Parliamentary questions
Kevin Stewart
579 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
10 Mar 2014 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will take account of the findings of the Lloyds Bank Affordable Cities Review when allocating housing investment.
24 Feb 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential impact on poverty in Scotland, what its position is on reports that the UK Government is considering charging people for appealing a decision to stop their benefits.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: We have not been made aware of this proposal by the UK Government but, if implemented, it would present yet another challenge to vulnerable people in Scotland already dealing with welfare reforms that could potentially reduce welfare expenditure in Scotland b…
24 Feb 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the impact will be on its budget of the UK Government's decision to end the Local Welfare Assistance Fund.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government is responsible for its own local welfare provision called the Scottish Welfare Fund. As detailed in the budget, despite an 11.1% real terms reduction in our discretionary spending power over five years, the funding level for the Scotti…
16 Dec 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to ensure that children with additional support needs who are educated in mainstream schools receive appropriate support.
10 Dec 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether local authorities are independently inspected on the services that they provide for autistic children.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: Local authorities are inspected on the range of services they provide for children and young people with additional support needs including autism. In terms of education, Education Scotland inspects both mainstream schools and special schools and units that m…
10 Dec 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it gives to local authorities to ensure that they apply the getting it right for every child principles when dealing with autistic children.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Strategy for Autism supports the application of the Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) approach when public bodies and partners are considering a person centred approach to planning and addressing the wellbeing needs of children and young …
10 Dec 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many local authorities have autism strategies for (a) children and (b) adults.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The joint Scottish Government-COSLA Scottish Autism Strategy focuses on the whole life journey and so local authorities will want to consider both children and adults in their local strategies. 12 local action plans have been submitted to date and four local …
25 Nov 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many times Police Scotland has found so-called legal highs cut with illegal substances but not seized them.
18 Nov 2013 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many stop-and-searches Police Scotland has carried out.
10 Oct 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has carried out an analysis of how many steroid users are using needle exchanges.
Answer · Michael Matheson: There has been no analysis carried out on the number of Performance and Image Enhancing Drugs (PIEDs) users accessing needle exchange services in Scotland. The distribution of needles/syringes and other injecting paraphernalia by needle exchange outlets in S…
10 Oct 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether shops or internet sites selling so-called legal highs and drug paraphernalia are subject to any licensing regime.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The subject matter of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is reserved to the UK Government, as is the regulation of internet services. Section 9A of the UK’s Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 makes it an offence to supply any article (often referred to as paraphernalia) used…
10 Oct 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many seizures of so-called legal highs cut with illegal drugs there have been in each of the last five years.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: This is information is not held centrally.
10 Oct 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many hospital admissions there have been of people who have taken so-called legal highs in each NHS board area in each of the last five years.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Information on the number of hospital admissions caused by so-called legal highs is not held centrally. There is no standard definition or clinical diagnosis code for legal highs which could be used as the basis of a statistical report.
10 Oct 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many local authorities run (a) household and (b) business oil and fat recycling collection services.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: In 2012, 8 local authorities ran a waste vegetable oil collection service for households, collecting 62.2 tonnes of oil. Three local authorities ran a similar service for businesses and collected 23.3 tonnes. With regard to waste mineral oils, 29 local autho…
30 Sep 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Aberdeen City Council regarding economic development.
16 Sep 2013 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to universities to attract students from overseas.
12 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the protection offered to gulls by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: All wild birds are protected by law in Scotland. The Scottish Government has no plans to review the protection offered to gulls. Scottish Natural Heritage General Licence 03/2013, which allows local authorities and authorised persons to control or manage cer…
12 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints have been received by each local authority regarding nuisance gulls in each of the last 10 years.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. However, during the last ten years, 17 MSP’s have written to the Scottish Government regarding this issue.
12 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many breeding pairs of gull there have been in each of the last 10 years, broken down by species.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Seabird 2000 which took place between 1998 and 2002 was the last national census of seabird populations. Further details of Seabird 2000 can be found at: http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-3120 Between national censuses, the Seabird Monitoring Programme (SMP) col…
9 Aug 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with local authorities regarding the impact of the so-called bedroom tax on discretionary housing payments (DHP), and what information it has on how many DHP (a) applications have been made and (b) awards have been granted by each local authority since April 2…
Answer · Margaret Burgess: Social security payments, including Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs), are a reserved matter. However the Scottish Government has been working closely with local authority representatives since the UK Government announced its welfare reforms in autumn 20…
26 Jul 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of increases to VAT and national insurance since 2010 on families from low income households.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: VAT and national insurance are reserved matters. As such, it is the responsibility of the UK Government to assess the impact of its decisions on VAT and national insurance. However, it is widely understood that VAT, in particular, is a regressive tax. This, c…
18 Jul 2013 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will consider looking at establishing a parliamentary internship scheme to commemorate the life and work of Brian Adam.
Answer · David Stewart : The SPCB does not operate an internship programme. It is of course open to any parliamentary group to introduce an internship scheme if it wishes.
18 Jul 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether an analysis has been undertaken of whether there has been any additional workload for GPs arising from the implementation of welfare reform policies.
Answer · Michael Matheson: It is very difficult to obtain an accurate analysis of this because GPs are often providing information for patients for benefits appeals in their own time, and this is not part of their contractual arrangements. GPs have reported that they are seeing a signi…
18 Jul 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-15020 by Alex Neil on 30 May 2013, whether it has had discussions with the UK Government regarding increased funding in relation to any increase in the number of requests to GPs for letters and other information in support of benefit applications an…
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Deputy First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing wrote to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in April 2013 with the full support of the British Medical Association in Scotland, to raise a number of points of concern about…
18 Jul 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent contact it has had with GPs and their representative bodies regarding any increase in the number of patients seeking letters and other information in support of benefit applications and appeals.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Scottish Government officials regularly meet with the Scottish General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association to discuss a range of issues, and we are aware the workload associated with patient requests for assistance with benefits appeals…
18 Jul 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what impact its decision to protect funding for the council tax benefit successor scheme for 2013-14 will have on the incomes of households containing an adult receiving a disability-related benefit.
Answer · John Swinney: Working in partnership with local government, we responded quickly to put in place transitional arrangements to plug the estimated £40 million gap in funding from the UK Government following their abolition of council tax benefit. This ensures that around 560…
24 Jun 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to ensure that Scotland remains a GM-free zone.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government will continue to take a precautionary approach to Genetically Modified Organisms. We remain opposed to the cultivation of GM crops and remain committed to protecting the integrity and image of our valuable food and drink sector and pre…
24 Jun 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what actions it plans to take to protect Scotland's agricultural produce if restrictions are eased on the cultivation of genetically modified crops.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government is watching these developments closely. However, there are a number of Member States in the EU who share our concerns about growing GM crops and there is no indication that they will change their views in light of the UK Government’s r…
24 Jun 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with other EU member states regarding the UK Government's proposal to ease restrictions on the cultivation of genetically modified crops.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government has not had any direct discussions with other EU member states on the UK Government’s proposals as, under the current constitutional arrangements, the UK Government leads for the UK at the European Council of Ministers. However, the Sc…
24 Jun 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding its proposal to ask the European Commission to ease restrictions on the cultivation of genetically modified crops.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government is in regular contact with the UK Government at both official and Ministerial level and discusses a wide range of GM issues. The UK Government is well aware of our distinct views on GM crop cultivation. Under the correct constitutiona…