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: S4W-28100

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 10 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons private student accommodation complexes are exempt from non-domestic rates.

Question reference: S4W-28103

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how it will monitor the impact on (a) passenger safety and (b) adherence to licensing law of app-based hire car companies entering the Scottish market.

Any individual or company operating in the taxi or private hire car trade is required to work within the existing licensing regime. For example all drivers, as well as vehicles, must be licensed otherwise they will be committing a criminal offence.

We will consult on the impact of modern technology such as smartphone apps, and if required amend the relevant legislation to address concerns over passenger safety and compliance.

The provisions included within the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015 will further strengthen the ability of local Licensing Authorities to address concerns, for example by allowing them to limit the number of private hire car vehicle licences in their area, and the creation of the role of Civic Licensing Standards Officer, to supervise compliance, provide information and mediation to resolve disputes.

Licensing authorities have extensive powers available and we would expect them, together with Police Scotland, to take robust action regarding any failure to comply with the existing licensing law or public safety concerns. However, we will continue to liaise with them both to monitor the position.

Question reference: S4W-28099

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 3 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether, as part of its changes to the planning system, it will consider making the provision of 3D visualisations a requirement for developers who are involved in what it considers significant schemes.

Question reference: S4W-28101

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 3 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the planning process exempts developers of private student accommodation complexes from providing car parking.

Scottish Planning Policy (2014) sets out the Scottish Government’s policy on enabling the delivery of new homes. It defines national maximum parking standards for significant travel-generating uses such as retail, business and leisure developments. For residential developments, planning authorities should set locally-derived standards which take account of the characteristics of their area.

Question reference: S4W-28102

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 3 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the planning process exempts developers of private student accommodation from obligations to provide affordable housing.

Question reference: S4F-03029

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 November 2015

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on how the UK Government's latest amendments to the Scotland Bill could impact on the governance of Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-28098

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 29 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can confirm that organisations representing current sex workers will be contacted for their input at an early stage in its recently announced research into the Swedish model of legislation on sex work.

The Scottish Government is undertaking a systematic evidence review specifically on the impacts of criminalisation of the purchase of sexual services alongside a desk-based review of published research evidence on prostitution in Scotland and to summarise up to date evidence on the scale and nature of prostitution in Scotland. We can confirm that organisations representing and supporting those involved in prostitution including men and women will be contacted for their input at an early stage as part of this work.

Question reference: S4O-04687

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Aberdeen City Council to discuss education matters.

I met with the Leader of Aberdeen City Council at the teachers’ summit held on 30 September 2015 in Aberdeen. I discussed with her and other local authority leaders from the north of Scotland issues relating to the recruitment and retention of teachers.

The government is already providing an additional £10 million on top of the existing £41 million to help all local authorities to maintain existing teacher numbers, and Aberdeen City Council has been allocated an appropriate share of that funding. We provided funding for the University of Aberdeen and its partner local authorities to develop and deliver a part-time distance learning initial teacher education programme, and Aberdeen City Council have employees on the programme training to be teachers. We have increased the numbers of student places in Initial Teacher Education and allocated extra places to the University of Aberdeen and the University of the Highlands and Islands. And we have recently launched a national promotional campaign to encourage even more talented young people to become teachers.

Question reference: S4W-27359

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 18 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on updating the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 with regard to the time limits used by the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission to determine whether to investigate a complaint (a) generally and (b) if the complainant has an outstanding claim against the Law Society of Scotland's Guarantee Fund or Master Policy.

With regards to time limits, specifically under section 32(1) of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007, the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) makes rules as to its own practice and procedure (although Scottish Ministers, along with others including the Lord President are consulted prior to the rules being made). In accordance with Schedule 3 of the Act, the SLCC may include provision for fixing time limits for the making of complaints.

We are currently working with the SLCC to identify whether any changes are required to the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 that would lead to improvements in its complaints handling, which would require to be taken forward in a future legislative programme.

Therefore, the setting of time limits is primarily a matter for the SLCC and there would be no requirement to amend or update the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 to achieve this.

Question reference: S4W-27361

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 18 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how it protects home buyers from fraudulent disposition, and what plans it has to introduce further measures.

There are a number of ways in which home buyers are protected.

First of all, fraud is a criminal offence.

Secondly, the Keeper of the Registers takes a number of steps to combat fraud. Although the keeper is not usually the target of fraudulent acts, the land register can be used to legitimise fraudulent applications.

The risk of fraud can never fully be eliminated. However, the keeper has a designated fraud officer and has adopted a number of operational measures in an attempt to reduce the risk of fraudulent deeds entering the register. The fraud officer works closely with bodies such as Police Scotland and the Council of Mortgage Lenders to assist with the early detection of fraudulent schemes and provides internal training to raise staff awareness of types of fraud. The fraud officer is the referral point for suspicious applications.

Solicitors act as gatekeepers for applications to register a deed in the land register and therefore have a key role to play in the prevention of this type of fraud. The Scottish Government and Registers of Scotland expect solicitors to adhere to professional standards set by the Law Society of Scotland.

Thirdly, the Land Registration etc. (Scotland) Act 2012 made it an offence for any party submitting an application to the keeper to knowingly or recklessly include materially false or misleading statements or to fail to disclose material information in such an application. The offence provision is designed to deter criminals from using the land register to validate illegitimate and criminal transactions.

Finally, the 2012 Act also provides for a new statutory system of caveats. A caveat on a title sheet will effectively warn any party of ongoing litigation, including actions which may involve an allegation of fraud.

The Scottish Government and Registers of Scotland fully recognise the need to be vigilant in this area. We have no current plans to introduce further measures but the government will continue to discuss with the Law Society of Scotland and others any steps that can be taken to improve the conveyancing process generally.