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-10737

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 7 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what the PFI liabilities for each (a) local authority and (b) NHS board have been in each of the last five years, also broken down by project.

Question reference: S4W-10212

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what training there is for health professionals working with patients with autistic spectrum disorder.

Patients with an autistic spectrum disorder will be seen by a range of healthcare professionals working in a variety of care settings, and such professionals will have undergone undergraduate and pre-registration teaching, and postgraduate education and training to the curricula requirements of their respective Regulatory bodies. In order to progress through training to qualification, such professionals need to have demonstrated evidence of how they have acquired the necessary competencies specified within the relevant curriculum.

Once qualified, such professionals are expected to maintain and develop their skills and knowledge through continuous professional development activities, and support for study leave is available for such purposes.

The Scottish Government has been proactive in responding to the needs of those with an autistic spectrum disorder. The Scottish Strategy for Autism recognises the importance of training of all professionals and on 4 October 2012, I announced a spend of £100,000 to offer free training places on autism awareness-raising courses being run by the Open University and the University of Strathclyde, to professionals, individuals with autism and their families/carers. We are in the early stages of active discussion with NHS Education for Scotland regarding autism training for health practitioners, with a view to further improving health professionals' understanding of autism.

Question reference: S4W-10390

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 October 2012
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Derek Mackay on 24 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many properties recieve support from the small business bonus scheme as part of its rates relief package, broken down by local authority area.

Official statistics published on 24 October 2012 show that in total 89,087 properties benefit from the Small Business Bonus Scheme, an increase of 3,888 from 2011-12 statistics.

The following table shows the total number of properties in receipt of relief by local authority.

Number of Non-Domestic Properties in Receipt of Relief

	Total number of recipients as at: September 2012
Aberdeen City	1,975
Aberdeenshire	5,170
Angus	2,190
Argyll and Bute	4,220
Clackmannanshire	741
Dumfries and Galloway	4,079
Dundee City	1,952
East Ayrshire	1,534
East Dunbartonshire	1,068
East Lothian	1,556
East Renfrewshire	737
Edinburgh, City of	6,691
Eilean Siar	821
Falkirk	1,879
Fife	5,516
Glasgow City	7,962
Highland	8,383
Inverclyde	921
Midlothian	1,127
Moray	1,863
North Ayrshire	2,477
North Lanarkshire	3,576
Orkney Islands	1,132
Perth and Kinross	3,991
Renfrewshire	2,503
Scottish Borders	3,489
Shetland Islands	671
South Ayrshire	2,063
South Lanarkshire	3,597
Stirling	2,155
West Dunbartonshire	1,111
West Lothian	1,937
Scotland	89,087

Question reference: S4F-00906

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 October 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 October 2012

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will fulfil its commitment to deliver free prescriptions.

Question reference: S4O-01339

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Aberdeen City Council regarding improvements to the Haudagain roundabout.

Question reference: S4O-01333

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the UK Government’s rejection of the final offer from Remploy Aberdeen.

Question reference: S4F-00859

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 September 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 September 2012

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s position is on the study published by the New Economics Foundation relating to a halt to mackerel fishing.

Question reference: S4O-01288

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 September 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to address trends in drink driving among young drivers.

Question reference: S4O-01246

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 September 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review business rates.

Question reference: S4W-09072

Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 August 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has issued to retailers regarding the Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula (Scotland) Regulations 2007.

Guidance notes on the Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula Regulations 2007 were first published on the website of the Food Standards Agency in May 2008. This guidance was revised in March 2009 to reflect an amendment to the 2007 Regulations. These UK-wide guidance notes aim to help food businesses, enforcement officers and other interested parties interpret the provisions of the Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula Regulations 2007 and 2008.