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: S4W-22642

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 14 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether any of the £3.5 billion investment by Scottish Water announced on 29 September 2014 is for first time connections to the water main.

The £3.5 billion investment is designed to address, in the main, priorities that arise on the public network from the need to meet mandatory standards in relation to drinking water and the environment. This also includes sums necessary to accommodate growth including the amounts payable under the Provision of Water and Sewerage Services (Reasonable Cost) (Scotland) Regulations 2011. The priorities as agreed are set out in directions issued to Scottish Water on 1 October 2014.

A specific provision has been included to require Scottish Water to assist regulators with the assessment of the sustainable and cost effective options to improve private provision. A Rural Provision Group has been established to carry out this assessment. In the light of recommendations ministers may instruct Scottish Water to facilitate improvements.

The investment Directions are available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0045/00459867.pdf

Question reference: S4W-22643

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 14 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to provide grant funding to assist domestic households with first time connections to the water main.

In Scotland, there are over 20,000 private water supplies of which some 10% are larger supplies supplying commercial premises or large communities. It is essential that before any funds are allocated that there is a fuller understanding of the location, nature and condition of these supplies. For this reason, the government has asked that the assessment as noted in my answer to S4W-22642 on 14 October 2014, be carried out.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Question reference: S4W-22594

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 6 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost of the public inquiry into Clostridium difficile at the Vale of Leven Hospital has been and how this compares with the costs of other recent public inquiries.

The information on inquiry costs is set out in the following table:

Inquiry	Cost
ICL Inquiry	£1.9 million
Fingerprint Inquiry	£4.75 million
Penrose Inquiry (ongoing)	£11.5 million (as at 31 August 2014)
Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry (ongoing)	£10.1 million (as at 30 July 2014)

It is not possible to make direct comparisons of the costs associated with different public inquiries, established under the Inquiries Act 2005, because the terms of reference are specific to each inquiry.

Question reference: S4W-22593

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 6 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when the report from the public inquiry into Clostridium difficile at the Vale of Leven Hospital will be published.

Question reference: S4W-22577

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 3 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether local authorities have been advised that they can cancel arrears of the so-called bedroom tax arising in 2013-14 and when it will issue guidance on the matter.

The management of arrears, including those related to the bedroom tax, is a matter for landlords as part of their responsibility to manage their tenants, stock and finances.

The cap for Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) will be lifted once the power to do so is transferred to Scottish Ministers. When that happens, local authorities will be able to top up their DHP accounts to make any further payments in line with local priorities.

Question reference: S4F-02289

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 September 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 September 2014

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on raising the minimum wage to £8 per hour.

Question reference: S4F-02254

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 August 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 August 2014

To ask the First Minister whether there will be foodbanks in an independent Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-22078

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 July 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 August 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-21350 by John Swinney on 9 June 2014, whether the events are evaluated on a (a) formative or (b) summative basis and, if so, whether it will publish the evaluation (i) methodology and (ii) findings.

Events held by the Public Appointment Centre of Expertise vary greatly, from hosting a stand at a conference to organising large events such as Women On Board: Quality through Diversity, held in November 2013. As such, not every event is evaluated, and methods used may be on a formative, summative or other method as considered appropriate. Any evaluations that are published will be available on the Scottish Government’s website, alongside more information on the work of the Public Bodies and Corporate Diversity Programme Board:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Equality/PublicBoardsCorporateDiversityProg

Question reference: S4W-22079

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 July 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 August 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-21351 by John Swinney on 9 June 2014, for what reason no diversity training for external selection panel members specific to the workstream has been delivered.

The key findings report from the event Women On Board: Quality through Diversity held in November 2013 included an action: “training in unconscious bias, equality and diversity for everyone involved in the recruitment process”. The Scottish Government’s Public Bodies and Corporate Diversity Programme Board has supported the integration of this action across the programme strands.

Further scoping work is currently underway to devise how to provide suitable diversity training for external board members. The programme board and relevant stakeholders will consider the content and timing of such training to ensure that any investment made delivers results.

Question reference: S4W-22168

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 July 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 August 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether the NHS has (a) sold or (b) passed-on the names and addresses of patients to commercial companies in the last five years and, if so, for what reason.