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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: S3W-15850

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 16 September 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations and recommendations it has made to the Competition Commission about the future ownership of Scottish airports and what discussion it has had with BAA and others regarding their future.

My officials attended a formal hearing with the Competition Commission on 30 January 2008, the transcript of which is at:

http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/inquiries/ref2007/airports/pdf/hearing_summary_scottish_government.pdf.

Our formal written submission of 1 February 2008 is at:

http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/inquiries/ref2007/airports/pdf/third_party_submission_scottish_gov_supply.pdf.

Our periodic discussions with BAA have covered a range of issues, including the airport operator''s views on the Competition Commission''s inquiry. It is for the commission, which is independent of government, to weigh up the evidence and representations received in determining the outcome of its inquiry.

Question reference: S3W-15909

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 01 September 2008
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 12 September 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage has been of accounts due that have not been paid within 30 days of invoices being properly submitted to each directorate and agency for which it is responsible, at the end of each month since May 2007.

The annual accounts, laid in the Scottish Parliament and published on the Scottish Government website, contain information on payment performance. The production and audit of the consolidated Scottish Government accounts for 2007-08 is currently being finalised and the accounts are due to be published on 30 September 2008 (SG/2008/163). A copy of these will be placed in Scottish Parliament Information Centre. The individual accounts of executive agencies for 2007-08, some of which have already been finalised and published on their respective websites, contain the information for those individual bodies for that financial year.

Question reference: S3W-15829

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 11 September 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions ministers have had with sport governing bodies about the First Minister’s suggestion for a Scottish Olympic team and what the responses have been.

Question reference: S3W-15842

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2008
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 September 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive when the last meeting of the Council of Economic Advisers was; what topics were discussed, and whether members have received any recommendations arising from the meeting.

The last meeting of the Council took place on 13 June 2008.

The following topics were discussed:

An update on the Scottish Economy;

Education, Skills, Lifelong Learning and the Government Economic Strategy, and

Achieving Scotland''s 2011 targets on emissions and economic growth.

The recommendations made by the Council at the meeting can be found in the minutes, published on the Scottish Government''s website:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Economy/Council-Economic-Advisers.

The next Council meeting will take place on 3 October 2008.

Question reference: S3W-16075

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2008
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 September 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-15237 by John Swinney on 25 August 2008, what action it proposes to take to increase the number of employees over the age of 65 working for it and its agencies; whether it will set relevant targets, and what discussions it has had with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on age discrimination.

All recruitment to the Scottish Government is conducted in accordance with the Civil Service Recruitment Code. Successful candidates are selected on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.

The Scottish Government''s Equal Opportunities and Dignity at Work policies prohibit discrimination on grounds of age. In addition, our Diversity Strategy supports our aim of valuing everyone''s individual contribution in the workplace.

In line with our legal obligations, Diversity Strategy and Departmental Diversity Delivery Plan, the Scottish Government, as an employer, is committed to improving the diversity of its workforce.

In 2002, the Scottish Government set up an Age Working Group of interested parties to consider the implications of Age legislation and to oversee the work of developing and implementing an Age Diversity Strategy.

The work of the group also involved an initial audit of HR policies to assess the possible impact of the legislation. This was followed by a more detailed audit of all policies and procedures to ensure no disparate impact on staff of any age.

Colleagues in Equality Unit and Older People''s Team regularly meet with members of Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) both in London and Scotland to discuss all aspects including age. Our Older People''s Team met with EHRC as part of a round table discussion on age on 24 June.

From 1 October 2006 the Scottish Government introduced a no retirement age policy for band A-C staff in the Scottish Government main bargaining unit. This means that employees in those bands are free to continue in employment for as long as they wish subject to the normal Scottish Government conduct, performance and attendance procedures. Normal retirement age for the Senior Civil Service was raised by the Cabinet Office from 60 to 65.

From 1 March 2008, the Scottish Government introduced ˜partial retirement'', this means that staff who agree with their manager to reshape their job, so that their earnings reduce by at least 20%, can draw some or all of their Civil Service pension and remain in work.

We have no plans to introduce targets on age for staff recruitment or retention.

Question reference: S3W-15224

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2008
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 September 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what official trips the First Minister took by ministerial car from 1 to 24 July 2008, showing the origin, destination and purpose of the journey in each case.

