Parliamentary questions
Drew Smith
636 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
23 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish details of the water contract that it has awarded to public sector bodies.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government-led collaborative contract for water and waste water services has not yet been awarded. The tender exercise is in the ‘standstill period’ which gives bidders time to consider some additional feedback on their submissions. Once the tend…
23 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what advice the Expert Ferry Group has given to (a) Transport Scotland and (b) Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited on the future design of Scottish ferries.
Answer · Derek Mackay: Although no formal advice has been provided to either Transport Scotland or Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited, discussion about the future design of Scottish ferries took place at the 5 November 2014 meeting of the Expert Ferry Group. The agenda and minutes …
23 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Expert Ferry Group met in February 2015 and, if so, whether the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract was on the agenda.
Answer · Derek Mackay: There was no meeting of the Expert Ferry Group in February 2015. The group last met on 17 March 2015, and the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract was not discussed. The agenda and minutes of each meeting are published on the Transport Scotland website.
23 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Expert Ferry Group (EFG) regarding the (a) invitation to tender documents and (b) contract specifications for Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services (CHFS) from October 2016 and whether it will publish any advice that it receives from the EFG or individual…
Answer · Derek Mackay: No discussions have taken place with the Expert Ferry Group regarding (a) the invitation to tender documents and (b) contract specifications for Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services from October 2016. The agenda and minutes for each meeting of the Expert Ferry G…
4 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to local authorities to ensure that disabled young people receive appropriate support to access employment, education or training.
Answer · Annabelle Ewing: Local authorities and their partners work together to support young people, including those with disabilities to plan for their next move beyond the compulsory school leaving age. The Policy and Practice Framework Opportunities for All: Post-16 Transitions: S…
4 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that the locally-funded schemes that use the youth employment funding it announced on 3 March 2015 are monitored to confirm that they do not discriminate on grounds of gender, race, disability or other protected characteristics.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: On 3 March 2015, the Scottish Government announced the local authority distribution of £6.5 million to support the Developing the Young Workforce programme which underpins our youth employment strategy. Activity in each authority will support the programme’s…
4 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the youth employment funding that it announced on 3 March 2015 will be allocated to the provision of childcare to support young parents in accessing employment or training.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: On 3 March 2015, the Scottish Government announced the local authority distribution of £6.5 million to support the Developing the Young Workforce programme which underpins our youth employment strategy. Local government are our full partners in this programm…
4 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to local authorities to ensure that the most disadvantaged young people receive appropriate support to access the labour market.
Answer · Annabelle Ewing: Our policy and practice framework Opportunities for All: Post-16 Transitions: Supporting all young people to participate in post-16 learning, training or workpublished in 2014 provides local authorities and their partners with guidance on delivering transitio…
6 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the Tenancy Deposit Scheme guidance.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Tenancy Deposit Schemes were introduced to resolve the long standing issue of disputes between landlords and tenants over the return of deposits. The three schemes came into force in July 2012. The Scottish Government is not aware of any significant issu…
6 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what criteria it uses when considering whether to publish information in languages other than English or Gaelic.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government is required to meet its legal duty under the Equality Act 2010 in ensuring access to information for everyone. This does not mean however that there is a requirement to automatically translate all publications into a wide range of lang…
6 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it expects operators of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme to provide to service users whose first language is not English.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Tenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011 require scheme administrators to put procedures in place, including an appropriate customer service facility, to handle enquiries and deal with complaints from landlords, tenants and the general public. …
23 Dec 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will next review the standard rate of loss of earnings compensation for jurors and what factors it will take into account.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government most recently reviewed the standard rate of loss of earnings compensation for jurors in September 2014. We would anticipate doing so again in the course of 2015. When carrying out a review we seek the views of the Scottish Court Serv…
23 Dec 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what factors determined the rate of loss of earnings compensation for jurors.
