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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 833 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S3O-05692

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 29 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in employing a chief executive for the Scottish Futures Trust.

Question reference: S3O-05481

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 15 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the planned new build of the Southern General Hospital.

Question reference: S3W-18193

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Linda Fabiani on 9 December 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many public agencies are working towards Fairtrade status.

Question reference: S3W-18191

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Linda Fabiani on 9 December 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to ensure that Fairtrade products are used by agencies across the public sector.

Guidance issued in 2005 recommends that public bodies should support fair trade and explains how this can be done within procurement legislation by inviting suppliers to include fair trade options in their tenders and by working on a voluntary basis with suppliers once contracts have been awarded.

The Scottish Government leads by example to the public sector and has successfully put this guidance into practice. By working with the catering contractor, the Scottish Government currently offers a wide range of Fairtrade or ethically traded products (including tea, coffee, sugar, juice and snacks) in its staff restaurants. In addition, Fairtrade tea, coffee and sugar are used as standard hospitality for meetings.

I have also written to the Secretary of State for International Development, the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Minister for Europe at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the European Commission Office in Edinburgh seeking their views on this matter.

Question reference: S3W-18190

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Linda Fabiani on 9 December 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to promote fair trade.

The Scottish Government remains committed to promoting fair trade and supporting the Fair Trade Nation campaign.

It is for this reason I am pleased to award the Scottish Fair Trade Forum an additional £20,000 for 2008-09 to assist with high visibility advertising and marketing to reach a broad number of people and further increase the public awareness of Fair Trade and Scotland''s Fair Trade Nation campaign.

Question reference: S3W-18174

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 9 December 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place with representatives of South Lanarkshire Council regarding the implementation in every school in South Lanarkshire of the SNP manifesto commitment to reduce class sizes in primaries 1 to 3.

Question reference: S3W-18186

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 December 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many conferences have been addressed by ministers since May 2007; where and when the conference was held, and which minister participated.

Question reference: S3W-18177

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 9 December 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W–11422 by Stewart Maxwell on 24 April 2008, what the average daily waiting times was under the central heating programme in each of the last three months in (a) the Glasgow Rutherglen parliamentary constituency and (b) Scotland.

Information is not held by parliamentary constituency area, but for Scotland as a whole.

The average waiting time during 2008-09 remains around six months. So far, the average daily waiting time for all those that have received a central heating system, this year, is 179 days. At no point since the inception of the programme in 2001 has the average waiting time been less than five months.

Those waiting longest continue to be a priority. This has reduced their number, but has the effect of distorting the average waiting time figure.

The average daily waiting time for those who received a central heating system in each of the last three months, as notified by the managing agent (Scottish Gas), is shown in the following table:

Period	Average Waiting Time in Days
August 2008	241
September 2008	177
October 2008	191

Notes:

1. The Average Waiting Time is the average time a householder has waited between application and the month in which their system was installed.

2. Figures for November 2008 are not yet available.

3. The number of householders waiting more than six months (1,185) is less now than it was at the same time last year (2,788).

Question reference: S3W-18185

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Bruce Crawford on 8 December 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times the Cabinet Sub-committee on Legislation has met since May 2007 and when these meetings took place.

The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Legislation has met six times since May 2007 at these times:

2007 (all in St Andrew''s House):

Wednesday 27 June

Wednesday 8 August

Wednesday 3 October.

2008 (all in St Andrew''s House):

Wednesday 20 February

Wednesday 30 April

Monday 25 August.

The member may wish to note that this information is published on the Scottish Government''s website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/14944/SubComonLegislation.

Question reference: S3W-18192

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 December 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spent on Fairtrade products in 2007-08 and what proportion of overall spending on catering services this represents.