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: S2W-02222

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact technological advances in neonatal patient care have had on the survival rate of babies born in Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-02216

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 24 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the announcement on the Ministerial Working Group on Prostitution, what the remit and timetable of the group will be.

The Expert Group on Prostitution,chaired by Sandra Hood OBE, will report to ministers on the first stage of theirwork in autumn 2004.

The remit of the group is toreview the legal, policing, health and social justice issues surrounding prostitutionin Scotland and to consider options for the future. Amongst otherissues the group will discuss the eradication of prostitution and exit strategiesfor prostitutes. In addition, the group has been asked to look at the proposalsfor a new offence of kerb crawling.

Question reference: S2W-02217

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 24 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration the Ministerial Working Group on Prostitution will give to an exit strategy for prostitutes.

Question reference: S2W-02078

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 9 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce legislation on household waste recycling, similar to the Household Waste Recycling Bill in England and Wales.

The Local Government inScotland Act 2003, Part 6, includes a duty on local authorities to prepareIntegrated Waste Management Plans. These plans will set out performance targetswhich the local authority shall, in performing its waste management functions,endeavour to meet.

The Executive will ensurethat these plans include measures to achieve national targets as outlined in APartnership for A Better Scotland, including that for local authorities torecycle or compost 25% of waste by 2006 and 55% by 2020 through increasing theuse of doorstep collection and through provision of recycling facilities inevery community.

Question reference: S2W-02475

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 9 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive when the annual report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner will be laid before the Parliament.

A copyof the Interception of Communication Commissioner’s annual report for 2002 hasbeen laid before Parliament today in accordance with the Regulation ofInvestigatory Powers Act 2000. With the agreement of the Prime Minister, theconfidential annex to the report, which contains sensitive information, hasbeen excluded from the published report. Copies have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 29093).

Interceptionof communications is one of the ways in which the police and other lawenforcement agencies prevent and detect serious and organised crime in Scotland. The commissioner’s reportmakes it clear that warrants authorised by the Scottish ministers are onlyissued where their use is absolutely necessary and proportionate to what issought to be achieved by the interception.

Question reference: S2O-00354

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 4 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will encourage an upturn in bus passenger journeys.

A range of Executive funded initiatives is in place to encourage more people to travel by bus. These initiatives include:

bus service operators grant;

free local off-peak bus travel for people aged 60 and over and those with disabilities;

provision for supported services;

expenditure through the Public Transport Fund on bus improvement and bus priority measures, and

expenditure through the Rural Public Passenger Transporton rural public transport services.

Question reference: S2W-02242

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Mary Mulligan on 3 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to the recommendations in its Central Research Unit report, A review of the first year of the mandatory licensing of houses in multiple occupation in Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-02241

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Mary Mulligan on 3 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration has been given to domesticity licences in the consultation paper, Mandatory Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation, and the research commissioned from Heriot Watt University on houses in multiple occupation.

Question reference: S2W-02240

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Mary Mulligan on 3 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will report on the results of its consultation paper, Mandatory Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation.

The Scottish Executive undertook an overall review of the Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing scheme, which took into account:

the findings of the research report, A review of the first year of the mandatory licensing of houses in multiple occupation in Scotland,commissioned by the Executive from Heriot Watt University;

the responses to the consultation paper on possible changes to exemptions from the scheme;

the report of the Social Justice Committee into HMO licensing, and

other correspondence and representations received by the Scottish Executive.

The outcome of this review was announced by the Minister for Social Justice on 19 March 2003, accompanied by an official letter to all local authorities, respondents to the consultation paper and other interested bodies and correspondents. The Scottish Executive provided its response to the report of the Social Justice Committee on 24 March. A summary of responses to the consultation paper is available on the Scottish Executive website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/DD/H2/00016501/page634519723.pdf.

The Scottish Executive does not intend to report separately on the results of the consultationpaper. The recommendations of the research will be further taken into account bythe working group which is being convened to produce revised guidance for localauthorities, and to devise a self-certification scheme for publicly accountableHMO landlords.

Question reference: S2W-01835

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Mary Mulligan on 28 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on proposals to allow registered social landlords to self-certify houses in multiple occupation and when it will report on these proposals.