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: S4W-04272

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 9 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the reports it receives from Transport Scotland on the progress of the Edinburgh tram project are structured on the basis of each grant condition and the degree to which these conditions have been met.

Question reference: S4W-04270

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 9 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how often the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth has received reports from Transport Scotland on the progress of the Edinburgh tram project since May 2008.

Question reference: S4W-04271

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 9 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time-equivalent Transport Scotland employees there have been with the Edinburgh tram project since May 2011 and how many there were from (a) May 2008 to April 2009, (b) May 2009 to April 2010 and (c) May 2010 to April 2011.

Question reference: S4W-04230

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the erection of the Olympic symbol in a suitable location in Edinburgh.

Question reference: S4W-04232

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any ministerial direction was given to Historic Scotland regarding displaying the Olympic symbol in Edinburgh.

Following careful consideration of the proposal to display the Olympic symbols at Edinburgh Castle, Historic Scotland concluded that the proposal was not conducive to the successful operation of Scotland’s most popular heritage attraction.

Historic Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government charged with safeguarding the nation’s historic environment. All functions performed by the agency are carried out on behalf of Scottish ministers.

Question reference: S4W-04233

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 9 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are to use the 2012 Olympics as a platform to encourage a more physically active nation.

We will use the inspiration provided by the 2012 Olympics, the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Ryder Cup etc. to encourage all Scots to be more active and help to make Scotland more physically active.

We will be building on our activity and investment in Community Sports Hubs within local communities and the Active Schools Network, which has delivered over five million opportunities for young people to be active last year. We will also be working in partnership with a number of organisations in support of events which will take place in Scotland next year in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics. These include Sport Relief, National School Sports Week and the World Active Ageing Congress. In addition, over 800 schools across Scotland have registered on the London 2012 Get Set programme.

Question reference: S4W-04231

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had discussions with Historic Scotland regarding a suitable location to display the Olympic symbol in Edinburgh.

Question reference: S4W-04229

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-02886 by Michael Matheson on 26 October 2011, whether the short-life reference group will look specifically at the support of people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME-CFS).

In June 2011, a number of healthcare professionals attended a Healthcare Improvement Scotland event in Dundee to discuss how best to help people with functional symptoms referred to neurological services. The event concluded with health boards asking for help to identify the size of the problem and for some recommendations for ways to help these people so that they could respond appropriately. As a result, Healthcare Improvement Scotland convened a short life reference group for functional neurological symptoms. The group is currently producing a report which will be published in early 2012. At this stage, Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s functional symptoms work will not extend to people with ME-CFS.

In September 2010, the Scottish Government published a Scottish Good Practice Statement (SGPS) on ME-CFS, for use by general practitioners, as part of the process of ensuring that people with ME-CFS receive better and more consistent standards of care, including quicker and more reliable diagnosis.

Question reference: S4W-04115

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-01244 by Angela Constance on 16 November 2011, whether it will commit to do more to raise awareness and uptake of the childcare voucher scheme.

The Scottish Government strongly encourages both employees and employers alike to consider the full range of assistance available to working families, including childcare vouchers. We will convene a national summit with Scotland’s business community to explore new ways of incentivising and encouraging more flexible working in support of families. The summit will provide an opportunity to further promote childcare vouchers.

In the meantime, the Scottish Government continues to fund the Scottish Childcare/Family Information Service website which provides web-based and telephone advice to families on a range of issues, including childcare vouchers. HMRC’s website also offers advice to both employers and employees on this issue.

Question reference: S4W-04108

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to learn from other countries' experience of incorporating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in their legislation.

May 2008 to April 2009	One
May 2009 to April 2010	One
May 2010 to April 2011	One
May 2011 to August 2011	One
September 2011 to present	Four