Liz Smith

6 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the resolution of the European Parliament on protecting wilderness, INI/2008/2210, and whether it will adhere to this as part of the Year of Natural Scotland, 2013.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government has noted the 2009 European Parliament resolution “Wilderness in Europe” which was adopted by that Parliament on the basis that no new legislation would be required to achieve its aims. The Scottish Government is also aware that wilder…

29 Jan 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what air ambulance provision there is across Scotland.

16 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the delivery of health services in relation to projected population changes.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government takes account of population change and projected population change in determining funding for the provision of health care services and the allocation of those funds between health boards. The delivery of health services is the respons…

14 Jan 2013 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what recent discussions the Scottish Government has had with NHS boards about appointment procedures for senior health managers.

29 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many reports its directorates have made of lost documents since 2007.

Answer · John Swinney: Scottish Government directorates have made six reports of lost documents since 2007. This answer is related to that provided to S4W-12062 on 28 January 2013, which states that seven documents were lost during the same timeframe. One report was related to the…

29 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many documents it has lost since 2007.

Answer · John Swinney: Since 2007, the Scottish Government has lost 7 documents. The Scottish Government generally (but not exclusively) defines a data “loss” as being an incident where official information has inadvertently or deliberately left Scottish Government premises or its…

21 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action has been taken to promote the pilot confidential alert line for NHS staff.

Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-12049 on 28 January 2012. Promotion of the alert line will be included in the contract with the provider. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search fa…

21 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many calls have been received by the pilot confidential alert line for NHS staff.

Answer · Alex Neil: We are in the process of procuring a service provider for the national confidential alert line for NHSScotland staff. It is envisaged that the line will be operational in the Spring of 2013.

17 Dec 2012 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what provisions it is making with local authorities for the allocation of the additional £1 million for musical instrument tuition in schools.

11 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has made available to local authorities to build flood defence schemes in each year since 1999.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Flood and Coast Protection budgets for 2001-02 to 2007-08 as detailed in the Spring Budget Revision each year are: Year* Budget (£m) 2001-02 0.6 2002-03 1.2 2003-04 2.0 2004-05 10.8 2005-06 6.4 2006-07 14.8 2007-08 38.9 * N…

11 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of flooding risks to communities.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) published the first ever National Flood Risk Assessment (NFRA) in December 2011. The NFRA pulls together all the latest information relating to the sources and impacts of flooding, and is a major step forwar…

11 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many local authorities have requested assistance to implement flood defence schemes.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Funding for flood risk management is included in the General Capital Grant to Local authorities and is valued at £42 million per annum in each year of the current spending review. In agreement with COSLA it was separately identified, and local authorities can…

11 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many flood mitigation issues have been identified by local authorities.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The National Flood Risk Assessment published in December 2011 revealed that around 125,000 properties in Scotland are at risk from flooding; this represents one in 22 homes and one in 13 businesses.

4 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what strategy is being developed by the Police Service of Scotland to ensure the safety of children on school buses.

Answer · Keith Brown: Ensuring the safety and roadworthiness of vehicles is a reserved matter. It is the responsibility of The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) to enforce these standards, ensuring the compliance of operators and drivers and supporting the independent Tr…

4 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many random spot checks on school buses have been carried out by each local authority in each year since 1999.

Answer · Keith Brown: Ensuring the safety and roadworthiness of vehicles is a reserved matter. It is the responsibility of The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) to enforce these standards, ensuring the compliance of operators and drivers and supporting the independent Tr…

4 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many random spot checks on school buses have been carried out by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency in each year since 2003 and how many buses failed.

Answer · Keith Brown: Ensuring the safety and roadworthiness of vehicles is a reserved matter. It is the responsibility of The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) to enforce these standards, ensuring the compliance of operators and drivers and supporting the independent Tr…

4 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many inspections of school buses have been carried out by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency in each year since 2003.

Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-11664 on 18 December 2012. 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/parliamenta…

3 Dec 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to councils to bring forward investment in flood defence schemes.

20 Nov 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs there are in the renewable energy sector, broken down by category.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Scottish Renewables estimate that there were 11,136 full time equivalent (FTE) posts directly supported by the renewables industry and its supply chain in 2011-12. These are broken down as follows: Sector FTEs Bioenergy 1,410 Grid 3,223 Solar and Heat…

19 Nov 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support will be available in 2013-14 for higher and further education students from the most deprived backgrounds.

5 Nov 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of the impact of the closure of rural GP surgeries.

5 Nov 2012 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what support the Scottish Government is providing to female college students.

30 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what communications it has sent to the forestry industry regarding the Chalara fraxinea fungus.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-10702 on 13 November 2012. 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/parliamenta…

30 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what communications it has sent to farmers regarding the Chalara fraxinea fungus.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Forestry Commission Scotland has sent out two briefing notes (8 and 30 October 2012) on Chalara to its stakeholders and these are also published on its website. These briefing notes are aimed at raising awareness of the threat posed by the Chalara fraxinea fu…

30 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions Forestry Commission Scotland has had with partner organisations across the UK on the Chalara fraxinea fungus.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Forestry Commission Scotland and the Scottish Government have worked closely with other parts of the Forestry Commission and Defra regarding the Chalara fraxinea fungus and through them have maintained close contact with the Welsh Government and the Departmen…

30 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what research it has undertaken into the Chalara fraxinea fungus.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Research into Chalara fraxinea fungus is undertaken by the Forestry Commission research agency. As part of the devolution process it was agreed that the research agency, Forest Research, would primarily be funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Ru…

29 Oct 2012 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War.

22 Oct 2012 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government considers that wind farms do not have a negative impact on the landscape.

15 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what instructions the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning and his officials have issued to the Scottish Qualifications Authority regarding which topics in the new National 5 and higher English examinations will be mandatory rather than optional.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-10260 on 12 November 2012. 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/parliamenta…

15 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what instructions the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning and his officials have issued to the Scottish Qualifications Authority regarding the subject content to be included in the new National 5 and higher English examinations.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: As announced on 25 January 2012, Ministers accepted the recommendation of the Scottish Studies Working Group that a specific element on Scottish texts should be included in the external course assessment for the new Higher English courses. This was later exte…