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-17179

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 14 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11852 by Jim Mather on 24 April 2008, how many themed events have been confirmed for Ayrshire for Homecoming Scotland 2009.

Question reference: S3W-17173

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 12 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-16758 by Stewart Maxwell on 20 October 2008, when it expects to publish a new set of indicators that can better measure rural disadvantage.

Question reference: S3W-17172

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 12 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-16758 by Stewart Maxwell on 20 October 2008, whether it will list the specific projects being taken forward to research the experience of poverty in urban and rural areas; how much each specific project will cost, and when the findings will be published.

The specific projects being taken forward to research the experience of poverty in urban and rural areas are:

1. The experience of poverty in rural Scotland

EKOS Ltd were commissioned to explore the experience of poverty in rural Scotland: whether it is distinctive from the experience of poverty in urban Scotland and, if so, in what ways; and to suggest what the implications of any differences are for policies aimed at reducing poverty in rural areas and the ways in which these policies are delivered. EKOS Ltd have interviewed and held workshops with organisations, both national and local, that have contact with people in poverty in rural and urban areas. The cost of the research contract was £17,625 including VAT. A report on the research is being finalised and it is expected that it will be published on the Scottish Government Social Research Website by the end of December 2008.

2. The cost of living in rural and urban areas

Scottish Government analytical staff are conducting an analysis of data sources that can be used to inform understanding of the cost of living in rural and urban areas. This has imposed no cost to the budget for research. The findings will be published shortly on the Scottish Government Income and Poverty Statistics Website.

Question reference: S3W-17693

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 November 2008
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Executive how many engineers, electricians and other skilled tradespeople were employed in the NHS in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S3W-17277

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 6 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that homeowners in Scotland are given equivalent protection to those in England and Wales when threatened with repossession due to mortgage arrears.

Scottish home owners are subject to a different legal system, than those in England and Wales, but are not disadvantaged by the Scottish rules. The pre-action protocol adopted in England and Wales does not alter the borrower''s or the lender''s legal rights, and has no substantive legal effect. It does not change the way the court may dispose of a case and it does not give the court additional options.

The Mortgage Rights (Scotland) Act 2001 provides significant protection for those at risk of repossession. Owners have the right to ask the Sheriff to give them time to pay off arrears, and lenders are also obliged to comply fully with Financial Services Authority (FSA) regulations.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) issued guidance on 22 October 2008 on how lenders can meet the FSA requirements for mortgage and finance code of conduct. CML guidance is illustrated by good practice examples on policies and procedures. This applies to all of their UK members.

We have urged the UK Government to act on the OFT''s recommendations and to legislate to protect Scottish homeowners from the risks of sale and rent back schemes operated by unscrupulous landlords.

However, we will continue to keep under review whether the Mortgage Rights (Scotland) Act 2001 requires any additional provisions to improve the legal protection for home owners in Scotland.

Question reference: S3W-17051

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 5 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the population lives within 40 minutes travel time by ambulance to a hospital that provides a primary angioplasty service.

The Scottish Government expects NHS boards to ensure that 100% of the population is covered by an optimal reperfusion service, in line with the recommendations in SIGN Guideline 93. Within those arrangements, 71 to 84% of the population are likely to be within 40 minutes'' travel time of a hospital with a primary PCI service. The variation relates to the time of day and travelling conditions.

The recommendation in SIGN Guideline 93 is however that when primary PCI cannot be provided within 90 minutes from time of diagnosis, patients with an ST elevation acute coronary syndrome should receive immediate thrombolytic therapy, and it is on that basis that the optimal reperfusion service is being planned. A travel time of 40 minutes therefore needs to be seen as part of an overall patient journey of 90 minutes from time of diagnosis to treatment.

Question reference: S3W-17116

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 3 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many successful applications to the central heating scheme were made by residents in the East Ayrshire Council area between May 2007 and 30 August 2008.

Question reference: S3W-17114

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 3 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications to the central heating scheme were made by residents in the East Ayrshire Council area between May 2007 and 30 August 2008.

Question reference: S3W-17115

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 3 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many successful applications to the central heating scheme were made by residents in the South Ayrshire Council area between May 2007 and 30 August 2008.

Question reference: S3W-17113

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 3 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications to the central heating scheme were made by residents in the South Ayrshire Council area between May 2007 and 30 August 2008.