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-11787

Asked by: Cathy Peattie, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 2 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what opportunities there will be for additional rail services or other enhancements to be negotiated for the duration of the extended Scotrail franchise and how it will consult on any such enhancements.

Question reference: S3W-12244

Asked by: Cathy Peattie, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 1 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements have been made to ensure continuity of fuel supply to essential users, such as hospitals and emergency services, as part of pandemic planning.

NHS boards and the Scottish Ambulance Service are designated as Category 1 responders under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, paragraph 2(1). As a consequence of that status, these organisations have a statutory obligation to maintain plans to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that if an emergency occurs, they are able to continue to perform their functions. This planning should include consideration of the continuity of all essential supply chains, including fuel supplies.

Question reference: S3W-08782

Asked by: Cathy Peattie, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Linda Fabiani on 5 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to apply the provisions of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages to the Scots language.

Scots is a valuablepart of our cultural life. I am keen to see its use promoted in education, the artsand literature. For this reason I have asked for an audit of what measures are currentlyin place to promote the Scots language, and what opportunities exist to make furtherprogress.

The cycle of reportingfor the Third Periodic Report on the Council of Europe Charter for Regional andMinority Languages has commenced and the Scottish Government will be providing informationto the Council of Europe in connection with the undertakings which have been agreedfor Gaelic and Scots.

In connection withthe Scots language, the Scottish Government will be writing to authorities and publicbodies to remind them of the Charter undertakings and to ask what provision is inplace in their areas. At a later stage we will be informing the Council of Europeof the terms of our proposed audit of Scots language provision and the progresswe hope to make with this in connection with our Charter undertakings.

My colleague, theMinister for Schools and Skills, and I have both met and corresponded with a rangeof Scots language organisations. This includes groups supported by the ScottishArts Council and others.

The fundamental aimbehind the United Nation’s International Year of Languages, 2008, is the preservationand promotion of linguistic diversity. We share this aim, welcome this initiativeand will encourage local authorities and schools to engage with national and internationalinitiatives such as this.

The proposals in theprevious administration’s report, A Strategy for Scotland’s Languages, arebeing taken forward by a range of business areas within the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S3W-08783

Asked by: Cathy Peattie, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Linda Fabiani on 5 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to mark the UN’s International Year of Languages 2008, with particular reference to activities and events that promote and encourage the Scots language.

Question reference: S3W-08784

Asked by: Cathy Peattie, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Linda Fabiani on 5 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to develop the proposals in the national languages strategy.

Question reference: S3W-08781

Asked by: Cathy Peattie, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Linda Fabiani on 5 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture has met representatives of Scottish Arts Council-supported Scots language organisations and, if not, when the minister plans to do so.

Question reference: S3O-02026

Asked by: Cathy Peattie, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 24 January 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will re-examine and report on the proposal for more funding for police recruitment, as specified in the Finance Committee¿s report on the budget, and at which areas of the budget it will look at to finance it.

In November we published a draft budget that will make Scotland a moresuccessful, wealthier and fairer country.

We are committed to working withParliament to deliver the budget, and that is exactly what the Scottish Governmenthas done over recent weeks and will continue to do.

The Finance Committee’s reportis an important part of that process. As John Swinney said in yesterday’s debate,we will now consider the report and respond to the points it raises as the BudgetBill moves through Parliament over the next month.

Of course any suggested increasesin funding would have to be matched by changes elsewhere.

Question reference: S3O-01555

Asked by: Cathy Peattie, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 6 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for continued support for Determined to Broadcast and other projects and programmes funded through the Determined to Succeed strategy.

We have confirmedour commitment to continued delivery of Determined to Succeed as part of the recentScottish Spending Review and are considering how best to take the strategy forward,taking into account our new relationship with local authorities. Our aim remainsto ensure all Scotland’s young people enjoy enterprising and entrepreneuriallearning. The future of Determined to Broadcast and other programmes and projectswill be considered in this context.

Question reference: S3W-06643

Asked by: Cathy Peattie, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 November 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been charged with fireworks offences in each of the last five years and, of these, how many have been (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted, specifying whether the charges involved (i) illegal purchase, (ii) illegal use or (iii) use as a weapon likely to cause human harm, broken down by police force area.

The available informationis given in the following table. Information in relation to other offences whichinvolved the use of fireworks as a weapon is not identifiable within the availablestatistics. Statistics on persons charged by the police are not collected centrally.

