Questions and answers

Chamber and committees

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 ��˿�� 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-23404

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what action it (a) has taken and (b) plans to take as a result of its consultation on the Draft Inquiries (Scotland) Rules 2011, which closed on 8 June 2012.

Question reference: S4W-23405

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many public inquiries there have been from 1999, broken down by (a) completed and (b) ongoing inquiries, showing the (i) cost and (ii) duration of each.

There have been five statutory public inquiries established since 1999, all under the Inquiries Act 2005 and Inquiries (Scotland) Rules 2007. Details of the cost and duration of each inquiry are in the following table, including whether it is completed or ongoing:

Inquiry	Status*	Cost	Duration**
ICL Inquiry	completed	£1.9 million	1 year 5 months
Fingerprint Inquiry	completed	£4.75 million	3 years 9 months
Vale of Level Hospital Inquiry	completed	£10.3 million (as at 1 October 2014) with final costs still to be published	5 years 1 month
Penrose Inquiry	ongoing	£11.3 million (as at June 2014) with a projected cost of £11.7 million (estimate provided by the inquiry team July 2014)	Commenced January 2012
Edinburgh Tram Inquiry	ongoing	Not known	Became a statutory inquiry November 2014

*completed means final report has been issued

**duration from when inquiry set up to report published

Question reference: S4W-23127

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Linda Fabiani on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many non-MSP-sponsored events have been held in the Parliament in each year since 1999.

No centralised record of events held exists prior to the Events and Exhibitions Team being established in 2007.For the last full year, 2013/14, the total number of events managed, organised and delivered by the Team was 370, of which 347 were Member-sponsored events and 23 were non-Member sponsored events.

A table containing figures for previous years is as follows:

Full Year	Non MSP Sponsored Events
April 2007 – March 2008	68
April 2008 – March 2009	82
April 2009 – March 2010	78
April 2010 – March 2011	75
April 2011 - March 2012*	25
April 2012 - March 2013	30
April 2013 - March 2014	23

Question reference: S4W-23126

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Linda Fabiani on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many full-time or full-time equivalent staff have been employed in the Events and Exhibitions Team in each year since 1999.

A dedicated Events and Exhibitions Team was established in 2007 to support all events and exhibitions in the Parliament. The figures broken down by year are as follows:

Year	Staff Numbers
2007-08	7
2008-09	7
2009-10	10
2010-11	10
2011-12	10
2012-13	9
2013-14	11 ��

(Figures correct as at 31 December each year for 2007-2013)

The Events and Exhibitions Team currently deliver over 440 events and exhibitions annually.

Question reference: S4W-23128

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Linda Fabiani on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how the costs of non-MSP-sponsored events is met.

All non-MSP sponsored events supported and delivered by the Events and Exhibitions Team in support of the Parliament include events approved annually by the SPCB as part of the Major Events and Exhibitions Programme aimed at engaging with the public and Scotland’s Futures Forum events aimed at Members, academia and research. These events can be held in partnership with external organisations.

The hospitality, catering and audio visual equipment costs for any non-MSP sponsored event are either met from the SPCB’s approved budget or by external organisations.

Question reference: S4W-22977

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 14 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-19276 by Paul Wheelhouse on 30 January 2014, how many snare users, having attended the required training, had obtained an identification number from their local police force or from Police Scotland by 1 October 2014.

Question reference: S4W-22992

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 13 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to ensure the welfare of lions and tigers being kept at the Circus High School in Aberdeenshire, and whether the animals remain exempt from the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976.

The Scottish Government is in close contact with Aberdeenshire Council, the local authority responsible. Both the welfare of the big cats and public safety have been considered and continue to be of paramount importance. A number of visits have been made by the council to inspect the facilities being used to house the animals and all welfare requirements have been met and recommendations followed.

The animals are not exempt from the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 as they are not currently attached to a circus. The Circus High School applied for a licence under the Act as soon as the requirement for the current arrangements became apparent. The licence was issued on 11 November 2014 after a short delay due to planning considerations.

Question reference: S4O-03694

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 November 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what consideration it has given to commemorating and celebrating the contribution of Margo MacDonald to the Parliament.

Question reference: S4F-02343

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 October 2014

To ask the First Minister what resources the Scottish Government has in place to assist service personnel and their families who have been affected by the conflict in Afghanistan.

Question reference: S4W-22841

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 27 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-17160 by Kenny MacAskill on 25 September 2013, how many (a) investigations have been carried out and (b) control notices have been issued by each local authority under the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010 since 26 February 2013.

The information is contained in the following table:

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Investigations

Dog control notices

Local authority	27 Feb 2011 to 26 Feb 2012	27 Feb 2012 to 26 Feb 2013	27 Feb 2013 to 26 Feb 2014	27 Feb 2011 to 26 Feb 2012	27 Feb 2012 to 26 Feb 2013	27 Feb 2013 to 26 Feb 2014
Aberdeen City	207	317	412	4	4	5
Aberdeenshire	89	198	107	3	14	10
Angus	27	80	144	0	0	2
Argyll and Bute	28	43	68	7	5	9
Clackmannanshire	30	51	46	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	24	17	41	2	4	14
Dundee City	97	136	174	0	0	4
East Ayrshire	24	17	19	8	9	4
East Dunbartonshire	24	20	22	10	0	5
East Lothian	14	5	58	12	4	17
East Renfrewshire	1	1	1	0	0	0
Edinburgh City	32	164	228	0	4	5
Falkirk	33	82	150	0	4	14
Fife	55	159	195	10	37	48
Glasgow City	12	5	56	1	1	0
Highland	16	38	97	2	8	14
Inverclyde	0	3	0	0	1	0
Midlothian	24	39	52	1	1	4
Moray	36	99	119	0	0	2
North Ayrshire	29	24	18	1	1	2
North Lanarkshire	18	13	18	0	0	0
Orkney	3	1	6	0	0	1
Perth and Kinross	40	36	19	0	1	10
Renfrewshire	36	89	107	0	9	26
Scottish Borders	16	35	79	4	8	10
Shetland Islands	32	9	4	4	2	0
South Ayrshire	3	21	29	0	0	0
South Lanarkshire	43	48	79	0	4	3
Stirling	19	8	15	1	1	6
West Dunbartonshire	41	55	57	0	7	0
West Lothian	159	206	213	18	22	26
Western Isles	1	53	21	0	0	3
Total	1213	2072	2654	88	151	244

Overall figures for the period 27 Feb 2011-26 Feb 2014

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This table contains the most up-to-date figures provided by local authorities. Please note that some of the figures contained in the table for the years 2011-12 and 2012-13 may vary from those provided in previous parliamentary questions as a result of updated information being provided to the Scottish Government by individual local authorities.