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-01993

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 April 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that local authorities meet their duty to ensure the safety of pupils travelling between home and school.

Question reference: S4O-01927

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that people with acquired brain injuries receive appropriate treatment.

Question reference: S4O-01860

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 February 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what work is being done to improve accessibility to the parliamentary campus for people with autistic spectrum disorder.

Question reference: S4W-13118

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how the development and delivery of local strategies to tackle autism will be monitored.

Question reference: S4O-01874

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 February 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with COSLA in relation to constitutional protection for local government in an independent Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-13120

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether the use of door-to-door collection bags by charities is subject to the same rules as other types of charitable collection.

The current public charitable collection legislation provides for the collection from the public of money for charitable purposes taken either in a public place or by means of visits from place to place.

Sections 84 to 92 of the Charities and Trustees (Scotland) Act 2005, which have not yet been commenced, set out a new system of licensing public benevolent collections, which includes collections of money, direct debits and goods.

In 2010 officials conducted a consultation with local authorities on introducing the provisions of sections 84 to 92. The consultation findings showed there was little appetite for changing the current regulatory scheme and a number of local authorities voiced concerned that any new licensing scheme could be an unnecessary administrative burden.

Question reference: S4W-13122

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when it last received correspondence from Aberdeen City Council regarding local government funding.

The Scottish Government has regular correspondence with all local authorities through COSLA. Aberdeen City Council did, however write to the Scottish Government recently regarding the Business Rates Incentivisation Scheme (BRIS). In my response I confirmed that in line with the agreed rules governing the scheme, the 2012-13 BRIS targets were not fixed and were currently subject to review and final agreement with COSLA.

Question reference: S4W-13119

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether charities that have authority to operate in Scotland but are registered only in England and Wales have to meet the same registration conditions in Scotland.

By law in Scotland only bodies which are entered in the Scottish Charity Register may refer to themselves as a “Scottish charity” or “a charity registered in Scotland”.

Some bodies which operate from other parts of the UK or abroad can call themselves a “charity”, but they must also refer to the fact that they are based in another country e.g. “a charity registered in England and Wales” or “a French charity”. Additionally, they cannot occupy land or premises or carry out activities in shops etc. in Scotland.

The regulation of English and Welsh charities is set out in separate Westminster legislation, principally the Charities Act 2011.

Question reference: S4W-13121

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what action can be taken against charities that operate without authority.

Under the Charities and Trustees Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (the Act) the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) has a variety of powers to investigate charities (including those calling themselves charities that may not actually be charities) and bodies which are controlled by charities.

Following an inquiry OSCR has further powers to take action. These powers include directing a body which is not actually a charity to stop representing itself as such. Where there has been misconduct, OSCR can suspend any person who is involved in the management of the charity where that person has been responsible for or has contributed to the misconduct. OSCR can also direct the charity so to limit the transactions it can enter into without OSCR’s consent, and it can direct financial institutions not to part with money held on behalf of a charity (i.e. freeze bank accounts).

Charity fundraising is mostly governed on a self-regulating basis and the Fundraising Standards Board is the independent self-regulatory body in the UK. There are some additional provisions about fund raising by professional bodies in the Act.

Question reference: S4T-00263

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 February 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what role it has in the production of Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s inspection reports into the care of older people.