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: S3W-38872

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the termination of statistical reporting by the UK-wide Home Accident Surveillance System and the Leisure Accident Surveillance System in 2003, for what reason Scotland has no official body that collates injury statistics, including for sporting activities.

Question reference: S3W-38870

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many under-18s sustained sports-related injuries in 2009-10 and how this compares with the European Union average per head of population.

Complete data on the number of people of who have sustained sports-related injuries in Scotland is not collected centrally.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-38871 on 2 February 2011. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

Question reference: S3W-38871

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to further develop Scotland’s sports-injury reporting system.

The Scottish Government is currently funding ISD to run a project which will gather relevant data on injuries presenting through accident and emergency (A&E) services in Scotland in order to develop a better evidence base on the size and nature of the problem of both intentional (assaults) and unintentional injuries. This data gathering is seen as an essential first step before considering what measures might need to be taken to address the issue of injury reduction. The 18-month project started on 1 July 2010 and is anticipated to end in December 2011.

Data will enable the breakdown of the figures by age, gender, location injury occurred and type of accident (i.e. fall, or burn etc), activity when injured and social sector (using deprivation categories). Place of injury and activity when injured will make it easier to identify sports injuries presented through A&E services in future.

Question reference: S3W-38959

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 1 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will set out a full timetable for the dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness also showing construction costs.

As I confirmed in the Members'' Business debate in the Chamber on the A9 on 20 January 2011, although it would clearly never have been possible to design, authorise, procure and complete major dualling of the A9 in the lifetime of this Parliament, the Scottish Government has committed to dualling the A9 from Perth to Inverness and have put the project into the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR), so that it is on record as one of our priorities.

I also confirmed that dualling this section involves approximately 87 miles of new carriageway and, as the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth made clear during the debate, that requires in-depth planning and design to ensure we deliver the right scheme, taking into consideration all the factors, including environmental constraints, such as the protected Cairngorms National Park.

Once these stages have been completed, we can then finalise the timescales for the upgrading of the A9 which will be undertaken in the context of overall affordability and our commitments to the STPR recommendations.

Question reference: S3W-38960

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 1 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will upgrade the A9 Moy 2+1 overtaking lane to dual carriageway status following its closure in November 2010 due to safety concerns.

As part of normal procedures, a road safety audit of the A9 Moy improvement was carried out shortly after opening and this identified some driver behaviour which could produce a potentially dangerous situation. The overtaking lane was closed to protect safety and Transport Scotland is currently considering options for resolving the issues identified.

The Scottish Government is committed to planning for the dualling of the whole of the A9 between Perth and Inverness and has already announced further improvements. The detail for this work, in terms of design, costs or programmes will be defined in the context of the development of the Strategic Transport Projects Review intervention relating to the upgrading of this trunk road from Dunblane to Inverness and wider funding and resource commitments.

Question reference: S3W-38961

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 1 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive when the dual carriageway on the A9 at Killiecrankie was constructed.

Question reference: S3W-38971

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual cost is to (a) it, (b) its agencies and (c) other public bodies of employing (i) press officers, (ii) communications officers, (iii) strategy officers and (iv) other positions with a similar remit.

Question reference: S3W-38970

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) press officers, (b) communications officers, (c) strategy officers and (d) other positions with a similar remit are employed by (i) it, (ii) its agencies and (iii) other public bodies.

Question reference: S3W-38236

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2010
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 20 January 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has invested in studies on the effects of milder winters.

The Scottish Government has not commissioned any studies looking specifically at the effects of milder winters. Climate change is one of three cross-cutting themes embedded in the Scottish Government''s £50 million annual investment in strategic research programmes. These make a significant contribution to climate change issues. An additional sum of at least £1 million is also invested annually in more specific climate change initiatives, including a collaborative partnership with the UK Research Councils on the Living with Environmental Change programme and the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment, which is led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on behalf of all parts of the UK.

Question reference: S3W-38219

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2010
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 20 January 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what commitments in the Strategic Transport Projects Review it will (a) take forward and (b) prioritise in 2011.

The Strategic Transport Projects Review sets out 29 investment priorities over the period to 2032 and this government is committed to delivering these projects subject to the transport allocation within future spending reviews and affordability.

Our priority projects remain the Forth Replacement Crossing, Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvements Programme, Highland Main Line and the Aberdeen to Inverness line.

We are also working with partners and stakeholders to take forward the other projects, including:

The design and development of the A9, with design work for dualling currently being undertaken between Birnam and the Jubilee Bridge;

Early design work on the A96 to identify solutions for upgrading the section between Inverness and Nairn to dual carriageway;

Developing a long term vision for the A82 to improve its overall standard and safety;

Developing a public transport strategy for the Forth Replacement Crossing which will include funding for a Park and Ride Site;

Developing a number of Park & Ride sites, including at Dalcross, Dyce (A96), Forgan and outside Ayr (M77), and

The production of a plan for rail improvements in Glasgow and the West of Scotland through the West of Scotland Strategic Rail Enhancements Steering Group.