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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-07672

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 13 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of (a) administration and (b) legal fees has been for each public inquiry held since 1999.

There have been four public inquiries established under the Inquiries Act 2005. The ICL Inquiry and the Fingerprint Inquiry have both reported but have not been officially closed. Their near final costs are:

ICL Inquiry - £1.9 million* – shared equally between the Scottish Government and the Department of Work and Pensions

Fingerprint Inquiry - £4.75 million

Note: *It should be noted that these costs included modifications to the Inquiry venue which have benefitted subsequent inquiries.

Two further Inquiries have yet to report. The interim costs of the Penrose Inquiry were provided in response to S4W-07071 on 4 May 2012. The Vale of Leven Inquiry is also ongoing and their costs are not available.

No breakdown of these total costs has yet been done.

The costs of the Holyrood Inquiry were published in an account of expenditure and the breakdown is as follows:

Lord Fraser fees	£127,659
Associated Administration Costs	£147,132
Legal Supports Costs	£215,684
Consultancy (Technical & PR)	£169,940
Travel and Subsistence	£7,141
Hearing Support Costs	£49,870
Total Expenditure	£717,426

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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Question reference: S4F-00621

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 May 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Salmond on 26 April 2012

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on televising court proceedings.

Question reference: S4W-06500

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 18 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-06179 by Kenny MacAskill on 27 March 2012, whether the findings of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission are matters that have caused or are capable of causing public concern within the meaning of section 1 of the Inquiries Act 2005.

The Statement of Reasons produced by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission in the Al-Megrahi case provides details of the grounds on which the commission referred the case to the Court of Appeal.

The only appropriate forum for the determination of Mr Al-Megrahi’s guilt or innocence is the Appeal Court. The court would have had the opportunity to consider the material contained in the Statement of Reasons had Mr Al-Megrahi not withdrawn his appeal. It remains open to Mr Al-Megrahi or to other interested parties to ask the commission to refer the case to the Appeal Court again.

Question reference: S4W-06261

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Lesley Thomson on 28 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many communications officials are employed in the Crown Office's communications department and what the cost of employing its communications officials was in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11.

There are currently six staff employed in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) communications department.

In 2009-10 the cost of employing its communications officials was £259,142. This figure includes salaries and expenses for the staff employed. During 2009-10 the number of staff employed varied between six and seven.

In 2010-11 the cost of employing its communications officials was £248,059. This figure includes salaries and expenses for the staff employed. During 2010-11 the number of staff employed varied between four and six.

Question reference: S4W-06179

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 27 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of recent allegations that the Crown Office did not act with propriety in the disclosure of evidence to the defence team in the case of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, whether the Scottish Government (a) has the power under the Inquiries Act 2005 to establish an inquiry into the actions of the Crown Office and (b) can refer the matter to the Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland.

The only appropriate forum for determining Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi’s guilt is a court of law. The recent selective and partial reporting of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission’s Statement of Reasons in relation to his conviction referred to issues in Mr Al-Megrahi’s second appeal which would have been properly considered by the Appeal Court had Mr Al-Megrahi not withdrawn his appeal.

The Scottish Ministers have a general power under section 1 of the Inquiries Act 2005 which allows a minister to hold an inquiry in relation to a case where it appears to him that particular events have caused, or are capable of causing, public concern, or there is public concern that particular events may have occurred.

Under the Criminal Proceedings etc (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007, the Chief Inspector of Prosecution in Scotland is required to submit to the Lord Advocate a report on any particular matter connected with the operation of the Service which the Lord Advocate refers to the Inspector. The Scottish Government has no power to direct the Inspectorate of Prosecutions to establish an inquiry on any matter.

Question reference: S4W-05662

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 12 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has commissioned in the last three years on the incidence of post natal depression; what treatment options are available for those with the condition, and what funding is available for the provision of such treatment.

While The Scottish Government has not funded research specifically on the incidence of post natal depression (PND) in the last three years, evidence referenced in the current Scottish Intercollegiate Guidance Network (SIGN) guideline on the treatment of PND shows that for approximately 1,000 births, 100-150 women experience depression, with a small number developing the more severe form of the illness.

Treatment, care and support is provided on the basis of a multi-disciplinary needs assessment and in line with clinical and other guidelines. A new SIGN guideline on the treatment of PND is published later this month. This updates the current guideline and includes recommendations based on updated evidence, expanding the guideline’s scope to include mood disorders in the antenatal period.

Most people will be treated in the community in primary or community mental health services. For those who require specialist inpatient care, the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 provides for mothers with PND to be admitted to hospital accompanied by their child. NHS boards are responsible for delivering services in line with this specific provision. The NHS response is part of a wider range of integrated community and specialist services across Scotland, including specialist in-patient units in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

NHS boards are responsible for designing, funding and commissioning PND services for their local populations from their overall Board allocations.

Question reference: S4F-00502

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 March 2012

To ask the First Minister whether, in light of comments in the recently published biography of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, the Scottish Government considers that an inquiry into all aspects of the Lockerbie bombing is now urgent.

Question reference: S4F-00420

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 January 2012

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions' statement that the UK Government's proposed benefit reforms will not lead to an increase in child poverty in Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-04332

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 8 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what actions it is taking regarding the operation of the Scottish Greenbelt Company Limited and the maintenance of common parts in various developments in the Scottish Borders.

The Scottish Government is taking forward two main areas of work to raise the standard of services provided by land maintenance companies.

Earlier this year the Scottish Government issued this consultation http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/03/04104005/17.

It asked for views on whether any changes should be made to legislation, such as the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003, in relation to dismissing and replacing bodies carrying out land maintenance on private housing estates. We are currently considering the responses to this consultation.

We are also working on implementing the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011, which will come fully into force on 1 October 2012. Its main aim is to create a statutory framework which will provide protection for homeowners in Scotland who use the services of property and land managers.

One of the elements of the act is the introduction of a statutory Code of Conduct setting out minimum standards of practice which all registered property factors, including land maintenance companies, will have to comply with. We are currently consulting on a draft of this Code of Conduct: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/09/23151014/0. This consultation closes on 16 December 2011.

Question reference: S4F-00313

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 December 2011

To ask the First Minister how many cases the Scottish Government considers might be affected retrospectively by the Double Jeopardy (Scotland) Act 2011.