- Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Maureen Watt on 28 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what average (a) percentage and (b) number of four-year trained PE students secure permanent contracts at the end of their probationary years.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Maureen Watt on 22 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what average (a) percentage and (b) number of qualified PE teachers remain in the profession five years after qualification.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally as the school census does not collect sufficiently detailed data.
- Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
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Date lodged: Thursday, 07 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 8 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what funds are being made available to NHS boards and special health boards for 2008-09 with special reference to NHS Lothian.
Answer
NHS boards and specialhealth boards have been given an initial general revenue allocation of £8,048.2million for 2008-09, an average increase over the equivalent 2007-08 allocationof 3.3%.
All NHS boards and specialhealth boards have received a standard increase of 3.15%. In addition, the ScottishGovernment has provided additional resources to those boards who are below boththeir Arbuthnott and NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) target allocationsin 2008-09 in advance of any decision on implementation of the NRAC recommendations.These boards are NHS Lothian, NHS Fife, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Grampian, NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Orkney.
In addition to these initialgeneral allocations, there will be access to additional funding for a number ofhealth priorities announced in the Scottish Budget Spending Review on 14 November2007 including significant investment in supporting health improvement and reducinghealth inequalities, ensuring that people receive high quality services when theyneed them and prioritising treatment and care for patient groups with particularneeds.
Details of NHS boards andspecial health boards initial general revenue allocations for 2008-09 are as follows:
| | 2008-09 £ Million | % Uplift |
| NHS Board | | |
| NHS Ayrshire and Arran | 546.7 | 3.15 |
| NHS Borders | 158.9 | 3.15 |
| NHS Dumfries and Galloway | 228.1 | 3.15 |
| NHS Fife | 479.7 | 3.81 |
| NHS Forth Valley | 375.5 | 3.50 |
| NHS Grampian | 646.3 | 3.46 |
| NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde | 1,790.9 | 3.15 |
| NHS Highland | 459.6 | 3.15 |
| NHS Lanarkshire | 760.5 | 3.52 |
| NHS Lothian | 963.0 | 3.47 |
| NHS Orkney | 29.7 | 3.64 |
| NHS Shetland | 34.9 | 3.15 |
| NHS Tayside | 566.4 | 3.15 |
| NHS Western Isles | 55.2 | 3.15 |
| Total | 7,095.4 | 3.33 |
| | 2008-09 (£ Million) | % Uplift |
| Special Health Board | | |
| Scottish Ambulance Service | 183.4 | 3.15 |
| National Services Scotland | 247.1 | 3.15 |
| NHS 24 | 53.4 | 3.15 |
| The State Hospitals Board for Scotland | 33.7 | 3.15 |
| National Waiting Times Centre | 40.0 | 3.15 |
| NHS Education for Scotland | 361.7 | 3.15 |
| NHS Health Scotland | 17.3 | 3.15 |
| NHS Quality Improvement Scotland | 16.2 | 3.15 |
| Total | 952.8 | 3.15 |
- Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Tricia Marwick on 4 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what discussions it has had with personnel at the Palace of Holyroodhouse or Our Dynamic Earth regarding the attraction of greater numbers of visitors on Sundays.
Answer
Officials have regularmeetings with the Palace of Holyroodhouse and Our Dynamic Earth. Discussions were held aroundopening times and visitor patterns. Each institution submitted confidentialinformation about their 2007 patterns to inform the SPCB’s discussions.
The analysis of the Parliament’s data and that from the other institutions shows that the threeinstitutions have very different patterns of visitors. This is to be expectedgiven the institutions’ different aims.
The analysis ofdata shows that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the most popular days forvisitors to the Scottish Parliament. This reflects the fact that parliamentarybusiness and other business day activities, such as constituent meetings andparliamentary events, is consistently the strongest draw forvisitors to the Parliament. This is to be expected, given that the Scottish Parliament is not primarily a visitor attraction but is a working Parliament,seeking to engage the public in its role and business.
The oppositetrend is found at the Palace of Holyroodhouse and Our Dynamic Earth, where weekendsare the most popular days, reflecting their particular aims as visitorattractions.
- Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Tricia Marwick on 4 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body by what process it decided to close the Parliament building to members of the public, other than those who are accompanied by pass holders, on Sundays.
Answer
The issue of openingtimes and days was considered by the previous SPCB to ensure that resources werebeing used effectively. It noted that a fuller review should be carried out in 2007when more data was available.
The process adoptedby the SPCB included: analysis of the established pattern of visitors across theweek and take up of tours and retail; opening patterns at other UK and Europeanlegislatures; opening patterns at other Scottish visitor venues, in particular OurDynamic Earth and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
Taking into accountthese findings the SPCB also considered the savings resulting from closing on aSunday and the benefits this might achieve for the public purse and the Parliament.This includes a shift of resources and emphasis to increased public engagement innew areas such as education activities at Holyrood and in the community.
Finally, the SPCBsatisfied itself that Monday – Saturday public opening, alongside members continuedoption of bringing in guests on a Sunday, offered a good range of visit opportunitiesfor the public.
- Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Fergusson on 1 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what retentions in respect of the Holyrood complex are still being held.
Answer
The SPCB is still holdingthe following balances in respect of the Holyrood Building Project:
| Construction Manager | £509,429 |
| Architect | £479,010 |
| Trade Contractors | £1,987,010 |
| Retention Bonds | £249,985 |
These balancesare being held pending the discharge by the relevant parties of all theirresponsibilities under their contracts.
- Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 31 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, following the Registrar General for Scotland¿s projection that the city population in Edinburgh is set to increase by 17.2% by 2031, what additional financial assistance it plans to make to the council as a result.
Answer
Population changesare taken directly into account in distributing the resources in the local governmentsettlement between councils, under the formula agreed with COSLA. Under these arrangements,increases in Edinburgh’s population will therefore be directly reflectedin the allocations it receives in future years.
- Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Johnstone on 25 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether the cost of repairs to the foundations and structures of the building in the area adjacent to the garden level restaurant will be borne by it or the relevant contractors.
Answer
We are determined to pursuerecovery of the costs of the works undertaken from the original trade packagecontractor.
- Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Johnstone on 25 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when it will be able to determine the nature and extent of the water penetration in the foundations and structures of the building in the area adjacent to the garden level restaurant.
Answer
Water penetration andassociated work in the area adjacent to the garden level restaurant relates toon-going car park leaks. Investigations, both desk top and physical, areongoing into the water ingress and we hope to identify an acceptable solutionby the end of February. Works will be undertaken thereafter.
- Asked by: Margo MacDonald, MSP for Lothians, Independent
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Johnstone on 25 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what investigations it has initiated into the cause of the ingress of water around the windows of the MSP block.
Answer
Following the heavy rain andwater ingress experienced recently in the MSP building, investigations werecarried out on Sunday 20 January to identify possible sources of water ingress.A potential solution has been identified, a trial of which is planned to beundertaken as soon as possible.
