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: S3O-06165

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 12 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent contact or discussions it has had with parent councils in Argyll and Bute concerning the possible closure of primary school kitchens.

Question reference: S3W-21165

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 10 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made, or will make, to Her Majesty’s Government in relation to any concerns that the current system of determining cold weather payments, based on postcode areas, does not ensure that all elderly people receive payments when affected by low temperatures.

I have written to Joan Ruddock asking about arrangements for the next meeting of the UK “ wide Ministerial Group on Fuel Poverty and suggesting this issue as a useful topic for discussion at that meeting.

We have also asked the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum to engage with fuel poverty advisory groups in the other administrations on reserved issues. Their report in October 2008 recommended to the UK Government that a review of both Cold Weather Payments and Winter Fuel Payments is needed to ensure a better fit with fuel poverty.

Question reference: S3W-21006

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how it would define responsible fishing activities within a marine special area of conservation.

Question reference: S3W-21005

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has the power to grant absolute rights for the continuation of existing activities within a marine special area of conservation at the point of introduction.

It would not be appropriate to grant any absolute rights in this way. European law does not allow member states to state that all existing activities would be allowed to continue at the point of introduction of a marine special area of conservation. However, the normal expectation will continue to be that designation of a site as a marine special area of conservation would not be a barrier to the continuation of existing activities which have been conducted in a responsible manner.

Question reference: S3W-21030

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what extra efforts it and local authorities are making to ensure that the problem of litter on streets and in the countryside is addressed, given that 2009 is the Year of Homecoming and the anticipated increase in numbers of tourists coming to Scotland.

There is little doubt that litter remains a blight on many communities across Scotland. It is an issue that the Scottish Government is committed to tackling.

To raise awareness and tackle the problem Scottish Government provides core funding to the environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB). One of KSB''s principal campaigns is the annual National Spring Clean, which takes place between 1 to 30 April 2009. This month-long blitz on the litter that blights our streets, parks, riversides and beaches, offers people throughout Scotland the opportunity to restore a sense of community pride and clean up their neighbourhoods for themselves and visitors to our country.

The campaign attracted approximately 20,000 volunteers last year. In the year of Homecoming we want as many people as possible to get involved in National Spring Clean. We have therefore provided additional funding to KSB to make the 2009 campaign bigger and better than ever before.

In addition, KSB recently hosted a Litter Summit on our behalf. The purpose of the summit was to allow the Scottish Government to meet with local authorities, public bodies, the private sector and environmental groups to allow debate on litter and possible solutions. I provided the keynote address at this well attended event.

Prior to the summit, KSB produced a Scottish Littering Report that I am sure will be of interest to you. A copy can be found on the KSB website at:

http://www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/documents/LitterReport.pdf

A report is now being prepared on all of the suggestions, ideas and actions which could be taken forward following the summit. This will be passed to me to consider in more detail in due course. The Scottish Government is hopeful that the summit will mark the start of a renewed drive to tackle the litter problems which we have in Scotland with vigour, focus and include innovative ways of working in partnership with the pubic and private sector.

Question reference: S3W-20784

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 6 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what policy and guidance exists to ensure adequate standards of services for inflammatory bowel disease across NHS boards.

People with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) will benefit from our general policies on long-term conditions management. The focus in Better Health, Better Care is on providing services which are fully responsive to the totality of people''s needs, in which they are recognised as equal partners in their own care, and which are delivered as locally as possible, but with ready access to specialised services when needed.

Self-management is an important aspect of living with IBD. The national self management strategy, Gaun'' Yersel, emphasises, amongst other things, the importance of making sure people with long term conditions and their unpaid carers have access to the information they need to support them in managing their condition.

We are aware that the IBD Standards Group has recently produced national standards for IBD. The Scottish Government Health Directorates have agreed to discuss with the National Association for Colitis and Crohn''s Disease how these might be taken forward in Scotland.

Question reference: S3W-20787

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 6 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the adequacy of inflammatory bowel disease services.

Question reference: S3W-20785

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 6 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what community-based services exist to support individuals with inflammatory bowel disease.

There is a range of community-based services for people with long term conditions such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), including those services offered by GP practices, community pharmacists, and healthcare staff such as district nurses who provide advice and support to people in their homes as required.

The British Society of Gastroenterology, in its 2006 strategy on the care of patients with gastrointestinal disorders, which includes IBD, advocates closer integration between primary and secondary care in the management of these conditions. That is consistent with our general approach to the management of long term conditions. It may be that services for people with IBD would lend themselves to a Managed Clinical Network approach.

Question reference: S3W-20786

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 6 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people suffer from inflammatory bowel disease.

Question reference: S3O-05863

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is giving to housing associations in the west Highlands.