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: S5O-03209

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to eliminate using single-use plastic packaging.

Question reference: S5F-03299

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 April 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2019

To ask the First Minister what the social and economic impacts are of immigration.

Question reference: S5O-03171

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been invested in social housing in the Greenock and Inverclyde constituency since May 2011.

Question reference: S5F-03275

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 April 2019

To ask the First Minister what assistance will be provided to help the mental health of school pupils.

Question reference: S5W-22380

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 17 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to renew or refresh the 2014 strategy, See Hear: A strategic framework for meeting the needs of people with a sensory impairment in Scotland.

The See Hear strategy was developed as a long term strategic framework in partnership with local authorities, health boards and third sector partners and is jointly endorsed by COSLA. Since 2014, the Scottish Government has provided almost £4m to establish and support a national network of See Hear Leads, supported by a See Hear National Co-ordinator post based the Health and Social Care Alliance. Local partnerships are in place across every local authority area in Scotland to assist in delivering the strategy. Areas for action and recommendations are implemented through local partnerships between statutory and third sector partners who are responsible for identifying local priorities, developing work streams, timescales and implementation plans based on local priorities and need. This ensures a responsive, flexible approach to deliver person centred outcomes, support and care.

Question reference: S5W-22403

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2019
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Ben Macpherson on 29 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with its 2019-20 International Development Small Grants Programme funding round.

I am pleased to announce that funding amounting to a total of £468,525 will be provided to 18 organisations, from our Small Grants Programme 2019-2020, for projects to commence in April 2019.

Total amount of Recommended funding - Programme Year 2019-2020

Type of Grant	Number	Total Recommendation
Project	6	£359,225
Feasibility	5	£47,029
Capacity Building	7	£62,271
TOTAL	18	£468,525

Recommendations for funding after assessment by country and grant type - Programme Year 2019-2020

Country	Project	Capacity Building	Feasibility Study	Totals
Malawi	5	-	2	7
Zambia & Malawi	1	-	-	1
Zambia		2	-	2
Rwanda	-	-	1	1
Bangladesh	-	-	1	1
DRC	-	-	1	1
Uganda	-	-	-	-
Tanzania	-	3	-	3
Myanmar	-	1	-	1
Kenya	-	-	-	-
India	-	1	-	1
Total	6	7	5	18

The Small Grants Programme 2019-2020 attracted 28 applications before the deadline. Four applications were rejected as outwith our eligibility criteria, and therefore were not part of the full assessment process. The remaining 24 applications were fully assessed.

The full list of the organisations to be funded is available on the following web link:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/small-grants-programme-funding-awards-2019-to-2020

Question reference: S5O-03113

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Silverline Care Caledonia derecognising GMB Scotland as the trade union representing the staff in six of its care homes.

Question reference: S5W-21983

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 19 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to work with the marine tourism sector to deliver a cleaner, greener marine environment.

The Scottish Government values the contribution the marine tourism sector makes to inclusive growth, including in remote and fragile communities. Scotland’s Industry led Marine Tourism Strategy ‘Awakening the Giant’ sets a framework for the sector to work collaboratively, to protect and enhance the natural assets on which the industry depends, whilst delivering sustainable economic growth.

The Scottish Government promotes the Scottish Marine Wildlife Watching Code to ensure that wildlife watching is carried out sustainably and not to the detriment of wildlife or the environment. The Scottish Government funds many initiatives that help deliver a cleaner and greener marine environment by reducing marine litter. Several of these directly engage with tourists such as KIMO’s ‘Pick up 3’ campaign which encourages beach visitors to pick up 3 pieces of litter with each visit, and our Local Coastal Partnerships which each run different campaigns and projects to reduce irresponsible litter disposal at our beaches.

The Year of Coasts and Waters 2020 will further spotlight, celebrate and promote opportunities to experience and enjoy the natural environment and wildlife of Scotland’s unrivalled coasts and waters, along with encouraging responsible engagement and participation to secure a cleaner, greener marine environment.

Question reference: S5W-21882

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 14 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports students with childcare costs when some, but not all, of their children qualify for funded hours.

Colleges are allocated childcare funding annually by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) as part of student support funds. These funds support students studying Further and Higher Education courses at college. The two elements of the funding are the Lone Parent Childcare Grant (LPCG), and the Discretionary Childcare Fund.

The LPCG is an entitlement payment of up to £1,215 per year for students who are lone parents and who have formal registered childcare expenses. The Discretionary Childcare Fund is a cash-limited fund to help with formal registered childcare expenses. Payments from the fund are made at the discretion of colleges and on assessment of need, intended to supplement students’ existing resources. The SFC places no limit on the amount of support a student can receive and colleges have the flexibility to determine award levels.

In 2018-19, students in Further Education are benefitting from a record amount of £111 million in student support funding, which includes funding for childcare.

University students with childcare costs are also supported by way of the LPCG and the Discretionary Childcare Fund. Funding for these is allocated by the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) and is administered by the institutions themselves. Similarly to in colleges, the LPCG is an entitlement payment of up to £1,215 per year, while universities have discretion over the level of awards made from the Discretionary Childcare Fund.

In 2018-19, a total of £4.8 million has been allocated to universities for the LPCG and Discretionary Childcare Fund.

Question reference: S5W-21881

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 14 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many childcare providers in receipt of college bursaries (a) meet the Care Inspectorate’s standards and (b) pay staff at least the Living Wage.

All 3 and 4 year olds and eligible 2 year olds are currently entitled to 600 hours per year of funded early learning and childcare. The entitlement will increase to 1140 hours a year from August 2020. Discretionary support is also available to students who are parents through their individual colleges and universities. Where assistance is provided for childcare costs from a college or university this may be given in the form of a direct payment to the student or to a nominated third party, for example, a childcare provider.

All childcare providers, by law, must register with the Care Inspectorate before they can operate. The Care Inspectorate’s registration process will determine whether a setting is fit to deliver a daycare of children service. Newly registered settings will then receive a full inspection from the Care Inspectorate within 12 months of being registered.

As part of the Funding Follows the Child approach, from August 2020 a new National Standard for all providers will be introduced. All settings delivering the funded early learning and childcare entitlement will have to meet the National Standard. Under this approach providers will receive a sustainable rate from local authorities, which will enable them to pay the real Living Wage to all childcare workers delivering the funded entitlement from August 2020.

Employers who pay the real Living Wage can, if they wish, seek to become Living Wage accredited. There are already a number of Living Wage accredited private and third sector employers operating in the ELC sector, including Enterprise Childcare in Greenock. Whilst the Scottish Government encourages more providers to become Living Wage accredited, it is not required to the criteria in the new National Standard to be introduced in August 2020.

More information on Living Wage accredited employers in the sector can be found at: https://scottishlivingwage.org/accredited .

There are also other private and voluntary sector providers in the sector who are paying at least the real Living Wage, but have not sought accreditation.