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-13827

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 24 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that the resources allocated to implement the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 will be used as intended, and how it will hold integration authorities to account if it is suspected that the resources are not used for the direct benefit of carers.

Under the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 each Integration Authority is required to publish an annual performance report within three months of the end of the financial year. Regulations set out minimum content for these reports including a statement on best value and a financial performance report.

The Scottish Government is developing a monitoring and evaluation framework and strategy to be delivered from 2018-19. This includes a new Carers Census to collect data from local partnerships on adult carer support plans, young carer statements, and support for carers. The final data specification is available on the Scottish Government website at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Health/DataSupplier/CarersData.

Under the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016, each local authority and relevant health board is also required to jointly prepare and publish a local carer strategy which deals specifically with the exercise of all functions relating to carers. Draft guidance, including on local carer strategies and other reporting processes, has been developed and shared with local authorities, health boards, integration authorities and other stakeholders.

Question reference: S5W-13840

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 24 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Court of Session granting permission for the case to proceed to a full hearing, for what reason the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) refused to grant legal aid to Tilly Gifford to allow for a judicial review of the decision not to extend the inquiry into undercover policing to Scotland; whether it can confirm that SLAB had initially stated that Ms Gifford's case had a "strong probability" of success and, if so, whether the decision not to grant aid contradicts SLAB's guidelines, which recommends aid being granted when it considers there to be a "probability" of success, and what its response is to concerns that this decision could deny access to justice to people who consider that they have been subjected to abusive tactics by the police.

Scottish Government and the Scottish Legal Aid Board (the Board) have different responsibilities in the legal aid system. While the Scottish Government sets policy for legal aid and provides significant funds to the Board to administer the Legal Aid Fund, they do not make decisions on legal aid applications.

The Board are responsible for assessing whether an application meets the eligibility criteria set down in law. This means that neither Scottish Government Ministers nor officials can intervene in an individual case.

The eligibility criteria for those accessing civil legal aid are consistent and transparent. There are three tests. The first two tests are applied to the legal content of the application where it must be shown that the case is plausible and that it is reasonable for legal aid to be granted. The third test is applied to an applicant’s financial circumstances.

Question reference: S5W-13871

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Sandra White on 24 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will allow for consultation, with the SPCB as the project lead and decision-maker, with the recognised trade union for employees on the co-location strategy for the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, Scottish Human Rights Commission and Children and Young People's Commissioner for Scotland, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

The SPCB supports 6 parliamentary officeholders and provides annual funding to these officeholders. The officeholders are; accountable for their funding which forms part of the SPCB’s overall budget; independent in undertaking their statutory functions, and are employers in their own right.

As the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, the Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland and the Scottish Human Rights Commission are all employers, any negotiations with the recognised trade union for their employees should be directly with the officeholder. The officeholders’ relationship with their employees is something most of the officeholders would wish to safeguard.

It has been a long held aim of the SPCB, supported by successive Parliament Finance Committees, to co-locate the officeholders it supports and it has been openly pursuing this aim for a number of years. An opportunity has now arisen as a result of 2 leases coming to an end and there being flexibility in the other officeholder’s lease to give notice to quit early without significant cost.

An accommodation project is currently being undertaken to co-locate the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, the Children’s Commissioner and the Scottish Human Rights Commission in fit for purpose and accessible accommodation which will result in the potential for increased collaboration between the 3 offices and provide overall savings to the public purse.

Question reference: S5W-13748

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Justice received the report into undercover policing; when it will be published, and what the reason is for any delay.

Question reference: S5W-13687

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 18 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what projects have been introduced in each year since 1999 to address deaths from illegal drugs, and what assessment it has made of the effectiveness of each.

Details of all projects undertaken to tackle drug related deaths since 1999 are not held centrally.

The Scottish Government has, however, undertaken a range of initiatives to tackle drug related deaths, in collaboration with stakeholders and Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs), since the publication of the ‘Road to Recovery’ drugs strategy in 2008. This has included the introduction of the world’s first national take home naloxone programme; the development of a national drug related death database to help inform policy and clinical practice; and a suite of work looking at the needs of older drug users, a cohort that evidence shows have a higher risk of drug related death.

We have also commissioned Scottish Drugs Forum to work with ADPs to develop death prevention plans. All areas are now encouraged to have death prevention plans in place, along with a range of treatment and support services to meet the needs of those who are most at risk in their populations. It is a matter for individual Health Boards and ADPs to evaluate and assess the effectiveness of their services.

Question reference: S5W-13685

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 18 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many deaths from taking illegal drugs have been recorded in each year since 1999, and how this compared with the targets set for reducing such deaths.

Question reference: S5O-01705

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to provide care for children who experience ill health.

Question reference: S5W-13307

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 9 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the November 2017 report by the Australian Senate Select Committee into Funding for Research into Cancers with Low Survival Rates, which recommended the UK-wide HeadSmart campaign as a model to inform the public regarding low survival rate cancers and their symptoms.

Question reference: S5W-13267

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 8 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported concerns regarding public safety, what discussions it has had with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) regarding nuclear weapons convoys passing through towns and villages; whether it has asked the MoD to notify residents that a convoy will pass through and, if so, what the response was.

The transportation of defence nuclear material in Scotland is a reserved matter for the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The Scottish Government expects any such transportation to be carried out safely and securely, and has made this expectation clear to the UK Government.

The publically available Local Authority and Emergency Services Information (LAESI) sets out the local authority areas which defence nuclear material may pass through or fly over in the UK -https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/643525/20170831-LAESI-Ed_11.pdf

Question reference: S5W-13269

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 8 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that a failure by local authorities to inform the public that potentially radioactive material is being transported through towns and villages would be in breach of the obligation of local authorities as set out in civil contingencies legislation, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Local authorities as category 1 responders have a duty to warn the public, and to provide information and advice, if an emergency is likely to occur or has occurred, under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (Contingency Planning) (Scotland) Regulations 2005. In performing this duty they must take account of the importance of not alarming the public unnecessarily.

The local authorities and other category 1 responders are responsible for assessing whether an emergency is likely to occur. This work is taken forward by Resilience Partnerships which are supported by the Scottish Government. The information is used to inform the public facing Community Risk Register.