Section E – Written questions lodged between 8 October and 12 October 2012
Questions marked with a triangle (Δ) are initiated by the Scottish Government in order to facilitate the provision of information to the Parliament.
Questions in which a member has indicated a declarable interest are marked with an "R".
S4W-10061 Bruce Crawford: To ask the Scottish Government what independent research has been carried out on activities taking place in communities that have received awards from the Climate Challenge Fund.
S4W-10062 Bruce Crawford: To ask the Scottish Government how it measures the impact of the Climate Change Fund on households and the environment that they operate in and what action it takes to deal with any barriers that are identified.
S4W-10064 Bruce Crawford: To ask the Scottish Government what independent analysis is carried out on the effectiveness of the administration of Climate Challenge Fund awards and whether it matches the needs of communities.
S4W-10065 Bruce Crawford: To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it makes regarding the skills-base in communities that have received support from the Climate Challenge Fund and whether they need to outsource functions.
S4W-10117 John Wilson: To ask the Scottish Government when it will make a statement on the (a) tendering process for the contract to run Clyde and Hebrides ferry services from 2016 and (b) procurement process for new vessels for domestic ferry routes.
S4W-10118 John Wilson: To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the European Commission regarding the tendering of contracts for ferry services and whether any such discussions are scheduled for the future.
S4W-10119 David Stewart: To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that it is no longer required to put contracts out to tender for (a) Northern Isles and (b) Clyde and Hebrides ferry services every six years.
S4W-10121 David Stewart: To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of developing seaplane operations in the Highlands and Islands.
S4W-10122 David Stewart: To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Department of Transport about the use of single-engine seaplanes in instrument meteorological conditions.
S4W-10123 John Finnie: To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to help NHS boards encourage greater awareness of obstructive sleep apnoea among GPs and other health professionals.
S4W-10124 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Government who, other than Robin Crawford and Ken Lewandowski, will be involved in its review of public sector construction contracts.
S4W-10125 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Government on what date the first meeting of the group reviewing public construction contracts will be held; how regularly the group will meet, and what future dates have been agreed.
S4W-10126 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Government whether the work and findings of its review of public sector construction contracts will be taken into account in the consultation on the proposed Procurement Reform Bill.
S4W-10127 Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Government which stakeholders will be consulted in its review of public sector construction contracts.
S4W-10128 Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Government how many people there are in Scotland with facial palsy.
S4W-10129 Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Government what rehabilitation treatment is available for people with facial palsy.
S4W-10130 Patrick Harvie: To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that all abortion and other sexual and reproductive health services are fully supportive of women’s reproductive rights.
S4W-10131 Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Government how many people diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder were prescribed (a) hypnotics and anxiolytics and (c) antidepressants for (i) psychoses and related disorders and (ii) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in 2011-12, broken down by age.
S4W-10132 Lewis Macdonald: To ask the Scottish Government on what date the First Minister’s office asked Donald Trump to put his name to a statement supporting the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi and what response it received.
S4W-10133 Lewis Macdonald: To ask the Scottish Government what emails and other correspondence it has sent to the office of Donald Trump concerning the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi; on what dates, and what responses it received.
S4W-10134 Lewis Macdonald: To ask the Scottish Government whether it sent emails to individuals or organisations other than Donald Trump asking for support following the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi and, if so, who or what organisations; on what dates, and what replies it received.
S4W-10135 Lewis Macdonald: To ask the Scottish Government whether it sent emails to individuals or organisations to ask for support regarding the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi before 20 August 2009 and, if so, who or what organisations; on what dates, and what replies it received.
S4W-10136 Liam McArthur: To ask the Scottish Government how much the Early Years Change Fund will amount to over the current spending review period and from what sources, also broken down by year.
S4W-10138 Liam McArthur: To ask the Scottish Government how much new money it will allocate to the Early Years Change Fund in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15 and from what budget line.
S4W-10139 Liam McArthur: To ask the Scottish Government how much of the Early Years Change Fund (a) has been allocated and (b) is available.
S4W-10140 Lewis Macdonald: To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the First Minister asked Donald Trump to put his name to a statement supporting the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi.
S4W-10141 Margaret McDougall: To ask the Scottish Government whether it will remove the presumption in favour of carbon capture and storage power generation at Hunterston from the National Planning Framework 2 and replace it with a presumption in favour of nuclear power generation.
S4W-10142 Neil Findlay: To ask the Scottish Government how many staff are employed at Lothian and Borders Police Force Communications Centre and how many there have been in each year since the centre opened.