The First Minister made the following journeys by Government car between 1 July and 24 July:

Date	Time	Pick Up	Destination	Purpose
1 July 2008	11:30	Bute House	Holyrood Palace	Audience with Her Majesty
1 July 2008	12:50	Holyrood Palace	Bute House	Returning to official residence
1 July 2008	15:05	Bute House	Holyrood Palace	Queen''s Garden Party
1 July 2008	18:00	Holyrood Palace	Bute House	Supper with Garden Party Guests
2 July 2008	10:15	Bute House	St Giles Cathedral	Order of the Thistle Service
2 July 2008	12:00	St Giles Cathedral	Edinburgh Airport	Flight to London
3 July 2008	11:20	Edinburgh Airport	Bute House	Meetings in Bute house
3 July 2008	16:30	Bute House	Marcliffe Hotel, Aberdeen	Aberdeen Cyrenians 40th Anniversary Dinner
3 July 2008	22:30	Marcliffe Hotel, Aberdeen	Personal Address	Returning Home
6 July 2008	12:15	Personal Address	Kirk of St Nicholas, Aberdeen	Service to Commemorate Piper Alpha Tragedy
6 July 2008	17:00	Kirk of St Nicholas, Aberdeen	Personal Address	Returning Home
10 July 2008	14:00	Personal Address	Bute House	Meetings in Bute House
10 July 2008	19:00	Bute House	Edinburgh Castle	Reception for Commonwealth Law Ministers
10 July 2008	20:00	Edinburgh Castle	Prestonfield House	Dinner for Commonwealth Law Ministers
10 July 2008	23:30	Prestonfield House	Bute House	Returning to official residence
12 July 2008	18:00	Bute House	Personal Address	Returning Home
15 July 2008	14:00	Personal Address	Bute House	Meetings in Bute House
18 July 2008	10:00	Bute House	Tullis Russell, Markinch	Tullis Russell Announcement
18 July 2008	12:00	Tullis Russell, Markinch	Meridian Court, Glasgow	Meeting with Energy and Transport officials
18 July 2008	14:30	Meridian Court, Glasgow	2 Baillieston Road, Glasgow	Travelling from Official Meeting
19 July 2008	18:00	Bute House	Personal Address	Returning Home
21 July 2008	07:00	Personal Address	SECC, Glasgow	World Renewable Energy Conference
21 July 2008	12:00	SECC, Glasgow	57 Queen Street, Glasgow	Meeting with The Sunday Times
21 July 2008	15:00	57 Queen Street, Glasgow	2 Baillieston Road, Glasgow	Travelling from Official Meeting

Question reference: S3W-15854

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2008
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 8 September 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints were referred to the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman about local authorities in 2007-08 and how this compares to the previous year.

Information published in the annual report of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman for 2007-08 shows that 2,418 complaints were received about local government in that year. The 2006-07 annual report shows that 2,543 complaints were received in 2006-07. The figures for 2006-07 and 2007-08 are not directly comparable because of changes in logging procedures. Both annual reports can be found on the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman''s website at http://www.spso.org.uk/.

Question reference: S3W-15227

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 8 September 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place with bus operators over the last six months regarding the continued provision of free bus travel for elderly and disabled people.

Ministers met representatives from the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) on 11 March 2008 and this meeting included discussion on free bus travel for elderly and disabled people. A steering group and working groups have been set up to review free bus travel for elderly and disabled people. As part of this process, officials and CPT have met a number of times to discuss a variety of issues relating to the scheme.

Question reference: S3W-15834

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 4 September 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS dentists there are and how this compares to the equivalent time in the previous year.

The number of NHS General Dental Service dentists (headcount) in Scotland for the latest available two years is presented in the following table. The table also provides the percentage change.

NHS General Dental Service Dentists (Head Count) in Scotland as at 31 March 2007-08

March 2007

March 2008

Percentage Change

2007-08

All Dentists¹

2,474

2,576

4.1%

Source: MIDAS (Management Information & Dental Accounting System).

Note: 1. The number of NHS non-salaried and salaried principals, assistants and vocational dental practitioners.

Question reference: S3W-15844

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2008
Current Status: Answered by Linda Fabiani on 4 September 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive which agencies it uses to deliver its international development programme, broken down by country and excluding Malawi.

Our international development programmes are delivered through organisations with a presence in Scotland who can bid for funds from the International Development Fund.

Funding decisions beyond Malawi have not yet been made.

The funding process for the Sub-Saharan Africa Development has begun and decisions will be made towards the end of the year. The Indian Subcontinent programme is currently under development.