Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-19691

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 Paul Wheelhouse on 3 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it has provided to local authorities regarding the dredging of rivers and burns.

Question reference: S4O-02964

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with local authorities following the recent incidents of flooding.

Question reference: S4W-19618

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2014
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 26 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much air quality management funding each local authority has received in each year since 1999.

The information requested is provided in the following tables. Allocations are based on an application process, rather than being made automatically. Three air quality funding schemes currently operate, local air quality management (introduced in 1998), vehicle emissions testing (introduced in 2003) and vehicle emissions reduction/air quality action plan support (introduced in 2009). Not all local authorities apply for funding in a given financial year.

From 2008-09 all local authorities have also received a direct non ring fenced allocation for air quality work. This is a consequence of the Concordat signed by Scottish Ministers and the COSLA presidential team in November 2007, which rolled up a number of specific capital grants into a single General Capital Grant. The air quality allocation is based on funding provided over the previous five years. Following this agreement, the Local Air Quality Management fund is only available to those local authorities with existing or potential air quality management areas, routine air quality work is expected to be fund from the direct allocation.

Local air quality management:

Local authority	1999-00 (£)	2000-01 (£)	2001-02 (£)	2002-03 (£)	2003-04 (£)
Aberdeen	29,500.00	9,000.00	11,000.00	0	55,000.00
Aberdeenshire	0	0	0	0	0
Angus	0	0	0	0	4,000.00
Argyll and Bute	0	0	0	2,000.00	10,000.00
Clackmannanshire	39,800.00	0	0	4,000.00	0
Dumfries and Galloway	0			0	0
Dundee	57,000.00	32,000.00	50,000.00	43,000.00	40,000.00
East Ayrshire	23,000.00	0	0	0	0
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	0	28,000.00
Eilean Siar	0	0	0	0	0
East Lothian	0	5,000.00	0	0	0
East Renfrewshire	0	0	0	15,000.00
Edinburgh	0	0	87,000.00	100,000.00	20,000.00
Falkirk	231,000.00	51,000.00	45,000.00	23,000.00	11,000.00
Fife	0	32,000.00	0	10,000.00	0
Glasgow	43,000.00	63,000.00	85,000.00	52,000.00	30,000.00
Highland	0	0	0	0	0
Inverclyde	0	0	0	0	0
Midlothian	0	26,000.00	0	0	0
Moray	0	0	0	0	0
North Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0
North Lanarkshire	54,700.00	36,000.00	0	23,000.00	10,000.00
Orkney	0	0	0	0	0
Perth and Kinross	0	0	0	0	40,000.00
Renfrewshire	22,000.00	36,000.00	0	23,000.00	12,000.00
Scottish Borders	0	0	0	0	0
Shetland	0	0	0	0	0
South Ayrshire	0	0	0	5,000.00	14,000.00
South Lanarkshire	0	0	0	0	0
Stirling	0	0	0	3,000.00	0
West Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	0	15,000.00
West Lothian	0	0	0	0	0

Local Air Quality Management:

Local authority	2004-05 (£)	2005-06 (£)	2006-07 (£)	2007-08 (£)	2008-09 (£)
Aberdeen	2,250.00	72,000.00	39,200.00	50,000.00	77,800.00
Aberdeenshire	0	0	0	0	0
Angus	21,700.00	15,000.00	15,000.00	22,000.00	0
Argyll and Bute	0	0	22,922.00	6,500.00	0
Clackmannanshire	0	0	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0	0	0	4,986.00
Dundee	39,690.00	118,000.00	110,403.34	19,200.00	0
East Ayrshire	0	10,682.00	0	30,000.00	44,636.47
East Dunbartonshire	13,807.00	53,365.20	94,143.00	30,450.00	35,610.00
Eilean Siar	0	0	0	0	0
East Lothian	2,000.00	0	0	10,468.00	0
East Renfrewshire	25,000.00	0	5,350.00	12,225.00	4,000.00
Edinburgh	84,850.00	37,000.00	28,214.71	35,000.00	30,000.00
Falkirk	44,358.00	37,000.00	24,000.00	17,500.00	7,500.00
Fife	0	43,000.00	23,128.00	60,000.00	89,600.00
Glasgow	72,161.00	58,000.00	104,000.00	0	55,000.00
Highland	34,530.00	0	0	17,655.00	0
Inverclyde	0	0	0	11,412.00	0
Midlothian	0	26,000.00	10,105.00	0	26,013.00
Moray	0	0	0	0	0
North Ayrshire	0	0	0	11,700.00	42,650.00
North Lanarkshire	17,500.00	58,000.00	56,000.00	67,000.00	55,000.00
Orkney	0	0	0	0	0
Perth and Kinross	75,000.00	83,000.00	81,222.00	44,722.00	41,500.00
Renfrewshire	0	9,000.00	27,993.00	51,500.00	25,000.00
Scottish Borders	31,500.00	0	0	21,930.00	0
Shetland	0	0	0	30,000.00	0
South Ayrshire	11,730.00	15,000.00	0	34,455.00	0
South Lanarkshire	0	0	0	111,094.00	0
Stirling	4,912.00	14,000.00	14,918.00	16,183.20	0
West Dunbartonshire	19,000.00	40,000.00	41,500.00	8,000.00	0
West Lothian	0	28,000.00	0	45,120.00	0