S4W-10143 Neil Findlay: To ask the Scottish Government how many staff are required to operate Lothian and Borders Police Force Communications Centre effectively.
S4W-10144 Neil Findlay: To ask the Scottish Government how many staff at Lothian and Borders Police Force Communications Centre are (a) trained police officers and (b) civilian staff.
S4W-10145 Neil Findlay: To ask the Scottish Government how many staff at Lothian and Borders Police Force Communications Centre have been (a) trained police officers and (b) civilian staff in each year since the centre opened.
S4W-10146 Neil Findlay: To ask the Scottish Government how many average hours of overtime per month each member of staff at Lothian and Borders Police Force Communications Centre has worked in the last year.
S4W-10148 Neil Findlay: To ask the Scottish Government what the average rate of sickness absence has been for staff at Lothian and Borders Police Force Communications Centre in each year since it opened.
S4W-10149 Neil Findlay: To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of sickness absence at Lothian and Borders Police Force Communications Centre has been stress related in each year since it opened.
S4W-10150 Neil Findlay: To ask the Scottish Government how (a) performance and (b) targets are measured at Lothian and Borders Police Force Communications Centre.
S4W-10151 Neil Findlay: To ask the Scottish Government what (a) monthly and (b) annual performance levels Lothian and Borders Police Force Communications Centre has achieved in each year since it opened.
S4W-10152 Neil Findlay: To ask the Scottish Government whether plans have been put in place to change the services provided by Lothian and Borders Police Force Communications Centre.
S4W-10153 Neil Findlay: To ask the Scottish Government whether there are plans to reduce the number of staff required to effectively operate Lothian and Borders Police Force Communications Centre.
S4W-10154 Neil Findlay: To ask the Scottish Government whether there are plans for the Lothian and Borders Police Force Communications Centre to work with other police force communications centres.
S4W-10155 Patricia Ferguson: To ask the Scottish Government how many CashBack for Communities-funded projects provide an anti-sectarianism element in their activities.
S4W-10156 Patricia Ferguson: To ask the Scottish Government what provision the Scottish Football Association has made for delivering anti-sectarianism workshops, events and messages through the CashBack for Communities funding that it receives.
S4W-10157 Margaret McDougall: To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce dog welfare legislation.
S4W-10158 Margaret McDougall: To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4O-00789 by Richard Lochhead on 15 March 2012 (Official Report, c. 7344) what further consideration it has given to the compulsory microchipping of dogs.
S4W-10159 Margaret McDougall: To ask the Scottish Government what it would cost to establish and maintain a national database of dogs.
S4W-10160 Margaret McDougall: To ask the Scottish Government what the cost of a dog licence would be under a system requiring the compulsory microchipping of dogs.
S4W-10161 Margaret McDougall: To ask the Scottish Government whether it has investigated working with other organisations to reduce the cost for owners of the cost of microchipping dogs and, if so, what effect this would have on the cost of introducing compulsory microchipping.
S4W-10162 Margaret McDougall: To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with stakeholders regarding the compulsory microchipping of dogs and when these took place.
S4W-10163 Paul Martin: To ask the Scottish Government how many foreign trips it has (a) fully and (b) part-funded for external organisations and individuals since 1 January 2011, broken down by the (i) name of organisation or individual, (ii) purpose of the trip, (iii) destination, (iv) names of any ministers attending, (v) nature of expenses incurred and (vi) total cost incurred.
S4W-10164 Paul Martin: To ask the Scottish Government how many foreign trips ministers have attended in each year since May 2007, broken down by (a) minister, (b) purpose of trip, (c) destination and (d) total cost incurred.
S4W-10166 Jean Urquhart: To ask the Scottish Government what communication it has had with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority regarding the transportation of waste materials from Dounreay to Sellafield.
S4W-10167 Alison Johnstone: To ask the Scottish Government what representations or contributions it has made to the UK National Ecosystem Assessment.
S4W-10168 Alison Johnstone: To ask the Scottish Government whether national development designations proposed to be carried forward from the National Planning Framework 2 to the National Planning Framework 3 will be subject to public consultation.
S4W-10169 Linda Fabiani: To ask the Scottish Government whether the terms of employment for police officers comply with human rights legislation.
S4W-10170 Linda Fabiani: To ask the Scottish Government whether the terms of employment for police officers are uniform across forces.
S4W-10171 Linda Fabiani: To ask the Scottish Government what changes there will be to the terms of employment for police officers who are transferred to the single police force.
S4W-10172 Lewis Macdonald: To ask the Scottish Government whether the National Police Reform Team is assessing the administration of the statutory independent custody visiting scheme under the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012.
