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: S5T-01392

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 December 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the ruling by the European Court of Justice that the UK can unilaterally revoke Article 50.

Question reference: S5O-02691

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses in the Stirling constituency have been lifted out of paying non-domestic rates under the Small Business Bonus Scheme.

Question reference: S5O-02649

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the number of modern apprenticeship places in the Stirling area.

Question reference: S5W-19733

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 13 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on establishing a loneliness task force with a cross-sector membership, and whether it considers this should be led by a cabinet secretary.

We recognise the need for a cross-government approach to tackling social isolation and loneliness, and this is reflected in our draft strategy published in January. We continue to work with key partners across sectors, and recognise the vital role each plays in helping develop our work to tackle these issues.

We are considering the governance arrangements of strategy implementation carefully and will set out our approach in the final version.

Question reference: S5W-19734

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 13 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reviewing, and amending where necessary, existing legislation to ensure that the impact of loneliness and isolation is taken into account, and whether it will ensure that these matters are considered when future legislative proposals are made.

Question reference: S5W-19736

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 13 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors trends in loneliness, and whether it will publish the most recent figures.

Question reference: S5W-19735

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 13 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that (a) the planning system is and (b) its (i) housing, (ii) health and (iii) community policies are ready to respond to the challenge of loneliness.

Planning, housing, health and community empowerment are key components of a cross-governmental approach to tackling social isolation and loneliness. They were reflected in the draft strategy published in January, and will be further reflected in the final strategy. In developing the strategy, key stakeholders from these sectors have been engaged in the consultation and subsequent development of the strategy.

Question reference: S5W-19737

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 13 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what support it offers communities to help prevent loneliness and alleviate the health problems that experiencing this can bring.

From the outset of our work in this area, we have placed the role of communities at the centre of our efforts and our strategy for tackling social isolation and loneliness. We know that it is communities themselves that are best placed to identify, design and deliver the support that will work best for them.

The Scottish Government is investing significant resources into communities through a range of existing funding streams that support work to build social connections, including the Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund and the Community Choices Fund, and we are looking at how we best align these with the ambitions of the final strategy. In encouraging everyone – individuals, organisations, business and services – to play their part in creating the kind, caring society we aim for, we hope to preventatively address social isolation and loneliness and the associated health problems they can contribute to.

Question reference: S5W-19738

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 13 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on facilitating a meeting of business leaders to consider ideas regarding the role that they could play in tackling loneliness from both a customer and employer perspective.

We recognise the important role that business has to play in this area and we welcome the commitments made by companies to support those who may be isolated or lonely and to help people socially connect. We know from responses to our public consultation that business, and private sector more widely, are seen as a key factor in tackling social isolation and loneliness – whether it is through awareness raising, offering employee support programmes, or supporting communities as part of their corporate social responsibility plans. We are reflecting on the best way to engage with business as we finalise the strategy.

Question reference: S5T-01279

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 October 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the UK Budget.