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: S3W-29024

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the news that the Greenbelt Group faces being struck off by Companies House for failure to produce its latest set of accounts, what action the Scottish Government will take to protect homeowners from any aggressive debt recovery by the company.

Question reference: S3W-28233

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 October 2009
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 10 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent representations have been made to the UK Government on behalf of shipyards on the Clyde in respect of awarding the contract for construction of one or more of the Royal Navy Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability vessels.

The Scottish Government is in regular contact with the UK Government on behalf of Scottish shipbuilding and other manufacturing sectors. Most recently, the Minister for Defence Equipment and Support wrote to relevant Scottish ministers on 16 October 2009 with an update on the Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) Programme.

In March 2009, defence ministers decided to cancel the earlier contracting process for MARS vehicles. The procurement strategy was reviewed and a new, more open, procurement strategy has been put in place which will take into account commercial and market conditions. This new process intends to secure best value of money for the Ministry of Defence. Expressions of interest are being sought through advertisements in the Open Journal of the European Union and the Defence Contracts Bulletin, with a closing date of 27 November 2009.

In accordance with EU commercial policy, and as an open procurement programme, it would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to be seen to influence this process. However, Scottish shipyards have had significant success in recent years in winning major procurement contracts and the Scottish Government will continue to work with industry and agencies to give Scotland the best advantage. On 28 October 2009, the Scottish Aerospace, Defence and Marine (ADM) Industry Strategy 2009 was launched by the First Minister, on behalf of Scottish Enterprise and in conjunction with the ADM sector and the Scottish Government, to further this aim.

Question reference: S3W-28238

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 October 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions have taken place with owners of Scottish shipyards and representatives of the Scottish Trades Union Congress anent the placing of contracts for the construction of Scottish Government owned or publicly subsidised maritime vessels.

Question reference: S3W-28239

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 October 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions have taken place with Scottish nautical colleges and other training establishments anent employment opportunities on board Scottish Government or publicly subsidised maritime vessels.

CalMac Ferries Limited and NorthLink Ferries Limited, both subsidiaries of David MacBrayne Limited, operate subsidised ferry services in Scotland on the basis of contracts awarded by the Scottish Government. The employment and training of staff is a matter for the operators, which advertise recruitment in around 15 educational establishments mainly within the communities served by the ferry services.

This creates training opportunities for local colleges and providers in delivering the courses required before employees take up ship-board duties and in ongoing training and development. The companies themselves also run training schemes which involve the use of colleges and other training establishments. Discussions with these institutions are ongoing.

Marine Scotland also facilitates cadet training on its vessels in conjunction with training providers. When requested Marine Scotland provides berths on its vessels to allow cadets to gain sea time and experience. This includes cadets who may have attended Glasgow College of Nautical Studies.

Question reference: S3W-26276

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 1 September 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what resources have been made available for services to support victims of human trafficking.

The Scottish Government has awarded grants of almost £75,900 in 2007‘08 and £70,950 in 2008‘09 to the Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (TARA), to provide support to women trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation.

In 2008‘09, the Scottish Government set aside £20,000 to recompense local authorities for any costs incurred by them in supporting adult victims of trafficking, apart from support for women trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation, who were covered by the grant awarded to TARA.

For 2009‘10, the Scottish Government has entered into an agreement with Migrant Helpline, which will provide support to adult victims of human trafficking, other than women trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation; funding is called down on a case-by-case basis.

Information on resources provided by other organisations, such as the support of child victims of trafficking by local authorities, is not held centrally.

Question reference: S3W-26277

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 1 September 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what resources have been made available for services to support women who have suffered sexual exploitation as a result of human trafficking

Question reference: S3W-26275

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 31 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) arrests and (b) convictions for trafficking for sexual exploitation under section 22 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 there have been since 2003, broken down by police force area.

The number of arrests made by the police are generally not collected centrally. Data on arrests made during the specific police-led operations aimed at disrupting trafficking for sexual exploitation, namely Pentameter 1 and Pentameter 2, are given in the table below. Pentameter 1 ran between mid February and mid June 2006. Pentameter 2 was launched in October 2007 and ran until approximately mid March 2008. The majority of arrests made during both operations have been prosecuted as immigration or prostitution offences.

There have been no convictions in Scottish courts for sexual exploitation under the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 section 22, although data supplied by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service identified one case where a person was proceeded against in relation to sex trafficking offences under Section 22 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003. Proceedings were subsequently discontinued following a review of the available evidence.

Number of Arrests Made in Operations Pentameter 1 and Pentameter 2

Police Force	Pentameter 1¹	Pentameter 2²
Central Scotland	0	5
Dumfries and Galloway	6	2
Fife	N/K	0
Grampian	0	1
Lothian and Borders	N/K	3
Northern	0	2
Strathclyde	3	7
Tayside	3	15
Totals	12	35

Sources:

1. Serious Organised Crime Agency.

2. Pentameter 2 ACPO Gold Command.

Note: N/K - Not Known, data not available.

Question reference: S3W-26278

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 31 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what resources will be made available over the next two years to support victims of human trafficking.

Question reference: S3W-25638

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 29 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it offers nurses diagnosed with arthritis as a result of duties undertaken while working for NHSScotland.

The management of health issues at work, which will include nurses diagnosed with arthritis, is a matter of delegated authority for NHS boards.

The Scottish Government, through the Partnership Information Network (PIN) policies, provides the minimum standard NHS Scotland boards must adhere to when providing support for staff with health issues.

The Managing Health at Work PIN policy requires boards to make every reasonable effort to provide workplace adjustments for a member of staff who is fit for work but who cannot perform their full range of duties.

If a member of staff is unable to work in a particular role due to ill-health or other physical factors, the employing board would be expected to make every reasonable effort to redeploy the member of staff to a post they are able to do.

All NHS Scotland boards have occupational health and safety services to provide support for staff with work-related health conditions, including therapy, advice and involvement in any workplace adjustment or redeployment process.

Question reference: S3W-25641

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 29 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions or representations it has had with the Royal College of Nursing regarding nurses with arthritis.