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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: S4W-20729

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 8 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with (a) local authorities and (b) COSLA regarding current council tax bands.

No recent discussions have been held with local authorities or COSLA regarding current council tax bands.

However, Scottish Ministers consider the current council tax system as a whole to be unfair and are committed to consulting with others to develop options for a fairer and more progressive local tax, based on ability to pay, later in this Parliament. All potential alternative proposals which meet this criteria will be considered.

Question reference: S4O-03208

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it is having with local authorities about the increase in pupils in primary and secondary schools with additional support needs.

Question reference: S4O-03176

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what it and its agencies are doing to promote Perth as one of Scotland’s cities.

Question reference: S4F-02050

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 April 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 May 2014

To ask the First Minister what discussions the Scottish Government is having with the Scottish Qualifications Authority regarding the future funding of the curriculum for excellence.

Question reference: S4O-03148

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in reducing the time it takes for people to see a hearing specialist.

Question reference: S4W-20085

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the capability of each local authority’s snow clearing equipment.

Question reference: S4W-20086

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with (a) Tayside Contracts and (b) Perth and Kinross Council regarding the capability of its snow clearing equipment.

During adverse weather conditions, the Scottish Government works with local authorities to ensure our roads remain safe, efficient and effective.

Responder agencies across Scotland have robust contingency plans in place to ensure that they can cope with the effects of severe weather. The Scottish Government provides a framework for effective multi-agency regional resilience partnerships including all local authorities.

Question reference: S4W-19694

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 February 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what budget it has allocated for ministers attending the 2014 Ryder Cup.

There is no separate allocation within the 2014 Ryder Cup budget for ministers attending the event. The package for the host nation partners for the Ryder Cup includes the following ministerial involvement:

a delegation to attend the 2008, 2010 and 2012 Ryder Cups to promote Scotland as future host nation;

attendance at the Year to Go dinner;

activity to promote Scotland as the host nation and as a leisure, tourism, business and events destination at the 2014 Ryder Cup, for example, through its complimentary ticket allocation.

As a major international sports event in the 2014 year, ministers are seeking to promote the event through these and a range of other activities. They aim to deliver a comprehensive business engagement programme to maximise the opportunities of hosting the event, targeting international business, tourism and events industry contacts.

This year it will be the first time that the Junior Ryder Cup is in the same locality as the Ryder Cup, and ministers are planning to support the event by attending its opening and closing ceremonies.

Question reference: S4W-19692

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 February 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on events relating to the 2014 Ryder Cup.

The following costs have been incurred for events in relation to the 2014 Ryder Cup:

Event staging costs at the 2008 and 2010 Ryder Cups to promote Scotland as the home of golf, in preparation for hosting the 2014 Ryder Cup, were approximately £143,092 and £118,735 respectively.

In September 2013, a programme of events was held to promote ‘One Year to Go’ which was supported by £36,777 from the 2014 Ryder Cup budget, which is held by VisitScotland.

(Source: all figures supplied by VisitScotland)

In March 2014, a European event – The 2014 Ryder Cup, Celebrating a European Success Story - was held in Brussels at a cost of approximately £6,000.

The costs for staging events at 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah have previously been published and are available at:

http://www.visitscotland.org/pdf/RyderCupFinalReport.pdf and:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/People/Directorates/BusinessDirectorate/foireleased.

In addition, VisitScotland undertakes a number of promotional events annually as part of its wide ranging golf and tourism marketing campaigns, many of which include the promotion of the 2014 Ryder Cup.

Question reference: S4O-03075

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what additional support it plans to provide for the development of winter sports.