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-17212

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 21 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how the implementation of the Public Contracts (Scotland) 2015 regulations is being used to support the delivery of fair work, collective bargaining and effective voice across the engineering construction sector.

Legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament, the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, provides for Scottish Ministers to publish Statutory Guidance on Addressing Fair Work Practices, including the Living Wage, in Procurement. This Guidance published in October 2015, after consultation with Trade Unions, advises public bodies how to address Fair Work practices within their procurement exercises. It states we expect contractors who deliver public contracts to adhere to relevant collective agreements, and that fair work practices include trade union recognition or alternative arrangements to give staff an effective voice. To support the practical application of the Statutory Guidance, we have worked with the Fair Work Convention and are developing best practice guidance which is due to be published in Summer 2018.

Question reference: S5W-17216

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 21 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce transitional protections for procurement contracts that began before the full implementation of the Public Contracts (Scotland) 2015 regulations.

Question reference: S5O-02289

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 June 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve out-of-hours provision at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Question reference: S5W-17095

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 20 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many posts in its social security (a) directorate and (b) agency it has (i) advertised and (ii) re-advertised.

As of 8 June 2018 the number of posts advertised in its Social Security (a) directorate was 632 which includes (b) 241 posts in the Social Security Agency Implementation Division, this data is from July 2016 when the Social Security Directorate was established. The Social Security Agency will not go live until later this year.

Data on the number of posts re-advertised is not held within the Scottish Government recruitment system. The system does not have the functionality to report on re-advertised posts. Scottish Government resourcing colleagues are currently looking at new resourcing system and will be speaking to Social Security Directorate and Agency colleagues about the specification required.

Question reference: S5W-17093

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what Social Security Scotland’s policy is for handling the Special Customer Records of (a) victims of domestic violence, (b) people who are transsexual or transgender and (c) other high-risk individuals, and whether this differs from the DWP's policy.

Question reference: S5W-17091

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the DWP and HMRC regarding the transfer of Special Customer Records, including for (a) victims of domestic violence, (b) people who are transsexual or transgender and (c) other high-risk individuals, for the purposes of devolved taxes and social security, and how many of these records exist.

As part of the work to establish arrangements for wave 1 benefits, and specifically the delivery of Carers Allowance Supplement, officials from Social Security Directorate have engaged in discussion with DWP about their approach to handling Special Customer Records.

Data sharing for social security purposes is permitted by the Scotland Act 2016. DWP have advised that currently 0.04% of Scottish recipients of Carer’s Allowance have a Special Customer Records status.

Similar discussions will be necessary in relation to each of the devolved benefits.

Scottish Government has no right of access to any HMRC taxpayer records. We have had no discussions regarding the transfer of Special Customer Records in this regard, and have no current plans to do so.

Question reference: S5W-17092

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on Special Customer Records and whether this applies to all of its directorates and agencies and also (a) victims of domestic violence, (b) people who are transsexual or transgender and (c) other high-risk individuals.

Question reference: S5W-17094

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 14 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on whether the DWP and HMRC are satisfied that Social Security Scotland has sufficient procedures in place to handle the Special Customer Records of people in Scotland, with particular regard to (a) victims of domestic violence, (b) people who are transsexual or transgender and (c) other high-risk individuals.

Question reference: S5O-02210

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that educational campuses have appropriate and adequate levels of accessibility for disabled students.

Question reference: S5O-02183

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 6 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what impact it expects the diversion of funds from tourism projects, such as Love Loch Lomond, to digital and data projects will have on the visitor economy.

The Scottish Enterprise Destination Development funding for Love Loch Lomond comes to an end in October 2018. This is the end of an agreed funding award rather than a diversion of funds into other activity.

Customer expectations and demands, and ultimately the success and growth of Scotland’s visitor economy, require the tourism sector to develop stronger digital skills to support decision making and business growth. This is key to maintaining Scotland’s tourism competitive position and is an area the Scottish Government and its agencies will focus their resources on.