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 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.

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Question reference: S5W-21883

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 14 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the UCAS undergraduate admissions system for postgraduate teaching programmes in Scotland.

Applications for postgraduate teacher training courses in Scotland are currently processed through UCAS’ undergraduate admissions service at the request of Scottish universities.

Higher Education Institutions are autonomous bodies and, as such, liaise directly with UCAS regarding admission systems and processes. The Scottish Government has not made an assessment of this system; however we understand that Scottish institutions are currently in on-going dialogue with UCAS regarding the programme of technological developments they are undertaking across all of their systems.

Question reference: S5W-21934

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what role the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) has in ensuring that an individual’s right to privacy about their mental health is protected, where appropriate, in the criminal justice system.

The European Convention on Human Rights is incorporated in the law of Scotland, as in the other legal systems of the UK, by the Human Rights Act 1998. Under the terms of this legislation it is unlawful for a public authority to act in a way which is incompatible with a Convention right. "Public authorities" include a court or tribunal, and any person certain of whose functions are functions of a public nature.

Moreover the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Ministers may not act incompatibly with the Convention, under the terms of the Scotland Act 1998.

Should an individual feel that his or her rights provided by the Convention are not being protected, ultimately his or her recourse is through the courts.

Question reference: S5W-21884

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with universities regarding encouraging applications for PGDE programmes from mature students, particularly from those considering teaching STEM subjects.

The Scottish Government has regular discussions with Universities on a range of topics.

We are supporting a range of alternative routes into teaching which are aimed at attracting a broader range of people into the profession, with a particular focus on STEM subjects.

We are also providing bursaries of £20,000 for career changers wishing to undertake a Post Graduate Diploma in Education in the STEM subjects where there is greatest demand for teachers. Applications are open to all eligible individuals irrespective of age.

Question reference: S5W-21828

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 7 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to mitigate any conflict of interest in the tendering process for the Northern Isles Ferry Service.

We endeavour to make every effort to observe good practice in all procurement work undertaken by Transport Scotland. With this in mind, strict protocols are in place to mitigate any potential conflict of interest during this tendering processes. This includes clear protocols which create an “ethical wall” between Transport Scotland’s procurement team and other staff involved with ferries policy. As with other procurements, all procurement related information is treated as commercially sensitive and is not shared beyond those directly involved with the procurement.

As is standard in procurements of this nature, in order to participate in the process, bidders too will need to declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Question reference: S5W-21829

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 7 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of scheduled departures were (a) delayed and (b) cancelled in each of the last three years on (i) Western Isles and (ii) Northern Isles ferry service routes.

Information on recent and historic passenger carryings for CalMac Ferries Ltd. and Serco NorthLink Ferries is published in the Scottish Government’s Scottish Transport Statistics publication. Table 9.17 on page 169 contains the requested information.

This information can be found following the following link:

https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/44025/scottish-transport-statistics-no-37-2018-edition.pdf

In addition, CalMac Ferries Ltd and Serco NorthLink Ferries publish passenger carryings on their respective websites and is available by following the links:

https://www.calmac.co.uk/corporate/carrying-statistics

https://www.northlinkferries.co.uk/information/publications/statistics/

Question reference: S5W-21663

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 7 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has carried out on the cost implications for local authorities of amendment 45 of the Planning (Scotland) Bill.

Amendment 45, now section 11B of the Planning (Scotland) Bill as amended, would require an application for planning permission to be made in all cases where a house or flat changes use from being a sole or main residence to being used for short-term holiday lets, except where it is also the landlord’s sole or main residence. Drawing on the number of new “self-catering units” entered each year on the Scottish Assessor’s Valuation Roll for non-domestic rates, and estimates of the number of new “entire home” lettings on AirBnB and similar websites, we consider that, at least in the short term, between 1,521 and 11,500 properties might require planning applications each year.

The fee for a planning application for change of use is currently £401, which would give a total cost to landlords of between £610,000 and £4.6 million per year. Figures published by the Royal Town Planning Institute in 2015 ( Progressing performance: Investing in Scotland’s Planning Service (Thomas Fleming)http://www.rtpi.org.uk/media/1496196/performance_and_resources_-_final_-_october_2015.pdf indicate that planning fees cover only 63% of the cost of processing applications, on average. It may therefore be assumed that, at least in the short term, the cost to planning authorities of these additional applications will be between £358,000 and £2.71m per year.

Question reference: S5W-21506

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 6 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to increase the number of dermatologists working in the NHS, and what it is doing to encourage doctors to specialise in dermatology.

Under this government, the number of Consultants in NHS Scotland have increased by 51.3% to record high levels, with a 35% increase in dermatology consultants over the same period (Sep-06 to Sep-18) .

To promote long term sustainability within this specialty, Scottish Government Officials are working with stakeholders on the future development of clinical training pathways, including proactively considering specialty training numbers.

Question reference: S5W-21378

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 01 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S5W-17072 by Humza Yousaf on 13 June 2018 and S5W-18848 and S5W-20848 by Michael Matheson on 27 September 2018 and 17 January 2019, which each said that an announcement regarding the future of Air Discount Scheme would be made "in due course", in light of the current scheme ceasing on 1 April 2019, whether it will confirm by what date the announcement will be made.

Question reference: S5W-21697

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 15 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 28 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the total (a) eligible hectarage claimed for and (b) amount allocated was in Shetland in each year under the (i) Environmentally Sensitive Areas schemes (ESAs) and (ii) Rural Stewardship Scheme (RSS).

Details are as follows:

	Scheme	Ha Claimed	£ paid
Calendar Year
2001	ESA	103,696.87	£682,161.63
	RSS	0.00	£0.00
2002	ESA	116,595.13	£1,939,791.93
	RSS	0.00	£0.00
2003	ESA	120,000.86	£2,142,149.92
	RSS	48.18	£9,952.43
2004	ESA	119,653.03	£2,152,688.94
	RSS	1,112.53	£19,604.33
2005	ESA	113,991.73	£2,076,703.77
	RSS	3,337.99	£76,090.38
2006	ESA	105,093.24	£1,888,018.42
	RSS	6,675.58	£248,130.69
2007	ESA	93,382.51	£1,626,190.89
	RSS	10,925.68	£416,502.53
2008	ESA	78,002.32	£1,290,176.64
	RSS	10,834.51	£398,167.56
2009	ESA	37,224.26	£858,295.74
	RSS	9,747.74	£393,621.04
2010	ESA	19,937.96	£247,088.22
	RSS	7,401.47	£357,028.75
2011	ESA	8,613.19	£192,606.60
	RSS	4,069.57	£143,184.36

1. The information prior to 2001 is no longer available.

2. The ESA budget was allocated as a total figure for the 10 ESAs. The monetary amounts are what was paid to Shetland in each calendar year.

Question reference: S5O-02940

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 February 2019
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are restrictions on local authorities using bond finance to support investment proposals in their areas.