Drew Smith

30 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-05726 by John Swinney on 11 April 2012, whether it has paid a salary to any (a) civil servant, (b) official, (c) consultant or (d) contractor via a private company since May 2007 and, if so, for what reason.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government does not pay salaries via a private company.

30 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it monitors the preservation and loss of buildings, items and locations that it considers to be part of Scotland’s industrial heritage.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Scotland’s industrial heritage is wide-ranging, deeply ingrained in Scottish culture, and of global significance. One of our five World Heritage Sites, New Lanark, is industrial, and the Forth Bridge, which is on the revised UK tentative list, is being prepar…

30 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its strategy is for retaining, preserving and promoting Scotland’s industrial heritage.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: On behalf of the Scottish Ministers, Historic Scotland provides statutory protection to industrial heritage sites across Scotland and cares for a number of key industrial sites in its portfolio. The government also directly and indirectly supports a range of …

30 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the introduction of an income threshold on free school meals eligibility.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-6997 on 14 May 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/parliamentarybusi…

30 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the effect would be of introducing an income threshold of £7,500 on eligibility for free school meals.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government is considering what action it needs to take to maintain access to free school meals following the introduction of universal credit. It is intended that the current levels of provision will be protected. However, the detail of how this …

30 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children are eligible for free school meals.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: Scottish Ministers are clear about the benefit of providing a nutritious, free school meal to children and young people living in low income households and have taken a number of actions in recent years to extend eligibility. However, national eligibility in …

27 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-06790 by John Swinney on 27 April 2012, whether the £17 million from local government was included in advance of the Scottish Budget settlement and, if not, which budget lines it came from.

Answer · John Swinney: The decision by local government to contribute £17 million to protect 560,000 vulnerable people in Scotland from the UK Government’s 10 per cent cut in Council Tax Benefit in 2013-14 was agreed collectively by local authorities at the COSLA Convention on 30 M…

20 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many beds were available for use at Yorkhill Hospital in each year from 2007-08 to 2011-12.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The number of average available staffed beds at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill) for the financial years ending 31 March 2008 to 31 March 2011 are shown in the following table. Figures for the financial year ending 31 March 2012 will be availa…

20 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many operations were cancelled by Yorkhill Hospital in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12 and for what reasons.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The specific information is not available centrally. Information, although limited is available on the number of hospital stays where operations/procedures where not carried out following admission to hospital as an inpatient/day case. Information for the Ro…

18 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it supports the voluntary sector to use social media to promote social justice.

Answer · John Swinney: The third sector is key to Scotland having a successful and fairer future and has a major role to play in supporting Scotland’s communities; in addressing issues of inequality and social injustice. This role is of increased importance in a period of economic …

18 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the comments by the Minister for Public Health at the Health and Sport Committee meeting on 17 April 2012 in relation to the 10% reduction in council tax benefit funding (Official Report, c. 2068), how it will fund the new benefit at a level equivalent to the current level.

Answer · John Swinney: The First Minister confirmed on 19 April that the Scottish Government and COSLA have agreed to commit a total of £40 million to ensure the 560,000 vulnerable people in Scotland receiving council tax benefit are protected from the UK Government’s 10% cut in fu…

18 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its civil servants have received bonuses in 2012 and what the (a) value of the bonuses was, (b) annual salary of the recipients was and (c) criteria were for awarding bonuses.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Public Sector Pay Policy, in both 2011-12 and 2012-13, did not permit the payment of one-off non-consolidated non-pensionable taxable payments. No such payments have therefore been made to Scottish Government staff in 2012.

18 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on (a) the plain packaging and (b) banning the display of tobacco products.

Answer · Michael Matheson: (a) There is a longstanding commitment to explore plain packaging as set out in the 2008 Smoking Prevention Action Plan, Scotland's Future is Smoke-Free. In this the Scottish Government indicated a commitment to consider with the UK Government and other devol…

18 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take part in the UK-wide consultation on standardised packaging.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has worked with the Department of Health and the devolved administrations in Wales and Northern Ireland to enable the launch of a joint UK wide consultation on the standardised packaging of tobacco products. The consultation was launc…

4 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on concerns expressed that not all of its publications can be found via a topic search on the publications page of its website and whether recent changes have been made in this regard.

Answer · Bruce Crawford: An upgrade to the Scotland.gov.uk website led to a temporary problem when searching publications by topic. During this time the topic search function was the only one affected. All official publication material remained available and accessible via alternativ…

28 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers the impact will be of the proposed changes to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme on victims of crime in Scotland.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The proposals from the UK Government are currently subject to consultation and no final decisions have been made. The proposed changes are expected to result in a reduction of around £5 million per annum in the value of compensation to victims in Scotland.

28 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive (a) what input it made to and (b) when it will respond to the conclusions of the UK Government's consultation on proposed changes to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, Getting it right for victims and witnesses.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government was not directly involved in the development of the UK Government’s proposals but we have been kept informed of developments. The Scottish Government hosted a stakeholder event on the proposals in Scotland and will respond to the Minis…

27 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost will be of commissioning artwork as part of the Glasgow subway modernisation (a) across the network and (b) for Hillhead underground station.

27 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what will be depicted in the new art installation at Hillhead underground station.

27 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what role Strathclyde Partnership for Transport has had in the commissioning of art as part of the Glasgow subway modernisation.

27 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had a role in the commissioning of art as part of the Glasgow subway modernisation.

27 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what art will be commissioned as part of the Glasgow subway modernisation.

26 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish a list of everyone who has (a) been invited to and (b) received hospitality at Bute House since 2007.

Answer · John Swinney: Information regarding people receiving hospitality at events hosted by Scottish Government Ministers at Bute House is proactively published on the Scottish Government website, detailing the date, host, location and guest list. This is currently published ever…

26 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether an independent Scotland would be able to opt out of the Schengen Agreement and whether it would seek to negotiate with the remainder of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland to join their Common Travel Area.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: An independent Scotland will inherit the Common Travel Area which exists between the UK and Ireland and will remain outside of the Schengen Agreement.

26 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what railway discount and season ticket schemes there are.

Answer · Keith Brown: There are a range of rail discounts available including UK wide railcards funded by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), local authority rail concessionary schemes and, tickets combining train travel with other public transport options. ScotR…

23 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times since 2007 it has used Article 19 of the EU procurement directive when procuring goods and services, broken down by directorate.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government recognises the important role that supported businesses play in the economy, the community and to their customers. Supported factories and businesses have a valuable role in assisting people with disabilities to integrate into the labo…

23 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it has given to suicide prevention charities in each of the last five years.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Through grant funding, the Scottish Government has for many years provided support to a wide range of charities which support people experiencing mental health problems, and their families. Some of these voluntary organisations – such as Samaritans - include,…

23 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many inpatient beds there have been for mental health patients in each of the last five years, broken down by health board area.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Information on both quarterly and annual available staffed beds split by specialty and NHS board of treatment is published by Information Services Division (ISD) and is available at the link http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Hospital-Care/. Annual data…

20 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to tackle self-disconnection by utility customers in fuel poverty.

Answer · Alex Neil: I and John Swinney hosted a summit, attended by all the big six energy companies, voluntary organisations and Ofgem in November 2011, to discuss what more can be done to mitigate the impact of energy prices on consumers. Scotland’s six leading energy provider…

20 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria it uses to assess eligibility for the fuel poverty schemes that it operates.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government has a number of initiatives aimed at helping Scottish households in fuel poverty. Our flagship programme, the Energy Assistance Package (EAP), goes much further than the previous administration’s central heating programme and provides …