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: S4W-04008

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 21 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the £5 million capital grants scheme for plastics recycling infrastructure has been awarded to the (a) private and (b) public sector and how much for public and private sector partnerships.

Question reference: S4W-04007

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 21 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spent on waste prevention projects in 2010-11 and how much will be spent on these in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13.

Waste prevention activity is now delivered through Zero Waste Scotland which has now brought together the activity of several delivery programmes which the Scottish Government previously funded directly. It is not possible to identify a separate waste prevention figure as Zero Waste Scotland (and the predecessor programmes) supports prevention, reuse and recycling in an integrated way across its activities. For example, business resource efficiency support looks at all the options open to businesses to reduce the cost of materials and waste, including prevention and recycling.

Funding for the separate delivery programmes in 2010-11 is summarised on the Scottish Government website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/waste-and-pollution/Waste-1/wastestrategy/zero-waste-fund, with waste prevention activity being particularly relevant to the work of WRAP Scotland (now Zero Waste Scotland), Community Recycling Network for Scotland, Waste Aware Scotland, Envirowise, Remade Scotland and the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme:

Further detail on Zero Waste Scotland's waste prevention activity is published on its website (http://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/), including its summary business plan for 2011-15 which provides a breakdown of its £25 million budget for 2011-12. Of particular relevance its activity working with business, promoting sustainable procurement, supporting community engagement, providing public information and supporting the re-use sector:

Zero Waste Scotland’s budget for 2012-13 has yet to be agreed.

Question reference: S4O-00345

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met local authority leaders and representatives of the enterprise agencies.

Question reference: S4W-02081

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 15 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many clinical nurse specialists specialising in (a) primary and (b) secondary breast cancer have been employed by each NHS board in each of the last five years.

Information that distinguishes numbers of clinical nurse specialists specialising in primary and secondary breast cancer is not held centrally.

Information on the total number of clinical nurse specialist staff by NHS board, specialty (including breast cancer) head count and whole-time equivalent (WTE) for year ending 30 September 2007 to 30 September 2010 is publicly available and can be accessed through the Information Statistics Division (ISD) website using the following link:

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health%2DTopics/Workforce/Nursing%2Dand%2DMidwifery/Clinical%20Nurse%20Specialists%202010.xls.

This same information for year ending 30 September 2006 is also publicly available and can be accessed through the ISD website using the following link:

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health%2DTopics/Workforce/Nursing%2Dand%2DMidwifery/WFE18_0107.xls.

Question reference: S4O-00035

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 June 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it takes to ensure the highest level of accountability and transparency in its finance, employment and sustainable growth directorates.

Question reference: S3W-39154

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 1 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many unpaid fixed penalty notices have been written off in each of the last three years, broken down by (a) sheriff court and (b) offence committed.

Question reference: S3O-12704

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 20 January 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to increase public confidence in community sentences.

Question reference: S3W-38023

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 December 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 14 December 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have provided their own interpreter for (a) GP appointments and (b) hospital appointments in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Question reference: S3W-38020

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 December 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 13 December 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many GP and hospital appointments required an interpreter in each of the last five years for which figures are available, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S3W-38022

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 December 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 13 December 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost of providing an interpreter was for (a) GP appointments and (b) hospital appointments in each of the last five years for which figures are available.