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: S4F-02617

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 February 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 February 2015

To ask the First Minister, in light of the recent report of three Muslim girls being encouraged to travel to Syria following apparent contact with Aqsa Mahmood, what action the Scottish Government can take to monitor and intercept any communications aimed at encouraging Scottish Muslim girls to travel to Syria.

Question reference: S4W-24348

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of each PPP/PFI contract that was in place in each parliamentary constituency in May 2007, also broken down by information regarding (a) annual interest payments and (b) the (i) duration and (ii) total cost of each project.

Question reference: S4W-24349

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 17 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government which hospitals charge for parking and for what reason these charges cannot be prohibited.

Question reference: S4F-02480

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 December 2014

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on a judicial inquiry being held regarding any part that Scotland might have had in respect of possible UK involvement with rendition flights at Scottish airports.

Question reference: S4W-23404

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what action it (a) has taken and (b) plans to take as a result of its consultation on the Draft Inquiries (Scotland) Rules 2011, which closed on 8 June 2012.

Question reference: S4W-23405

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many public inquiries there have been from 1999, broken down by (a) completed and (b) ongoing inquiries, showing the (i) cost and (ii) duration of each.

There have been five statutory public inquiries established since 1999, all under the Inquiries Act 2005 and Inquiries (Scotland) Rules 2007. Details of the cost and duration of each inquiry are in the following table, including whether it is completed or ongoing:

Inquiry	Status*	Cost	Duration**
ICL Inquiry	completed	£1.9 million	1 year 5 months
Fingerprint Inquiry	completed	£4.75 million	3 years 9 months
Vale of Level Hospital Inquiry	completed	£10.3 million (as at 1 October 2014) with final costs still to be published	5 years 1 month
Penrose Inquiry	ongoing	£11.3 million (as at June 2014) with a projected cost of £11.7 million (estimate provided by the inquiry team July 2014)	Commenced January 2012
Edinburgh Tram Inquiry	ongoing	Not known	Became a statutory inquiry November 2014

*completed means final report has been issued

**duration from when inquiry set up to report published

Question reference: S4W-23127

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Linda Fabiani on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many non-MSP-sponsored events have been held in the Parliament in each year since 1999.

No centralised record of events held exists prior to the Events and Exhibitions Team being established in 2007.For the last full year, 2013/14, the total number of events managed, organised and delivered by the Team was 370, of which 347 were Member-sponsored events and 23 were non-Member sponsored events.

A table containing figures for previous years is as follows:

Full Year	Non MSP Sponsored Events
April 2007 – March 2008	68
April 2008 – March 2009	82
April 2009 – March 2010	78
April 2010 – March 2011	75
April 2011 - March 2012*	25
April 2012 - March 2013	30
April 2013 - March 2014	23

Question reference: S4W-23126

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Linda Fabiani on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many full-time or full-time equivalent staff have been employed in the Events and Exhibitions Team in each year since 1999.

A dedicated Events and Exhibitions Team was established in 2007 to support all events and exhibitions in the Parliament. The figures broken down by year are as follows:

Year	Staff Numbers
2007-08	7
2008-09	7
2009-10	10
2010-11	10
2011-12	10
2012-13	9
2013-14	11

(Figures correct as at 31 December each year for 2007-2013)

The Events and Exhibitions Team currently deliver over 440 events and exhibitions annually.

Question reference: S4W-23128

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Linda Fabiani on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how the costs of non-MSP-sponsored events is met.

All non-MSP sponsored events supported and delivered by the Events and Exhibitions Team in support of the Parliament include events approved annually by the SPCB as part of the Major Events and Exhibitions Programme aimed at engaging with the public and Scotland’s Futures Forum events aimed at Members, academia and research. These events can be held in partnership with external organisations.

The hospitality, catering and audio visual equipment costs for any non-MSP sponsored event are either met from the SPCB’s approved budget or by external organisations.

Question reference: S4W-22977

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 14 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-19276 by Paul Wheelhouse on 30 January 2014, how many snare users, having attended the required training, had obtained an identification number from their local police force or from Police Scotland by 1 October 2014.