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-03112

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 October 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what it has done to (a) promote and (b) support hockey in Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley in the last four years and with what result.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

Sportscotland, as the national agency for sport and the lead agency for the development of sport in Scotland, provides financial investment to Scottish Hockey in order to deliver ministerial priorities and delivering the objectives of Reaching Higher, the national strategy for sport.

I have therefore asked the Chief Executive of sportscotland to write to you separately with details of the promotion and support the organisation has made in the Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley constituency for the years in question.

Question reference: S4O-00164

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what change there has been in the number of students taking computer science as their main subject at university over the last four years.

Question reference: S4O-00115

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has taken to enhance economic growth in Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley.

Question reference: S4W-01233

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the funding provided to (a) sportscotland and (b) sport governing bodies in each year since 1999 has been spent on (i) administration, (ii) capital investment, (iii) support for local sports development and (iv) support for individual competitors.

The Scottish Government provides sportscotland with an annual Grant in Aid award as set out in the Budget Bill for each financial year. It is a matter for sportscotland, and in turn for the sport governing bodies, to allocate these resources to meet operational needs in line with their business objectives.

I have asked the chief executive of sportscotland to write to you separately with this information.

Question reference: S4W-01237

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the (a) chief executives, (b) senior staff and (c) board members of (i) sportscotland and (ii) sport governing bodies that receive Scottish Government funding receive a salary of over £100,000 per annum for those roles.

Question reference: S4W-01236

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on whether the funding provided to (a) sportscotland and (b) sport governing bodies helps to improve the results obtained in sporting competitions.

The Scottish Government is convinced that the funding made available to elite sportsmen and women has made a significant contribution to the results obtained by the Scotland team. At the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010 for instance, the Scottish team exceeded it medal target by bringing home 26 medals.

This success by our elite sports people will be further enhanced by the Scottish Government’s added investment of £2.3 million in 2010-11 and a further £3.3 million this year and we look forward to continued success at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014.

Question reference: S4W-01235

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures of effectiveness it applies to funding awarded to (a) sportscotland and (b) sport governing bodies.

Scottish Ministers set conditions and priorities within the grant aid provided to sportscotland against which the performance of all investment can be measured. As part of the on-going sponsorship function, sportscotland is required to submit regular reports to the Scottish Government to demonstrate what it is doing to deliver key objectives and Ministerial priorities. This is in line with the rigorous monitoring of expenditure as set out in the Scottish Public Finance Manual.

In terms of sport governing bodies, the monitoring of achievement and meeting of objectives is undertaken by sportscotland, and I have asked the Chief Executive to write to you separately with that information.

Question reference: S4W-01234

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the funding provided to (a) sportscotland and (b) sport governing bodies in each year since 1999 was awarded (i) without competition and (ii) following a competitive bid process.

Question reference: S4W-01232

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it has provided to (a) sportscotland and (b) sport governing bodies in each year since 1999.

The Scottish Government has provided the following amounts of Grant-in-Aid to sportscotland for the financial years noted (as published by sportscotland in their annual reports):

Year	Amount (£m)
1999-00	£10.011m
2000-01	£10.182m
2001-02	£13.031m
2002-03	£16.375m
2003-04	£13.108m
2004-05	£21.345m
2005-06	£25.427m
2006-07	£29.689m
2007-08	£46.257m
2008-09	£41.477m
2009-10	£49.312m*
2010-11	£41.600m

The Scottish Government does not provide direct funding to sport governing bodies as such funding is provided by sportscotland. I have asked the Chief Executive of sportscotland to write to you separately with that information.

*The increase in sportscotland’s baseline for 2009-10 was predominately to fund relocation and redundancy following the decision in 2008 to relocate to Glasgow. This avoided diverting funds away from sporting governing bodies. Re-profiling of the elite athlete funding also led to a one off increase in funding.

Question reference: S4W-01229

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 21 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the availability of social tariffs from energy providers.

The Minister for Housing and Communities wrote to the UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on 14 January 2011 regarding the proposal to introduce the Warm Home Discount Scheme replacing social tariffs. In that letter he broadly welcomed proposals to extend the requirement on Energy companies to assist vulnerable households, provide consistency over eligibility and to put this on a mandatory footing.