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-23594

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government who carried out the Scottish Prison Service job evaluation scheme; whether consultants were involved with it and, if so, how much they were paid; how much the scheme cost each year; what analysis it has carried out of its impact, and whether it will provide a breakdown of the scheme's achievements, including the savings that it returned.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

SPS use a Job Evaluation Scheme known as Equate, which was developed by KPMG in 1995 and incurs no annual cost. Although Equate continues to meet its purpose, SPS is keen to explore a possible replacement which will meet the requirements of the Service moving forward.

Over recent years, SPS has carried out work internally to develop a new Job Evaluation Scheme in partnership with recognised trade unions. Due to the specialist nature of the work, a Reward Analyst was recruited through an Employment Agency to carry out a range of reward tasks, including technical support for a new Job Evaluation Scheme. The cost of the Reward Analyst, for all of their work including Job Evaluation, was £96,379 in 2017-18 and £71,167 in 2018-19. This includes the Employment Agency fee and VAT.

While impact assessments cannot be completed until a Job Evaluation Scheme has been finalised and posts are matched to pay bands, an impact assessment for any unlawful bias is carried out throughout the development stage. The purpose of a new Job Evaluation Scheme is to determine the relative importance of a number of different jobs through a systematic, consistent and gender neutral approach. Savings will not be achieved through a new Job Evaluation Scheme.

Question reference: S5W-23593

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it expects the Scottish Prison Service to have a budget shortfall in 2019-20 and, if so, how much.

Question reference: S5W-23600

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 18 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23350 by Derek Mackay on 4 June 2019, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding whether the cabinet secretary registered the meeting and dinner that he attended in Cannes in March 2019 and, if so, on what date he registered this.

The Scottish Government can confirm that Private Offices arrange for the basic facts of formal meetings between Ministers and outside interest groups to be recorded, setting out the reasons for the meeting, the names of those attending and the interests represented. A monthly list of engagements carried out by all Ministers is routinely published three months in arrears (as per the Scottish Ministerial Code, Section 4.22 & 10.18).

Question reference: S5W-23595

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much the Scottish Prison Service has spent on consultants in each of the last 10 years.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

In accordance with the Scottish Public Finance Manual, financial records are retained for 6 years, therefore the total spend on consultants by the Scottish Prison Service over the last 6 years is as follows:

2013-14     £5,263.00
2014-15     £63,510.00
2015-16     £207,139.00
2016-17     £19,941.00
2017-18     £2,552.00
2018-19     NIL

TOTAL £298,405.00

Question reference: S5W-23618

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Liam McArthur on 17 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when it last reviewed its rules regarding holding events that are hosted by external organisations.

The SPCB last reviewed the guidance regarding holding events by external organisations in June 2018 - when it took a decision to cease the commercial events pilot.

In light of the requirements introduced by the Lobbying (Scotland) Act in 2017 for organisations to record all regulated lobbying activity; together with developments around how people and organisations engage with the Parliament since the original events and exhibitions policy and guidance was introduced parliamentary officials have already been reviewing these policies and guidance with a view to ensuring they are still relevant, appropriate and consistent with our wish to encourage and facilitate the widest possible engagement. Once this has been considered by the SPCB later this year, the SPCB will update all Members on the new guidance.

Question reference: S5W-23547

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 13 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many procedures intended to be a complete removal of a mesh device subsequently became a partial mesh removal in each month since June 2014.

Question reference: S5O-03416

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has done to plan for the lifting of the ban on mesh implants.

Question reference: S5W-23471

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners have been managed under the Management of an Offender at Risk Due to Any Substance (MORS) system in each of the last five years.

SPS’ Management of Offender at Risk Due to Any Substance (MORS) Policy was introduced in December 2014 and ensures that there is a robust process in place for managing an individual who is at risk due to concealment or ingestion of any substances, including Psychoactive Substances.

The following table shows number of prisoners who have had the risk applied or removed, or where the risk is still currently applied, since the 1 st January 2015. These figures are drawn from the Scottish Prison Service prisoner records system. Figures from 2019 are correct as of 29 May, 2019.

Year	Number of Prisoners
2015	321
2016	406
2017	781
2018	1629
2019	1111

There has been a rise in the number of people who are being managed under the influence of unknown substance. In part, this is due to SPS’s commitment to enhance staff awareness in spotting signs that someone may be under the influence, resulting in more individuals being managed under the policy.

Question reference: S5W-23531

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 11 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its support for a second referendum on Brexit, what its position is on supporting a second confirmatory vote by referendum following the result of any future independence referendum.

Scotland voted clearly against leaving the European Union in 2016, and the Scottish Government therefore supports putting the issue back to the people, with an option to remain in the EU. The Scottish Government also supports Scotland’s right to choose its own future. In 2016 the Leave campaign failed to set out any details of what Brexit would mean, which is one of the reasons we have chaos in Westminster today. The Scottish Government is determined that, as in 2014, that situation would not arise in any future independence referendum as full and comprehensive information and free and informed debate will be at the heart of the campaign.

Question reference: S5W-23347

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23029 by John Swinney on 16 May 2019, in light of the cabinet secretary’s comment that “we take the issue of the handling of asbestos within educational establishments very seriously”, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding its response to the call by NASUWT for asbestos to be eradicated completely from all educational establishments.

The issues raised by NASUWT are not devolved to the Scottish Government but are the responsibility of the Health and Safety Executive, which has UK wide responsibility for enforcement of health and safety related legislation and regulations, including the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

The Health and Safety Executive advises that many schools built before 2000 contain asbestos and that, if managed carefully, the presence of asbestos in a school does not pose a risk to staff and pupils. It is extremely important that any asbestos present in schools is managed properly. Where an authority does not comply with the legislation on the management of risks arising from asbestos, it is for HSE to determine, in accordance with HSE enforcement policies, what enforcement action is appropriate and proportional to health and safety risk and the seriousness of the breach.