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: S3W-28564

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many invoices from suppliers were paid by its directorates within 10 days of receipt in June 2009.

The Scottish Government is committed to helping businesses by paying invoices early and aspires to making payments within 10 working days. During the month of June 2009 the Scottish Government''s directorates paid 4,416 invoices within 10 working days, which equated to 87% of all invoices paid in June 2009.

The Scottish Government also purchases goods and services using the Government Procurement Cards (GPC), and payment performance is measured by taking into account both GPC and invoiced transactions. For the month of June 2009, the Scottish Government and bodies sharing our financial systems paid 91% of all transactions within 10 working days.

More recent information is provided in the following table:

Month	Number of Invoices Paid in 10 Days SG Directorates	% of Invoices Paid in 10 Days SG Directorates	% of All Transactions Paid in 10 Days
July	3,895	86	94
August	3,365	90	95
September	3,520	89	95
October	3,732	87	94

Question reference: S3W-28565

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of invoices from suppliers were paid by its directorates within 10 days of receipt in July 2009.

Question reference: S3W-27957

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 October 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 October 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of invoices from suppliers was paid by directorates supporting its Smarter strategic objective within 10 days of receipt in June 2009.

Question reference: S3W-27954

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 October 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 October 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of invoices from suppliers was paid by directorates supporting its Wealthier and Fairer strategic directive within 10 days of receipt in June 2009.

The Scottish Government is committed to helping businesses by paying invoices early and aspires to making payments within 10 working days. The Scottish Government systems report on the basis of the senior management structure:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/923/0052945.pdf.

Relevant analysis for June 2009 is provided in the following table:

Director General (DG) Responsibilities	%
Economy and Chief Economic Advisor	84
Education	89
Environment	89
Finance and Corporate Services	92
Health and Chief Executive NHS Scotland	82
Justice and Communities	83
Strategy and Ministerial Support	71
Total DG Responsibilities	87

The Scottish Government payment performance includes directorates, executive agencies and other bodies who use our financial systems. For the month of June 2009, the overall payment performance was 91%. There has been a further improvement since June, with 95% of all transactions being paid within 10 working days for the months of August and September 2009.

Question reference: S3W-27958

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 October 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 October 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of invoices from suppliers was paid by directorates supporting its Greener strategic objective within 10 days of receipt in June 2009.

Question reference: S3W-27959

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 October 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 October 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of invoices from suppliers was paid by directorates under Services and Groups listed on its website within 10 days of receipt in June 2009.

Question reference: S3W-27955

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 October 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 October 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of invoices from suppliers was paid by directorates supporting its Healthier strategic objective within 10 days of receipt in June 2009.

Question reference: S3W-27956

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 October 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 October 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of invoices from suppliers was paid by directorates supporting its Safer and Stronger strategic objective within 10 days of receipt in June 2009.

Question reference: S3O-08040

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 1 October 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to promote new markets in the food and drink industry.

Question reference: S3W-26625

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 August 2009
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 1 October 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings the Minister for Schools and Skills has held with UK Government ministers since his appointment and what issues were discussed.

I have attended the following meetings since my appointment:

WorldSkills Ministerial Executive Group on 21 April 2009, to discuss matters relating to WorldSkills at Calgary. Present - Lord Young of Norwood Green, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Skills and Apprentices and officials from Northern Ireland and Wales.

WorldSkills Ministerial Executive Group on 9 July 2009, to discuss matters relating to WorldSkills at Calgary. Present “ Kevin Brennan, Minister for Further Education, Skills, Apprenticeships and Consumer Affairs; John Griffiths AM, Minister for Skills, Welsh Assembly Government and Sir Reg Empey MLA, Minister for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland.

The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) Ministerial Performance Review Group on the 9 July 2009. Present “ Kevin Brennan, Minister for Further Education, Skills, Apprenticeships and Consumer Affairs; Jim Knight, Department for Work and Pensions; Ian Wright, Department for Children, Schools and Families; Ian Pearson, Her Majesty''s Treasury; Pat McFadden, Minister for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs; John Griffiths AM, Minister for Skills, Welsh Assembly Government and Sir Reg Empey, MLA, Minister for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland. The group discussed matters relating to the performance of the UKCES.

The Joint Ministerial Committee (Domestic) on the 13 May 2009. The committee discussed matters relating to migration. Present - Paul Murphy MP, Secretary of State for Wales; Phil Woolas MP, Minister of State for Borders and Immigration; Paul Goggins MP, Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office; Wayne David MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Wales Office; Anne McKechin MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Scotland Office; Peter Robinson MP MLA, First Minister, Northern Ireland; Gerry Kelly MLA, Junior Minister, Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, Northern Ireland; Rhodri Morgan AM, First Minister, Welsh Assembly Government; Wyn Jones AM, Deputy First Minister and Minister for the Economy and Transport, Welsh Assembly Government; Michael Russell MSP, Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution.