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-09284

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 21 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what guidelines regarding surplus office furniture NHS boards have.

Question reference: S4W-09182

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 August 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) concessionary and (b) bus companion travel cards were issued in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority.

The issuing of National Entitlement Cards is the responsibility of each Scottish local authority.

Whilst information on the total number of National Entitlement Cards issued per year is not available, the table that has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 54264) shows the number of valid National Entitlement Cards (providing access to free bus travel) that were in circulation at specific times in the last five years.

This is broken down by local authority and details the total number of cards in circulation and of this total, the number which were issued as companion cards.

Question reference: S4O-01249

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West 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 recent action it has taken to promote tourism in West Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-08808

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 20 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many reports there have been of lost blood samples in NHS hospitals in each of the last 10 years, broken down by NHS board.

Where data is available, the following table indicates the recorded instances of lost blood samples in NHS hospitals in each of the last 10 years, broken down by NHS board. Nine boards do not routinely collect this information. Given that incident monitoring systems differ widely between boards and within different areas of practice, the figures presented are only indicative.

Number of Lost Blood Samples 2002 to 2012

NHS Board	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Ayrshire and Arran	0	0	0	0	0	1
Borders	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dumfries and Galloway	-	-	-	-	-	-
Fife	0	0	0	0	3	1
Forth Valley	-	-	-	-	5	10
Greater Glasgow and Clyde: Glasgow North	0	3	3	3	0	3
Greater Glasgow and Clyde: Glasgow South	0	1	0	2	1	7
Grampian	-	-	-	-	-	-
Highland	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lanarkshire	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lothian	-	-	13	58	31	18
NWTC/GJNH	-	-	-	-	1	-
Orkney	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shetland	-	-	-	-	-	-
NSS(SNBTS)	-	-	-	-	-	-
State Hospital	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tayside	-	-	-	-	-	-
Western Isles	-	-	-	-	-	-

NHS Board	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012 (to date)	Total
Ayrshire and Arran	0	2	1	0	1	5
Borders	-	-	0	0	1	1
Dumfries and Galloway	-	-	-	-	-	-
Fife	1	0	0	4	1	10
Forth Valley	6	10	8	11	4	54
Greater Glasgow and Clyde: Glasgow North	3	12	7	0	0	34
Greater Glasgow and Clyde: Glasgow South	0	0	18	53	31	113
Grampian	-	-	-	-	-	-
Highland	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lanarkshire	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lothian	25	28	16	17	15	221
NWTC/GJNH	2	-	-	2	-	5
Orkney	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shetland	-	-	-	-	-	-
NSS(SNBTS)	-	-	-	-	-	-
State Hospital	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tayside	-	-	-	-	-	-
Western Isles	-	-	-	1	1	2

Notes:

*Data not routinely collected.

NWTC/GJNH: NHS National Waiting Times Centre/Golden Jubilee National Hospital.

NSS/SNBTS: NHS National Services Scotland/Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service.

Question reference: S4W-08501

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 25 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what responsibility (a) local authorities and (b) housing associations have for re-housing tenants who receive a repossession order.

Tenants in this circumstance can apply to a local authority under homelessness legislation. The local authority will determine whether or not they are homeless or threatened with homelessness, in priority need and if they are unintentionally homeless. If this is the case then the household will have the right to settled accommodation. From 31 December 2012 all unintentionally homeless households will have the right to settled accommodation.

If they are intentionally homeless, the household will be entitled to temporary accommodation and advice and assistance. The local authority may also have continuing duties to children and young people under the terms of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.

More broadly, all registered social landlords must allow anyone aged 16 or over to apply for housing. A local authority or a housing association will then decide on their priority for housing.

Question reference: S4W-08025

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 28 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether a property must have a completion certificate for all works carried out on the property.

Question reference: S4O-01149

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent representations it has made to the UK Government regarding the future of Clyde Coastguard.

Question reference: S4W-07465

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 13 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional insulin pumps will be provided to adults in 2012-13, broken down by NHS board.

The Chief Executive Letter issued on 27 February 2012 made it clear that we expect the number of insulin pumps for both adults and children to triple over the next three years.

We have provided £2.5 million worth of funding to purchase insulin pumps and the associated consumables to support NHS boards in achieving this commitment.

We will be closely tracking the progress that boards make in increasing insulin pump provision throughout Scotland and the results will be published in the annual Scottish Diabetes Survey.

Question reference: S4O-01135

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to promote waste reduction and recycling.

Question reference: S4O-01105

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it is providing to businesses in the west of Scotland.