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: S5F-02375

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 May 2018

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to calls at the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association conference for the proposed Education Bill to be shelved.

Question reference: S5W-16577

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 18 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether another round of the Coastal Communities Fund is planned and, if so, when it will open for applications.

Question reference: S5O-02143

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the trend in spending per primary school pupil since 2010.

Question reference: S5W-16354

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 16 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have signed up to the STEM career changer bursary programme.

Question reference: S5O-02107

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what plans and funds it has in place to expand rail services in East Lothian to meet the needs of the 10,000 new homes that are expected to be built in the area.

Question reference: S5O-02056

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 3 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to meet the leader of East Lothian Council and other stakeholders to discuss the development of the site of the former Cockenzie power station.

The planning application for a Transmission Station at Cockenzie has now been passed to the Government’s Planning and Environmental Appeals Division. It is now for the independent reporter to consider what information is required to consider this case fully and the most appropriate method of obtaining that. It would not be appropriate for Ministers or Scottish Government officials to meet the leader of East Lothian Council, or other stakeholders, to discuss the development of the former Cockenzie power station site until that process has taken place.

Question reference: S5W-15927

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 30 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when it will announce individual local authority allocations of drug and alcohol services funding, and whether this will be ring-fenced.

Since 2017-18 ADP funding has been provided to NHS Boards as part of their baseline budget for onward delegation to Integration Authorities (Health and Social Care Partnerships). We expect this funding to continue to be protected.

The Scottish Government’s 2018-19 Budget increased investment in health by more than £400 million. Frontline NHS Boards will receive an increase in baseline budget of £179m (1.9%) and an increase of £175m in investment in reform, taking total additional funding for frontline NHS boards to £354m (3.7%).

The 2018-19 Budget also committed an additional £20 million of investment specifically for alcohol and drug services. This funding will support new and innovative approaches responding to the needs of patients in a more joined up person centred way. Our new Substance Use Strategy will publish in the coming months.

Question reference: S5W-15928

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the current level of provision is for young people's secure residential care, and how many places were vacant and available for new placements in each month since April 2017.

Scotland has 84 secure beds across 5 units. The units are owned and operated by 5 providers - 4 of whom are independent, not for profit, charitable organisations. The other is run by The City of Edinburgh Council.

Secure unit occupancy is closely monitored on a daily basis using the Secure Accommodation Network (SAN) Scotland website http://www.sanscotland.org/ .

The following table uses information provided by secure units to the Scottish Government. It shows the average number of available beds in each month for the period April 2017 – March 2018. Neither this data nor information on the SAN website is official published data and is not quality assured to the level of Official Statistics.

Average number of available beds in Scotland's secure care homes from April 2017 - March 2018
Month	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar
Number	3	2	0	1	0	1	4	1	0	1	3	4

Additional published data on use of secure care in Scotland is available in Children in Social Work Statistics 2016-17, published on 27 March 2018. This is available at: http://www.gov.scot/stats/bulletins/01308

Question reference: S5W-15926

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to introduce the living wage for staff providing sleepover cover in social care settings.

The Scottish Government announced on 19 October 2017, that adult social care workers will be paid the real Living Wage for sleepover hours, meaning that the Living Wage will be received for all hours worked. The change is taking place during 2018-19 to provide time for it to be implemented in a planned way.

The Scottish Government is working closely with COSLA, health and social care partnerships, care providers and trade unions as partners begin to implement this policy.

Question reference: S5O-02005

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on restricting the sale of corrosive products, in light of their use in acid attacks.

Good progress has been made.

There is a voluntary agreement in place across the UK including Scotland with a number of major retailers such as Lakeland, Aldi, Wickes, Homebase, Wilko, Morrisons, Tesco and the Co-op all putting in place restrictions on the sale of certain corrosive products to under 18s.

Earlier this month, the UK Government announced plans for an Offensive Weapons Bill. The full details of the Bill will be available as the legislation is introduced, but the Scottish Government has been working closely with the UK Government on this Bill and it will include provisions formally banning the sale of certain corrosive products to under 18s and criminalising the possession of corrosive substances in a public place.

These provisions will, with the appropriate consent of the Scottish Parliament, extend to Scotland to help improve public safety and reduce the chances of corrosive substances being used as offensive weapons.