3 Oct 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what secure provision is available in Scotland for children and young people with mental health issues.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Young people receiving secure care in one of the five secure care centres in Scotland (Edinburgh Secure Services; the Good Shepherd Centre, Bishopton; Kibble Education and Care Centre, Paisley; Rossie Secure Accommodation Service, Montrose; St Mary’s Kenmure,…

15 Sep 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce rail journey times between Perth and other Scottish cities.

11 Aug 2014 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister how many two-year-olds from workless families will receive free childcare at the start of the new school session.

7 Aug 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the uptake of the Scottish Baccalaureate is low and, if so, what it is doing to increase uptake.

Answer · Michael Russell: As a qualification designed to meet the needs of some of our most able learners in S6, the Scottish Baccalaureate was never intended to be a high uptake award. The number of pupils taking the Scottish Baccalaureate has shown an overall increase since its intr…

5 Aug 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the SQA regarding for what reason in session 2013-14 there were 55,000 fewer presentations by pupils for national exam qualifications compared with session 2012-13.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government regularly holds discussions with the SQA on many issues relating to the national qualifications. It was to be expected that the total number of entries would be lower this year than last. This primarily reflects the changing patterns…

21 Jul 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-21946 by Aileen Campbell on 14 July 2014, when it will publish the public information materials.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government has now published the public information materials. The information campaign commenced on 21 July 2014.

21 Jul 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-21945 by Aileen Campbell on 14 July 2014, whether it will provide the information that was requested and confirm when the need for a three-month delay in the legal duty was first raised with Scottish Government officials.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: There have been ongoing discussions with COSLA on this issue. The need to move the commencement date of the legal duty in relation to eligible two-year-olds to 31 October 2014 was first raised with Scottish Government officials on 18 June 2014 and agreed with…

21 Jul 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-21840 by Aileen Campbell on 10 July 2014, whether it will provide the information that was requested and confirm how many two-year-olds from workless households will be eligible to receive free childcare provision from August 2014.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: It is estimated that under the qualifying criteria specified in the Provision of Early Learning and Childcare (Specified Children) (Scotland) Order 2014, around 5,000 two-year-olds with parents on qualifying benefits will be eligible for the entitlement to ea…

11 Jul 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the relevant governing body regarding where an independent Scotland would locate the main national training facility for (a) aquatics, (b) archery, (c) badminton, (d) basketball, (e) boxing, (f) canoeing and kayaking, (g) cycling, (h) equestrian events, (…

Answer · Shona Robison: Scotland already has excellent national training facilities such as the national swimming centre at Stirling, the national judo centre at Ratho and the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome among others. I have asked the chief executive of sportscotland to provide you with…

27 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which (a) NHS boards and (b) local authorities are operating a named person scheme.

Answer · Alex Neil: Community Planning Partnerships across Scotland are currently implementing a non-statutory version of the named person role on a voluntary basis, with positive results and experiences. Our understanding is that some of the local authorities and NHS boards who…

27 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, following the coming into force of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, how many hours per month it expects named persons who are teachers to spend fulfilling their obligations as a named person; what additional resources it will provide to schools to provide a named perso…

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The additional resources for local authorities implementation of named person duties are set out in the financial memorandum, including the additional time associated with the role. This can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/S4_Bills/Children%20…

26 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will inform parents from workless households of the expansion of childcare provision.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government is developing public information materials to raise awareness of the increased funded hours of early learning and childcare and extended eligibility for vulnerable two year olds.

26 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussion it had with COSLA regarding the Provision of Early Learning and Childcare (Specified Children) (Scotland) Order 2014 [draft] and when the need for a three-month delay in the legal duty was first raised with Scottish Government officials.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: There have been ongoing discussions with COSLA on this issue, and assessment of local authorities’ progress towards delivering the funded early learning and childcare entitlement to eligible 2 year olds. On 19th June 2014, the Scottish Government agreed with…

26 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the “outstanding and unresolved issues” are that are referred to in paragraph 15 of the policy note accompanying the Provision of Early Learning and Childcare (Specified Children) (Scotland) Order 2014 [draft] and how many local authorities it expects to experience them.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: A joint assessment by the Scottish Government and COSLA has confirmed that every local authority has plans in place to deliver the new provision for eligible 2 year olds in August 2014. To ensure they are ready to deliver this new provision, local authoritie…

26 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 3,440 two-year-olds in workless families will be guaranteed a childcare place at the start of August 2014.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-21840 on 10 July 2014. 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/parliamentarybusi…

19 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many two-year-olds from workless households will be eligible to receive free childcare provision from August 2014.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: We estimate that 3,400 two year olds from workless households will start their entitlement from the beginning of the autumn term in August. This is in addition to an estimated 1,184 two year olds whose entitlement is set out on the face of the Children and Y…

16 Jun 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is publicising to parents the expansion of childcare provision.

12 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4O-03321 by Shona Robison on 5 June 2014 (Official Report, c. 31883), whether it will inform members of any future access to the special reserve fund and the reasons why ministers considered that the "exceptional circumstances" criteria referred to at …

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is providing up to £381.6 million of funding for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games which are firmly on course to deliver within budget. In the preliminary stages of planning these Games, it was identified that a prudent budget posi…

12 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4O-03321 by Shona Robison on 5 June 2014 (Official Report, c. 31883), how the £800,000 notionally committed from the special reserve satisfies the "exceptional circumstances" criteria referred to at paragraph 39 of the paper, Commonwealth Games 2014 Pr…

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-21741 on 26 June 2014. 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/parliamentarybu…

12 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its definition is of the “exceptional circumstances” referred to at paragraph 39 of the paper, Commonwealth Games 2014 Progress report 2: Planning for the delivery of the XXth Games, under which the special reserve for the Commonwealth Games can be drawn down.