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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-06811

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 April 2012
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fergus Ewing on 20 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it expects Registers of Scotland to achieve in 2012-13.

Scottish Ministers have set the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland the financial targets of achieving:

3% increasing cash-releasing efficiency savings;

5% reduction in headcount, and

5% increase in commercial income.

In addition, the Keeper has set the following registration performance targets, which ministers endorse:

Where it is in the Keeper’s power and is legally appropriate to:

1.	Complete the registration of Sasine writs within an upper limit of 40 days. 80% will be completed within 20 days.
2.	Complete the registration of Dealings with Whole carried out as ARTL transactions within 24 hours.
3.	Complete the registration of Dealings with Whole that are not carried out as ARTL transactions and standard First Registrations within an upper limit of 120 days. 80% will be completed within 60 days.
4.	Record all applications for registration on the application record within one working day. (Entrance on the application record safeguards the rights of applicants until the registration application is determined.)
5.	Complete pre-30 September 2012 First Registration casework by 31 March 2013. (This excludes Voluntary Registrations for which individual timescales will be agreed.)
6.	Complete pre-31 December 2012 Transfer of Part casework by 30 September 2013. (This excludes those Registrations for which no detail has yet been published by the Ordnance Survey.)
7.	Complete 98.5% or more of registrations, over a 12-month rolling period, without corrective action.

Question reference: S4O-00911

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made with the refresh of the Scottish tourism strategy.

Question reference: S4O-00874

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the review of the provision of maternity services in West Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-06013

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it provides for people over the age of 50 to find employment.

Tackling unemployment for workless people of all ages is a priority for the Scottish Government. Within the scope of the powers we have, we are implementing an Economic Strategy for growth, targeting resources where they are needed most and working to better align all employability and skills services across Scotland. It is encouraging to note that employment for the over 50s has increased over the year, and unemployment decreased, despite challenging labour market conditions.

Question reference: S4W-05449

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 1 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had recent discussions with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) regarding the agency outsourcing employment opportunities to Scotland.

Question reference: S4F-00463

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 February 2012

To ask the First Minister how important offshore opportunities in the west of Scotland are in helping to meet the Scottish Government's renewables targets.

Question reference: S4W-05327

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2012
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 31 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will legislate to ensure that, where a person was diagnosed with pleural plaques and did not initiate a claim for damages within three years, a claim for damages for mesothelioma or other distinct asbestos-related diseases would not be time-barred if that condition was subsequently diagnosed.

In the course of the judicial review of the Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) (Scotland) Act 2009, it was suggested by the petitioners that “any person found to have asymptomatic plaques would be obliged to raise an action within three years, or risk losing his right of action should he develop symptomatic asbestos-related disease after the expiry of that period”. In making that suggestion, the petitioners appeared to rely on their interpretation of the implications of the decision of the Inner House in Aitchison v. Glasgow City Council [2010], which overruled an earlier decision of the Inner House in Carnegie v. Lord Advocate [2001]. However, the 2010 decision, which was issued some months after the 2009 act came into force, does not refer directly to that legislation.

The future interpretation of the law is a matter for the courts, which will have regard to all relevant facts and circumstances. To date, however, there is understood to have been no specific ruling from the courts that the decision in Aitchison, which related to a relatively recent diagnosis of psychological injury following a much earlier physical injury, would necessarily be interpreted as meaning that claims for damages for a different asbestos-related disease, such as mesothelioma, would be time-barred if there had been no claim for damages following a diagnosis of pleural plaques more than three years previously. Still less has there been any specific ruling from the courts that, even if that were the interpretation, they would also conclude that is would not be equitable to exercise their discretion under section 19A of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 to allow a claim for damages for that distinct disease to proceed.

Moreover, as regards future industry practice, the Scottish Government is aware that the Association of British Insurers has given repeated assurances of “insurers continued commitment to pay compensation to people with asbestos-related diseases, such as mesothelioma, which impact on their health”.

At this point, therefore, an imperative for legislation on this issue has not been established. However, the Scottish Government will keep the position under review, in order to determine whether – in advance of the forthcoming consultation exercise which will inform our planned modernisation of the law on damages for personal injury – any specific elements of our modernisation agenda require to be accelerated. Pending the outcome of that consultation exercise, the Scottish Government’s policy view remains that, as was understood to be the case when the 2009 act was passed, a claim for damages for mesothelioma should not be rejected simply because the limitation period for a claim for damages for pleural plaques has expired.

Question reference: S4O-00541

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it provides to people who are facing the prospect of bankruptcy and insolvency.

Question reference: S4F-00345

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 December 2011

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's assessment is of the economic impact on Scotland of the Prime Minister’s actions at the EU summit last week.

Question reference: S4O-00441

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the joint ministerial committee on Europe.