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 179 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S4W-01943

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 25 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been being made in achieving the social housing quality standard by 2015, broken down by local authority.

The Scottish Government publishes information on progress in achieving the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) annually when it publishes the Scottish House Condition Survey.

Information by local authority area is available in three-year datasets. The most recent data on SHQS is published in table 4.12 of the SHCS Local Authority Report 2007-2009 at www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/SHCS/keyanalyses.

Social sector landlords have made significant progress towards the SHQS. To assist them further, targeted guidance on completion of SHQS was developed with experts from the Social Housing Sector and published in March this year. If implemented by landlords this has the potential to save up to £1 billion from budgeted costs to meet SHQS by 2015. The guidance is available at www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/16342/shqs/annexj.

Question reference: S4W-01938

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 25 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the (a) economic and (b) wider environmental opportunities of high speed rail links between Scotland and England which it referred to in its news release of 8 June 2009.

The news release of 8 June 2009 announced the formation of a group to produce a business case for extending high-speed rail links between Scotland and England. The group’s work was published on 29 October 2009, and was submitted to the High Speed Two Company as it developed its proposals for high-speed rail in the UK on behalf of the Department of Transport.

The group’s report on the economic and environmental benefits of Scotland’s inclusion in a high-speed rail network can be found at:

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/strategy-and-research/publications-and-consultations/j11298-00.htm.

Question reference: S4W-01941

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 25 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to publish the outcome of the review of the application process of the investment and innovation fund of its Homes Fit for the 21st Century strategy.

Question reference: S4W-01942

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 25 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been being made in achieving the 2012 homelessness target, broken down by local authority.

Progress in achieving the 2012 homelessness target is measured by the proportion of homeless households assessed as priority homeless. The latest available information for each local authority, showing progress up to end September 2010, is in table 4 of the statistical bulletin - Operation of the homeless persons legislation in Scotland: quarters ending 30 June and 30 September 2010 (including households in temporary accommodation at 31 December 2010). This is available on the Scottish Government website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/03/07155415/0.

Progress to 31 March 2011 for each local authority will be shown in tables 6a and 6b of the homelessness statistics bulletin Operation of the homeless persons legislation in Scotland: 2010-11 to be published on 30 August 2011. This will be available on the Scottish Government website at

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/RefTables.

Question reference: S4W-01937

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 25 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding extending high speed rail to Scotland.

This is an ongoing dialogue. Officials are in regular discussion with both the Department for Transport and the High Speed Two Company.

I have spoken directly with Phillip Hammond, Secretary of State for Transport, on this issue. Most recently, Alex Neil MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital investment wrote to Mr Hammond outlining Scotland’s response to the Department for Transport’s consultation on its strategy for high-speed rail in the UK.

Question reference: S4W-01940

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 25 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what is the (a) timetable and (b) budget for the electrification of the rail line between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Question reference: S4W-01900

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 5 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints regarding inappropriate payments to NHS staff in order to obtain access to patient records there where in the most recent year for which figures are available, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S4W-01899

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 5 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints regarding inappropriate disclosure of patient records by NHS staff there were in the most recent year for which figures are available, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S4W-01901

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 5 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the (a) the inappropriate disclosure of patient records by NHS staff and (b) receipt of payments by NHS staff for the release of patient records.

Question reference: S4W-01936

Current Status: Withdrawn