S4W-10173 Lewis Macdonald: To ask the Scottish Government when the handover will take place between the current independent custody visiting schemes and the statutory scheme under the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012.
S4W-10174 Lewis Macdonald: To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had meetings with (a) administrators or (b) representatives of independent custody visiting schemes and, if so, how often these meetings have taken place since May 2007.
S4W-10175 Lewis Macdonald: To ask the Scottish Government whether the statutory independent custody visiting scheme under the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 will be a Scotland-wide organisation or whether the administration will be split into geographical areas and, if so, what geographical areas.
S4W-10176 Lewis Macdonald: To ask the Scottish Government what guidance has been issued to independent custody visiting schemes ahead of the change to the statutory system under the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012.
S4W-10177 Rhoda Grant: To ask the Scottish Government what the criteria are for awards from the Renewable Energy Investment Fund.
S4W-10178 Iain Gray: To ask the Scottish Government when the outline business case for the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh will be published.
S4W-10179 Iain Gray: To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated lifetime costs are for the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh and what the costs would be using traditional public sector procurement.
S4W-10180 Iain Gray: To ask the Scottish Government what requirements for training and sustainability will be specified in the procurement of construction and maintenance of the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh.
S4W-10181 Iain Gray: To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that Scottish (a) companies and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) will be able to compete for contracts in the procurement of construction and maintenance of the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.
S4W-10182 Kezia Dugdale: To ask the Scottish Government how it will invest in broadband improvements and connectivity in Midlothian.
S4W-10183 Kezia Dugdale: To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made representations to broadband providers regarding broadband speeds in (a) Bonnyrigg and (b) Rosewell.
S4W-10184 Iain Gray: To ask the Scottish Government for what reason East Lothian has had no more that 1.2% of modern apprenticeship starts in the last three years, given that it has an estimated 1.9% of the country’s population.
S4W-10185 Iain Gray: To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the number of modern apprenticeship starts in East Lothian.
S4W-10186 Stuart McMillan: To ask the Scottish Government what provisions are there to help people wanting take a civil case forward but unable to obtain legal representation.
S4W-10187 Jackie Baillie: To ask the Scottish Government whether the March 2013 Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guideline on head injury will refer to post-traumatic hypopituitarism (PTHP).
S4W-10188 Angus MacDonald: To ask The Scottish Government what criteria are used to determine the (a) schools and (b) nurseries in the NHS Forth Valley area that participate in the Childsmile (i) core, (ii) nursery and school and (iii) practice schemes.
S4W-10192 Lewis Macdonald: To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish Court Service has ceased to work to targets for the time between commencement and conclusion of (a) summary and (b) solemn trials and, if so, (i) when these were discontinued and (ii) for what reason.
S4W-10194 Lewis Macdonald: To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) re-employed retired and (b) part-time sheriffs have been employed in each month since April 2007, broken down by sheriffdom.
S4W-10196 Neil Findlay: To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to take forward the recommendations of the One Planet Schools Working Group.
S4W-10197 Annabel Goldie: To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on the Year of Creative Scotland; what the purpose of this expenditure has been, and what financial and other returns this has generated.
S4W-10198 Annabel Goldie: To ask the Scottish Government how the major events and themed years’ budget for 2013-14 will be allocated; what the money will be spent on, and for what reason it holds themed years annually.
S4W-10199 Annabel Goldie: To ask the Scottish Government how much will be spent on “support[ing] a programme of seminars to promote links with the Nordic countries” as noted in the 2013-14 draft budget; what the (a) format and (b) focus of these will be, and what financial and other returns it anticipates the programme will generate.
S4W-10200 Annabel Goldie: To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the funding allocation to the Young Scots Fund has varied between 2012-13 and 2014-15 and whether it considers the fund having a (a) stable and (b) regular budget allocation will provide more certainty for funding projects.
S4W-10201 Ken Macintosh: To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) NHS and (b) National Services Division’s budget has been for orthodontic treatment in each year since 2007.
S4W-10203 Ken Macintosh: To ask the Scottish Government what the criteria are for approving orthodontic treatment; when these were agreed and what changes were made to previous criteria as a result.
S4W-10204 Ken Macintosh: To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) children and (b) adults have received orthodontic treatment in each year since 2007.
S4W-10205 Ken Macintosh: To ask the Scottish Government how much in fees has been paid out for orthodontic treatment in each year since 2007.
S4W-10206 Ken Macintosh: To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-06212 by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 March 2012, whether all NHS boards now have a practising medical consultant on all individual patient treatment request (IPTR) panels.
