Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S4O-01457

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Linda Fabiani on 15 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what progress is being made on the Parliament’s zero waste policy.

The SPCB is making excellent progress towards its zero waste policy. During 2011/12 an estimated 50 tonnes of waste was sent to landfill - a reduction of 4 tonnes on the previous year. This represents a reduction in landfill waste of 67% compared to 2005-2006.

In addition, at the end of September of this year recycling rates of 80% had been achieved and landfill waste had been reduced slightly compared to last year.

A number of actions are planned to help achieve this year’s target to reduce landfill waste by 70% of the 2005-2006 total. These include:

working with contractors to reduce waste at source;

installing additional hand-driers to reduce the use of paper towels;

re-labelling recycling bins in public areas;

reducing the frequency desk bins in the MSP Building are emptied.

Question reference: S4O-01471

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 November 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what research is being conducted on the health benefits of vitamin D.

Question reference: S4O-01373

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 October 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the responses to the consultation on the Rights of Children and Young People Bill.

Question reference: S4F-00895

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 October 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 October 2012

To ask the First Minister what the benefits will be of Scotland staging the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in 2014.

Question reference: S4W-09681

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 27 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what action (a) businesses and (b) the Scottish Environment Protection Agency takes to ensure compliance with environmental regulations.

It is the responsibility of businesses themselves to ensure that they comply with applicable environmental regulations, and the vast majority of businesses in Scotland do so. Wherever possible, SEPA seeks to work with regulated businesses to help them comply with regulations. When businesses wilfully or negligently harm the environment, however, SEPA has a range of enforcement powers which it uses to ensure that the environment is protected, with an increased emphasis on focussing inspections on higher risk permits and poor performances.

SEPA needs, however, to have appropriate powers to do its job properly. Through our Better Environmental Regulation Programme and the Better Regulation Bill, SEPA will be given a range of more direct and proportionate enforcement measures to ensure it has the right range of interventions to tackle poor performance and better protect the environment.

Question reference: S4O-01357

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the discharge by local authorities of their obligations under the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009.

Question reference: S4O-01325

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 26 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met representatives of the Royal College of Nursing.

My predecessor, the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy, met RCN representatives on 3 November 2011.

Since then, Scottish Government officials have met regularly with RCN representatives to discuss a range of topical issues, most recently on 13 September 2012 when the Chief Nursing Officer met with the Director of RCN Scotland.

I have recently accepted an invitation to the RCN conference on 21 November and look forward to meeting with RCN colleagues and members then.

Question reference: S4W-09630

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S4O-01293

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 September 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what undertakings it has received from the UK Government to meet any increased demand on the Scottish civil legal aid budget as a result of UK welfare reform.

Question reference: S4W-09027

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 August 2012
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 4 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to make representations to the UK Government regarding updating British Standards BS 8300 on wheelchair size.