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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: S3W-11618

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 17 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been provided for research into Alzheimer’s disease.

The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Government has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and health care needs in Scotland. The CSO supports research projects of a sufficiently high standard initiated by the research community in Scotland. This role is well known and advertised throughout the health care and academic community.

The CSO has not funded any research specifically on Alzheimer''s disease in the last five years but has funded a number of research projects on dementia at a cost of £706,337. In order to encourage the research community to generate more clinical trials research proposals on dementias, the CSO is in the process of discussion with Scottish clinicians and academics with a view to funding a Scottish dementia research network. Research proposals into Alzheimer''s disease and other dementias would then be subject to the usual peer and committee review.

The Medical Research Council, one of the main agencies through which the UK Government supports medical and clinical research, spent £6 million in 2005-06 on research into dementia including funding for Alzheimer''s disease.

Question reference: S3W-11625

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 17 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to counteract problems facing the Scottish pig industry, following the rise in the cost of feedstock.

We recognise that this is a serious issue. Together with the industry, we are setting up a short-life task force to recommend actions that will help the Scottish pig sector.

We have also invited the British Retail Consortium to ask its members to consider the impact of current problems on the long-term sustainability of the sector. In addition (as part of our foot and mouth disease recovery package), we have given Quality Meat Scotland £30,000 for a strategic review of the industry and £300,000 to examine opportunities for adding value to the fifth quarter (offal products) in the red meat sector. We are also pressing the UK Government and the European Commission to take further action to help the pig industry.

Question reference: S3W-11627

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 17 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the cost to businesses of mental ill health at work, what support it is providing to cope with this and what plans it has made to develop this.

Improving mental health and wellbeing in employment and working life is one of the six priority areas for action under the government''s National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Wellbeing.

This seeks to contribute “ in a range of settings including the workplace - to the promotion of mental health literacy, to helping to prevent common mental health problems and to supporting those experiencing mental ill-health.

The government funds the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives to offer support and advice to employers free of charge on a wide range of occupational health and safety issues, including workplace mental wellbeing, through a network of workplace advisers, a website and a telephone advice line.

The centre also offers training to employers in Mentally Healthy Workplaces, delivered in partnership with Jobcentre Plus. This was supported recently by a marketing campaign aimed at raising the awareness of employers to the cost to business of sickness absence due to poor mental health.

The centre operates the Healthy Working Lives award scheme. The scheme embeds workplace mental health as a key criterion in achieving an award and also recognises exceptional effort in addressing workplace mental health and wellbeing through the Health Working Lives Mental Health Commendation award.

Question reference: S3W-11634

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 16 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many faith schools there are in each education authority area in Scotland and what new faith schools are planned.

Information is published annually in the statistical bulletin Pupils in Scotland, on the numbers of denominational primary, secondary and special schools in each local authority area. Tables 6.3, 7.3 and 8.3 of the 2007 bulletin give the relevant information and can be accessed on the Scottish Government website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/02/25145216/123.

It is for local authorities to decide whether or not to establish a faith or denominational school. The Scottish Government does not have details of authorities'' plans.

Question reference: S3W-11613

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 16 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what views were expressed to it by the Scottish Prison Commission on the extension of Community Service Orders.

Question reference: S3W-11621

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 15 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what amount has been budgeted for the cost of the Shirley McKie inquiry and from which budget it will be financed.

I refer the member to answer to question S3W-10920 on 14 March 2008. Planning and preparatory work for the inquiry is taking place under the guidance of Lord Justice Campbell. That work includes dialogue with the Scottish Government about budgetary matters. Further statements will be made in due course.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Question reference: S3W-11635

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Bruce Crawford on 14 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many legislative consent motions have been lodged since May 2007 and how this figure compares with the same period in the previous eight years.

The information requested is set out in the following tables.

Session 3

Number of Legislative Consent Motions Lodged per Parliamentary Year in Session 3

4 May 2007 to 10 Apr 2008	8
Total	8

Session 2

Number of Legislative Consent Motions Lodged per Parliamentary Year in Session 2

7 May 2006 to 29 Mar 2007	8
7 May 2005 to 6 May 2006	8
7 May 2004 to 6 May 2005	9
7 May 2003 to 6 May 2004	13
Total	38

Session 1

Number of Legislative Consent Motions Lodged Per Parliamentary Year in Session 1

12 May 2002 to 31 Mar 2003	9
12 May 2001 to 11 May 2002	8
12 May 2000 to 11 May 2001	15
12 May 1999 to 11 May 2000	9
Total	41

Question reference: S3W-11610

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 14 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what organisations have been consulted regarding the extension of Community Service Orders.

A series of bilateral and multilateral meetings between officials and a range of organisations covering the key interests in the community penalties field, were held over the summer of 2007. A full list of the organisations involved is set out at Annex B of Reforming and Revitalising: Report of the Review of Community Penalties, published in November 2007. The full report may be accessed on the Scottish Government''s publication web page at www.scotland.gov.uk/publications.

Question reference: S3W-09505

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Bruce Crawford on 31 March 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many Bills have been (a) published and (b) introduced since May 2007; how many Bills it plans to (i) publish and (ii) introduce in 2008, and how this compares with equivalent figures for (A) four and (B) eight years ago.

As announced by the First Minister in his statement to Parliament on 5 September 2007, the Scottish Government aims to introduce 11 bills in the 2007-08 legislative year. Six bills have since been introduced and work is on-going to introduce the remaining bills from this year's programme.

A total of eight bills were introduced in the legislative year 1999-2000, and 13 bills were introduced in 2003-04.

Question reference: S3W-10618

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 March 2008
Current Status: Answered by Bruce Crawford on 25 March 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of MSPs who serve as parliamentary private secretaries to cabinet secretaries and ministers.