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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.

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Question reference: S2W-18165

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 18 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure physical activity for every child and youth in day care and in school.

We are seeking to ensure that every child in Scotland has access to services that support them in being physically active. Services should be at a level that children can meet the minimum activity required for health. The Executive has invested £24 million in Active Schools and more than 600 Active School Co-ordinators have already been recruited. The co-ordinators have developed programmes of high-quality opportunities to enable children to participate in regular, frequent, safe and fun activities incorporating physical activity, sport, play and active travel.

In response to the PE Review Group report published on 14 June 2004, the Minister for Education and Young People outlined a 10-point action plan aimed at providing more time for physical education, more teachers of physical education and more choice in physical education. The Scottish Executive Education Department are working with Learning and Teaching Scotland, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) and other stakeholders to take this forward.

For children of pre-school age, physical development and movement is one of the five key aspects of A Curriculum Framework for Children 3 to 5. This underpins the provision of pre-school education and providers are required to provide opportunities for physical activity both indoors and outdoors. In addition the National Care Standards for Early Education and Childcare up to the age of 16 include a requirement for children and young people to have the opportunity for energetic physical play. Quality in pre-school education and child care is ensured through inspection by HMIE and the Care Commission.

Question reference: S2W-18143

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 17 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what strategies it is using to promote Scotland’s natural features as a means of encouraging and promoting physical activity.

The Scottish Executive has introduced a range of strategies to encourage physical activity, sport and the use of Scotland’s natural features, such as the National Physical Activity Strategy, our policy on Active Schools and the Healthy Living Campaign.

As part of Scotland’s National Physical Activity Strategy, the Paths to Health programme supports over 90 local schemes to promote walking in communities across Scotland. The recent release of the Walkwise magazine, which is partly funded through the Healthyliving Campaign, compliments this by highlighting scenic countryside routes and providing local environmental information.

We also want more people to experience the far reaching benefits of physical activity in the outdoors, and see opportunities for outdoor education for young people as an important means of encouraging that. LTS has been commissioned to undertake a development programme to raise the profile of outdoor education. Through a Development Officer, we will work to promote better opportunities for young people to engage with Scotland’s outdoors at an early stage and develop lifelong interest.

Question reference: S2W-18142

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 15 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms are in place to monitor physical activity participation within the population.

There are three national surveillancetools used to monitor physical activity levels in Scotland. Theseare: the Scottish Health Survey which monitors overall levels of physical activityin Scotland among adults; the Health Education Population Survey which monitorschanges in knowledge, attitudes, motivation and action among adults around physicalactivity, and the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children, a World Health Organisationcross-national collaborative study which compares Scottish children at ages 11,13 and 15 to children of the same age in other countries.

Targets within the National Strategyfor Sport, Sport 21, which relate to physical activity, will be measuredthrough the Scottish Health Survey, the Scottish Opinion Survey and data compiledfrom schools by education authorities.

Question reference: S2W-18301

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 August 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 10 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11869 by Ms Patricia Ferguson on 12 November 2004, what progress has been made in relation to a possible contribution from the UK Delegation to UNESCO of up to £50,000 to UNESCO’s new Creative Cities Fund.

Question reference: S2W-17710

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 26 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many letters it has received from members of the public on the (a) Law Society of Scotlands complaints handling function, (b) Faculty of Advocates complaints handling function and (c) Scottish Legal Services Ombudsmans complaints oversight function in each year since 1999.

The figures are as follows:

Year	Law Society of Scotland	Faculty of Advocates	Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman
*From 15 June 2000	21	1	8
2001	27	0	6
2002	22	0	0
2003	19	0	3
2004	31	0	9
To 15 July 2005	19	0	3

Note: *Data unavailable as filesfor 1999 and the first half of 2000 were routinely destroyed.

Question reference: S2W-17708

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 26 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its consultation paper, Reforming Complaints Handling, Building Consumer Confidence: Regulation of the Legal Profession in Scotland, what information it has on how many of the respondents to the Which? survey, referred to in footnote 3 to paragraph 1.2, were from Scotland and how many people in total replied to this survey.

Question reference: S2W-17714

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 26 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its consultation paper, Reforming Complaints Handling, Building Consumer Confidence: Regulation of the Legal Profession in Scotland, what the estimate is of the costs of option D, setting up an independent complaints handling body, referred to in paragraph 5.17.

Such a body would cost a minimumof £2.1 million per year to run, but that figure is based solely on the currentannual costs of the complaints handling functions of the Scottish Legal ServicesOmbudsman and the Law Society of Scotland.

It would also be necessary totake into account (a) the opportunity cost of time at present given voluntarilyor for notional reward by members of professional bodies; (b) indirect costs relatingto complaints handling currently met by the professional bodies (c) start up costssuch as those relating to recruitment; and (d) economies of scale realised by merginginto a single office for legal complaints the complaints handling functions of theprofessional bodies and the Ombudsman. The annual cost of remuneration for the boardwould depend on its size and composition (an issue raised in the current consultation)but would be at least £0.1 million a year.

Question reference: S2W-17711

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 26 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its consultation paper, Reforming Complaints Handling, Building Consumer Confidence: Regulation of the Legal Profession in Scotland, how it calculated the estimate of additional resources of100,000 for the office of the Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman, referred to in paragraph 5.11, and what consultation it has had with the Ombudsman on this figure.

The estimate of £0.1 millionis based on the assumption that the additional functions associated with the optionB gateway of sifting complaints, forwardingthem to the professional bodies for substantive action/investigation and monitoringprogress would require the complement of the Ombudsman’s office to be increasedby between three to five staff. We have discussed this figure with the Ombudsmanwho will carry out her own estimate for our consideration.

Question reference: S2W-17709

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 26 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive why, in its consultation paper, Reforming Complaints Handling, Building Consumer Confidence: Regulation of the Legal Profession in Scotland, it makes no reference to the Working Group for Research into the Legal Services Markets in Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-17713

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 26 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its consultation paper, Reforming Complaints Handling, Building Consumer Confidence: Regulation of the Legal Profession in Scotland, whether the estimate of costs in paragraph 5.15 includes the establishment and start-up costs of a new single gateway with substantive complaints handling functions.