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-03410

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 October 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 9 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what talks it has had with police civilian staff regarding their future under a single police force.

The Scottish Government has met police staff and the staff associations as part of its consultations on police reform.

I met with representatives from UNISON on 27 June to discuss reform and have recently written to Mr. Veldon, UNISON Scotland Staff Side Secretary, asking whether he and colleagues from Unite and GMB would find a meeting helpful to discuss further the implications for police staff. My officials also met UNISON separately on 11 March and police staff groups on 3 May and 1 November.

In a letter to all police staff and officers on 8 September, I confirmed that they will transfer to the Scottish Police Service on the same terms and conditions. I offered reassurance that existing mobility safeguards would be honoured and staff would remain in their current pension schemes.

UNISON have also been invited to join a police reform subgroup to scrutinise, challenge and contribute to the development of the reform agenda moving forward.

Question reference: S4O-00353

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost of the council tax freeze between 2007 and 2016 will be.

Question reference: S4W-03409

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 October 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 1 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many police civilian staff there are and how many would be required under a single police force.

Question reference: S4O-00325

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S4W-02822

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 3 October 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what incentives it will give to business to provide jobs outwith the cities.

The government is offering a range of recruitment incentives across Scotland to support business and get people into jobs through Skills Development Scotland providing:

- £1,000 to employers who offer 16 to 19 year-olds who have been through pre-employment training a job or an apprenticeship;

- £1,000 to help employers recruit people aged over 18 struggling to find work, and

- an additional £2.5 million to support small businesses with less than 50 employees increase their recruitment in the form of a £1,000 rebate to cover the increased recruitment costs small businesses experience.

To find out more about these incentives please follow the following link:

http://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/our-services/services-for-employers/recruitment.aspx.

Question reference: S4W-02810

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 30 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive, if the proposed national football academy is not located at the Inverclyde National Sports Training Centre (INSTC), what effect this will have on the funding of the INSTC.

Funding for the National Centre at Inverclyde is the responsibility of sportscotland as the national agency for the development of sport in Scotland. The Scottish Government provides sportscotland with annual Grant in Aid as set out in the Budget Bill (for 2011-12 this totals £38.050 million).

Whilst the Scottish Government fully recognise the importance of the work undertaken by the National Centres, it is for sportscotland to determine what funding the centre at Inverclyde receives.

Question reference: S4W-02807

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 30 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on identifying a site for the proposed national football academy.

Question reference: S4W-02808

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 30 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Inverclyde National Sports Training Centre is being considered as a site for the proposed national football academy and, if not, whether it will consider it.

Question reference: S4W-02821

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 29 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the timescale is for upgrading the A737.

A scheme at the Den Dalry is currently in preparation and another scheme at the Head Street Roundabout has completed the statutory process. Progression to its construction phase is dependent on the availability of funding and the competing priorities of other schemes on the network. In addition, a road safety route action plan has been commissioned which will propose measures aimed at reducing the number of injury accidents at the Barrmill Road Roundabout.

In the longer term, the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR) has recommended enhancements on the A737, such as a bypass around Dalry. This project will require a number of stages to be undertaken, including detailed design and development work before we can finalise the timescales for delivery which will be set in the context of overall affordability and our commitments to other STPR proposals.

The condition of the A737 continues to be monitored with maintenance carried out as required.

Question reference: S4W-02831

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 27 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in making next generation broadband available in each local authority area and what the timescales are for rolling it out to those where it is not available.

The Scottish Government is working with a wide range of stakeholders, including local authorities, to develop a strategic national plan to facilitate the roll-out of next generation broadband to all parts of Scotland. This plan will fulfil the Scottish Government’s Digital Strategy ambition that next generation broadband will be available to all by 2020, with significant progress by 2015.

The Scottish Government is clear that the majority of next generation broadband roll-out should be market-led and that industry is already investing across Scotland. For example, BT has recently announced plans for next generation access in Bannockburn, Perth, Peebles, Galashiels, Morningside and Strathaven.

In rural areas, where the market alone will not deliver, progress is also being made through the projects underway in the Highlands and Islands and the south of Scotland. In the Highlands and Islands, next generation broadband is expected in 50 key towns and communities across the region within 12 to 18 months.

We will set out the main components of our national broadband plan before the end of the year and produce a detailed roll-out plan with funding proposals by the end of March 2012.