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-03498

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 August 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 August 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much the Scottish Court Service will save as a result of the closure of sheriff and Justice of the Peace courts.

Question reference: S4W-21889

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 27 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many dog microchip reading machines (a) Police Scotland has and (b) local authorities have and where they are located.

Question reference: S4W-20823

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 9 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it provides to local authorities regarding the setting up of Gypsy/Traveller sites.

Question reference: S4W-20822

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 9 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many by-laws regarding camping in public places have been introduced in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Informal camping is a legitimate activity wherever statutory access rights apply, subject to responsible behaviour and any restrictions resulting from other legislation, including byelaws. Byelaws can also be used to restrict access rights in specific areas. This has happened in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park where the East Loch Lomond Camping Byelaws were introduced in 2011, and apply to areas on the eastern shores of Loch Lomond. The Scottish Government is not aware of the introduction of any other byelaws regarding camping in public places.

Question reference: S4W-20821

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 9 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many Gypsy/Traveller sites have been set up in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

The Scottish Government does not collect specific information on the number of Gypsy/Traveller sites set up each year since 1999. However from 1998 to 2009 the Scottish Government collected twice yearly data on the number of Gypsy/Traveller sites, their occupancy levels, and other related information. The following table shows the total number local authority Gypsy/Traveller sites in Scotland for each year from 1999 to 2009 (when the last count was carried out).

Year

Total number of

Local Authority Gypsy/Traveller sites*

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

* Please note that local authority and Registered Social Landlord sites were counted together from 2007, and these numbers are those provided in the summer data collection for each year.

While the information we hold gives a snapshot of the number of local authority Gypsy/Traveller sites each year, it does not provide figures on the number of new Gypsy/Traveller sites established by each local authority each year.

Question reference: S4W-20824

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 9 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many Gypsy/Traveller sites it estimates are needed, broken down by local authority area.

The Scottish Government does not estimate the number of Gypsy/Traveller sites to be provided by local authorities. However Scottish Planning Policy requires local authorities to consider the accommodation needs of Gypsy/Travellers through their, Housing Needs and Demand Assessment (HNDA). A local authority should consider the results of their HNDA when preparing the development plan and local housing strategy for their area.

Question reference: S4W-20532

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish a report following its consultation on promoting responsible dog ownership.

Question reference: S4W-20534

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 25 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been raised from the sale of school buildings in each in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S4W-20625

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 24 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on prescribing the medicinal cannabis compound, Sativex, and whether it plans to carry out research on its effectiveness in the treatment of people with (a) multiple sclerosis and (b) fibromyalgia.

The manufacturer of Sativex has not provided a submission to the Scottish Medicines Consortium. Therefore, Sativex is not currently recommended for use within the NHS in Scotland.

The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Government has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and healthcare needs in Scotland. CSO responds primarily to requests for funding research proposals initiated by the research community in Scotland. CSO is not currently funding any research projects regarding the potential medical use of cannabis. CSO would welcome research proposals in this area which would be subject to the usual peer and committee review.

Question reference: S4W-20533

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 23 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

<>Data on sexually transmitted infections broken down by NHS Board is publically available from Health Protection Scotland. Information on genital herpes simplex, genital chlamydia and gonorrhoea can be found in the following published documents: http://www.documents.hps.scot.nhs.uk/ewr/pdf2013/1334.pdf (2003 to 2012) and: http://www.documents.hps.scot.nhs.uk/ewr/pdf2009/0912.pdf (1998 to 2008).

Data on infectious syphilis is not currently routinely published. The requested information is provided in the following table:

Number of cases of infectious syphilis by NHS Board of diagnosis and treatment, Scotland 2000-2012**

NHS Board	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Ayrshire and Arran	0	0	*	0	0	*	0	0	0	*	*	*	*
Borders	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	*	*	*	*
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0	0	0	0	0	*	7	10	*	*	*	*
Fife	0	*	*	*	8	9	16	11	6	*	6	5	8
Forth Valley	0	*	0	0	*	*	*	0	*	15	6	8	*
Grampian	0	0	0	6	8	8	22	17	19	13	10	8	6
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	*	9	27	44	78	71	100	112	101	57	38	61	70
Highland	0	0	0	0	0	*	0	0	*	7	*	*	*
Lanarkshire	0	0	0	*	8	9	13	18	17	7	*	15	17
Lothian	0	0	*	15	85	101	77	82	80	79	79	78	89
Tayside	0	0	0	*	*	12	5	8	20	6	*	8	7
Not known	0	0	0	*	0	*	*	0	0	0	0	0	0
Scotland	*	13	43	76	198	218	238	255	260	190	154	188	206

* Where there is deemed to be a risk of deductive disclosure, some small numbers (usually those below five) within this table have been suppressed. It may also be necessary to suppress some cells greater than five in order to prevent the calculation of said small numbers.

**Syphilis Infections are recorded through SRH/GUM services, as a result diagnosis from Island boards will be recorded as part of the mainland board they are referred to.

Source: Health Protection Scotland - April 2014