Alex Rowley

6 Jan 2015 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many times NHS Fife failed to meet its four, eight and 12 hour accident and emergency waiting time targets between 24 December 2014 and 4 January 2015.

25 Nov 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on local authority schools having to pay full rates on their buildings while the majority of private and independent schools pay discounted rates.

18 Nov 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of goods sold in Scotland can be considered fair trade and what it is doing to increase the sale of fair trade goods.

5 Nov 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that anyone who may need help with a mental health problem can access appropriate help easily and receive treatment quickly.

15 Oct 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the Forth Crossing Act 2011 on riders of motorcycles of between 50cc and 125cc displaying learner plates and how many motorists it estimates will be affected by the legislation.

Answer · Keith Brown: No assessment, at this stage, has been made of the impact of the Forth Crossing Act 2011 on riders of motorcycles of between 50cc and 125cc displaying learner plates. No objections to the Forth Crossing Bill were received in relation to the proposed policy r…

30 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the private care home sector on the implications of the introduction of the living wage.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government is keen to encourage the payment of the living wage across the social care sector. We continue to work with COSLA and care providers to look at how the living wage can be introduced to the third and independent sectors, in line with t…

18 Jun 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the estimated backlog of over £72 million for necessary school maintenance costs in Fife.

11 Jun 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government at what percentage of staffed bed capacity the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy is operating.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government does not routinely collect bed occupancy information at hospital level. The occupancy of acute beds across the whole of NHS Fife in the quarter ending December 2013 was 85.1%, a reduction of 4.4 percentage points compared to the same …

21 May 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the future growth of the economy lies in a highly skilled workforce and what steps it will take to attract businesses to Scotland that require a highly skilled workforce.

13 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its initial position was regarding concessionary travel access to the Edinburgh trams project for people living outwith the City of Edinburgh Council area and for what reason tram travel will no longer be covered by the national concessionary travel scheme for all travellers in Scot…

Answer · Keith Brown: In agreeing to provide substantial funding for the introduction of the Edinburgh trams project in 2007, the Scottish Government made clear that no further subsidy would be provided once the network was commissioned and that it was making no commitment at that…

17 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the maintenance needs of the school estate in each local authority area, also broken down by the number of schools where the need for repairs has been categorised as (a) urgent, (b) essential and (c) desirable.

Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Government does not hold this level of information. This information is held by individual education authorities as it is their statutory responsibility to maintain school buildings as outlined in Section 17 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980.

11 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the number of students attending colleges with no prior qualifications has decreased since 2007-08.

Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) asks colleges for data on the qualifications of students on entry to college. It advises, however, that data returns are incomplete and that it is not therefore possible to establish accurately the trend and the reasons for …

11 Mar 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will meet its targets for literacy and numeracy in Fife schools.

10 Feb 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that schools will be in a position to implement the new higher examinations through the curriculum for excellence in 2014-15.