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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: S4W-09997

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 29 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost of repayments would be over the lifetime of each PFI/PPP project initiated from 1999 to 2007 if the contracts had been procured under the non-profit distributing model.

As the rates applicable to any project reflect the market conditions when the actual contract is signed, it is not possible to assess how the costs of previous PFI projects would differ if those projects had been procured via the Non-Profit Distributing (NPD) model.

The NPD model is the Scottish Government’s preferred option for revenue financed projects as it creates a better balance between risk and reward to the private sector and avoids the kind of excessive returns and poor taxpayer value associated with past PFI projects.

Question reference: S4W-09627

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 12 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what legal responsibility social landlords have to consult the owners of properties within the stock owned by the landlord regarding potential changes to the properties.

<>There may be provisions in title deeds on how decisions should be taken on repairs and maintenance of common space. If there is nothing in title deeds, or they are uncertain, the Tenement Management Scheme in the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2003 may be relevant. Under the Tenement Management Scheme, decisions on repairs and maintenance to common areas may be taken by a majority of the owners of the flats in a tenement. More information on managing common repairs is contained in Consumer Focus Scotland's guide "Common Repair, Common Sense" which can be found at http://www.consumerfocus.org.uk/scotland/news/consumer-guide-to-managing-common-repairs. Improvements to common areas of tenements generally require unanimous agreement of the owners of the flats, unless the improvements are reasonably incidental to the maintenance or there is provision in the title deeds on taking decisions in relation to improvements.

Social landlords acting as property factors need to comply with the provisions of the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011. More information on the 2011 act is at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/privateowners/propertyfactors/2011Act. The Code of Conduct for Property Factors, which forms one of the main elements of the act, sets out certain requirements relating to how property factors should communicate and consult with homeowners.

Question reference: S4W-09626

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 12 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what legal responsibilities social landlords have to people who own properties within stock otherwise owned by the landlords.

<>There may be provisions in title deeds which lay down responsibilities and rights of owners of property in stock which is otherwise owned by social landlords. Social landlords acting as property factors need to comply with the provisions of the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011. More information on the 2011 act is at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/privateowners/propertyfactors/2011Act.

Question reference: S4W-09628

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 12 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what legal entitlement owners of properties within social landlords' stock have to representation on groups set up by the landlords to review changes to the properties.

<>We are not aware of any legal provisions in respect of groups of this nature. However, where decisions on repairs and maintenance are being taken under the Tenement Management Scheme, the scheme contains provisions on arranging meetings and consulting owners. Social landlords acting as property factors need to comply with the provisions of the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011. More information on the 2011 act is at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/privateowners/propertyfactors/2011Act.

Question reference: S4O-01258

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 September 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received clear information from the UK Government regarding its plans for public sector pension reform.

Question reference: S4O-01226

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 August 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with North Lanarkshire Council regarding the condition and upkeep of schools.

Question reference: S4W-08706

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 16 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many children under the age of 12 have been charged with criminal offences in each year since 1999, broken down by (a) offence, (b) age, (c) gender and (d) police force.

Question reference: S4W-08705

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 27 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions there have been under section 51 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003, broken down by year.

Section 51 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 does not create a specific criminal offence and therefore there have been no prosecutions under this particular section. Instead, section 51 creates a list of factors which must be considered by the court in any prosecution of common law assault on a child, where the defence raise the issue of 'justifiable assault' (reasonable chastisement).

As records are not kept on the defence position at any trial, it is not possible to state how many times this section has been raised during a prosecution of an assault on a child.

Question reference: S4W-08702

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 27 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions there have been under section (a) 50 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 and (b) 12 of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 in each year since 1999.

The available information is given in the following table.

People proceeded against in Scottish Courts under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 Section 50 and the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 Section 12¹, 1999-2000 to 2010-11:

Financial year	Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 Section 50	Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 Section 12
1999-2000	437	185
2000-01	401	169
2001-02	337	182
2002-03	322	216
2003-04	348	270
2004-05	265	217
2005-06	218	161
2006-07	183	197
2007-08	168	239
2008-09	112	201
2009-10	114	163
2010-11	89	182

Note: 1. Where main offence.

Question reference: S4O-01190

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 June 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Indonesian Government.