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: S5O-03694

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 October 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to support local authorities to report road kill of protected species, such as badgers, to the relevant conservation bodies.

Question reference: S5T-01828

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 October 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report, State of Nature 2019 Scotland.

Question reference: S5O-03639

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, what immediate environmental governance mechanisms it will put in place.

Question reference: S5O-03553

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5O-03516

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-23844

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 15 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact has been on patients with autism and other learning disabilities at the State Hospital of the lack of supervised leisure that is available due to staff shortages, which was identified by the Mental Welfare Commission in its August 2018 site visit report.

The Scottish Government expects mental health services in Scotland to be delivered to the highest standards. Everyone that accesses mental health services should receive the highest quality of care and must feel safe and supported whilst they use these services.

During this visit, the Mental Welfare Commission found evidence of good care and treatment for patients and noted that they were generally accessing a good range of recreational and therapeutic activities. They did however recommend that managers at the State Hospital provide sufficient staff to ensure continuity in the provision of activities in keeping with patients’ assessed needs. The Commission also requested weekly updates from managers for a period of time and were kept fully informed of the impact of these changes for patients.

Question reference: S5W-23846

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 15 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in each NHS board area with (a) mental health problems, (b) autism and (c) other learning disabilities are experiencing delayed discharge from hospital due to there being no suitable package of care available in a non-hospital setting.

Question reference: S5W-23845

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 11 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what further measures it is considering to fulfil the needs of people with autism and learning difficulties who are detained in hospitals.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the lives of autistic people and/or those with a learning disability to ensure they live healthier lives, enjoy choice and control over the services they use, and are supported to be independent and active citizens.

We are making significant investment in the range of mental health supports available, which will see issues tackled earlier and where possible in the community, whilst ensuring speedier access to specialist care for those who need it. Over the life of this Parliament investment will exceed £5 billion and this underpins the improvement agenda set out in our mental health and suicide prevention strategies.

The Mental Health strategy 2017-2027 recognises as a theme the importance of human rights and as part of this we are currently reviewing mental health and incapacity legislation use in Scotland. One such review is the independent review of Learning Disability and Autism within the Mental Health Act which is looking at whether the law needs to change for autistic people or people with learning disability who require compulsory care and treatment

This work is stakeholder driven and evidence led, for example there will be 3 public engagement phases. Stage 1 and 2 have already been completed and they focused on understanding current experience of the legislation before considering what changes may be needed to promote people's human rights. The 3rd stage is due to commence in August with the final report being presented to Ministers in December 2019.

Question reference: S5W-23847

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 11 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Care Quality Commission’s reported concerns regarding the prolonged segregation of people in England with mental health problems, particularly autism, whether it will carry out a review of long-term detention of patients with such conditions at the State Hospital.

Diagnosis of a behavioural disorder itself is certainly not cause for detention and there are significant safeguards where compulsory treatment is necessary, including the right of appeal. Admission to the State hospital is based on diagnosis of mental disorder requiring treatment under conditions of special security which cannot be suitably cared for in a hospital other than the State Hospital. The principal aim of the State Hospital is to rehabilitate patients, ensuring safe transfer to appropriate lower levels of security. The staff-to-patient ratio within the State Hospital reflects the increased levels of need and risk within the patient population, and allows for high-quality care to be provided to those presenting with the most complex and challenging care needs

The current arrangements for the care and treatment of all patients at the State Hospital is set out clearly in legislation, regular statutory and non-statutory reviews are undertaken with rights of appeal available and specific safeguards are in place to ensure that the setting is appropriate for patient needs. Through our Mental Health Strategy we are reviewing existing mental health care and treatment legislation to determine if new measures are necessary to fulfil the distinct needs of people with learning disabilities or autism. This independent review is looking at the law - not individual cases, and will deliver its report in December.

Question reference: S5W-23579

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 17 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many times planning authorities have made orders each year under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 to prohibit the resumption of planning permission if no development has taken place for two years, including in the case of peat extraction sites.