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-02304

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 14 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether existing carer services will receive funding from April 2017 to continue providing support to unpaid carers.

Question reference: S5W-02305

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 14 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to ensure the successful implementation of the duty in the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 to invite unpaid carers to be part of the hospital discharge process, and whether this duty will be piloted.

There are currently some very good examples of successful carer involvement in the discharge process however, this local good practice needs to be Scotland-wide.

As part of the wider pre-commencement programme for the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016, we have commissioned a mapping exercise across Scotland to identify carer involvement in hospital discharge. This will be considered against evidence of what works. The National Carer Organisations will be involved in the mapping and subsequent follow-up work. We have also discussed plans with the Allied Health Professions Directors Scotland Group and will be doing so with other professional groups. We have been seeking the views of carers too.

Going forward, there is likely to be an emphasis on workforce development to support carer involvement in hospital discharge. The statutory guidance for the Carers Act and revised hospital discharge guidance will include carer involvement in hospital discharge. I will be considering a possible pilot as part of the wider pre-commencement programme.

Question reference: S5W-02245

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 14 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether all criminal convictions are a matter of public record and, if so, how the public can access full details of these, including with regard to sentencing and the charges that led to the conviction.

Our criminal courts are open courts with access available to the public and the media to observe court proceedings. The only exceptions to this rule relate to where the court rules that restrictions on reporting should operate and/or where the law expressly provides that the privacy of some/all participants in the proceedings should be protected. The Data Protection Act 1998, which is UK Parliament legislation, provides the general legal framework in relation to the processing of data held about living individuals. This includes information relating to a person’s criminal convictions, sentencing arising from convictions and charges that led to convictions.

In addition, under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, individuals do not have to disclose certain convictions once a specified period of time has elapsed. All authorities that have records of conviction information are required to adhere to the law including the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

All criminal case information preserved with the National Records of Scotland will ultimately become publically available at the point at which access would not be prejudicial to the interests of any living person named in the records. In relation to those directly involved in a case, the Scottish Government has legislated, through the Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2014, to establish new rights for victims and witnesses to access certain information about their case – including details of the charges libeled against a person and the final decision of a court in a trial.

Question reference: S5O-00017

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 8 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met representatives of NHS Lanarkshire.

Question reference: S4O-05619

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 February 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on Professor Neil McKeganey's statement that Police Scotland’s decision to issue on-the-spot recorded warnings for the possession of cannabis rather than report people to prosecutors is a “massive white flag to Scotland’s drug problem.”

Question reference: S4O-05509

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 January 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with local authorities in relation to the commissioning of third sector services.

Question reference: S4O-05273

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 20 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met representatives of Transport Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-29005

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the Scottish Medicines Consortium's ruling against co-careldopa and for what reason it is deemed not to be cost effective in Scotland when it has been ruled cost effective in England and reportedly in over 40 other countries.

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) provides advice to NHSScotland on newly licensed medicines. The independence of SMC decisions on individual drugs is well established. The SMC’s full decision can be found at:

http://www.scottishmedicines.org.uk/SMC_Advice/Advice/316_06_co_careldopa_Duodopa/co_careldopa_Duodopa_Resubmission.

The Scottish Government understands that the pharmaceutical manufacturer is considering a resubmission.

Question reference: S4O-05214

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 December 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met representatives of NFU Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-28075

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 13 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when the Independent Living Fund Scotland will open to new users.

The first phase of work to transfer the Independent Living Fund (ILF) to Scotland is now complete, with the establishment of ILF Scotland from 1 July 2015, and the regular payment of ILF support to 2,800 existing Scottish users. The second phase of work to open the fund to new users, in co-production with disabled people and their representative organisations and statutory partners is commencing now, and further detail will be announced shortly.