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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: S4O-02188

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that public procurement contracts are open to small and micro businesses.

Question reference: S4W-14736

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 21 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what training is provided to sheriffs regarding sentencing in cases when pedestrians or cyclists are killed by cars.

Judicial training is the responsibility of the Lord President under the terms of the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008.

The Judicial Institute for Scotland was formed on 1 January 2013 to replace the Judicial Studies Committee and has the day-to-day responsibility for implementing judicial training under the overall supervision of the Lord President. The guiding philosophy of the Judicial Institute is to provide judicial training that is judge-led, judge-devised and judge-delivered. Training covers a range of general areas including, amongst other matters, sentencing and the criminal law.

Question reference: S4O-02164

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of its transport budget is spent on infrastructure to increase walking and cycling rates.

Question reference: S4W-14591

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 13 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it is applying the precautionary principle in relation to the licensing of plant protection products containing neonicotinoids.

Question reference: S4W-14382

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 May 2013

At the time of publication of the award notice by public bodies, using Public Contracts Scotland only an estimated value, or range of values, is provided by the contracting authority. Additionally, there is no legal requirement for public bodies to publish award notices for contracts that are not subject to the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2012.

Details of the total estimated value of award notices published during calendar years 2010-12 are shown below. Where a range of values has been provided by the contracting authority, the higher value has been used.

2010 - £4.5 billion

2011 - £6.9 billion

2012 - £6.1 billion

Question reference: S4W-14383

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the value was of contracts awarded through Public Contracts Scotland to (a) medium-, (b) small- and (c) micro-sized Scotland-based companies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012.

It is not possible to calculate the value of contracts awarded to Scottish-based medium, small and micro-sized companies through Public Contracts Scotland (PCS), because many of the contracts awarded are multi-supplier contracts or framework arrangements. It is not therefore possible, at the point of publication of an award notice by a public body, to calculate how any total contract value will be divided between the participating suppliers over the course of the contact. Additionally, at the time of the publication of the award notice on Public Contracts Scotland only an estimated value or range of values is provided by the contracting authority.

However, information from the Scottish Procurement Information Hub (The Hub) indicates that the value of spend with Scottish-based, micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) per financial year was:

Financial Year	Value Spend
Micro (1-9 employees)	£394m
Small (10-49 employees)	£778m
Medium (50-249 employees)	£1,460m
SME Total	£2.63bn

Financial Year	Value Spend
Micro (19 employees)	£401m
Small (10- 49 employees	£835m
Medium (50-249 employees)	£1,448m
SME Total	£2.68bn

Figures for 2012-13 are not yet available.

All Hub figures quoted above are based on data where both the employee numbers and region of the supplier are known. The Hub does not classify regions outside the UK. It is likely that those many of those suppliers where employee numbers are not known are SMEs, meaning that the SME figures shown are likely to be understated.

Question reference: S4O-02083

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will make statutory a universal entitlement to services from health visitors.

Question reference: S4W-14029

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 18 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to persuade children to choose nutritious foods during school lunch breaks.

The “Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2008” (the Regs) set high standards that all food and drink provided in schools must meet. This ensures that pupils are offered healthy, balanced and nutritious food during lunch break and at other times of the school day, allowing them to try new foods and develop healthy eating habits from a young age.

The Health and Wellbeing experiences and outcomes within Curriculum for Excellence are part of a package of measures aimed at educating children and young people about health and wellbeing in its widest sense. This helps to ensure that our children and young people are equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to make better food choices both at school and home.

We are also taking action to further encourage and support children and young people to make healthier choices when they choose to buy their lunch outwith school. The Scottish Government has set up a working group to develop a new Beyond the School Gate toolkit by the end of the summer to give local authorities and other key stakeholders guidance on what they can do to promote a healthier food environment around schools.

Question reference: S4W-14008

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) manufacturers and (b) retailers about the potential impact on child health of caffeinated energy drinks.

As the Food Standards Agency (FSA) is not aware of a direct, long term link between caffeine consumption and altered behaviour in children or adverse long term effects, it has not specifically engaged with manufacturers or retailers on this topic. However, the FSA has discussed changes in food labelling requirements for caffeinated products with manufacturers and retailers.

The British Soft Drinks Association Code of Practice on High Caffeine Content Soft Drink recommends additional labelling on high caffeine energy drinks and recommends that such drinks should not be advertised, marketed or promoted to those under the age of 16.

Question reference: S4W-14006

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 18 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on fish stocks being fed meals derived from pork and poultry products.