Local Air Quality Management:

Local authority	2009-10 (£)	2010-11 (£)	2011-12 (£)	2012-13 (£)	2013-14 (£)
Aberdeen	25,000.00	25,500.00	30,000.00	20,000.00	30,000.00
Aberdeenshire	0	0	0	0	0
Angus	0	0	0	0	0
Argyll and Bute	0	0	0	0	0
Clackmannanshire	0	0	0	0	18,980.00
Dumfries and Galloway	0	28,502.46	0	0	0
Dundee	0	0	26,600.00	36,000.00	41,700.00
East Ayrshire	0	11,000.00	20,000.00	10,000.00	24,792.00
East Dunbartonshire	93,189.03	58,499.20	30,256.00	38,300.00	25,000.00
Eilean Siar	0	0	0	0	0
East Lothian	10,280.00	0	0	0	3,398.00
East Renfrewshire	6,639.00	8,718.00	0	0	0
Edinburgh	40,000.00	9,038.00	10,940.00	12,000.00	10,760.00
Falkirk	50,543.00	31,718.00	32,600.00	42,700.00	35,000.00
Fife	82,145.50	55,267.00	33,625.00	23,400.00	16,425.00
Glasgow	15,000.00	40,416.00	46,409.00	49,800.00	27,638.00
Highland	0	0	0	0	0
Inverclyde	0	0	0	0	0
Midlothian	23,802.56	35,736.00	21,400.00	12,850.00	13,500.00
Moray	0	0	0	0	0
North Ayrshire	20,000.00	7,700.00	4,593.00	15,511.00	5,663.00
North Lanarkshire	88,500.00	75,183.00	49,300.00	54,000.00	76,000.00
Orkney	0	0	0	0	0
Perth and Kinross	34,000.00	34,767.00	55,600.00	50,000.00	64,000.00
Renfrewshire	135,000.00	70,474.00	16,250.00	35,000.00	19,768.00
Scottish Borders	0	0	0	0	0
Shetland	0	0	0	0	0
South Ayrshire	0	0	10,964.00	9,000.00	9,000.00
South Lanarkshire	112,720.48	61,000.00	35,373.00	61,652.00	90,000.00
Stirling	0	0	0	0	0
West Dunbartonshire	0	0	52,000.00	0	0
West Lothian	0	11,932.00	47,300.00	31,700.00	12,000.00

Vehicle Emissions Testing:

