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: S6W-26850

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 2 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any concerns regarding the management of the closure of Glasgow East Women’s Aid services, in light of reports of planned legal action by Unite on behalf of staff of the charity.

Question reference: S6W-26852

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 2 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether it supports a full review and inquiry into the closure of Glasgow East Women's Aid, in light of recent reports of alleged financial irregularities at the service made by Unite members.

The Scottish Government is aware of the current situation at GEWA. We are working with our fund managers, Inspiring Scotland, and other funders of GEWA to ensure support is available to survivors. Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership, a key funder, is working on refuge contingency plans for those affected.

It would not be appropriate to comment on any speculation surrounding the finances of the organisation or on matters relating to potential legal or employment disputes.

Question reference: S6O-03417

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to issue guidance to schools encouraging them to prohibit the use of mobile phones by pupils.

Question reference: S6W-26650

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 30 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether the recent 8.7% increase in ScotRail fares is above the rate of inflation.

Question reference: S6W-26652

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 29 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how train fares are set by ScotRail since it was brought into public ownership.

As we have done for over a decade, the Scottish Government continues to keep fares comparatively lower on average than across the rest of Great Britain.

Train fares for ScotRail under public ownership have been set having regard to affordability for passengers and inflation which affects the cost of delivery of rail services. The Scottish Government has introduced the trial removal of peak fares in this period to help keep fares affordable in this period of cost of living challenge and to encourage more people to commute by train.

Question reference: S6F-03033

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 April 2024

To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on what discussions the Scottish Government has had with the Lord Advocate regarding the exoneration of Scottish sub-postmasters and mistresses whose convictions were based on evidence from the Post Office’s Horizon computer system.

Question reference: S6F-02959

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 March 2024

To ask the First Minister what resources the Scottish Government will be providing to Police Scotland for the investigation of complaints made under the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021.

Question reference: S6W-25873

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 12 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the current anticipated timescale is for the completion of HMP Glasgow.

HMP Glasgow will deliver safe and secure accommodation, with maximum possible benefit and opportunity to those who live and work there, as well as the surrounding communities. The new prison will provide a better quality of living environment and enable strong relationships with staff and those in the care of the Scottish Prison Service.

The final design will be concluded in summer 2024, prior to the planned award of the construction contract that is scheduled for autumn 2024. Until the construction contract is signed, time-scales cannot be confirmed.

Question reference: S6W-25538

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 12 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents have occurred, in each of the last five years, in which (a) prisoners and (b) prison staff have received medical attention as a result of coming into contact with illicit drugs in Scotland's prisons.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The health and wellbeing of those who live and work in our prisons is a key priority for the Scottish Prison Service and we continue to work with numerous organisations to offer those in their care a suite of support to address both their addiction and recovery journey.

1. Current reporting incident categories do not align with the above question and make it impossible to answer. SPS do however record instances of those in our care who are believed to be under the influence of substances.

SPS are reviewing reporting processes that should allow this information to be captured in a more robust and accurate manner.

2. Staff are advised in line with Staff Notice 053/17 to follow procedures if they believe they have been exposed to an unknown substance, this includes recording of the incident by way of an Accident at Work.

With regards to the recording of medical attention, NHS are responsible for the release of this information due to patient confidentiality; and in the case of SPS staff members, SPS will record accidents at work, however, it is at the individual’s discretion if they chose to report such incidents, despite advice and guidance detailed in staff notice 053/17.

Question reference: S6O-03181

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to stop image-based abuse of girls.

A wide range of criminal laws relate to image-based sexual abuse, including legislation concerning indecent images of children and the offence of coercing a person to view a sexual image. It is also a criminal offence to share intimate images without consent.

In schools, pupils also learn how to conduct online relationships safely and to understand the risks and consequences of sharing intimate images. Our Gender Based Violence in School Guidance published this week, makes clear that this includes the non-consensual sharing of sexual images and the threat of it.

In addition we fund Education Scotland to coordinate the Mentors in Violence Prevention programme, focussed on challenging attitudes underpinning gender-based violence, and support schools to access Rape Crisis Scotland’s National Sexual Violence Prevention programme.