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: S4F-01469

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 June 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 June 2013

To ask the First Minister how much it would cost annually for an independent Scotland to raise benefit payments to a level that the Scottish Government considers appropriate.

Question reference: S4O-02230

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether the external security facility will be delivered on time and on budget.

Question reference: S4O-02199

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to ensure that court fines and police antisocial behaviour penalties are collected.

Question reference: S4W-11823

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 16 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how much it costs to administer the private landlord registration scheme.

It is not possible to provide an exact figure for the total annual running costs of the landlord registration scheme as responsibility for administration of the scheme rests with local authorities. The Scottish Government provides the national Landlord Registration website and enables transfer of online fee payments from landlords to local authorities. The cost for these services for 2011-12 was £293,000.

The 2011 independent review of landlord registration carried out by DTZ Consultants reported that, for some local authorities, the costs of administering and enforcing landlord registration are absorbed by the wider department from which it is administered. The Review found that only 13 of 24 local authorities who responded to questions on fee administration were able to provide an indication of the total budget provided for landlord registration.

A stakeholder working group has been established to develop an action plan to address the review’s recommendations. As part of this process, the group will review whether the cost of administering the scheme is accurately reflected in the current fee structure.

Question reference: S4W-11822

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 16 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how much it cost to develop the private landlord registration scheme.

Question reference: S4W-11824

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 15 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid in fees by private landlords since the private landlord registration scheme was introduced.

Question reference: S4W-11825

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 15 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions there have been for breaches of the private landlord registration scheme.

Responsibility for administration of the Landlord Registration scheme rests with local authorities. The Scottish Government monitors local authority Landlord Registration enforcement activity, and since January 2011 there have been 11 cases reported to the procurator fiscal. We do not, however, hold information on number of prosecutions.

Local authorities undertake a range of work to pro-actively enforce Landlord Registration and improve standards. For example, in 2012, there have been 4,137 late application fees applied, 411 rent penalty notices served and 40 landlords have been refused registration.

Question reference: S4T-00188

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 January 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it is providing to the victims of recent flooding in Stonehaven and other areas.

Question reference: S4O-01632

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 19 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on considering the adoption of the 111 telephone number for non-emergency healthcare services.

Consideration for the adoption of the “111” number, for access to non-emergency healthcare services in Scotland is ongoing. As members will appreciate, it is important to ensure decisions affecting access to NHS services are based on the best available evidence and informed by engagement with stakeholders.

Should it be adopted, this number would replace the existing number for NHS 24. As members may be aware, the two key benefits for patients would be that the number is memorable and would be free to call from both a mobile phone and a landline.

I expect to be in a position to make an announcement on this early in the New year and I will ensure members, including Mr Johnstone, are updated at that time.

Question reference: S4W-11768

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 19 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to publish a five-year strategy for engagement between Scotland and Japan.

The Scottish Government is very pleased with the long and positive relationship we have built with Japan, who has been an important trading partner for Scotland for many years. In 2010, Scottish exports to Japan were valued at £295 million. Last month the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment undertook a visit to Japan with a delegation of 20 Scottish food and drink companies for an in-market workshop, promoting the best of Scottish food and drink.

Today we have 65 Japanese companies in Scotland employing approximately 5,000 people in a range of sectors. Recently we have seen a significant build up of activity between Scotland and Japan in the area of renewable energy and this is welcomed. This includes the announcement by Mitisubishi Heavy Industries in December 2010 of their plans to invest up to £100 million in a new research centre focusing on offshore wind turbine technologies in Scotland.

We are committed to delivering maximum value for Scotland through our overseas engagement which is guided by our International Framework, published on
23 October this year. We have no plans at the present time to publish a specific engagement strategy between Scotland and Japan.