Answer · Michael Matheson: In general the same rates are payable for loss of earning compensation for jurors in Scotland as in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. These rates have been occasionally adjusted to take account of inflation. However, from 2011 the Scottish Government incr…
12 Dec 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review its policies on pets and, if so, when.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: As noted in response to parliamentary question S4W-21706 on 24 June 2014, the Scottish Government has begun an initial review of existing companion animal welfare legislation and intends to develop long-term options for further work in this area. While the c…
5 Dec 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-23257 by Shona Robison on 27 November 2014, what consideration the National Planning Forum gave to whether there is a need to extend the provision of transcatheter aortic valve implantation beyond a single site at its meeting on 4 December 2014.
Answer · Shona Robison: The National Planning Forum has agreed that the transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) service at The Royal Infirmary Edinburgh continues to deliver a high-quality service with excellent outcomes. There is currently no evidence of unmet demand for TA…
3 Dec 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will support devolving to local authorities delivery of the work currently carried out under the Department for Work and Pensions' Work Programme.
20 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-22734 by Nicola Sturgeon on 30 October 2014, what the EU's deadline is for the transposition of directive 2014/24/EU.
Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-22734 on 30 October 2014. The three new procurement directives must be transposed into Scots law by 18 April 2016. The Scottish Government expects Scottish regulations to be in place towards the end of 2015. A…
20 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ensure that the increase in private expenditure in the ferries sector outlined in the draft 2015-16 budget is not used to encourage private sector bids for the 2016-22 contract for the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service.
Answer · Derek Mackay: The increase in expenditure in 2015-16 is to (a) cover the rising costs of Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services, including implementation of the Ferries Plan and the rollout of the Road Equivalent Tariff and (b) provide additional capital investment in vessels a…
20 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much the roll-out of the Road Equivalent Tariff for (a) Clyde and Hebrides and (b) Northern Isles ferry services will cost.
Answer · Derek Mackay: When the Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) scheme is rolled out to the entire Clyde and Hebrides network, the estimated total annual cost will be between £13.4 million and £15.2 million. Final outturn costs will be contingent on the levels of patronage. As noted …
20 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Expert Ferry Group about the draft budget 2015-16.
Answer · Derek Mackay: Transport Scotland has had no discussions with the Expert Ferry Group about the draft budget 2015-16.
20 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-22729 by Keith Brown on 30 October 2010, how many times it has met the Expert Ferry Group to discuss this and what future meetings with the group are planned.
Answer · Derek Mackay: The Expert Ferry Group has met on four occasions, and the next meeting is due to take place in February 2015. This issue has not been discussed to date, and is not due to be discussed at the meeting planned for February 2015.
19 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its latest estimate is of Transport Scotland's expenditure on the tendering process for the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract from 2016, and how much has been spent to date.
Answer · Derek Mackay: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-22738 on 30 October 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…
19 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people were (a) treated and (b) refused treatment by the national transcatheter aortic valve implantation service in 2013-14, broken down by parliamentary constituency.
Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally. The information in the following table shows referrals to the national transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) service during its first two years of operation. Table 1: People referred to the national TAVI serv…
19 Nov 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-15277 by Alex Neil on 13 June 2013, what consideration it has given to whether there is a need to introduce a regional model of service or extend the service to two sites.
Answer · Shona Robison: The National Planning Forum will consider whether to extend the provision of transcatheter aortic valve implantation beyond a single site at its meeting on 4 December 2014.
18 Nov 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle high rents in the private sector.
5 Nov 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in developing its low emissions strategy.
30 Oct 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the (a) Herald and Times Group and (b) NUJ regarding proposals to make posts in Glasgow redundant and transfer sub-editing of its titles to Wales and what support it will provide to the staff affected.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has recently met the Scottish Organiser of the National Union of Journalists, along with other trade union representatives, to discuss a range of matters relating to media. In that meeting, the potential redundancies were brought to ou…
22 Oct 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what communication it has had with possible recipients of the Scottish Independent Living Fund.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has worked and will continue to work with the Independent Living Fund (ILF) to communicate with existing users of the ILF. We are developing a communication strategy to ensure regular updates on the progress of the Scottish ILF are co…
22 Oct 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made with the development of the administration of the Scottish Independent Living Fund.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Significant progress has been made to a tight timetable, this includes, formation of a project board, representing a range of partners. The first meeting took place in October 2014. The board’s role is to ensure the smooth operational transition of current In…
20 Oct 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it supports women in taking up places on training courses.