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: S4T-00158

Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 December 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the severance package agreed with the Chief Executive of Creative Scotland, Andrew Dixon, in light of his announcement that he is to leave the organisation in January 2013.

Question reference: S4W-09744

Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 3 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the draft order relating to the reform of prison visiting committees.

I announced on 13 December my decision to ask Professor Andrew Coyle (Emeritus Professor of Prison Studies in London University and Visiting Professor in the University of Essex) formally to review the Scottish Government’s proposals on independent monitoring of prisons. Professor Coyle will produce a report on his findings and recommendations by 31 January 2013. The remit of the review will be to consider specifically:

the extent to which the proposals meet the government’s obligations under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture (OPCAT)

responses of prisoners, prison staff and stakeholders to the new proposals

independent monitoring of legalised police cells.

I informed the Parliament by responding to a parliamentary question, from John Finnie MSP on 13 September 2012 – (S4W-09606). All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Question reference: S4W-09631

Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 28 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it (a) has considered the recommendations of the report and comparative study commissioned by Scotland's Campaign against Irresponsible Drivers (SCID) from the University of Dundee School of Law into the information available to the bereaved families of victims of road collisions and (b) plans to implement any of these recommendations through the introduction of legislation or changes in operational practice.

Officials in the Justice Directorate and in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) are presently considering the terms of the report commissioned by the Scottish Campaign against Irresponsible Driving (SCID) entitled Access in Europe by a bereaved family to information gathered during an investigation into a fatal road collision.

The investigation of road traffic fatalities and the provision of information to bereaved relatives is the responsibility of COPFS. Policies are already in place to ensure that the appropriate information is provided to bereaved relatives as quickly as possible.

Keith Brown, the Minister for Transport and Veterans, met representatives from SCID to discuss the report on 19 September. COPFS have written to SCID about the content of the report and have invited them to meet officials to discuss it further.

Question reference: S4W-09632

Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the progress report on the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) Estate Strategy referred to in paragraph 10 of the minutes of the SPS board meeting held on 25 April 2012.

Question reference: S4W-09411

Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 13 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government when was the last occasion on which the law on defamation was the subject of an official published review by the Scottish Government, Scottish Law Commission or any other public body for which the Scottish Government is responsible.

<>There has been no official published review of the law of defamation by the Scottish Government, Scottish Law Commission or any other public body for which the Scottish Government is responsible. However, the Scottish Government did consult on a specific aspect of defamation law in “Defamation and the Deceased: Death of a Good Name” between January and April 2011. In October 2011, I wrote to the Public Petitions Committee advising of the outcome of the consultation. The consultation and my response can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Justice/law/damages/damagesetc.

Question reference: S4W-09388

Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 13 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government when it will (a) receive and (b) publish the findings of the Health and Safety Executive’s investigation into the 2012 outbreak of Legionella in Edinburgh.

The investigation into the Legionella outbreak by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is ongoing.

A joint investigation, by Lothian and Borders Police and the HSE, under the direction of Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) Health and Safety Division, into the deaths of three men who died in June 2012 during the course of the outbreak, is also ongoing. Any reports submitted to COPFS in due course will be confidential and will not be the subject of publication.

The final report of NHS Lothian’s Incident Management Team will be published no later than three months after investigations have concluded.

Question reference: S4W-09295

Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 13 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how the total consideration received for the sale of surplus land at HMP Edinburgh compares with previously published valuations of the land prior to its sale.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-09293 and S4W-09294 on 13 September 2012. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Question reference: S4W-09293

Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 13 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether missives have been concluded for the sale of the surplus land at HMP Edinburgh, which was recently marketed for sale by the Scottish Prison Service.

Question reference: S4W-09294

Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 13 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will disclose the consideration paid for each of the lots comprised in the surplus land at HMP Edinburgh, which was recently marketed for sale by the Scottish Prison Service and the identity in each case of the successful bidder.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-09293 on 13 September 2012. As this matter is not concluded, the information regarding the identity of the preferred bidder and the offer remains commercially sensitive.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Question reference: S4W-09336

Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 August 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 12 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to bring the income level at which Scotland-based students studying at universities in England and Wales are required to commence repayment of loans made to them by the Student Loans Company into line with the threshold that applies to England and Wales-based students.