Parliamentary questions
Anne McTaggart
235 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
14 Mar 2016 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on introducing a time limit for temporary accommodation.
9 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what cooperation Respectme plans to undertake with the Tackling Bullying in Scottish Schools Campaign.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: We established and wholly fund respectme, a national anti-bullying service, to build confidence and capacity to tackle bullying effectively, aligned to the national approach. respectme provide direct support to local authorities, schools, youth groups and all…
9 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what communication respectme has had with, and support it has provided, to the Tackling Bullying in Scottish Schools Campaign.
Answer · Angela Constance: We have established and wholly fund respectme, a national anti-bullying service, to build confidence and capacity to tackle bullying effectively, aligned to the national approach. respectme provide direct support to local authorities, schools, youth groups an…
9 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason anti-bullying policies are in place in only 29 of the 32 local authorities.
Answer · Angela Constance: This government wants every child and young person in Scotland to grow up free from bullying and to develop respectful, responsible and confident relationships. Bullying of any kind is unacceptable and must be addressed quickly, whenever it arises. Curricul…
2 Feb 2016 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on raising the Scottish rate of income tax by 1p.
Answer · John Swinney: As set out in the Draft Budget, the Scottish Government is proposing setting the rate of Scottish income tax at 10p for the tax year 2016-17.
19 Jan 2016 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the replacement of bursaries with loans results in students from the poorest families having the biggest debt and a reduction in terms of widening access.
13 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to establish a statutory professional register for rehabilitation and habilitation workers.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Registered professionals who deliver services relating to the habilitation and rehabilitation of people with sensory impairment are subject to statutory regulation by their own regulatory bodies. Social service workers in the public, voluntary and private se…
13 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the future training of rehabilitation and habilitation workers.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government’s sensory impairment strategy recommends that the Scottish Government should work with the relevant education, training and qualification bodies to explore opportunities to increase awareness and expertise in the area of sensory impair…
13 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-29236 by Derek Mackay on 12 January 2016, what action it is taking to support commuters who will be affected by the closure of the high level tunnel at Glasgow Queen Street station.
Answer · Derek Mackay: The ScotRail Alliance and industry partners have worked closely to ensure that rail passengers are supported during the Queen Street High Level tunnel closure. The ScotRail Alliance has developed a fully coordinated timetable which will ensure that services …
12 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the recently reported high number of children living in temporary accommodation because their families have been made homeless.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: Homelessness has been falling in Scotland due to a focus on prevention and the Scottish Government is increasing affordable housing supply to expand the accommodation options for families in temporary accommodation. We have now met and exceeded the current t…
17 Dec 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have been treated with drugs that have been funded through the New Medicines Fund.
Answer · Shona Robison: The treatment of more than 1,000 patients has been supported through the Rare Conditions Medicines Fund and its replacement, the New Medicines Fund.
17 Dec 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many drugs proposed by patient and clinician engagement groups have been (a) approved and (b) rejected each year by the Scottish Medicines Consortium.
Answer · Shona Robison: All advice published by the Scottish Medicines Consortium, including where the views from a patient and clinician engagement meeting have been taken into account, is available at www.scottishmedicines.org.ukwhich is updated regularly.
15 Dec 2015 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it has given to families impacted by the recent flooding.
Answer · Aileen McLeod: I saw first hand the devastation caused by Storm Desmond and Storm Frank in both Hawick and Newton Stewart, and my thoughts and sympathies are with all of those affected by the flooding across the whole of Scotland. The Scottish Government is committed to he…
9 Dec 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how the proposals in the Private Housing (Tenancies) Bill might impact on the housing market in the (a) short, (b) medium and (c) long term.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government has assessed the impact of the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill on the housing market in the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment, which is published on the Scottish Government's website at: http://www.gov.scot/Publicat…
9 Dec 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how the changes to the standard tenancy agreement that have proposed in the Private Housing (Tenancies) Bill might impact on the market for student accommodation.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government has assessed the impact of the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill on the student accommodation market in the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment, which is published on the Scottish Government's website at: http://www.gov…
8 Dec 2015 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce the new peer approved clinical system to replace the individual patient treatment request system.
17 Nov 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government have many (a) nurse endoscopists and (b) specialist colorectal nurses each NHS board has employed in each year since 2010.
Answer · Shona Robison: Information on numbers of (a) nurse endoscopists is not centrally available. However, reflecting the Scottish Government’s investment of over £2.4 million in 2015 to improve access to specialist nursing and care, which includes funding to appoint additional s…
27 Oct 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it spent on discretionary housing payments in 2014-15 and what proportion of payments were made to tenants in a property that was (a) privately-rented, (b) owned by a local authority and (c) owned by a housing association.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government provided local authorities in Scotland with £35.1 million to spend on discretionary housing payments in 2014-15 to allow them to fully mitigate the bedroom tax. The Scottish Government does not hold information on the proportion of pay…
8 Oct 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported high levels of children living in poverty in Glasgow.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government is committed to tackling the long term drivers of poverty and inequality through early intervention and prevention. This commitment is made clear in our 2015 Programme for Government and our national approach is articulated in the revi…
22 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to help Pollok House in Glasgow to finance the required repairs.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Glasgow City Council has indicated that they intend to lodge a formal application for Historic Scotland grant support. In the circumstances, it would not be appropriate to comment further on this application.
2 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the costs to the NHS of treatment for type 1 diabetes.
Answer · Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.
2 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on research related to type 1 diabetes in each year since 2007, broken down by project.
Answer · Maureen Watt: Details of expenditure by financial year for research projects, identified as related to type 1 diabetes, receiving support through the Chief Scientist Office response mode health grant schemes is provided in the following table. Project Reference Grant…
1 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have type 1 diabetes, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer · Maureen Watt: Information on the number of people with diabetes in Scotland is published annually within the Scottish Diabetes Survey, the most recent of which was published in June 2015 and covers data from 2014. All of the Scottish Diabetes Survey reports, which began in…
1 Sep 2015 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will take a decision on setting the Scottish rate of income tax.
29 Jul 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the Scottish Donation and Transplant Group last discussed a soft opt-out system for organ donation.
Answer · Maureen Watt: The Scottish Donation and Transplant Group most recently discussed opt out at their last meeting on 10 June 2015.
29 Jul 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government (a) what the start-up costs were and (b) how much annual funding it has committed for Organ Donation Scotland.
Answer · Maureen Watt: Organ Donation Scotland is the brand name for the Scottish Government’s organ donation marketing campaign. There were no start-up costs and the costs of the campaign are contained within the overall Scottish Government marketing budget.
29 Jul 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in raising awareness of organ donation in each of the last five years.
Answer · Maureen Watt: Advertising spend on the organ donation campaign for 2013-14 and 2014-15 has not yet been published. Expenditure for 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 can be seen at the following link: http://www.gov.scot/About/People/Directorates/Communications/advertising-mark…
29 Jul 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many organ donations per million people were carried out by each NHS board in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15.
Answer · Maureen Watt: Donor potential varies among NHS boards because boards serving remote and rural populations do not have neurological Intensive Care Units therefore potential donors can be transferred to larger centres. The information requested is contained in the following …
29 Jul 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed organ donation and a soft opt-out system with the Welsh Government.
Answer · Maureen Watt: Policy colleagues meet regularly with their Welsh counterparts to discuss organ donation and opt out forms part of those discussions. The most recent discussion took place on 24 July 2015, in the course of a regular UK wide organ donation meeting.
22 Jul 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will address discrimination faced by LGBT people.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government intends to continue with the approach it is currently taking to address the prejudice and discrimination lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people face and to progress LGBTI equality. This includes working in part…