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-02457

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what it considers the impact is of UK student visa rules on Scotland's universities and colleges.

Question reference: S4O-02410

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 19 September 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the proposed National Planning Framework 3.

Question reference: S4W-16489

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 2 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what impact its decision to protect funding for the council tax benefit successor scheme for 2013-14 will have on the incomes of households aged over 65.

Working in partnership with local government, we responded quickly to put in place transitional arrangements to plug the estimated £40 million gap in funding from the UK Government following their abolition of council tax benefit. This ensures that around 560,000 people in Scotland who were receiving council tax benefit are protected from the UK Government’s 10% cut in successor arrangement funding. This means that vulnerable people have the same net liability for council tax as if council tax benefit were still in place, provided their circumstances remain the same. This includes around 216,900 households containing at least one person aged 65 or over.

Question reference: S4W-16134

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 June 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 25 July 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many crimes and offences have been recorded in each local authority area in each year since 2003-04, and how many were categorised as (a) non-sexual crimes of violence, (b) homicide, (c) robbery, (d) crimes of dishonesty, (e) housebreaking, (f) theft from a motor vehicle, (g) theft of a motor vehicle, (h) shoplifting, (i) other theft, (j) fire-raising, vandalism etc (k) fire-raising, (l) vandalism, (m) handling an offensive weapon, (n) crimes against public justice, (o) common assault, (p) breach of the peace etc and (q) other crimes.

Question reference: S4O-02304

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 June 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the reported comments of Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski and other panel members of the Review of Higher Education Governance in Scotland on the draft Scottish code of good higher education governance.

Question reference: S4O-02117

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what help is available for local traders to ensure that local communities thrive.

Question reference: S4F-01351

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 April 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2013

To ask the First Minister how communities are benefiting from proceeds of crime.

Question reference: S4W-14505

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2013
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 26 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made following publication of the Review of Proposals to Improve Arrangements for Independent Monitoring of Prisons.

The Scottish Government will publish its response to Professor Coyle’s review on 26 April 2013. The decision has been made that HM Chief Inspector of Prisons will oversee four prison monitors who will be supported by Lay Monitors. The prison monitors will be further supported by an Advisory Group which will be made up of key stakeholders from the justice sector. This Group will provide guidance on monitoring, appointments and training.

The legislative process to transfer and modify the existing prison visiting committee statutory powers, as well as amendments to the Prison Rules, will be made through a Section 14 Order under the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010. The Parliamentary process and transition from prison visiting committees to independent monitors will take a number of months to complete. We anticipate the transition and introduction of the new independent monitoring service to be completed by autumn 2014.

Question reference: S4O-02074

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what benefits the Scottish Funding Council's investment in technology innovation centres in Edinburgh and Glasgow will bring to the life sciences industry.

Question reference: S4W-14300

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 April 2013
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 18 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its decision is regarding the recommendations made in the Scottish Court Services recent paper, Shaping Scotland's Court Services.

I will be informing the Scottish Court Service (SCS) and the Lord President later today that the Scottish Government has accepted the recommendations as set out in the report, Shaping Scotland’s Court Services.

In terms of the recommendations relating to court closures, this will require statutory orders to be made and then laid in the Scottish Parliament. My decision initiates the next step of the process which requires the consent of both the Lord President and the SCS before the Orders can be made.

Overall, I believe that these proposals are proportionate and that they are justified based on the analysis supplied on savings and impact on access to justice. I believe that the recommendations are consistent with our wider reform plans, and that there is no obvious way that SCS could make comparable savings with less impact on efficiency and access.