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 1927 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S4O-02911

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the availability of supply teachers.

Question reference: S4W-19194

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 28 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on reducing the cost of the senior civil service by 25% by 2014-15.

Question reference: S4W-19193

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 27 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that (a) primary school pupils receive at least two hours and (b) pupils in years S1 to S4 receive at least two periods of PE each week.

We have provided £5.8 million through Education Scotland and Sportscotland over the last two years to support schools and local authorities to ensure that children in primary schools receive two hours or two periods of PE and those in secondary schools receive two periods of PE. In December 2013 we announced that a further £5.8 million would be provided over the next two years. In June 2013 the Healthy Living Survey showed that 89% of schools were meeting this target, up from less than 10% in 2004-05.

Question reference: S4W-19198

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 23 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many tickets have been sold to (a) domestic and (b) overseas visitors for the event, Bannockburn Live.

Question reference: S4W-19199

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 23 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage young golfers to attend the 2014 Junior Ryder Cup.

The 2014 Junior Ryder Cup, which will be held at Blairgowrie Golf Club, Perthshire, is a hugely important event for Scotland and will play a key part in inspiring our young golfers of the future.

The Scottish Government is working closely with Ryder Cup Europe and ClubGolf to provide free fun coaching activities for up to 3,000 young golfers, from schools and clubs across Scotland, over the course of the tournament.

As a free event, The Junior Ryder Cup is open to all and will offer a small number of volunteering opportunities for young people. The event will be advertised to young golfers through schools, golf clubs and social media encouraging everyone to support the Teams and to be part of what promises to be a truly inspiring event.

Question reference: S4W-19196

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many community sports hubs there are, broken down by location.

Question reference: S4W-19197

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 20 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) water and (b) wastewater treatment works have been upgraded in each year since 2010.

In this regulatory period 2010-15, Scottish Water is tasked with upgrading 97 water treatment works and 185 wastewater treatment works to deliver improvements to drinking water quality and wastewater discharges. This is in addition to the maintenance that will be undertaken routinely by Scottish Water at its installations.

The numbers of improvements delivered in each year since 2010 are:

Year	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13
Water Treatment Works	1	12	23
Wastewater treatment works	1	46	35

By quarter 2 of 2012-13, Scottish Water had upgraded 47 water treatment works and 86 wastewater treatment works.

The delivery of Scottish Water's investment programme is monitored by the Output Monitoring Group chaired by the Scottish Government. Its quarterly monitoring reports are published on the Government's website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/waterindustryscot/publications/deliveryprogress

Question reference: S4W-19101

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 17 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when it will commence Part 3, Chapter 1 of the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010.

Question reference: S4W-19118

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 17 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what areas of coniferous woodland have been planted on areas of deep peat and whether such areas will be restocked or whether compensation planting will be sought elsewhere.

The Scottish Government does not have reliable figures for the overall area of coniferous woodland that has been planted on deep peat.

Forestry Commission Scotland will shortly issue guidance on the future management of forestry on peatland habitats. The guidance will provide options to forest managers so that they can assess the carbon retention implications of different land uses, including woodland creation and restocking, which can be considered alongside other priorities such as biodiversity and landscape. The Scottish Government’s Control of Woodland Removal Policy makes clear the circumstances under which compensatory planting will be required if woodland is permanently removed.

Question reference: S4W-19117

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 17 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much new woodland has been established in each year since 2007.

Year	Conifer (ha)	Broadleaved (ha)	Total (ha)
2007-08	700	3,400	4,100
2008-09	1,200	2,300	3,500
2009-10	500	2,200	2,700
2010-11	1,500	3,600	5,100
2011-12	3,300	5,700	9,000
2012-13	1,700	5,300	7,000