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: S1W-00617

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 1999
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 7 October 1999

To ask the Scottish Executive to specify the total amount of money owed by local authorities in Scotland, in the current financial year, in respect of bills from contractors and suppliers after the date due for payment.

Question reference: S1W-01653

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 September 1999
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 5 October 1999

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to S1W-950 by Mr Jim Wallace on 14 September 1999, when was the last time it discussed with Her Majesty's Government assistance to former World War Two prisoners of war residing in Scotland and claiming compensation for suffering endured whilst captives of the Japanese.

Question reference: S1W-01614

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 September 1999
Current Status: Answered by Iain Gray on 5 October 1999

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have implemented direct payment schemes for community care service users with disabilities under the powers given to them by the Community Care (Direct Payments) Act 1996 and what is the level of take up of existing schemes.

Social work departments were consulted on their experience of direct payments after the first year of implementation of the Community Care (Direct Payments) Act 1996. The councils listed below indicated that they operated, or intended to operate, a direct payments scheme and that a total of 70 disabled people were receiving payments at December 1997.

Aberdeenshire

Aberdeen City

Argyll & Bute

City of Edinburgh

Dumfries & Galloway

East Lothian

Highland

Moray

North Lanarkshire

Orkney

Scottish Borders

Shetland Islands

South Ayrshire

We have recently commissioned research to update the 1998 survey and provide information on the experience of people with disabilities in making use of the arrangements. We are considering at present how to develop the direct payments scheme.

Question reference: S1W-01547

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 1999
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 29 September 1999

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to assist Inverclyde Council in dealing with issues identified in the 1996-97 audit report which have not yet been successfully progressed, including the errors and differences in financial statements, the poor documentation to support accounts, the unreliability of fixed asset valuation and the unsatisfactory state of control arrangements in key areas, including banking reconciliations.

Question reference: S1W-01286

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 September 1999
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 29 September 1999

To ask the Scottish Executive why it has not yet met with the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce in order to discuss their concerns about existing and future transport infrastructure development.

Question reference: S1W-00828

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 August 1999
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 28 September 1999

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it agrees with the view of Strathclyde Passenger Transport that football fans in Glasgow should not travel to matches by Underground.

Question reference: S1W-00827

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 August 1999
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 28 September 1999

To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers to be the impact on confidence in public transport in Glasgow as a result of the closing down of the Underground system for five hours on 31 July.

Question reference: S1W-01115

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 1999
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 28 September 1999

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to review recent data indicating that internet websites encouraging suicide are contributing to the high level of suicides among young people in Scotland.

Question reference: S1W-01116

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 1999
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 28 September 1999

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to clarify the law relating to suicide in Scotland by introducing legislation similar to the Suicide Act 1961 or in any other way.

Neither suicide nor attempted suicide is a criminal offence in Scotland. In the case of attempted suicide, depending on the circumstances, it may be that other separate charges arise such as breach of the peace or possession of an offensive weapon. Where a person assists in the suicide of another, such conduct could, in some circumstances, give rise to charge for a range of offences from assault, through culpable homicide to murder.There are no plans to change the law in Scotland.

Question reference: S1W-01544

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 1999
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 28 September 1999

To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are for ensuring that each Scottish local authority has adequate internal audit resources available to scrutinise the authority as a whole and whether it will encourage the establishment, where one does not currently exist, of an audit committee or similar structure to allow council members to discharge this responsibility.