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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

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Question reference: S4W-05515

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 2 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that Scotland is presently a responsible member of the international community, as referred to on page 3 of Your Scotland, Your Referendum.

Question reference: S4W-05518

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Bruce Crawford on 2 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it anticipates that the independence referendum will have long and short campaigning periods and, if so, what (a) the length of these will be and (b) spending limits will be in place.

Long and short campaign periods are a feature of elections and do not apply to referendums. The proposed spending limits set out in Your Scotland, Your Referendum will apply during the 16 week regulated period before the Referendum. The regulated referendum period for the AV Referendum in 2011 was 11 weeks from Royal Assent for the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 to polling day on 5 May.

Question reference: S4W-05514

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 2 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers the traits are of a responsible member of the international community, as referred to on page 3 of Your Scotland, Your Referendum.

Question reference: S4W-05520

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Bruce Crawford on 1 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the regulated period in the Draft Referendum (Scotland) Bill has been set at 16 weeks and not the 34 weeks suggested in the previous Draft Referendum (Scotland) Bill that was published in February 2010.

The draft Bill published in February 2010 did not set a referendum period of 34 weeks. The proposed period was described as beginning two weeks after Royal Assent and ending on the day of the referendum.

The proposals in the Scottish Government’s consultation Your Scotland, Your Referendum and the draft Referendum (Scotland) Bill were developed in light of comments received on the 2010 consultation and the experience of the Welsh Assembly and AV Referendums in 2011. As part of its report into the AV Referendum, published in October 2011, the Electoral Commission recommended on page 107 that “the statutory minimum referendum period should be at least
16 weeks”.

Question reference: S4W-05517

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Bruce Crawford on 1 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers would be sufficient support for the inclusion of a full devolution question, as referred to on page 15 of Your Scotland, Your Referendum.

Your Scotland, Your Referendum specifically seeks views on the inclusion of a second question in the referendum and the voting system that could be used. All responses will be analysed and considered at the end of the consultation period, along with any other available evidence, to inform the government’s final proposals for the referendum which will be put to Parliament in early 2013.

As the First Minister told Parliament on 25 January 2012 if there is an alternative of maximum devolution that would command wide support in Scotland it is only fair and democratic that that option should be among the choices that are open to the people of Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-05765

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 1 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many responses to Rail 2014 - Public Consultation there have been.

Question reference: S4W-05763

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 1 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the future of the rail stations in the Glasgow commuter area that were referred to in paragraph 7.10 of Rail 2014 - Public Consultation.

Question reference: S4W-05762

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 1 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce its response to Rail 2014 - Public Consultation.

The consultation closed on 20 February 2012 and it is only right that we respect the people who responded and take time to consider what they had to say before we come to conclusions. The Scottish Government's response will be set out to Parliament in due course.

The consultation is part of the ongoing considerations for how to contract for rail passenger services, and what infrastructure improvements are required, from 2014.

Question reference: S4W-05408

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Bruce Crawford on 29 February 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it contacted the Electoral Commission in relation to the referendum (a) before or (b) during the drafting of the referendum consultation and whether it consulted the Electoral Commission on the formulation of the referendum question.

The Scottish Government had contact with the Electoral Commission on a number of occasions in relation to the proposals contained in the Government’s February 2010 consultation paper Scotland’s Future. The proposals in the current consultation paper (Your Scotland, Your Referendum) were developed in the light of the response to the previous paper, including comments from the Electoral Commission. Paragraph 1.10 of Your Scotland, Your Referendum explains that the ballot paper set out in the consultation document is designed to comply with the Electoral Commission’s guidelines. The paper also sets out the proposed role of the Electoral Commission in the referendum.

Question reference: S4W-05407

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Bruce Crawford on 29 February 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the proposed referendum question will be independently tested.