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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 2411 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S4W-06469

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it responded to the UK Government’s consultation on welfare reform and, if so, whether that response has been published.

Question reference: S4W-06700

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 April 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 26 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many affordable homes it expects to be constructed annually as a result of the additional £87 million allocated to the affordable housing budget in February 2012.

Question reference: S4O-00965

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government about the financial implications of the proposals in the Welfare Reform (Further Provision) (Scotland) Bill on the public sector.

Question reference: S4O-00823

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to prioritise the completion of the A75 Hardgrove to Kinmount Improvement scheme.

Question reference: S4W-05656

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 8 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason only members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Scotland are permitted to issue domestic energy performance certificates for non-rental properties.

This is not the case. An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) may be issued by any party identified as technically competent to do so through membership of an Approved Organisation. There are currently ten organisations approved by Scottish Ministers.

However, when a dwelling is marketed for sale and requires a Home Report, the Energy Report element (produced using the EPC process) must be completed by a surveyor registered with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

This requirement is set out in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 (Prescribed Documents) Regulations 2008. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 gives powers to Scottish Ministers to identify who can carry out a Home Report. If other organisations wish to become Home Report providers, Scottish Ministers will assess applications against certain criteria.

Question reference: S4W-05956

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 8 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) investigations have been carried out, (b) control notices have been issued and (c) authorised officers have been employed by each local authority since the commencement of the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010.

Individual local authorities have provided information in the following table that provides a breakdown of the number of investigations carried out by each local authority, the number of authorised officers employed by each authority, and the number of Dog Control Notices served by each local authority since the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010 came into force on 26 February 2011. The information is current up to 5 March 2012.

Local Authority	Number of Dog Control Notices Served	Number of Investigations	Number of Authorised Officers Appointed (Employed (from within Existing Budgets)
Aberdeen City Council	4	207	2
Aberdeenshire Council	3	89	3
Angus Council	0	27	1
Argyll and Bute Council	7	28	9
Clackmannanshire Council	0	30	1
Dumfries and Galloway Council	2	24	3
Dundee City Council	0	5	1
East Ayrshire Council	8	24	6
East Dunbartonshire Council	10	24	18
East Lothian Council	12	14	2
East Renfrewshire Council	0	1	2 (officers to be formally appointed April 2012)
Edinburgh City Council	0	32	11
Falkirk Council	0	33	2
Fife Council	10	55	4
Glasgow City Council	1	12	28
Highland Council	2	16	3
Inverclyde Council	0	0	1
Midlothian Council	1	24	2
Moray Council	0	36	2
North Ayrshire Council	1	29	3
North Lanarkshire Council	0	6	3
Orkney Council	0	3	5
Perth and Kinross Council	0	40	2
Renfrewshire Council	0	36	1
Scottish Borders Council	4	16	2
Shetland Islands Council	4	32	3
South Ayrshire Council	0	3	2
South Lanarkshire Council	0	43	35
Stirling Council	1	19	2
West Dunbartonshire Council	0	41	3
West Lothian Council	22	164	2
Western Isles Council	0	1	1
Total	92	1114	165

Question reference: S4W-05918

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 6 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress its National Housing Trust initiative is making with the second phase of procurement of homes for mid-market rent.

Question reference: S4W-05919

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 6 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many homes for mid-market rent procured through its National Housing Trust initiative will be (a) completed and (b) available for let in each year of the current parliamentary session.

The 614 homes procured through the first round of the National Housing Trust initiative, and their current expected completion dates in each year of the current parliamentary session, are detailed in the following table. These dates may be subject to change as construction progresses. It will be possible to confirm when the homes being procured through round two will complete when the procurement process ends. As soon as homes complete and enter the initiative, they are available for let.

Parliamentary Session	Number of Units
2011-12	16
2012-13	149
2013-14	449
2014-15	To be confirmed
2015-16	To be confirmed

Question reference: S4W-05760

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the NHS does not (a) provide or (b) maintain defibrillators for community first responder schemes.

There remains uncertainty around the benefits of Public Access Defibrillators (PADs) and around the best places to put them. While it is likely that places with high footfall such as shopping centres, stadiums and railway stations are potential locations, it remains unclear how busy those locations have to be in order to warrant a PAD.

Although the emerging evidence remains uncertain, the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) has reported that public access defibrillators can act as a catalyst for community involvement in the wider emergency life support training, and is working with stakeholders to improving access to public access defibrillators (PADs) throughout remote, rural and urban communities in Scotland as part of its community resilience scheme.

The SAS is working with businesses and charities to map the locations of PAD premises against ambulance response times to identify locations where PADS are likely to save more lives. The SAS is also advising businesses on the purchase and installation of in-store defibrillators in 40 shops, which involves training and supporting staff in the use of PADs.

We have also invested £7.5 million for the installation of state-of-the-art defibrillators, for use by its trained staff, in all Scottish Ambulance Service ambulances.

Question reference: S4W-05759

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 1 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the 6,000 affordable homes to be built in each year of the current parliamentary session will be fully accessible to wheelchair users.

Within our Strategy and Action Plan Homes Fit for the 21st Century we have highlighted the importance of new supply to meet the needs of our people. In particular we recognise the requirement to produce enough specialist or adapted housing for older and disabled people.

It is, however, not possible to say what proportion of the 6,000 affordable homes to be built within each year of the current parliamentary session will be fully accessible to wheelchair users. Local authorities are currently bringing forward local housing strategies, informed by housing need and demand assessments which will inform investment decisions about where and what type of housing is required. Through this process local authorities should ensure sufficient fully accessible properties are available to allow disabled people more freedom and choice over where they want to live.