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: S4F-01003

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 November 2012

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government is doing to ensure that the 2014 Year of Homecoming is a success.

Question reference: S4W-10858

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 15 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what capital investment projects, that it has funded, are underway in Mid Scotland and Fife and what the (a) completion date and (b) cost is of each project.

An outline of capital investment projects currently underway in the Mid Scotland and Fife region which, are funded or part funded by the Scottish Government is included in the following table.

Project Name	Capital Value (£m)	Estimated Completion
Forth Replacement Crossing	1450-1600	December 2016
A9 Dualling Perth to Inverness	1500-3000	December 2025
Halbeath Park & Ride, Fife	10	October 2013
Auchmuty High School, Fife ¹	30	August 2013
St. John's / Claremont Primary School, Clackmannanshire ¹	8.5	August 2014
Invergowrie Primary, Perth & Kinross ¹	6.5	September 2013
Riverside Primary, Stirling ¹	3.5	August 2013
Craigbank Primary School, Clackmannanshire ²	To be confirmed	To be confirmed
New Secondary School to replace Buckhaven and Kirkland High Schools, Fife ²	To be confirmed	To be confirmed
New Secondary School, Perth & Kinross ²	To be confirmed	To be confirmed
St Ninian’s Primary School, Stirling ²	To be confirmed	To be confirmed
Glenwood Health Centre, Fife	6	January 2014
Tayside Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit, Perth	9	April 2014
Affordable Housing Provision ³	15	2013-14

Notes

1. These schools form part of Phase 1 and 2 of the Scottish Government’s
£1.25 billion ‘Scotland’s Schools for the Future School Building Programme’.

2. These schools form part of Phase 3 of the Scottish Government’s £1.25 billion ‘Scotland’s Schools for the Future School Building Programme’ which was announced on 26 September 2012. Detailed planning and design is still to be undertaken for each school and the capital value and completion dates are still subject to confirmation.

3. The £15m relates to current Scottish Government investment in affordable housing through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) within the Mid Scotland and Fife area which has been approved and which is underway.

Note also that the Scottish Government has given Fife Council approval to develop proposals for its Energy Park Project (£17m) by way of Tax Incremental Financing and the council is currently working with the Scottish Futures Trust to develop a full business case for Ministers’ consideration.

Question reference: S4W-10874

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 15 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many homes were considered to be in fuel poverty in (a) Perth and Kinross, (b) Stirling and (c) Fife in each of the last five years.

Local Authority level fuel poverty analysis is performed on three years of data to include enough cases to be statistically robust. As such fuel poverty figures are not available for each calendar year. These figures represent the mid point of the data collection period based on calendar years.

Year

Local Authority

Fuel Poor Households

		Number	Percent of LA	Sample
2008-2010	Perth and Kinross	24,000	36	245
	Stirling	11,000	29	229
	Fife	49,000	31	426
2007-2009	Perth and Kinross	24,000	37	254
	Stirling	9,000	25	239
	Fife	50,000	32	408

Full details are available from the Scottish House Condition Survey website.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/SHCS/keyanalyses

Question reference: S4W-10691

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 14 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what the incidence rate is of squirrel pox virus.

Question reference: S4W-10690

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 14 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to protect the red squirrel in 2013, one of the 10 iconic species selected in the Year of Natural Scotland.

The Scottish Government works with Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), NGOs and landowners to protect red squirrels in Scotland. The Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) provides funding for red squirrel conservation such as habitat management and grey squirrel control. The value of the 5 year SRDP contracts, which run from 2009-2014, is expected to exceed £1.5 million.

SNH is contributing £1 million to the Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels (SSRS) project, which now incorporates the Red Squirrels in South Scotland (RSSS) project.

The SSRS project includes raising awareness and encouraging appropriate habitat management in Grampian, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs and Tayside.

The RSSS is focused on the containment of the squirrel pox virus through the control of grey squirrels in the south of Scotland. Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) is contributing £100,000 and also provides three full time grey squirrel control officers in the south of Scotland.

A further area of current conservation action is to promote forest management for red squirrels. FCS has identified red squirrel stronghold areas and is working with forest managers to make red squirrel conservation a high priority in these forests.

Recognising the importance of red squirrels to the Scottish public, they are one of the species to be highlighted as part of the Year of Natural Scotland in 2013. This will help raise further public awareness of this native species and of what is being done to protect them and, in particular, will advertise where there are opportunities to view red squirrels.

Question reference: S4O-01468

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 November 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address any health inequalities between manual and non-manual workers.

Question reference: S4W-10416

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 7 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on ensuring that NHS boards carry out patient consultations before making changes to the provision of treatments or services.

NHS boards must involve the communities they serve in planning and developing the health and care services they provide. Involving patients, carers and the public is an important aspect of the Government’s ambitions for improving the quality of service provided by NHSScotland.

Scottish Government guidance introduced in February 2010 sets out NHS boards’ responsibilities to inform, engage and consult with their patients and the wider public and how that process should work. The guidance applies to all NHS boards, who are supported in their involving people practices by the Scottish Health Council. The Council has been working to ensure that patient focus and public involvement is embedded in the culture of the NHS. boards’ practices, which are assessed against the National Participation Standard.

Question reference: S4W-10421

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 6 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that people in rural areas have access to local GP surgeries.

Under the legal framework for service provision, NHS boards are responsible for ensuring the provision of primary medical services for their areas. In discharging these statutory obligations NHS boards are required to put in place those services which they consider necessary to meet all reasonable requirements for their areas.

NHS boards have more than one service option at their disposal. As well as securing the provision of services through independent contractors under the nationally negotiated General Medical Services contract; or through contractual agreements under Section 17C of the NHS (Scotland) Act 1978, NHS boards can choose to provide services directly themselves under Section 2C of the 1978 Act.

NHS boards are accountable for all service provision as part of the annual review process.

Question reference: S4W-10415

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how it measures the provision of fertility services across NHS boards with regard to (a) waiting times for treatment, (b) the number of cycles of treatment provided and (c) the number of couples seeking treatment.

The National Infertility Group, set up in April 2010, is considering the provision of infertility services across NHS Boards in Scotland. The Group will submit its report, with recommendations, to Ministers by the end of December 2012.

Methods for measuring (a) waiting times for treatment, (b) the number of cycles of treatment provided and (c) the number of couples seeking treatment, will be considered as part of the implementation planning in order to meet the Scottish Government commitment to a 12 month maximum waiting time for IVF treatment, for eligible patients, by 31 March 2015.

Question reference: S4W-10412

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the future of fertility services.

The National Infertility Group was set up, in April 2010, to address the inequity of access to IVF treatment across Scotland and will submit its final report to Ministers by the end of December 2012. Ministers will then consider the report and its recommendations in order to meet the Scottish Government commitment to a 12 month maximum waiting time for IVF treatment, for eligible patients.

In addition, the Scottish Government has recently announced investment of £12 million over the next three years to help NHS boards meet the waiting time by 31 March 2015.