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: S2W-12352

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 17 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what reduction or increase in Supporting People funding will be received by each local authority in 2005-06.

I announced revised final allocations on 23 December and these are listed below and compared to the 2004-05 allocations.

Council	2004-05 Allocations (£)	2005-06 Allocations (£)	Annex A Increase/Reduction (£)
Aberdeen City	12,306,385	12,306,000	-385
Aberdeenshire	9,374,919	9,375,000	81
Angus	6,404,033	6,404,000	-33
Argyll and Bute	14,900,000	13,782,000	-1,118,000
Clackmannanshire	3,093,495	3,093,000	-495
Dumfries and Galloway	15,078,644	13,948,000	-1,130,644
Dundee City	11,672,479	11,672,000	-479
East Ayrshire	6,184,168	6,184,000	-168
East Dunbartonshire	5,527,821	5,438,000	-89,821
East Lothian	9,365,816	8,663,000	-702,816
East Renfrewshire	6,258,179	5,789,000	-469,179
Edinburgh, City of	44,694,924	41,343,000	-3,351,924
Eilean Siar	356,813	357,000	187
Falkirk	8,275,041	8,275,000	-41
Fife	28,331,955	26,207,000	-2,124,955
Glasgow City	71,765,591	71,765,000	-591
Highland	13,891,248	12,849,000	-1,042,248
Inverclyde	8,122,573	7,979,000	-143,573
Midlothian	6,071,375	5,616,000	-455,375
Moray	6,920,485	6,401,000	-519,485
North Ayrshire	14,705,131	13,602,000	-1,103,131
North Lanarkshire	24,845,631	24,845,000	-631
Orkney Islands	357,044	357,000	-44
Perth and Kinross	6,225,994	6,226,000	6
Renfrewshire	18,346,929	16,971,000	-1,375,929
Scottish Borders	5,956,313	5,956,000	-313
Shetland Islands	788,469	788,000	-469
South Ayrshire	8,171,861	8,172,000	139
South Lanarkshire	23,420,551	23,189,000	-231,551
Stirling	3,799,843	3,800,000	157
West Dunbartonshire	17,500,000	16,187,000	-1,313,000
West Lothian	9,761,338	9,761,000	-338
Totals	422,475,048	406,000,000	-16,475,048

Question reference: S2W-13109

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 17 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what legislation applies to inheritance by children when the deceased parent (a) has and (b) has not written a will and what the provisions of such legislation are in both circumstances.

Question reference: S2W-13194

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 12 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how it defines an agricultural animal and whether this definition includes equines.

There is no definition of “agricultural animal”, however, the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1968 defines “livestock” as “any creature kept for the production of food, wool, skin, or fur or for use in the farming of land or for such purpose as the Minister may by order specify.”

The Welfare of Farmed Animals (Scotland) Regulations 2000 defines “animal” as “any animal (including fish, reptiles or amphibians) bred or kept for the production of food, wool, skin or fur or for other farming purposes.”

Equines would only be included in these definitions if they were kept for the production of food or were used to work agricultural land.

Question reference: S2W-12981

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will extend the conditions for a grant under its central heating programme to enable Eaga Partnership Ltd to authorise the installation of underfloor central heating, if this is considered to be the only viable option.

Question reference: S2W-12917

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 21 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to make representations to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regarding the National Lottery Bill, in particular regarding the potential impact of clauses 7 and 8 on the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland.

The Scottish Executive has maintained a constant dialogue with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) during the drafting of the National Lottery Bill.

Clause 7 is a power for the Secretary of State to reallocate money from the account of one distributor to the account of another, either for the same purpose or for another lottery good cause. It will only be exercised after a debate and affirmative resolution in each House of the Westminster Parliament and following consultation with the devolved administrations. The DCMS’ policy is that this reserve power will only be used when a distributor has built up an excessive balance and has not implemented the National Audit Office and DCMS recommendations for reducing it. In addition, under new section 29A, it hasbeen decided that for the Heritage good cause, money will only be reallocated forheritage purposes.

Clause 8 provides for the interest which is earned on all the unspent balances to be shared on the same basis as the income itself. Currently those distributors that have built up large balances retain the interest. Sharing interest fairly among all the good causes removes a possible incentive to maintain large unspent balances.

We have not taken exception to the terms of these two clauses in the Westminster Bill, and have no plans to make representations to the UK Government regarding their potential impact.

Question reference: S2W-12617

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 20 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many medical students (a) were registered to study in and (b) graduated from Scottish universities in each year since 1997.

The numbers of students entering, and graduating from, courses in clinical and pre-clinical medicine at Scottish higher education institutions are given in the following tables for the years 1996-97 to 2002-03.

Entrants to Clinical and Pre-Clinical Medicine Courses at Scottish Higher Education Institutions 1996-97 to 2002-03

1996-97	1,271
1997-98	1,474
1998-99	1,453
1999-2000	1,279
2000-01	1,454
2001-02	1,416
2002-03	1,366

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency.

Graduates of Clinical and pre-Clinical Medicine Courses at Scottish Higher Education Institutions 1996-97 to 2002-03

1996-97	930
1997-98	977
1998-99	1,035
1999-2000	1,004
2000-01	973
2001-02	1,120
2002-03	1,077

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency.

Note: 1. Pre-clinical graduates from St Andrews are included in this table although they generally complete their clinical training at the University of Manchester.

Question reference: S2W-12769

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 17 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether English has legal status as an official language of Scotland and, if so, what legislation confers this status.

Question reference: S2W-12694

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Euan Robson on 14 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Scottish Childminding Association regarding qualifications for childminders.

Question reference: S2W-12693

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Euan Robson on 14 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to introduce compulsory qualifications for childminders.

The Scottish Executive will consider whether and, if so, how, through their registration with the Care Commission, to require childminders to be qualified or working towards a qualification. Other early education and child care workers will require to do so under the Scottish Social Services Council qualification and regulatory framework.

As part of the National Review of Early Years and Childcare Workforce, we will carry out a consultation on qualifications and training for childminders. The review will consider how qualifications and training that are appropriate for childminders can help deliver high quality childcare. The Scottish Executive regularly discusses a range of issues including qualifications and training with the Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA) and we are working with SCMA as part of the review’s work and consultation with childminders.

The review will report to ministers in the summer of 2005. We will consider qualification requirements for childminders once the Review has reported.

Question reference: S2W-12613

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 26 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Johann Lamont on 10 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any circumstances in which its regulations prevent Eaga Partnership Ltd from sanctioning the use of existing radiators within the Executive’s central heating installation programme for the replacement of obsolete central heating systems in the homes of people aged over 80 and, if so, what these circumstances are.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, the Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

There are no circumstances in the regulations, covering the central heating programme for the over 80s, which prevent Eaga Partnership Ltd from sanctioning the use of existing radiators. However, the Technical Specification indicates that existing radiators may only be used if an inspection by a qualified heating engineer indicates they are suitable for use with the new boiler.