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-21341

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) it and (b) Police Scotland has applied for or enquired about contingency funding for the police to deal with the possible consequences of Brexit.

Any costs related to EU exit should not have a detrimental impact on Scotland’s public finances and should be met in full by the UK Government. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work and the Cabinet Secretary for Justice wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 8 February 2019 outlining that any additional costs for policing in Scotland associated with Brexit – in relation to additional police officers and any further resources that may be required - should fall to the UK Government.

Question reference: S5W-21347

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Police Scotland regarding its continued participation with the UK Counter Terrorism Police Network, and what consideration Police Scotland has given to withdrawing from this structure.

Question reference: S5W-21348

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the importance of the National Counter Terrorism Police Network to Scotland's counter terrorism capabilities.

Question reference: S5W-21269

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on Police Scotland’s Staff Pay and Reward Modernisation Project, and how many staff have been (a) affected by the introduction of the new pay grading structure and (b) transferred to a lower pay grade since the new grading structure was introduced.

No new pay grading structure has been introduced. The pay and conditions of police staff are a matter for the Scottish Police Authority who, with Police Scotland, are taking forward the Staff Pay and Reward Modernisation Project working closely with trade unions. The SPRM project is addressing inequalities that arose from arrangements inherited from legacy forces. I understand that the proposed package would benefit the majority of police staff and that the pay and allowances of others would be protected for a two year period.

Question reference: S5W-21271

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 4 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost is of completing the new Edinburgh children’s hospital, broken down by building costs and other set-up costs, and how this compares to the costs that were originally announced.

The Scottish Government’s Infrastructure Investment Plan, along with updates on major capital projects, is publically available on the Scottish Government’s website at the following location: https://www.gov.scot/policies/government-finance/infrastructure-investment/#plan.

The Plan and the latest capital projects progress update (September 2018) set out total capital investment in the Royal Hospital for Children in Edinburgh of £230 million, made up of £150 million Non-Profit Distributing (NPD) financing and £80 million capital investment from the Scottish Government; this remains consistent with the costs contained in the Full Business Case.

While additional costs are likely at this point, they have not been finalised. NHS Lothian is working closely with the Project Company to confirm a revised handover date for the hospital and discussion continues to agree what further works needs to be undertaken along with the level and apportioning of any additional costs.

There remains a clinical imperative to ensure that any issues are fully resolved before NHS Lothian take ownership of the new Hospital and, until that time, high quality clinical services continue to be delivered at the existing Royal Hospital for Sick Children.

Question reference: S5O-02846

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 31 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what contact it has had with the Home Office regarding the recently reported case of Mozaffar Saberi and Rezvan Habibimarand.

I have written to the UK Immigration Minister in support of Mr Saberi and Ms Habibimarand and asked her to urgently review the case and properly consider all factors that clearly indicate this couple should be allowed to stay.

My officials have also been engaging with the Home Office regarding this difficult situation which once again highlights the failure of the UK Government’s one-size-fits-all immigration policy.

We have consistently called for a more compassionate system that takes into account individual circumstances particularly around family migration. This is why we will shortly be setting out detailed proposals on family migration that will consider its complexity and seek to reintroduce more compassion into the system.

Question reference: S5W-20630

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 15 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20072 by Kate Forbes on 7 December 2018, whether it will confirm on what dates the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work has met the leader of the City of Edinburgh Council since January 2018, and on which occasions the funding of the local authority was discussed.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work did not meet the Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council in a Scottish Government official capacity last year. However negotiations on the annual local government finance settlement are conducted between the Scottish Government and COSLA, on behalf of all 32 local authorities.

The 2019-20 local government finance settlement which was announced on 12 December delivers a funding package of £11.1 billion for local authorities, a real terms increase of over £210 million for essential public services in Scotland. The City of Edinburgh Council will receive £839.6 million to fund local services in 2019-20. Using their council tax powers they could also generate an additional £8.5 million to support the delivery of local services, meaning an extra £37 million next year.

Question reference: S5W-20460

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 21 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to bring about improvement in the area of medical services for victims of sexual crime, and how much of the recently announced £8.5 million is new funding and in addition to the £2 million already committed over the next three years as set out in its Programme for Government.

The Chief Medical Officer for Scotland chairs a national Taskforce for the improvement of healthcare and forensic medical examination services for people who have experienced rape and sexual assault. The Taskforce are on track with their five year work plan to deliver person centred, trauma-informed care as close as possible to the point of need.

The Scottish Government has committed £2.5m in the current financial year to train and recruit more staff and to enhance or create facilities. An additional £6m investment over the next two financial years will support Health Boards to embed the published Healthcare Improvement Scotland standards.

This £8.5m of Taskforce funding is over and above the £2m set out in the 2018-19 Programme for Government to improve access to support for victims of domestic or sexual abuse. Of this, £1.5m will be given to Rape Crisis Centres over three years to help these services plan for the future and ensure more people can get the support they need. The remainder will be used for other initiatives focused on prevention and early intervention initiatives to help prevent gender based violence happening in the first place.

Question reference: S5O-02689

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many remand and how many sentenced prisoners have been sent to HMYOI Polmont since 2013 due to space being unavailable at secure care units.

Question reference: S5O-02621

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 November 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what impact assessment it has undertaken regarding the potential economic cost to Scotland of additional customs arrangements and border regulations resulting from Brexit.