Persons ProceededAgainst for Fireworks Offences¹, 2001-02 to 2005-06

Police Force	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
Central
Sale of fireworks to under 18s²	-	-	-	-	-
Illegal use of fireworks³	-	-	-	-	-
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare⁴	-	-	-	-	-
Dumfries and Galloway
Sale of fireworks to under 18s²	-	-	1	-	-
Illegal use of fireworks³	-	-	-	-	-
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare⁴	-	1	-	1	-
Fife
Sale of fireworks to under 18s²	-	-	-	-	-
Illegal use of fireworks³	-	-	-	1	-
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare⁴	-	-	-	-	-
Grampian
Sale of fireworks to under 18s²	-	-	-	-	-
Illegal use of fireworks³	-	-	-	1	-
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare⁴	-	1	2	-	-
Lothian and Borders
Sale of fireworks to under 18s²	-	-	-	-	-
Illegal use of fireworks³	-	-	-	2	2
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare⁴	-	1	1	-	-
Northern
Sale of fireworks to under 18s²	-	-	1	-	-
Illegal use of fireworks³	-	-	-	1	1
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare⁴	-	-	-	-	-
Strathclyde
Sale of fireworks to under 18s²	1	-	3	3	4
Illegal use of fireworks³	-	-	-	3	5
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare⁴	1	3	17	5	4
Tayside
Sale of fireworks to under 18s²	-	-	-	-	-
Illegal use of fireworks³	-	-	-	-	3
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare⁴	-	-	5	2	1
Scotland
Sale of fireworks to under 18s²	1	-	5	3	4
Illegal use of fireworks³	-	-	-	8	11
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare⁴	1	6	25	8	5

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Offences underthe Fireworks (Safety) Regulations 1997.

3. Offences underthe Fireworks Regulations 2003 and the Fireworks (Scotland) Regulations 2004.

4. Offences underthe Explosives Act 1875.

Persons with aCharge Proved for Fireworks Offences¹, 2001-02 to 2005-06

Police Force	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
Central
Sale of fireworks to under 18s²	-	-	-	-	-
Illegal use of fireworks³	-	-	-	-	-
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare⁴	-	-	-	-	-
Dumfries and Galloway
Sale of fireworks to under 18s²	-	-	1	-	-
Illegal use of fireworks³	-	-	-	-	-
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare⁴	-	1	-	1	-
Fife
Sale of fireworks to under 18s²	-	-	-	-	-
Illegal use of fireworks³	-	-	-	1	-
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare⁴	-	-	-	-	-
Grampian
Sale of fireworks to under 18s²	-	-	-	-	-
Illegal use of fireworks³	-	-	-	1	-
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare⁴	-	1	2	-	-
Lothian and Borders
Sale of fireworks to under 18s²	-	-	-	-	-
Illegal use of fireworks³	-	-	-	2	2
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare⁴	-	1	1	-	-
Northern
Sale of fireworks to under 18s²	-	-	1	-	-
Illegal use of fireworks³	-	-	-	1	1
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare⁴	-	-	-	-	-
Strathclyde
Sale of fireworks to under 18s²	1	-	3	2	3
Illegal use of fireworks³	-	-	-	3	5
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare⁴	1	3	14	4	4
Tayside
Sale of fireworks to under 18s²	-	-	-	-	-
Illegal use of fireworks³	-	-	-	-	3
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare⁴	-	-	4	2	1
Scotland
Sale of fireworks to under 18s²	1	-	5	2	3
Illegal use of fireworks³	-	-	-	8	11
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare⁴	1	6	21	7	5

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Offences underthe Fireworks (Safety) Regulations 1997.

3. Offences underthe Fireworks Regulations 2003 and the Fireworks (Scotland) Regulations 2004.

4. Offences underthe Explosives Act 1875.

Question reference: S3W-05878

Asked by: Cathy Peattie, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 October 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 19 November 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of Scotland’s gross value added or gross domestic product was spent on motorway and trunk and principal road infrastructure in the last five years for which information is available and what the projections are for the subsequent five years.

Expenditure on motorwayand trunk road infrastructure and its relative proportion of gross value added isshown in the following table. The associated budget for 2007-08 is £377 million,budgets for the period 2008-09 to 2010-11 were announced on the 14 November. Theinformation in the form requested is not available for principal roads. Price valueestimates of annual Scottish GVA for the period 2005-06 onwards are not yet available.

Year	Trunk Roads (£ Million)	GVA (%)
2002-03	246	0.3
2003-04	299	0.4
2004-05	325	0.4
2005-06	382	N/A
2006-07	464	N/A