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-07363

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the recent reports by (a) Inrix and (b) TomTom regarding traffic congestion in Edinburgh.

The Scottish Government is familiar with the content of recent studies. The Scottish Government recognises the important role that Edinburgh and its region plays in the economy of Scotland. As such, Transport Scotland, on behalf of the Scottish Government, is currently working with regional and local planning and transport authorities to undertake a cross boundary multi-modal transport study to assess the impact of current and projected future travel demand on the strategic transport network in the South East of Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-07362

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the City of Edinburgh Council regarding traffic congestion and what support it is providing to the council to help it alleviate this.

Although the mitigation of congestion on local roads within Edinburgh is a matter for the City of Edinburgh Council, the Scottish Government recognises the important contribution that Edinburgh makes to the economy of Scotland. With this in mind, Transport Scotland is currently working with regional and local planning and transport authorities, including City of Edinburgh Council, to undertake a cross boundary multi-modal transport study.

This will assess the impact of current and projected future travel demand on the strategic transport network in the South East of Scotland. It will also assist in identifying options for infrastructure and for other measures which can be considered to improve transport in the Edinburgh area.

Question reference: S5W-06784

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 500 new health visitors that it announced in June 2014 will be in post by 2017-18.

Question reference: S5W-06762

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported increase in housebreaking across Edinburgh.

Day to day decisions on policing matters are a matter for Police Scotland, with the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority. Police Scotland continue to tackle housebreaking through the City’s dedicated housebreaking team and a range of tactics and measures to best serve Edinburgh’s communities. Police Scotland are also delivering local home security conferences and working with partners across the city to tackle the issue of break-ins and pursue offenders.

Question reference: S5W-07018

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential of peer-to-peer support to improve care for young people with (a) inflammatory bowel disease and (b) other long-term conditions.

The need for more access to support, including peer support, is one of the key themes of the “Gaun Yersel” Self Management strategy. The strategy was written by the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) for the Scottish Government from the perspective of people with lived experience of long term conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease.

Through the Scottish Government funded Self Management Fund (which is administered by the ALLIANCE), 24 projects with peer support elements were funded a total of £1.7million during 2013 to 2015. The Scottish Government has committed £2million annually for the three year phase of the Fund (to run from April 2016 - March 2019) and to date £2million has been allocated to projects with peer support elements, of this £613,818 is dedicated to projects that involve young people and peer support.

Question reference: S5W-06958

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02629 by Aileen Campbell on 27 September 2016, what the timescale is for the work with NHS Borders, its spread across Scotland and the public facing campaign.

Question reference: S5W-07014

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce geographic variation in transition services from paediatric to adult care for young people with long-term conditions.

The Scottish Government expects NHS boards to have well-structured transition arrangements in place, which meet the needs of their local population, regardless of where in Scotland the young person lives, as outlined in Better Health, Better Care: Hospital Services for Young People in Scotland published on 5 May 2009.

Additionally, The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 contains duties and provisions in relation to developing and delivering statutory Child’s Plans. Guidance will be developed to support transition throughout the life course within and between services for children that require a Childs Plan. It is good practice for the Child’s Plan to proactively plan for transition and the management of transition. Health boards and partners will be required to develop policies, procedures and practice to meet the duties and provisions prior to them coming into force.

The National Clinical Strategy sets out why the NHS in Scotland needs to adapt in the face of increasing and changing demand, along with significant constraints in terms of workforce and finances. The strategy sits alongside the Health and Social Care Integration and GIRFEC to ensure that there is a comprehensive approach to both improving the health of the population, and the healthcare available.

Its foundation is to provide care as locally as possible through a whole-team, community-based approach which is vital to the future of the NHS, allowing people to continue to be treated close to home, or in their home, in the majority of cases.

Question reference: S5O-00736

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that schools have adequate numbers of support staff.

Question reference: S5W-06952

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many convictions there have been involving cases of people shining (a) laser pens and (b) other laser devices at transport operators in each year since 1999, broken down by transport type.

The information requested cannot be identified from the Criminal Proceedings database. Offences involving cases of people shining (a) laser pens and (b) other laser devices at transport operators would be prosecuted under either the common law offence of culpable and reckless conduct or, with regards to aircraft, as a contravention of a statutory Air Navigation Order. In addition, legislation does not separately identify lasers from other lights and our database does not contain further detail with regards to the common law offence.

The Scottish Government holds information on the number of convictions under the air navigation order 2009 (Article 222). The following table contains data on convictions for offences relating to endangering aircraft and lights which dazzle or distract.

	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2014-15	2015-16
THE AIR NAVIGATION ORDER 2009 ARTICLE 222	1	1	2	1	1

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database.

Question reference: S5W-06783

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many multiple burials have taken place in Scotland in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

It is the responsibility of individual burial authorities to maintain accurate burial records and registers. The information requested is, therefore, not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The figures in the table have been provided for local authority burial authorities. No information is held for private burial authorities. The figures show where more than one burial has taken place in the same lair at the same time. These figures do not include the interment of ashes or shared burial for early pregnancy loss.

Local Authority

Aberdeenshire

Do not hold the information for these years

Argyll and Bute													1
Dumfries & Galloway	1	1	1	1	2		1	1			2	3	1	2		1
East Dunbartonshire		3														1
East Lothian	1	1			1	1				2			2
Inverclyde				1				1					1			1	1	2
North Lanarkshire	2		1	1	2							1	3	1	4	1	1	1
Perth & Kinross									3					2
Scottish Borders		1													1			1
Shetland Islands						2			2
Stirling																	2	1
Western Isles							1											1

No multiple burials took place in Angus, Edinburgh, Glasgow, highland, Moray and Orkney Islands in the time scale.

The information is not recorded by Aberdeen City, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, Fife, South Lanarkshire, and South Dunbartonshire. The information could only be obtained by carrying out a physical search of all the paper based burial registers in North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and West Lothian.

No response was received from Falkirk, Midlothian and Renfrewshire councils.