- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 October 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to discuss with the UK Government reducing or abolishing Value Added Tax on sun screens and sun blocks
Answer
The Scottish Government has no current plans to discuss, with UK Government, the reduction or abolition of Value Added Tax on sun screens and sun block.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 25 October 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to allowing public sector pension fund assets to be used to build socially affordable housing.
Answer
Following discussions with the Scottish Government, Scottish local authority pension funds have expressed interest in investing in social and affordable housing and are considering how best to do this. Investment decisions are entirely at the discretion of the trustees of a pension fund, taking into account the risks and returns on offer and the advice provided by their fund managers.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 25 October 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to allowing local authorities to invest common good fund assets in building socially affordable housing.
Answer
Common good assets and funds are not the responsibility of the Scottish Government but the responsibility of local authorities who must manage them in accordance with their existing statutory and non statutory duties.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 25 October 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any Transport Scotland staff have received development viability training.
Answer
Transport Scotland as a whole is comprised of the full range of skills necessary to consider development applications, including economists, transport planners and infrastructure engineers. A number of officials at Transport Scotland in the Development Planning and Development Management teams have received training relating to development viability.
In addition, Transport Scotland works closely with colleagues in the Directorate for the Built Environment, the other key agencies and planning authorities to ensure all relevant issues are taken into account.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by Aileen Campbell on 18 October 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what average time each local authority takes to issue Blue Badge parking permits to eligible applicants.
Answer
This is a matter for Scottish local authorities. The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 September 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 September 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with representatives of the oil and gas industry about future workforce planning.
Answer
The First Minister discussed this issue at a meeting with Oil and Gas UK on Monday 5 September 2011.
Skills is one of the six strategic priorities being addressed by the Oil and Gas Industry Advisory Group, co-chaired by the Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism. The aim is to ensure the availability of a skilled workforce to support the continued development of the industry.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 26 August 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 15 September 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average number of patients allocated to a lung specialist nurse is, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer
This information is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 12 September 2011
-
Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 15 September 2011
To ask the First Minister what recent discussions the Scottish Government has had with the UK Government regarding changes to the tax regime for North Sea oil and gas.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 15 September 2011
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 26 August 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 8 September 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how many lung cancer specialist nurses there are, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer
Published information on headcount and whole-time equivalent clinical nurse specialists, including lung cancer specialists, broken down by NHS board can be found on the workforce statistics website at:
.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 August 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 26 August 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in developing virtual trade centres.
Answer
Our manifesto committed us to assisting new and current exporters by developing Virtual Trade Centres as an online support tool to provide information and advice for Scottish companies looking to expand overseas. The Scottish Government recently announced the launch of Scottish Development International鈥檚 Virtual Trade Centre. The first in a range of services to be delivered through is an online diagnostic tool to encourage and assist companies seeking to access international markets.
This will help businesses make the most of their current skills and expertise in exporting and direct them to the services and advice that they need to expand further. It will allow new exporters to identify and quickly take their first steps towards moving into international markets as well as help existing exporters to grow their activity.