Local authority	2003-04 (£)	2004-05 (£)	2005-06 (£)	2006-07 (£)	2007-08 (£)
Aberdeen	0	45,000.00	50,000.00	51,000.00	18,000.00
Aberdeenshire	0	0	0	0	0
Angus	0	0	0	0	0
Argyll and Bute	0	0	0	0	5,000.00
Clackmannanshire	0	0	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0	0	0	0
Dundee	0	0	0	0	0
East Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	22,760.00
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	7,000.00	19,060.00	17,200.00
Eilean Siar	0	0	0	0	0
East Lothian	0	0	0	0	0
East Renfrewshire	0	0	2,500.00	0	11,250.00
Edinburgh	0	0	0	0	0
Falkirk	0	0	0	0	0
Fife	0	0	0	0	0
Glasgow	200,000.00	227,000.00	300,000.00	262,215.00	265,000.00
Highland	0	0	0	0	0
Inverclyde	0	0	0	0	0
Midlothian	0	0	0	0	0
Moray	0	0	0	0	0
North Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0
North Lanarkshire¹	0	0	0	4,236.00	24,850.00
Orkney	0	0	0	0	0
Perth and Kinross	0	0	0	0	0
Renfrewshire	0	0	2,300.00	0	0
Scottish Borders	0	0	0	0	0
Shetland	0	0	0	0	0
South Ayrshire	40,000.00	15,949.44	16,860.00	20,285.00	16,690.00
South Lanarkshire	0	0	0	0	0
Stirling	0	0	0	0	0
West Dunbartonshire	0	0	20,000.00	35,620.00	20,000.00
West Lothian²	75,000.00	65,000.00	128,500.00	145,000.00	145,000.00

Vehicle Emissions Testing:

Local authority	2008-09 (£)	2009-10 (£)	2010-11 (£)	2011-12 (£)	2012-13 (£)
Aberdeen	15,000.00	15,600.00	15,600.00	17,900.00	18,000.00
Aberdeenshire	0	0	0	0	0
Angus	0	0	0	0	0
Argyll and Bute	0	0	0	0	0
Clackmannanshire	0	0	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0	0	0	0
Dundee	0	0	0	0	0
East Ayrshire	15,000.00	0	0	0	0
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	0	0
Eilean Siar	0	0	0	0	0
East Lothian	0	0	0	0	0
East Renfrewshire	0	0	0	1,981.77	0
Edinburgh	0	0	2,500.00	500.00	500.00
Falkirk	0	0	0	0	0
Fife	0	0	0	0	0
Glasgow	270,000.00	280,000.00	280,000.00	250,000.00	250,000.00
Highland	0	0	0	0	0
Inverclyde	0	0	0	0	0
Midlothian	0	0	0	0	0
Moray	0	0	0	0	0
North Ayrshire	15,000.00	15,000.00	0	0	0
North Lanarkshire¹	60,000.00	80,000.00	80,000.00	80,000.00	80,000.00
Orkney	0	0	0	0	0
Perth and Kinross	0	0	0	0	0
Renfrewshire	0	17,800.00	20,000.00	19,740.00	15,000.00
Scottish Borders	0	0	0	0	0
Shetland	0	0	0	0	0
South Ayrshire	18,000.00	18,000.00	18,000.00	19,829.43	20,000.00
South Lanarkshire	0	0	0	0	0
Stirling	0	0	0	0	0
West Dunbartonshire	12,000.00	16,000.00	16,000.00	16,000.00	16,000.00
West Lothian²	161,000.00	171,000.00	174,000.00	170,000.00	170,000.00

Vehicle Emissions Testing:

Local authority	2013-14 (£)
Aberdeen	18,000.00
Aberdeenshire	0
Angus	0
Argyll and Bute	0
Clackmannanshire	0
Dumfries and Galloway	0
Dundee	0
East Ayrshire	0
East Dunbartonshire	0
Eilean Siar	0
East Lothian	0
East Renfrewshire	0
Edinburgh	500.00
Falkirk	0
Fife	0
Glasgow	240,000.00
Highland	0
Inverclyde	0
Midlothian	0
Moray	0
North Ayrshire	0
North Lanarkshire¹	80,000.00
Orkney	0
Perth and Kinross	0
Renfrewshire	25,200.00
Scottish Borders	0
Shetland	0
South Ayrshire	20,000.00
South Lanarkshire	0
Stirling	0
West Dunbartonshire	0
West Lothian²	170,000.00

¹North Lanarkshire Council is the lead authority in a vehicle emissions testing partnership also involving South Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire Councils (since 2008).

²West Lothian Council is the lead authority in a vehicle emissions testing partnership also involving East Lothian, Midlothian and Falkirk Councils.

