Parliamentary questions
Mary Fee
672 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
12 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-24143 by Keith Brown on 2 February 2015, what action it is taking to reduce the number of incidents of pollution caused by Scottish Water.
Answer · Keith Brown: As I indicated in my answer to S4W-24143, Scottish Water takes any pollution incident very seriously and works closely with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and other stakeholders to investigate the cause of each incident. In 2013-14, Scottish Water…
26 Jan 2015 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will roll out the Work Programme once it is devolved.
22 Jan 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid to each bus company through the Bus Service Operators Grant in each of the last five years.
Answer · Derek Mackay: A spread sheet showing Bus Service Operator Grant payments to bus operators for the last five financial years has been placed in the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre, SPICe (Bib number 56657). For completeness the total figure for each year also incl…
22 Jan 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many claims have been made against local authorities for damages to (a) vehicles, (b) bicycles and (c) other modes of transport caused by potholes.
Answer · Derek Mackay: Maintenance of local roads, including pothole repairs, is a matter for local authorities. The number of claims made against local authorities for damages to vehicles, bicycles and other modes of transport, caused by potholes is not held by the Scottish Govern…
22 Jan 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the digital exclusion rate is in each (a) city, (b) local authority area, (c) urban area and (d) rural area.
Answer · John Swinney: The proportion of households with internet access in Scotland now stands at 80%, compared to 40% at the beginning of 2003. The Scottish Household Survey (SHS) is the Scottish Government’s preferred source of measuring digital participation in Scotland. The l…
22 Jan 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many claims for damages have been made against Scottish Water in each of the last 10 years.
Answer · Keith Brown: There has been a significant reduction in claims received by Scottish Water from 2004 to date. During this period Scottish Water has invested over £5 billion across Scotland to improve its service to customers, with massive construction activity to achieve th…
22 Jan 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many fines Scottish Water has received for (a) pollution and (b) other environmental issues in each of the last 10 years and what the cost of each fine was.
Answer · Keith Brown: Information about the number of fines and the cost of each fine in each of the last 10 years is contained in the following chart. Scottish Water takes any pollution incident very seriously and works closely with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and …
21 Jan 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the money to be allocated in 2015-16 as central government grants to local authorities is to be met from Barnett consequentials.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-24106 on 9 February 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusin…
21 Jan 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the investment programme for Scottish Water for 2015-21 has been allocated from Barnett consequentials.
Answer · John Swinney: Barnett consequentials accruing to the Scottish Government are added to or deducted from the total funding available to Scottish Ministers. It is then for Scottish Ministers to decide how all the resources available to them should be allocated. Over the 2015…
21 Jan 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the money allocated to mitigating the effects of the so-called bedroom tax in 2015-16 is to be met from Barnett consequentials.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-24106 on 9 February 2015 All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusine…
21 Jan 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the 2015-16 Regeneration Capital Fund would be affected by the removal of the Barnett formula.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-24106 on 9 February 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusin…
21 Jan 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the major public transport projects set out in the 2015-16 budget are to be met from Barnett consequentials.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-24106 on 9 February 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusin…
21 Jan 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated to the Road Equivalent Tariff scheme from Barnett consequentials, and what impact the removal of the Barnett formula would have on the scheme.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-24106 on 9 February 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusin…
21 Jan 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what impact the removal of the Barnett formula would have on the sustainability of the concessionary fares scheme.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-24030 on 30 January 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusin…
21 Jan 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Digital Economy and Infrastructure fund has been reduced from £13.8 million in 2014-15 to £1 million for 2015-16, and what impact the removal of the Barnett formula would have had on the amount allocated.
Answer · John Swinney: In 2014-15 the capital budget for the superfast broadband programme was split across the Infrastructure, Investment and Cities portfolio and Rural Affairs, Food and Environment portfolio. In 2015-16 it was decided to consolidate this budget in a single budget…
21 Jan 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage the use of low-carbon vehicles, and what impact the removal of the Barnett formula would have on this.
Answer · John Swinney: We've invested £17 million over the last two years in a range of low emission vehicle initiatives, such as helping public sector fleets procure vehicles, the development of a network of electric vehicle charging infrastructure across Scotland and helping bus …
21 Jan 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the funding for each of its subsidised air services is being met from Barnett consequentials, and whether it would be able to provide the same level of funding in the absence of the Barnett formula.
Answer · John Swinney: The departmental expenditure limit (DEL) budget accounts for 85 per cent of the total resources available to the Scottish Government. Subsidised air services, road equivalent tariff, central government grants to local authorities, welfare reform mitigation, t…
16 Jan 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what impact abandoning the Barnett formula would have on (a) public transport and (b) the active travel budget.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-24030 on 30 January 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/parliamentar…
16 Jan 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on the (a) infrastructure and (b) capital investment budget of abandoning the Barnett formula and which infrastructure projects would be affected.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-24030 on 30 January 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusine…
5 Jan 2015 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS boards are required to undertake adverse incident reviews for patients dying while on the delayed discharge database.
15 Dec 2014 · Topical Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent HomeLet report, which indicated that the average monthly rent in Scotland has risen by nearly 12% in the last year.
9 Dec 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has carried out of a potential increase in the rail network in Renfrewshire.
Answer · Derek Mackay: In the next ScotRail franchise there will be no diminution of service and throughout the life of the franchise, we will continue to work closely with the franchisee in the review of current service levels and demand as we seek to identify even more improvemen…
9 Dec 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many children have been (a) placed in foster care, (b) placed in kinship care and (c) classed as homeless as a result of parental imprisonment in each of the last five years.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government does not collect data on the sub-reasons for children becoming looked after, so it is not possible to provide specific data on the numbers of children being placed in kinship and foster care due to parental imprisonment. The annual to…
9 Dec 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many ex-offenders have presented as homeless in each of the last five years, broken down by gender, and how many were ex-service personnel.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: During 2013-14, 2,156 ex-offenders presented as homeless, of which 1,951 were male and 205 were female. A total of 47 were ex-service personnel. Figures for the last five years are shown in the following table. 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 …
9 Dec 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on (a) preventing and (b) tackling homelessness in prisoners and their families in each of the last five years.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government is committed to addressing homelessness amongst prisoners and their families. All those assessed as unintentionally homeless by local authorities, including prisoners upon liberation, are entitled to settled accommodation as a legal ri…
8 Dec 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy has had with colleagues regarding the allocation in the 2015-16 draft budget for housing adaptations for older and disabled tenants of registered social landlords.
10 Nov 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that hospitals in West Scotland maintain cleanliness standards.
27 Oct 2014 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many problem drugs users there are.
10 Oct 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many applications have been made each year to the Homeowner Housing Panel and how many enforcement notices were issued.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: A total of 18 applications were received in the year 2012 (commencement of the Homeowner Housing Panel was on 1 October 2012) and no Property Factor Enforcement Orders (PFEOs) were issued. A total of 333 applications were received in the year 2013 and 12 PF…
10 Oct 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much public funding was given to (a) the Scottish Special Housing Association annually and (b) Scottish Homes in each year since 1999.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Special Housing Association ceased to exist from 31 March 1989. Scottish Homes existed from 1 April 1989 to 31 March 2001. The Scottish Government does not hold information centrally on how much public funding was given to Scottish Homes. We ca…