S4W-10207 Ken Macintosh: To ask the Scottish Government how many individual patient treatment requests (IPTR) were made for patients with colon cancer in 2011-12.
S4W-10208 Ken Macintosh: To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on making monoclonal antibodies available.
S4W-10209 Ken Macintosh: To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the work of the Scottish Medicines Consortium.
S4W-10210 Ken Macintosh: To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-06515 by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 April 2012, what monitoring is carried out of the effectiveness medicines introduced via individual patient treatment requests (IPTR) and whether this informs decisions made by the Scottish Medicines Consortium.
S4W-10211 Ken Macintosh: To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS boards can access national contingency funding to meet the cost of dealing with individual patient treatment requests (IPTR).
S4W-10212 Mark McDonald: To ask the Scottish Government what training there is for health professionals working with patients with autistic spectrum disorder.
S4W-10213 Kezia Dugdale: To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the opinion of the Inner House of the Court of Session dated 12 September 2012 on the motion by Portobello Park Action Group against proposed plans by the City of Edinburgh Council to build a new Potobello High School that it "is far from self-evident, the construction of a significant High School in a public park could be deemed a matter of ‘well-being’" as defined by section 20 (1) of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003.
S4W-10214 Kezia Dugdale: To ask the Scottish Government whether it will undertake an urgent review of section 20 (1) of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 in light of the opinion of the Inner House of the Court Session dated 12 September 2012 in relation to Edinburgh City Council’s proposal to build a new Portobello High School.
S4W-10215 Kezia Dugdale: To ask the Scottish Government, whether it plans to lay an affirmative order to clarify section 20 (1) of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 in light of the opinion of the Inner House of the Court of Session dated 12 September 2012 on the motion by Portobello Park Action Group that it "is far from self-evident, the construction of a significant High School in a public park could be deemed a matter of ‘well-being’".
S4W-10216 Kezia Dugdale: To ask the Scottish Government whether it will use all possible routes to clarify the intentions in section 20 (1) of the Local Government Act 2003 and related provisions, which enable a local authority to promote or improve the wellbeing of all or part of its area and/or some or all of the persons within it, in light of the opinion of the Inner House of the Court of Session Court dated 12 September 2012 on the motion by Portobello Park Action Group.
S4W-10217 Kezia Dugdale: To ask the Scottish Government how many school pupils are engaged on activity agreement programmes.
S4W-10218 Kezia Dugdale: To ask the Scottish Government how many young people are engaged on activity agreement programmes.
S4W-10219 Kezia Dugdale: To ask the Scottish Government how many activity agreement programmes consist of no more than than two hours activity per week.
S4W-10220 James Kelly: To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of contracts for the Forth Replacement Crossing have been allocated to (a) Scottish and (b) non-Scottish companies and how much these contracts are worth.
S4W-10222 Helen Eadie: To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on cardiac rehabilitation being available to all those who have experienced heart failure or have angina.
S4W-10224 Helen Eadie: To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the provision of cardiac rehabilitation for people who have experienced heart failure or have angina.
S4W-10225 Helen Eadie: To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to assist NHS boards to increase the provision of cardiac rehabilitation for people who have experienced heart failure or have angina.
S4W-10226 Helen Eadie: To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether NHS boards should regard the provision of cardiac rehabilitation for people who have experienced heart failure or have angina as a clinical priority.
S4W-10227 Helen Eadie: To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the goal of the British Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation that "ensuring referral of all eligible patients by cardiologists and/or specialist cardiovascular health care physicians to a prevention and rehabilitation programme as a standard (not optional) policy that is held in the same regard as the prescribing of cardioprotective medications" and what plans it has to meet this goal.
S4W-10228 Patricia Ferguson: To ask the Scottish Government which ministerial portfolio has responsibility for the housing of registered sex offenders.
S4W-10229 Patricia Ferguson: To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions have taken place between the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities concerning the housing of registered sex offenders on release from prison.
S4W-10230 Patricia Ferguson: To ask the Scottish Government how many registered sex offenders released from prison in each of the last five years have been housed in multi-storey flats.
S4W-10231 Patricia Ferguson: To ask the Scottish Government what work has been carried out on the suitability of the different types of accommodation available for the re-housing of registered sex offenders and the possible effect that these types of accommodation might have on their behaviour.
S4W-10233 Patricia Ferguson: To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that referrals under section 5 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 are appropriate for the rehousing of registered sex offenders.
S4W-10234 Patricia Ferguson: To ask the Scottish Government how many registered sex offenders released from prison in each of the last 5 years have been allocated social-rented housing.
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