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-05813

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether there is a budget allocation to assist rough sleepers.

There is no specific budget allocated to assist rough sleepers. Local Authorities have the statutory responsibility for the delivery of housing and homelessness services in their area, including allocating budgets.

The local government finance settlement for 2016-17 amounts to over £10.3 billion. The vast majority of the revenue funding is provided by means of a block grant from the Scottish Government. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Question reference: S5W-05816

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government which organisations it has met to discuss the issue of rough sleeping in Glasgow.

Question reference: S5W-05818

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the number of people who have been sleeping rough in each of the last three years.

The Scottish Government collect information on homeless households from Local Authorities. Local authorities ask homelessness applicants whether they have slept rough in the previous 3 months and if they slept rough the night before approaching the Council and this is recorded and published.

	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
All applications for homelessness	36,824	35,949	34,662
where slept rough: at least once during the last 3 months	2,728	2,558	2,378
% of all applications	7%	7%	7%

where slept rough the night before	1,515	1,436	1,352
% of all applications	4%	4%	4%

Source: HL1 dataset as at 25/05/16

(http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/RefTables/Homelessness201516)

Question reference: S5F-00693

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 December 2016

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on the number of destitute people sleeping on Scotland’s streets this Christmas.

Question reference: S5W-05141

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to ensure that the highest level of consumer protection is available to buyers of new-build homes.

The regulation of consumer protection is reserved to the UK government. However, under the Scotland Act 2016 the Scottish Government has taken on responsibility for consumer advice and advocacy and in terms of Building Standards, local authorities are responsible for their own geographic area and undertake independent checks of building at design stage and construction stage. Following construction of new build homes the independent National House Building Council provide warranties and insurance for new homes and currently provide warranties for over seven million homes.

Question reference: S5W-05140

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what liability local authority providers of building control have in cases where faults are found with new-build homes.

The Building (Scotland) Act 2003 sets out the duties of a local authority in their role as a verifier and as the enforcement authority. It is the responsibility of the ‘relevant person’, generally the owner or developer, to ensure that a building has been constructed in accordance with the building regulations. The Act includes provisions for offences and liabilities and any civil or criminal proceedings will depend on the individual circumstances of the case.

Question reference: S5W-04925

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 7 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether its baby box will contain any electrical safety information to help protect families and children from electrical hazards in the home.

Question reference: S5W-05009

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 7 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it will notify local authorities of whether the Strategic Housing Investment Plans that were submitted to its More Homes Division have been agreed, and whether the notification will detail the level of funding that it will provide for the plans.

Question reference: S5W-04996

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with medical professionals regarding the use of cannabis for medical purposes.

Question reference: S5W-04931

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 6 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether electrical safety is taught in primary schools as part of the curriculum for excellence.

The safe use of electricity is part of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), from the early years onwards. The experiences and outcomes for the Sciences within CfE state that ‘The learner’s knowledge about electricity begins with knowing how to use it safely and this aspect is reinforced throughout their learning’. The broader health and wellbeing experiences and outcomes within CfE include the statement ‘I know and can demonstrate how to keep myself and others safe and how to respond in a range of emergency situations.’ It is up to early learning establishments, schools and local authorities to decide what measures to take and what resources to put in place to take this learning forward. Advice, guidance and further support for teachers in the safe use of electricity in the classroom is available from the Scottish Schools Education Research Centre.