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: S2O-03302

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 23 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken to combat the spread of ragwort.

The Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department investigates allwritten complaints about ragwort infestations, and where necessary, requiresoccupiers to carry out control measures to prevent spread of the weed. Whereinfestations occur on non-agricultural land, details are passed on to therelevant authority for further investigation. The Executive may also takecontrol action and charge the occupier accordingly.

In addition, the department has produced a guidance leaflet which advises on the dangers of ragwort and methods of control.

Question reference: S2W-10371

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the extent of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in private hospitals.

Question reference: S2W-10369

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people contracted methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) during a stay in hospital in each of the last five years, broken down by hospital.

Question reference: S2W-10228

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 21 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how non-departmental public bodies can have charity status that requires independence if they are required to adhere to ministerial direction.

The inconsistency of ministerial powers of direction over non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) with charitable status was highlighted by the 2001 McFadden Report.

Consequently, Scottish ministers agreed that the position of charitable NDPBs would be subject to scrutiny as part of their quinquennial reviews which would allow a decision to be taken as to their continuation as a charity.

These reviews are part of an on-going process to ensure that Scottish Public Bodies are fit for purpose and delivering high quality public services in a devolved Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-10390

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 15 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive which areas have a surplus of housing and what action is being taken to regenerate these areas in order to utilise existing stock.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to reply. Her response is as follows:

The Executive has been conducting a wide-ranging review of affordable housing in Scotland. As part of this review Communities Scotland commissioned Heriot-Watt University to provide estimates of the need for additional affordable housing at both local authority and housing market area level. The research Local housing need and affordability model for Scotland – Update, was published in July 2004 and is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 33842). It identifies the following local authorities as having a surplus of social lettings:

Surplus by Local Authority, 2003 (Number of Household/Dwelling Units Per Year)

Local Authority	Surplus
Aberdeen City	735
Angus	160
Clackmannanshire	135
Dundee City	915
East Ayrshire	405
Falkirk	455
Fife	585
City of Glasgow	3,020
Inverclyde	355
North Ayrshire	235
North Lanarkshire	140
Renfrewshire	280
Scottish Borders	305
Shetland Islands	50
West Dunbartonshire	900
West Lothian	105

Communities Scotland’s housing investment programme makes a significant contribution to restructuring the housing supply, as part of regeneration strategies. In 2004-05, we will invest over £540 million in housing and regeneration. Housing investment will total £284 million which will help to build or improve 5,350 homes and which is expected to generate nearly £130 million of investment from the private sector. Local authorities have also prepared local housing strategies which set out how they will work with other agencies to address their housing needs and to ensure that the supply and quality of housing meets local requirements over the next five years.

Question reference: S2W-09940

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 August 2004
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 10 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will respond to the statement in page 43 of British Waterways' annual report and accounts for 2003-04 that current funding from the Executive is insufficient to meet the demands of customers for a secure infrastructure and an improving level of service.

In the financial year 2000-01 the share of government funding allocated to British Waterways’ activities in Scotland was £7.1 million. Responsibility for funding these activities was transferred from Westminster to Scottish ministers on 1 April 2001. Since that time British Waterways have received unprecedentedlevels of funding for its activities in Scotland averaging almost £12 million per year – an increase of over 60%.

This has allowed British Waterways to clear all the safety-related backlog on its canals in Scotland as well as making significant other improvements to their operation and customer facilities. I am in regular contact with British Waterways and am fully aware of their future funding proposals which we are considering as part of the Spending Review 2004 process.

Question reference: S2W-09951

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 August 2004
Current Status: Answered by Mary Mulligan on 10 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated to care and repair projects in each year since 1997.

Care and Repair projects receive revenue funding from Communities Scotland, local authorities and other funders such as health boards. Public capital funding for the works undertaken by Care and Repair is provided by local authorities from their Private Sector Housing Grant (PSHG).

Communities Scotland publishes 13 National Indicators in their annual report: Care and Repair in Scotland – National Indicators. The report presents information on the level of total public capital funding expenditure across Care and Repair projects in Scotland. Copies are available from the Parliament Resource Centre.

The first report was published in October 2000 and covers the period 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000. Expenditure figures were not collected centrally before 1999 and are not available. The 2003-04 report is being compiled at present and is expected to issue in October 2004.

The Scottish Executive does not collect figures on the total amount of revenue funding provided to Care and Repair projects from all sources.

A summary of capital funding, and revenue funding from Communities Scotland, for the period 1999-2004 is in the following tables for ease of reference.

Communities Scotland Care and Repair Revenue Funding (£ Million)

1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
0.896	0.949	1.268	1.395	1.663

Public Funding Capital Expenditure (£ Million)

1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
6.444	6.501	7.573	8.114	9.294

Note: The above capital expenditure figures are extracted from Indicator 2 of the National Indicators.

Question reference: S2W-09718

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 7 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding will be allocated by Communities Scotland to assist the Cairngorms National Park Authority in the provision of affordable housing.

Question reference: S2W-10000

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 August 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 7 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken within the diversity and equality strategy for NHSScotland to ensure that the needs of people with communication impairment other than sensory impairment are being met, for example those with aphasia, dyspraxia, dysarthria, semantic-pragmatic disorder and dysfluency.

Question reference: S2W-10007

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 August 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 7 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-8489 and S2W-8491 by Malcolm Chisholm on 8 and 9 June 2004 respectively, whether all Scottish Prison Service institutions have access to, and provide, speech and language therapy services, given that 70% of young offenders have problems with poor literacy and numeracy.

All prisoners in Scottish Prison Services Institutions have access to health services on a basis equivalent to NHS provision. Access to specialist services such as speech and language therapy are available based on individually assessed needs, in accordance with local arrangements. It is for NHS boards to determine the level of service for its population, including the provision of all specialist services to patients who are prisoners in their area.

Parliament dissolved ahead of election

Chamber and committees

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