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-03222

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 19 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) operations in East Kilbride since the announcement of the proposed relocation of HMRC operations to regional centres.

When HMRC announced the next stage of their Building our Future transformation programme on 12 November 2015, the First Minister spoke personally to the second Permanent Secretary at HMRC to relay her grave concerns over job losses. Keith Brown, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work, wrote to David Gauke MP, Financial Secretary to HM Treasury, on 5 July 2016, to relay the Scottish Government’s concerns over the HMRC office closures.

We are fully committed to working with all interested parties at local, national and UK level, including the trades unions, to mitigate the impact of HMRC office closures and job losses in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-03043

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government following the announcement of a facility for immigration removal to be located at Glasgow International Airport, and what information it has on when this will become operational.

The Scottish Government has not had any discussions yet with the UK Government and was not given any advance warning of the announcement of plans to build a short term holding facility near Glasgow Airport. I wrote to the Home Secretary on 9 September 2016 to seek urgent clarification of the implications of this announcement and am due to meet the Immigration Minister on 11 October to discuss this matter further.

The Home Office has announced that it expects the new facility to open in Autumn 2017, subject to planning consent.

Question reference: S5W-03044

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the future use of Dungavel House.

Question reference: S5W-03042

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government following the announcement that Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre will be closed, and what information it has on a closure date.

Question reference: S5W-03291

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 September 2016
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Shona Robison on 30 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the proposals by the Scottish Ambulance Service to make changes to the classification of certain calls, which were paused by the Chief Medical Officer in February 2016, pending further discussions.

Since February, the Chief Medical Officer has been engaging with the Scottish Ambulance Service regarding its approach to change. Following an extensive clinically evidenced review of patient data, the Service has proposed changes to its overall response model, ensuring that all patients receive the right response first time. The Chief Medical Officer has discussed these changes with the Service and is content that there is sound clinical evidence to support these proposals. The Chief Medical Officer has recently written to the Service asking them to develop a one year pilot ahead of winter, in line with similar tests of change being carried out in Wales and some parts of England. This pilot will look at improvements to clinical outcomes for patients whilst ensuring that patient safety remains the main priority.

Question reference: S5O-00208

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it will next meet ScotRail.

Question reference: S5W-03050

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 29 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the findings of the Enterprise and Skills Ministerial Review Group.

The Enterprise and Skills Ministerial Review Group, which met for the fourth time on 20 September, agreed to meet again in early October to further explore outputs of the Review and phase one recommendations will be published shortly thereafter.

As announced in response to S5O-00145 on 15 September 2016 the Review will be taken forward through a phased approach. Phase one will set out key recommendations for change across a number of areas as well as outlining a timeframe for phase two which will take forward consideration of these recommendations with partners.

Following the Ministerial Review Group meeting on 20 September we have published the input evidence which has informed the work of the Ministerial Review Group. This includes papers exploring enterprise and skills from an international perspective, a report looking at business and learner user journeys, and a summary of the responses to the Call for Evidence. The responses themselves, where respondents have given permission, have also been published. This information is available at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Economy/EntandSkillsreview

The answer to the oral parliamentary question is available on the parliaments website, the official report can be viewed at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=10520

Question reference: S5W-02415

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Scotland have sought protection each year under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, as amended by the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2011 by way of a (a) civil and (b) criminal court, and what proportion of cases have led to the court to (i) award damages, (ii) grant an interdict or interim interdict and (iii) issue a non-harassment order.

The Scottish Government does not have all of the information requested by the member as the data held on damages and interdicts does not specifically identify cases relating to protection from harassment. However, the information that is available is shown in the following table.

In relation to civil cases, the following table shows cases initiated and disposed for non-harassment orders under sections 8 and 8A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

Financial Year	Initiated	Disposed	Granted
2014-15	6	9	3
2013-14	20	8	6
2012-13	12	4	2
2011-12	13	4	2
2010-11	3	1	0
2009-10	4	3	3
2008-09	4	8	3

The 1997 Act was amended by the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2011 which came into effect in July 2011. It is possible that this has led to the rise in the number of non-harassment orders initiated since 2011-12.

These statistics relate to the “principal crave” only. An individual case can involve a number of different case types. The case type which is listed first on the writ/summons is normally known as the “principal crave”. More information about this, and other explanations about the data, can be found in sections 11-14 of the latest publication on Civil Justice Statistics in Scotland, which can be accessed at:

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/03/6429

The number of cases disposed of may be an underestimate. In addition, around a fifth of ordinary cause cases are sisted (suspended).

Cases may be initiated and disposed in different years, so the statistics for initiated and disposed for a particular year do not necessarily represent the same cases.

Data prior to 2008-09 is not available.

The data in the table above relates to number of cases and may not necessarily equal the number of people seeking an order.

Section 234A of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 provides that where a person is convicted of a criminal offence involving harassment of the victim, the prosecutor may apply to the court to make a non-harassment order against the offender, requiring the offender to refrain from such conduct in relation to the victim as may be specified in the order. The court may, if it is satisfied on a balance of probabilities that it is appropriate to do so in order to protect the victim from harassment, make a non-harassment order.

Financial Year	Number of Non-Harassment Orders Issued in Scotland during criminal proceedings
2008-09	33
2009-10	47
2010-11	49
2011-12	101
2012-13	183
2013-14	386
2014-15	640
2015-16	938
2016-17^YTD	412

YTD = April-August 2016.

The Scottish Court Service uses a live operational case management system for the processing of court business. The information held on the system is structured for these operational needs, rather than for statistical reporting or research purposes. The information provided is based on the best information available from the case management system as at 15 September 2016.

Question reference: S5O-00121

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the importance of deer control in urban settings.

Question reference: S5O-00113

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it contributes to international development.