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 180 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S4O-00726

Asked by: Marco Biagi, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 February 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to address the health inequalities particular to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

We work in partnership with NHSScotland to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people’s health needs are met and that they don’t experience discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or transgender identity. NHSScotland has operated a policy of equality impact assessment for LGBT people’s health and wellbeing since 2005 and specific “Fair for All” guidance on responding to the needs of LGBT people has been in place since 2002.

In relation to some of the specific health inequalities that LGBT people may face, we have undertaken work around patient experience, smoking cessation and also a significant piece of work around improving the care pathway for people seeking gender reassignment. In relation to mental health, we are currently funding the LGBT Centre for Health and Wellbeing in Edinburgh to run a demonstration project to build up knowledge of the mental health needs of LGBT people across NHS Lothian.

Question reference: S4W-05103

Asked by: Marco Biagi, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 31 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times it has allocated funds arising from Barnett consequentials or other in-year funds to the Scottish Funding Council since 1999 and how much was provided on each occasion.

The following table provides details of additional funding provided to the Scottish Funding Council from financial year 2000-01, the first year of supporting records. The figures have been sourced from the published annual budget revision supporting documents.

Financial Year	£ Million
2000-01	10.0
2001-02	6.0
2002-03	30.9
2003-04	9.4
2004-05	16.0
2005-06	0.0
2006-07	5.0
2007-08	122.2
2008-09	0.0
2009-10	19.7
2010-11	17.0

Question reference: S4W-04947

Asked by: Marco Biagi, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 30 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-04620 by Fiona Hyslop on 11 January 2012, whether it considers that, under the Scotland Act 1998, it would be competent for it to take a different interpretation of the obligations arising from an international agreement than those taken by the UK Government.

Ministers have an overarching duty to comply with the law, including international law and treaty obligations. To the extent that the requirements arising from a particular agreement lie within devolved competence, it is a matter for the Scottish Ministers and the Scottish Parliament to determine the most appropriate manner in which to implement the relevant obligation. It is a central principle of the devolution settlement that Ministers and the parliament should reach their own view on such matters.

Question reference: S4O-00633

Asked by: Marco Biagi, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 February 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on assistance to those affected by the Edinburgh tram project.

Question reference: S4W-04401

Asked by: Marco Biagi, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Bruce Crawford on 23 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a list of the 10 Scottish Government completed consultations that have received the greatest number of responses from individuals, showing how many such responses were received in each case.

Information on the number of responses received to each consultation is not held centrally.

Analysis of the responses to our consultation on the registration of civil partnerships and same sex marriage is currently underway. We expect to publish the analysis in the spring. Initial analysis suggests that we have received over 50,000 responses, including postcards.

Open, closed and forthcoming consultations are listed on the Scottish Government website at this web address http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Consultations/Current

Published reports on some individual consultations are also posted on the Scottish Government website and can be found at this web address:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/Recent

Question reference: S4W-04883

Asked by: Marco Biagi, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 23 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what contact it has had with the Department of Energy and Climate Change on feed-in tariffs for community energy projects.

The Scottish Government is in regular contact with Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) regarding the feed-in tariffs (FITs). As part of its current consultation on solar PV we have urged the UK Government to exclude social housing from the proposed aggregated tariff, which will ensure a higher tariff rate for these projects.

Scotland leads the way across the UK in how we support community energy projects. DECC is currently considering whether more could be done to enable community projects to benefit from FITs, and I have written this week to my counterpart in DECC to urge him to ensure that the FIT scheme offers an appropriate level of support for projects of this type.

Question reference: S4W-04616

Asked by: Marco Biagi, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 12 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it subjects its invitations to tender to pre-issue checks to ensure that no unnecessary barriers have been created to small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Scottish Government is committed to enhancing the economy by reducing the barriers to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) bidding for public sector work. Good procurement must strike a balance between delivering savings, quality and buying sustainably. Based on this, all procurement strategies take account of local and SME interests, and are framed in such a way as to support SME and supply chain opportunities wherever possible e.g. by splitting national requirements into specialist or geographical lots and supporting SME consortia. In the case of our national Professional Services Frameworks for Interim/Temporary Management and Business Management Consultancy, contracts were awarded to 15 consortia, and 15 SMEs were appointed to the frameworks, including 14 based in Scotland.

Through the Supplier Engagement Working Group (which brings together the buyer and supplier communities to find solutions to particular procurement issues) we are actively working with smaller suppliers to simplify the process of bidding for public contracts. The Public Contracts Scotland advertising portal provides a free, single access point to public sector contract opportunities. Since the launch in July 2008, 74% of contracts advertised on the portal have been awarded to SMEs.

The Scottish Government will also reduce the burden of tendering by introducing a national database for pre-qualification information. This will help standardise procedures and minimise duplication of effort for business. A draft standardised
pre-qualification questionnaire (sPQQ) is being developed in conjunction with representatives from the private sector.

Question reference: S4W-04615

Asked by: Marco Biagi, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 12 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce further information on the allocation of Barnett consequentials arising from the UK Government’s Autumn Statement.

Question reference: S4W-04620

Asked by: Marco Biagi, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures that it observes and implements international obligations as per Schedule 5, Part 1, section 7(2)(a) of the Scotland Act 1998.

The United Kingdom is a signatory to a large number of international treaties, conventions, covenants and analogous undertakings. The Scottish Government is accountable to the Scottish Parliament for executive action to ensure the implementation, within devolved competence, of relevant international obligations.

Examples of specific actions we are taking in this area include:

Wherever possible in the development of policy and legislation, we reflect the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Activity to support UK Government policy on international development.

Action to report on the agreed undertakings arising from the Council of Europe Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.

Participation, as part of the UK, in the reporting process constituted by the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR), including past involvement as part of the UK delegation in the interactive dialogue held by the UPR Working Group.

Question reference: S4W-04577

Asked by: Marco Biagi, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 10 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on citizen advocacy.

<>I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-04578 on 10 January 2012. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

There are different types of advocacy and NHS boards, in conjunction with the planning partners, should as part of their needs assessment consider which type of advocacy is appropriate to ensure the rights of vulnerable people are safeguarded and their health needs are met.