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-18059

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many households will go into fuel poverty as a result of the recently announced increase in energy prices.

Question reference: S4W-18060

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is on track to eradicate fuel poverty by 2016 and how it is monitoring progress.

Question reference: S4W-18064

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 19 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to continue funding the 10% gap in Council Tax Reduction funding in 2013-14.

Our draft budget includes a commitment to roll forward the Scottish Government’s contribution of £23 million in 2014-15 to continue to mitigate the estimated £40 million gap in funding from the UK Government for council tax benefit successor arrangements. COSLA Leaders have agreed that local government will again contribute £17 million. This joint commitment will enable us to maintain our support for the most vulnerable households in Scotland through the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

Question reference: S4W-18063

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 19 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have (a) been admitted to hospital with and (b) died from winter seasonal illnesses since 2007, broken down by (i) NHS board and (ii) age.

The specific information requested is not available centrally as there is no commonly agreed definition of winter seasonal illnesses. Some illnesses, such as influenza and norovirus, are relatively more prevalent during the winter period but the illnesses are prevalent all year round. A range of information is published on influenza and norovirus, on winter mortality and on emergency admissions.

General Register Office for Scotland publish an annual report on winter mortality in Scotland. This includes information on the seasonal increase in mortality in winter, by NHS board and age group. The 2012-13 report is available via the following ink.

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files2/stats/winter-mortality/2012-2013/winter-mortality-2012-13.pdf

Health Protection Scotland (HPS) publish weekly information on influenza and other seasonal respiratory illnesses activity, by NHS board. This is available via the following ink.

http://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/resp/influenzareports.aspx

HPS publish weekly information on the number of hospital wards affected by norovirus outbreaks and the number of positive laboratory reports, by NHS board. This is available via the following ink.

http://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/norovirus/norovirussurveillance.aspx

Information Services Division (ISD) publish quarterly and annual information on emergency inpatient admissions, by NHS board. This is available in the 'Summary Statistics' section of the following ink.

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Hospital-Care/Inpatient-and-Day-Case-Activity/

ISD publish annual information emergency admissions for patients aged 75 years each quarter, by NHS board. This is available in the 'Multiple and All Emergency Admissions' section of the following ink.

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Hospital-Care/Inpatient-and-Day-Case-Activity/

Question reference: S4W-18066

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to achieve a "wholesale adoption of electric cars and vans" by 2030 as laid out in paragraph 1.5.2 of Low Carbon Scotland: Meeting our Emissions Reduction Targets 2013-2027.

The measures that will be taken to achieve almost complete decarbonisation of road transport by 2050, with significant progress by 2030 through wholesale adoption of electric cars and vans, are set out in Switched On Scotland: A Roadmap to Widespread Adoption of Plug-In Vehicles:

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/strategy-and-research/publications-and-consultations/j272736-00.htm, published on 12 September 2013.

Question reference: S4W-18069

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to shift people from cars to public transport by 2030 and whether it will put forward proposals to help with the cost of using public transport.

Our low carbon aspirations to see significant progress in the decarbonisation of road transport by 2030 are currently focussed on technology change and voluntary behaviour change, with considerable investment of around £1 billion per annum in public transport and other sustainable transport options. We envisage that innovative improvements to travel information and public transport (such as progress of the smart and integrated ticketing strategy, improved rail passenger experience in the next ScotRail franchise and enhanced bus services, standards and infrastructure delivered through the Bus Investment Fund), as well as continued investment in cycling and walking will encourage more drivers to leave their cars at home, contributing to both emissions abatement and other policy aims.

We are committed in having affordable public transport:

We will continue providing around £250 million annually to support a range of schemes including the Bus Service Operators’ Grant, the Scottish Green Bus Fund and the National Concessionary Travel Scheme.

In rail we swept away almost 1,500 ticketing anomalies benefitting circa 275,000 passenger journeys.

Off peak rail fares in Scotland will now be frozen until 2016 and peak fares capped to RPI in January 2014 and 2015. From 2016, we will be going further by ensuring regulated peak fares cannot rise above inflation and regulated off-peak fares will be restricted to RPI-1%.

Question reference: S4W-18067

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what materials will be used in constructing the power source for the electric cars and vans that it plans to be adopted by 2030; where these materials will come from, and how much carbon dioxide will be produced in obtaining them.

Question reference: S4W-18068

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its plans to have more electric cars and vans in use by 2030, what action it is taking to install electric vehicle power points across the country; how much this will cost, and what the timescale is.

Plans to create a high powered interoperable network of charging facilities are well underway, with over 500 charge points already installed through over £6.7 million of investment since 2011-12. As stated in Switched On Scotland: A Roadmap to Widespread Adoption of Plug-In Vehicles, Transport Scotland will continue to provide funding for the safe and convenient installation of domestic, workplace and en-route charge points, with this support continuing into 2014-15.

Question reference: S4O-02572

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it will promote the culture of Greater Glasgow and West Scotland before and during the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Question reference: S4W-17986

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it will tackle discrimination toward the Gypsy/Traveller community.

The Scottish Government recognises the extent of discrimination against the Gypsy/Traveller community and the need to have a co-ordinated approach to improving outcomes and life-chances. We are developing a strategic overview and action plan building on existing work and drawing on the recommendations of the recent enquiries undertaken by the Equal Opportunities Committee. This we expect to be finalised by spring 2015.

In the meantime we are at the early stages of taking forward an awareness raising campaign as recommended in the report of the Equal Opportunities Committee. We intend to work with Gypsies/Travellers and other relevant stakeholders in its development. We will also be exploring how Gypsies/Travellers can have a voice in the matters that affect them and how best they can participate in a way which suits their living experience.

We are establishing a Gypsy/Traveller site working group to consider further issues in relation to sites raised in the Equal Opportunities Committee Report Where Gypsy/Travellers Live. There is now a Scottish social housing charter outcome relating to Gypsy/Traveller sites, that “Sites are well maintained and managed”. Site satisfaction data will be collected for the first time by the Scottish Housing Regulator in 2014 along with data on average weekly rent per pitch and total number of pitches.

We will continue with a range of projects of support such as a three year programme run by MECOPP to increase understanding around informal caring in the Gypsy/Traveller community and support for the Article 12 project about building bridges in young Gypsies/Travellers’ lives. We have commissioned Carers Scotland and MECOPP to produce a carers’ rights charter which clarifies that Gypsies/Travellers should have advice, information and support. We are also mapping the adult literacy work with the Gypsy/Traveller community and will be publishing the review of the patient record of personal health, now commonly referred to as the “hand-held record” (HHR), by the end of the year.