Vehicle Emissions Reduction/Air Quality Action Planning:

Local authority	2009-10 (£)	2010-11 (£)	2011-12 (£)	2012-13 (£)	2013-14 (£)
Aberdeen	120,278.00	55,000.00	72,000.00	82,000.00	50,000.00
Aberdeenshire	35,139.00	0	0	0	0
Angus	0	0	0	0	0
Argyll and Bute	0	0	0	0	0
Clackmannanshire	0	0	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	37,240.00	0	0	0	0
Dundee	44,024.00	42,372.00	185,000.00	180,000.00	166,000.00
East Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	106,000.00	30,000.00	56,000.00
Eilean Siar	0	0	0	0	0
East Lothian	0	0	0	0	0
East Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	0
Edinburgh	4,350.00	202,198.00	15,000.00	30,500.00	55,000.00
Falkirk	0	0	0	29,500.00	29,983.00
Fife	0	79,000.00	109,000.00	81,500.00	40,000.00
Glasgow	70,000.00	100,000.00	190,000.00	190,000.00	165,000.00
Highland	0	0	0	0	0
Inverclyde	0	0	0	0	0
Midlothian	0	0	0	0	0
Moray	0	0	0	0	0
North Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0
North Lanarkshire	0	0	60,000.00	60,616.00	63,500.00
Orkney	0	0	0	0	0
Perth and Kinross	200,288.00	347,500.00	165,000.00	160,000.00	230,000.00
Renfrewshire	0	150,000.00	0	0	4,600.00
Scottish Borders	0	0	0	0	0
Shetland	0	0	0	0	0
South Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0
South Lanarkshire	70,000.00	60,000.00	102,242.00	170,000.00	150,000.00
Stirling	0	0	0	0	0
West Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	0	0
West Lothian	0	0	0	0	0

Question reference: S4W-19617

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2014
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 26 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many bids there have been for air quality management funding in each year since 1999.

The information requested is provided in the following table. Three air quality funding schemes currently operate, local air quality management (introduced in 1998), vehicle emissions testing (introduced in 2003) and vehicle emissions reduction/air quality action plan support (introduced in 2009). Not all local authorities apply for funding in a given financial year:

	Local Air Quality Management	Vehicle Emissions Testing	Vehicle Emissions Reduction/Air Quality Action Planning
1999-00	8	-	-
2000-01	9	-	-
2001-02	5	-	-
2002-03	12	-	-
2003-04	13	3	-
2004-05	16	3	-
2005-06	17	7	-
2006-07	16	6	-
2007-08	24	10	-
2008-09	14	8	-
2009-10	14	8	8
2010-11	16	8	8
2011-12	17	9	9
2012-13	16	8	10
2013-14	18	7	11

Question reference: S4W-19504

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 20 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that Education Scotland inspections should take account of the quality of teaching facilities and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Education Scotland Inspectors take account of the quality of teaching facilities during school inspections. No formal evaluation of accommodation is made using a quality indicator, but in cases where pupils' safety might be at risk, or where poor facilities are having a negative impact on pupils' learning experiences, this will be highlighted and discussed with the school and its local authority. Such issues may be highlighted in the letter to parents after the inspection, or in the detailed record of inspection findings.

Question reference: S4F-01890

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 February 2014

To ask the First Minister what discussions the Scottish Government has had with Glasgow 2014 officials regarding the financial administration of the Commonwealth Games.

Question reference: S4O-02912

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the SQA regarding the Post Results Service.

Question reference: S4W-18577

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) members of the Yes Scotland campaign and (b) SNP party officials met officials involved in the development of the white paper on Scottish independence during its development.

Scotland’s Future is a Scottish Government publication developed and drafted by civil servants under the direction of ministers. A meeting between special advisers, SNP officials and government officials leading work on the white paper took place on 12 August 2013 to ensure that the respective roles of government and party in publicity relating to the paper were understood by all concerned and that a clear and appropriate division was maintained between governmental and campaigning activity.

Question reference: S4W-18578

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it took to prevent the politicisation of officials during the development of the white paper on Scottish independence.

<>Officials developed Scotland’s Future as part of their normal duties in support of Scottish Ministers in line with the Civil Service Code. This code of conduct, and guidance for civil servants on political activity, is available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/People/Directorates/Services-Groups/HR/HR/policies-guidance/conduct.

Specific elections guidance and referendum advice for civil servants has also been produced. This is available at

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Elections/guidance/ElectionsGuidanceCS.

Question reference: S4W-18576

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many officials were involved in the development of the white paper on Scottish independence.

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