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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 727 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S5W-17083

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost has been of providing free eye examinations in each year since 2006-07.

The total cost of providing free universal NHS funded eye examinations in Scotland in each financial year since 2006-07 is outlined in the following table.

Year	Total cost (£)
2006-07	39,154,925
2007-08	56,321,750
2008-09	61,536,690
2009-10	66,146,846
2010-11	66,427,193
2011-12	70,894,195
2012-13	71,190,882
2013-14	73,712,048
2014-15	74,106,411
2015-16	76,620,197
2016-17	78,945,594
2017-18	81,660,052

Source: NHS National Services Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-17082

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) adults and (b) children have had a free eye test in each year since 2006-07, broken down by (i) local authority and (ii) parliamentary constituency.

The total number of free NHS funded eye examinations for children and adults carried out in Scotland in each financial year from 2006-07 is outlined in the following table. It is not possible to provide a breakdown by local authority and parliamentary constituency, as this data is not currently readily available.

Financial Year	Children (under 16)	Adults (16 and over)
2006-07	193,992	1,349,979
2007-08	209,006	1,412,053
2008-09	221,541	1,497,187
2009-10	227,853	1,537,552
2010-11	227,188	1,570,079
2011-12	241,578	1,665,715
2012-13	242,512	1,684,100
2013-14	254,933	1,774,916
2014-15	254,904	1,783,708
2015-16	262,196	1,846,388
2016-17	282,488	1,914,198
2017-18	288,258	1,923,926

Source: NHS National Services Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-16999

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 14 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what input it will have into the UK Government’s proposed White Paper on the detailed proposals for the future relationship between the EU and the UK.

Unfortunately the UK Government now seems unable to say when the White Paper is going to be published. However, it is vital that that the devolved administrations are involved in its preparation. This will require a significant improvement from the UK Government from the way it has engaged with the Scottish and other devolved governments to date. On 16 May, I wrote to the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU seeking confirmation of how the Scottish Government will be involved in the process.

The Secretary of State replied and said there would be an opportunity to discuss the White Paper at the newly established Ministerial Forum (EU Negotiations). The first meeting of that forum took place on May 24, at which the Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs and I pressed for more detail and requested that a full discussion take place based on a draft of the White Paper.

Question reference: S5W-17057

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has with (a) Cosla and (b) Skills Development Scotland regarding the importance of work placements for secondary school pupils.

Work placements have featured throughout the discussions of the Developing Young Workforce Programme Board of which CoSLA is a member. As part of the DYW quarterly programme management process, Scottish Government meet with Skills Development Scotland to discuss their progress.

The Scottish Government does not collect or publish information on young people's work placements.

As part of the Developing Young Workforce (DYW) programme we expect that all young people should have a relevant, challenging, enjoyable learning experience within the workplace to support informing them about their future career choices. The Work Placements Standard, published in 2015, supports the DYW programme and provides information on expectations for young people, teachers, local authorities, schools, employers and parents to ensure young people experience valuable work placements.Week-long work placements are just one of a range of possible approaches that can be taken to meet a young person’s needs.

The Work Placements Standard was published alongside a Career Education Standard (3- 18yrs) ,which aims to improve careers support for young people in schools earlier and embed careers information and guidance within Curriculum for Excellence earlier, and the School/Employers partnership guidance which sets out the benefits and outlines an approach to partnerships which can enrich learning across the curriculum and help young people's readiness for employment.

The final report of the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce reported that many felt the approach to work experience was formulaic and did not provide a strong experience, and recommended the development of a new standard. The subsequent consultation and development of the work placement standard took account of views, including from young people, that there was a need to improve the quality and range of approaches to work placements.

Question reference: S5W-17059

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on week-long work placements being offered to secondary school pupils, and what analysis it has carried out of the effectiveness of these in helping choose future career options.

Question reference: S5W-17058

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many secondary school pupils in each of the last three years have (a) started and (b) completed a week-long work placement in each local authority.

Question reference: S5W-17043

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers routinely carry Tasers.

Question reference: S5W-16920

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) the UK Government, (b) the UK Chamber of Shipping and (c) Cruise Scotland regarding the implications of Brexit and new border control arrangements on (i) port and harbour authorities and (ii) the cruise sector.

The Scottish Government holds regular and on-going discussions with the UK Government where we have highlighted the need to minimise any impact or disruption at our ports as a result of leaving the European Union, and that the best way of ensuring this is through continued membership of the Single Market and Customs Union.

Scottish Ministers and officials have also held several discussions with UK Chamber of Shipping, Cruise Scotland and the wider maritime industry around the implications of Brexit. This includes the Minister for UK Negotiations on Scotland’s Place in Europe meeting the Chamber of Shipping, British Ports Association and UK Major Ports Group in London in February 2017. I attended a meeting of the British Ports Association Scottish Ports Group in April 2018, and the Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity and Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs hosted a Scottish Cruise Summit in September 2017.

Question reference: S5O-02213

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in schools to address sectarianism.

Question reference: S5O-02064

Current Status: Withdrawn