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

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Question reference: S5W-22673

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 1 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS Lothian staff have moved to the Barclay Group in each of the last three years, and what analysis it has carried out of their reasons for doing so.

Seventeen NHS staff were transferred from a directly run board practice to the Barclay Group's employment in 2017. This was under TUPE arrangements so no analysis was required.

Other staff may have chosen to apply for posts with the Barclay Group over the last three years, but NHS Lothian would not necessarily know the destination of any staff who leave its employment. NHS Lothian has a mechanism for staff to provide information upon leaving but it is not mandatory for staff to provide this.

Question reference: S5W-22670

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 30 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the NHS Lothian GP Out of Hours Unscheduled Care Service is reducing its opening hours; what support is available to people seeking to access this during the additional hours that it will be closed, and by what date the service will return to operate at full capacity.

As the member will be aware from the comprehensive briefing provided by the Lothian Unscheduled Care Service, plans were being put in place to reduce the service on a temporary basis due to sudden unexpected staff shortages - particularly nurses - in order to ensure patient and staff safety but that they would continue to focus on efforts to fill the shifts. I understand that since the Member lodged this question the 9 nights in May which were affected have now been covered and the Out of Hours service will remain open throughout May. Lothian’s Unscheduled Care Service are recruiting nurses to fill the vacancies on a permanent basis.

Question reference: S5F-03294

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 April 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2019

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to address climate change.

Question reference: S5W-22527

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Andy Wightman on 26 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide all Members with access to the Press Data media monitoring service.

The SPCB’s contracted service is parliamentary in nature and relates specifically to coverage of the Parliament’s business, corporate and engagement activities. The contract does not provide for monitoring of party-political coverage or coverage relating to individual MSPs constituency and regional duties. Given the specific parameters of the service, it is unlikely to meet the needs of all Members generally. Furthermore, as widening access to all 129 Members would have a significant impact on the SPCB’s NLA licence fee, the SPCB is not minded to go down this route. The SPCB is aware that each of the political parties has its own media monitoring arrangements, tailored to their individual needs. The SPCB’s subscription to Press Association’s news service is, however, available to all 129 MSPs. Members can receive PA updates throughout the day by email, based on their preferred search criteria and subject matters. Any Member who wishes to be added to this service or find out more about it can contact Kathryn Appleby-Donald in SPICe.

Question reference: S5W-22525

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Andy Wightman on 26 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many people in the Parliament have access to the Press Data media monitoring service.

Question reference: S5W-22526

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Andy Wightman on 26 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how much it spends annually on (a) services provided by Press Data and (b) other press monitoring services.

The SPCB’s annual spend is as follows:

£67,212 on Press Data media monitoring services, which includes its press cuttings service, broadcast monitoring and online news monitoring.
£33,321 on its NLA licence (Newspaper License Authority), which gives the SPCB copyright permission to access newspaper articles.
£20,912 on access to Press Association’s news service, which gives subscribers access to PA’s rolling news coverage.

All figures are net of VAT.

Question reference: S5W-22480

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what additional resources will be provided to the Scottish Prison Service to cover increases in staff pay in 2019-20.

Question reference: S5O-03180

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government when it will assess the impact of fishing protection orders on trout and salmon stocks in rivers and lochs.

Question reference: S5O-03117

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 4 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason a significant number of schools reportedly have teacher shortages.

I am aware that there are teacher recruitment challenges in some subjects and in some parts of Scotland but it is also the case that more generally, teacher numbers are at their highest since 2010, vacancies have reduced and student teacher intakes have increased for three years in a row.

We are seeking to continue this progress by taking action to support teacher recruitment – including the development of new routes into teaching, continuing our recruitment campaign and increasing student teacher intake targets.

And, of course, as part of our efforts to make the teaching profession more attractive, we are enhancing the new pay offer by funding an additional 4% uplift this April, beyond the core offer from local authorities, taking the total 3 year pay deal to 13%.

Question reference: S5W-22206

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 28 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Livingston fire station reportedly does not have the capacity to provide 24/7 cover with two pumps.