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: S4W-03923

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 15 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what recommendations in the Alcohol Focus Scotland report, Re-thinking alcohol licensing, it plans to implement.

Question reference: S4W-03922

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 15 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4O-00271 by Kenny MacAskill on 27 October 2011 (Official Report c. 2833) when it will commission the independent review of the system of alcohol licensing fees and what the timescale of the review will be.

Question reference: S4W-03925

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 15 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to reduce the hours during which alcohol can be sold through off-sales.

Question reference: S4W-03926

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 15 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to amend the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 so that the locality for assessment of overprovision can be the entire licensing board area.

Question reference: S4W-03927

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 15 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to amend the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 to change the period of time in which a licensing board's licensing policy is in force.

Question reference: S4O-00271

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to revisit the basis under which businesses are assessed for a licence to sell alcohol under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.

Question reference: S4W-02791

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 22 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much financial support it and its agencies provide to Scottish Environment Link; for what specific purposes, and how this investment is evaluated.

Details of funding provided to Scottish Environment LINK since 2007-08 are available in the annual reports and accounts on the Scottish Environment Link website:

http://www.scotlink.org/public/publications/annual_report.php.

The Scottish Government is providing £44,000 to Scottish Environment Link in
2011-12 from the Sustainable Action Fund. The main objective of the current award is to support Scottish Environment Link’s role as an intermediary organisation for the environmental voluntary sector, including the following activities:

co-ordinating and facilitating evidence-based input to policy development on behalf of its members through consultations, stakeholder forums and direct contact with officials;

helping to keep the Scottish Government and its agencies in touch with its members’ priorities;

holding events to bring together the voluntary and public sectors on different environmental issues, and

keeping its members up to date with policy development, and enabling networking and co-operative action for its members.

Environment LINK is required to keep the Scottish ministers fully informed of progress during the course of the grant and specifically in the form of an audited annual report and accounts.

Scottish Natural Heritage is providing up to £55,795 in 2011-12 for the delivery of a variety of outputs. Payment is dependent on meeting a range of agreed outputs under the following headings:

Raise awareness and understanding of Politicians and policy makers to Scotland’s Nature and Landscapes

Support the management, planning, use of and decision-making on Scotland’s nature and landscapes

Develop and communicate policy solutions

Provide networking opportunities and information to members

Review and improve the services of LINK to members

Move towards more financial independence.

Historic Scotland are providing £5,000 per annum from 2010-13 towards the administration and delivery of Scottish Environment Week.

Question reference: S4O-00203

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 22 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth last met Dumfries and Galloway Council and what matters were discussed.

Question reference: S4W-01414

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what efforts were made to identify the number of rural registered homeless people when carrying out the 2011 Census.

To ensure that everyone who was homeless was included in the Census, the Registrar General collaborated closely with local authorities and with voluntary bodies involved in the care of homeless people. The census questionnaire did not ask people whether or not they were registered as homeless: the number of registered homeless people is published quarterly by the Scottish Government at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/RefTables.

Question reference: S4O-00094

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy last met officials from NHS Dumfries and Galloway and what issues were discussed.