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-05007

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 5 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will allow Housing Infrastructure Fund loans to be used from 2017-18 to support the provision of community infrastructure, such as schools, that is required as a result of new housing development.

Question reference: S5W-04997

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 5 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding devolving the power to re-classify cannabis.

Question reference: S5W-04926

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any recent assessment being undertaken of the extent of the sale of counterfeit electrical goods in Scotland and the (a) cost to the Scottish economy of such sales, (b) amounts of such goods being imported and (c) the extent of the sale of such goods.

Scotland's Serious Organised Crime Strategy 2016 Annual Report noted that an estimated £6.8 million of counterfeit goods and products had been forfeited through the activity of the Scottish Anti-illicit Trade Group (SAITG) following the launch of Scotland's refreshed Serious organised crime strategy in June 2015.

As part of its ongoing work, the SAITG are working with Police Scotland to develop a mechanism to highlight which illicit products represent a threat to Scotland and develop the most appropriate consumer advice.

Regulations concerning counterfeit goods are reserved to the UK Government and the UK-wide Intellectual Property Office works with law enforcement and industry partners across Scotland to help reduce the availability and impact of all counterfeit goods, including electrical goods. The IP Crime Report for 2015-16 which was published in September 2016 highlights current and emerging threats surrounding counterfeiting and piracy, including those conducted via the internet. A copy of the report can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-ip-crime-report-2015-to-2016.”

Question reference: S5W-04928

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government on provisions in the UK Digital Economy Bill to protect consumers in Scotland from counterfeit electrical goods being sold online.

The Scottish Government has had a number of discussions with the UK Government on aspects of the Digital Economy Bill but we have not had any specific discussions over the online sale of counterfeit electrical goods.

Regulations over counterfeit goods are reserved to the UK Government and it would be incumbent on them to take every appropriate opportunity available to enhance the protection of consumers across the UK from the sale of counterfeit goods online.

Question reference: S5W-04927

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to warn consumers about the dangers of buying counterfeit electrical goods in the run-up to the festive season.

As a member of the Consumer Protection Partnership, the Scottish Government supports National Consumer Week which ran from 28 November to 2 December. The theme of this year's campaign is 'Switched On' and aims to alert the public to potential problems with electrical goods, including counterfeit goods.

Police Scotland has also run a Festive Safety campaign on the dangers of counterfeit goods. These campaigns offer sound, practical advice to the general public. It is essential that the public understands the potential for disaster with over half of all accidental house fires, caused by electricity and of those, nine out of ten are caused by electrical products.

Question reference: S5W-04929

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 30 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any discussions with the UK Government on the fire risk from faulty white goods and, if so, what the outcome was.

Regulations concerning the safety of products are reserved and, while there is no discussion between Scottish Government and UK Government on this, we welcome the UK Government’s recent action in establishing a working group to improve the safety of white goods.

In Scotland there is an information sharing protocol between the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and its network of partnership agencies which allows the sharing of information about fire-related product safety issues.

Question reference: S5W-04930

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 30 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the average cost to the Scottish economy of a domestic house fire in the latest period for which figures are available.

This information for Scotland is not held centrally. A methodology for estimating costs for England was developed in 2008 by the UK Department for Communities and Local Government, using data available at that time, and published in its Fire Research Report 3/2011. The report is available online here; http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121108165934/http:/www.communities.gov.uk/documents/corporate/pdf/1838338.pdf

Question reference: S5O-00397

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how long it would take to make a decision on the future of Lightburn Hospital if this was to come to ministers.

Question reference: S5W-03937

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 18 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03015 by John Swinney on 29 September 2016, what changes to the eligibility criteria it has introduced since 2007 to increase the availability of free school meals for children in P4 and above.

The criteria to qualify for free school meals is provided for in section 53(3) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980. A number of changes have been made to the criteria since 2007 to help increase the availability of free school meals for children in primary 4 and above, particularly children and young people living in low income households.

The Education (School Lunches) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 extended the eligibility criteria for a free school lunch to pupils in receipt of, and to pupils with parents in receipt of child tax credit and working tax credit (based on income not exceeding an amount specified by Regulations under the Tax Credits Act 2002 – the Tax Credits (Income Thresholds and Determination of Rates) Regulations 2002).

The Education (School Lunches) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2013 prescribed the receipt of universal credit to include pupils in receipt of, and to pupils with parents in receipt of universal credit, as an eligibility criterion for free school meals. This was an interim measure intended to protect access to free school meals during the early stages of its roll out. The Scottish Government is currently working with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) to consider the eligibility criteria for free school meals under universal credit in the future.

In 2015, amendments to section 53 of the Education Act (Scotland) 1980 made via the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 gave education authorities new powers to provide school meals free of charge to pupils who satisfy such conditions as the authority thinks fit. Information about the use of this power is not held centrally.

The answer to question S5W-03014 on 29 September 2016, sets out the changes (both increases and decreases) since 2007 to income threshold for free school meal eligibility linked to the receipt of child tax credit by a parent or pupil (and not working tax credit). All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Question reference: S5W-04675

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 17 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the number of people rough sleeping in Glasgow, and what information it has regarding the number of rough sleepers there have been in the city in each of the last five years.

Scotland’s strong housing rights for homeless households mean that nobody should have to sleep rough. Glasgow City Council have the duty to provide housing and homelessness services in their area.

Homelessness statistics indicate that the number of homeless applicants to Glasgow City Council in 2015-16 reporting that they had slept rough before applying has decreased year on year over the past five years. We know, however, that only rough sleepers who approach local authorities are recorded. This is why the Scottish Government has been working with stakeholders such as the Glasgow Homelessness Network to get more robust data on the figures of those rough sleeping in Glasgow and to assess the needs of those involved.

The Scottish Government recognises that some rough sleeping will result from more complex needs and cannot always be addressed by simply providing accommodation. We are working with our partners in health and social services to ensure we have better information on rough sleepers and their needs to help address this issue.

Information on the number of HL1 (homelessness) applicants sleeping rough in Glasgow City

Financial year of application

	2011-2012	2012-2013	2013-2014	2014-2015	2015-2016

The number of applicants who slept rough the night before their application	535	475	452	466	370

The number of applicants who slept rough during the three months preceding their application	640	613	545	518	427