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: S4O-01060

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what support is available for GP surgeries in remote areas.

Question reference: S4O-00952

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how it encourages the use of credit unions.

Question reference: S4W-06479

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 April 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 24 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what the timescale is for a decision on the coal-fired power station at Hunterston.

Question reference: S4O-00928

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will devolve more powers to schools.

Question reference: S4W-06482

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 18 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the council tax freeze will have a negative impact on local authority jobs and services and whether it has carried out a risk assessment on continuing the freeze for a further five years.

Question reference: S4W-05839

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 18 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients from Scotland have received treatment in NHS facilities in England in each year since 2007, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) surgery type

Question reference: S4W-06480

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 17 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what provisions have been put in place to deal with the council tax not having risen with inflation during the council tax freeze; how local authorities will compensate for this loss of income, and what assessment has been carried out of the impact on local authorities when the freeze ends.

Question reference: S4W-06481

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 17 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what work it is doing to identify replacements for council tax; what the timescale is, and whether a local income tax remains under consideration.

Question reference: S4W-06158

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 23 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to Schmallenberg virus, what steps are being taken to restrict the importation of (a) animals from high-risk areas and (b) pregnant animals wherever possible.

The Scottish Ministers have no legal basis for restricting the import of animals based on the prevalence of the Schmallenberg virus within the European Union.

Restricting the import of livestock from member states is only possible under certain circumstances. Research into the Schmallenberg virus is still at an early stage, but the current assumption is that it is spread by midges. The cases of the virus that are being reported in the south of England and elsewhere in Europe are probably a result of infection that took place last year. Given the current state of knowledge about the virus, and as midges are not generally active during the winter, it would appear that restricting the movement of animals would not contribute to stopping the spread of the virus. Consequently, the European Union has decided that import controls are not necessary.

The introduction of appropriate control measures will be considered as more is learned about the virus. In the meantime, farmers purchasing new stock are being encouraged to enquire about the health history of pregnant animals.

Question reference: S4O-00848

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 22 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it will give to the Scottish Domestic Abuse Helpline over the next five years.