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-28937

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 2 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will list for each individual MSP who submitted their name at least once for a computerised ballot for oral questions between 1 July 2005 and 5 October 2006, excluding Scottish ministers and the Presiding Officer, the proportion of their submissions which were successful.

Under Scottish ParliamentStanding Orders (Rule 13.6A.1) members who wish to lodge an oral General orThemed Question must first submit their names for selection. Under SO Rule13.6A.3 names are selected for each Question Time by computerised ballot on arandom basis. The selections are carried out in the order in which theproceedings to which they relate are to take place.

It is normally the case thatin each week during which the Parliament is sitting there will be one GeneralQuestion Time and two Themed Question Times. Members can submit their name forone or more Question Times in any given week. However, a member’s name ifselected in one of the earlier selections is disregarded in any subsequentselection of names in the same week. That is to say that, in any one week, themaximum number of times that members may submit their names is three times andthe maximum number of times members may be selected to lodge an oral questionsis one time.

During the period between 1 July 2005 and 5 October 2006selections were made, by computerised ballot, for Question Times taken in 42meetings of the Parliament. On that basis the maximum number of times members couldhave submitted their names for selection was 126 times and the maximum numberof times they could have been selected to lodge a question was 42 times.

The following table showsthe number of times each member submitted their name, the number of times theywere selected and the proportion of their submissions which were successful,for the period between 1 July 2005 and 5 October 2006.

Member Number*	Number of Times Name Submitted	Number of Times Selected	Proportion of Successful Submissions
1	111	12	10.8%
2	120	12	10.0%
3	16	1	6.2%
4	126	13	10.3%
5	120	9	7.5%
6	119	20	16.8%
7	71	10	14.1%
8	15	2	13.3%
9	90	6	6.7%
10	27	0	0.0%
11	60	6	10.0%
12	123	10	8.1%
13	13	2	15.4%
14	105	13	12.4%
15	126	14	11.1%
16	70	6	8.6%
17	108	6	5.6%
18	126	10	7.9%
19	90	8	8.9%
20	126	18	14.3%
21	108	14	12.9%
22	114	23	20.2%
23	69	10	14.5%
24	114	10	8.8%
25	42	6	14.3%
26	60	7	11.7%
27	24	5	20.8%
28	117	13	11.1%
29	126	15	11.9%
30	126	20	15.9%
31	126	14	11.1%
32	80	9	11.2%
33	83	6	7.2%
34	126	19	15.1%
35	123	18	14.6%
36	111	13	11.7%
37	100	14	14.0%
38	63	8	12.7%
39	90	9	10.0%
40	126	17	13.5%
41	28	3	10.7%
42	126	15	11.9%
43	123	19	15.4%
44	126	15	11.9%
45	43	4	9.3%
46	126	15	11.9%
47	126	17	13.5%
48	113	14	12.4%
49	116	17	14.7%
50	123	13	10.6%
51	126	13	10.3%
52	93	11	11.8%
53	123	18	14.6%
54	126	16	12.7%
55	6	2	33.3%
56	66	7	10.6%
57	93	16	17.2%
58	126	17	13.5%
59	102	11	10.8%
60	84	9	10.7%
61	126	16	12.7%
62	126	20	15.9%
63	60	7	11.7%
64	126	11	8.7%
65	66	8	12.1%
66	60	6	10.0%
67	126	16	12.7%
68	76	12	15.8%
69	87	9	10.3%
70	117	13	11.1%
71	117	12	10.3%
72	126	22	17.5%
73	126	15	11.9%
74	48	6	12.5%
75	126	18	14.3%
76	33	5	15.2%
77	126	17	13.5%
78	79	10	12.7%
79	123	14	11.4%
80	126	16	12.7%
81	126	12	9.5%
82	95	11	11.6%
83	63	10	15.9%
84	123	22	17.9%
85	126	18	14.3%
86	126	11	8.7%
87	111	12	10.8%
88	126	19	15.1%
89	90	10	11.1%
90	111	11	9.9%
91	113	15	13.3%
92	105	10	9.5%
93	83	12	14.5%
94	75	9	12.0%
95	17	5	29.4%
96	37	4	10.8%
97	126	14	11.1%
98	111	9	8.1%
99	85	9	10.6%
100	75	11	14.7%
101	26	7	26.9%
102	47	1	2.1%
103	73	12	16.4%
104	111	14	12.6%
105	96	13	13.5%
106	70	8	11.4%
107	33	7	21.2%

Note: *These numbersrepresent the order in which staff processed the information reproduced in thetable.

Given the random nature of the selection process and that members decide each week whether to submit theirnames to one or more ballots, the proportion of successful submissions it islikely to vary depending on the period under inquiry.

Question reference: S2W-28940

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 2 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body on what date the algorithm for the computerised ballot of MSPs’ names for oral questions was introduced and on what dates any amendments to it have been introduced.

The algorithm for thecomputerised ballot of MSPs’ names for oral questions was introduced inthe last quarter of 2000. It is a component of the Oral Questions template.

The algorithm has been enhancedtwice since the Oral Question template’s introduction:

The first enhancement wasimplemented in July 2004 in response to an anomalyidentified following a change in procedures in the way the oral questions were selectedand presented. An announcement relating to this appeared in the Business Bulletin so that all members were made aware of the situation.

The second enhancement was introducedin January 2006 to ensure that, even if the number of questionssubmitted in each category and the order in which they were submitted and bywhom was constant; the “seed” used to generate a sequence of randomnumbers each time the ballot for each category was run would be unique. Aspart of this enhancement, analysis showed conclusively that although duplicateseeds had been possible, none had occurred.

Question reference: S2W-28941

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 2 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will conduct a cycle of repetitive tests, using the names submitted for the computerised ballot of MSPs’ names for oral questions, the results of which were published in the Business Bulletin of 5 October 2006, to establish how many such tests it is necessary to execute before a set of results is produced that includes a successful outcome for every name submitted and in doing so whether it will publish the number of names submitted to each part of that ballot.

The SPCB will not conduct acycle of repetitive tests as described as any such tests would not produceinformative results. The tests could be repeatedly run for the same sample of membersand the outcome is likely to be different every time due to the nature of theprocess. It is possible that after only a few runs all the members’ names areselected, however, conversely it is also possible that it will take many runsto select all of the members’ names within a given sample.

Question reference: S2W-28839

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 1 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS hospitals have rented (a) all and (b) part of their wards to pharmaceutical companies for experimental treatments in the last 12 months.

Question reference: S2W-28925

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Johann Lamont on 31 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Communities will reply to my letter dated 24 July 2006 regarding my constituent, Mr R Stephen of Cairbulg.

Question reference: S2W-29084

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 31 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of family information sessions held by or for the Scottish Prison Service in the last 12 months for which the information is available took place during (a) an evening or (b) a weekend.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-29083 on 31 October 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’swebsite, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.Of the 216 family information sessions thathave taken place, 38 sessions were held during the evening and 17 sessions wereheld at weekends.

Question reference: S2W-29083

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 31 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many family information sessions have been held by or for the Scottish Prison Service in the last 12 months for which the information is available and what proportion of these included specific information about addictions.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

There have been 216 family informationsessions held. Seventy-five of these sessions included specific information aboutaddictions. There are a number of other forums where information is also offeredand provided to families, for example through Family Contact Officers at visits,contacting the Scottish Prisoners Families Helpline operated by Families Outsideand through the SPS Website at www.sps.gov.uk.

Question reference: S2W-28979

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 30 October 2006

The number of people with dementiain Scotland is set to rise as a result of the increase in the olderpopulation. There are a range of forecasts to draw on and consider. NHS Health Scotland’s NeedsAssessment Report Dementia and Older People, published in October 2003 (Bib.number 37331) predicts the number of people in Scotland with dementia in 2040 as192,000.

The Alzheimer Scotland publishedprojections are as follows:

Year	Total
2006	64,103
2011	69,761
2016	77,639
2021	88,691
2026	100,331
2031	113,633

Question reference: S2W-28858

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 27 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been diagnosed as suffering from clinical obesity in each NHS board area in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S2W-28882

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 27 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) average and (b) longest wait has been for patients with morbid obesity to receive surgery in order to aid weight reduction in each year since 1999.