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-14205

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 5 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many FOI requests it (a) received, (b) answered and (c) answered on time in each month in 2017, also broken down by type of requester.

a) Number of requests received in 2017

January	221
February	243
March	314
April	236
May	187
June	284
July	254
August	242
September	205
October	416
November	293
December	151

b) Number of requests answered each month in 2017

January	165
February	208
March	297
April	202
May	240
June	233
July	284
August	224
September	198
October	246
November	355
December	278

c) Number of were answered on time each month in 2017

January	176	79%
February	166	76%
March	204	77%
April	168	64%
May	174	70%
June	170	89%
July	256	94%
August	214	89%
September	189	92%
October	212	87%
November	291	80%
December	230	93%

The Scottish Government issued answers to 355 requests in November, which was 43% more than the monthly average since the Commissioner’s intervention began in April, of 248.

d) Requests lodged each month of 2017 broken down by type of requester

	Elected representative	Individual	Media	Organisation	Other	Researcher	Solicitor
January	5	94	51	30	3	28	10
February	11	122	33	27	1	39	10
March	7	132	22	42	7	97	7
April	5	109	34	27	2	54	5
May	2	98	47	18	1	13	8
June	25	103	39	36	10	61	10
July	20	114	40	33	5	31	11
August	5	115	47	34	7	30	4
September	8	89	26	24	6	41	11
October	7	118	44	25	5	204	12
November	10	106	43	22	6	98	8
December	5	66	22	21	4	27	6
Total	110	1266	448	339	57	723	102

Question reference: S5W-13484

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 9 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how much each territorial NHS board would see its budget fall by in 2018-19 on an NRAC basis if the total funding for all was reduced by (a) £360 million and (b) £501 million.

The Scottish Government’s Draft Budget for 2018-19 sets out an increase for the health and sport resource budget of over £400 million taking it to over £13.1 billion.

The following table sets out the impact on each Territorial Board on an NRAC basis if the total funding for all was reduced by (a) £360 million and (b) £501 million.

Territorial Board

	£360 million reduction	£501 million reduction
	£m	£m

Ayrshire and Arran	-26.7	-37.1
Borders	-7.6	-10.5
Dumfries and Galloway	-10.7	-14.9
Fife	-24.5	-34.1
Forth Valley	-19.5	-27.2
Grampian	-35.5	-49.5
Greater Glasgow & Clyde	-80.4	-111.9
Highland	-23.2	-32.3
Lanarkshire	-44.5	-61.9
Lothian	-53.3	-74.2
Orkney	-1.7	-2.4
Shetland	-1.8	-2.5
Tayside	-28.3	-39.3
Western Isles	-2.4	-3.3

Total	-360.0	-501.0

Question reference: S5W-13281

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which suggests that 700,000 more people in the UK are in poverty compared with four years ago.

The Scottish Government welcomes the recent analysis outlined by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in their 'UK Poverty 2017' and 'Poverty in Scotland 2017' reports. We will consider their specific recommendations for Scotland as we continue to work towards our 2030 vision for a fairer Scotland.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation reports show that poverty is lower in Scotland than in the rest of the UK, and that falls in poverty among pensioners and families with children have been greater and more sustained than elsewhere. However, we know the numbers are still too high. That is why our ambitious Child Poverty (Scotland) Bill, which was passed unanimously by Parliament on 8 November, will set in statute targets to significantly reduce the number of children living in poverty in Scotland by 2030.

Our first Child Poverty Delivery Plan will be published by 1 April 2018, and will set out our proposals for working towards these ambitious targets. But we know that meeting the targets will be particularly challenging whilst UK Government austerity and welfare cuts continue. According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the four-year freeze on working age benefits is the “single biggest policy driver behind rising poverty, hitting families in and out of work”.

Question reference: S5O-01576

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 December 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to attract more people to train as nurses.

Question reference: S5O-01517

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that new-build housing estates are able to access fast fibre broadband internet connections.

Question reference: S5W-12690

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2017
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Shona Robison on 13 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards negotiating a new GP contract for 2018.

Question reference: S5W-12268

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 8 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) emotional, (b) psychological and (c) other support it provides to women during menopause.

The Scottish Government recognises the impact the menopause has on women’s lives and the pivotal role of general practice in promoting high-quality menopause care to all and specialist referral if needed.

The Scottish Government provides policies, frameworks and resources to NHS Boards to allow them to deliver services that meet the needs of their local populations. All healthcare professionals receive high quality training and education on women’s health needs, as part of their respective curriculums, which are developed and informed by professional organisations, and approved and overseen by the respective regulators of each profession.

Question reference: S5O-01404

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 1 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement the finance secretary has had with trade unions regarding scrapping the cap on public sector pay.

9 May 2017, the STUC on 1 August and had further discussions with Grahame Smith, STUC General Secretary, on 9 October. Following that discussion, we sent a joint letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer calling on the UK Government to lift their 1 per cent pay cap. The Scottish Government was the first government in the UK to commit to lifting our pay cap. The STUC and I are jointly urging the Chancellor to follow our lead and invest in public services by providing sufficient resources to allow for fair pay settlements for all UK public sector workers.

Question reference: S5W-11638

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 13 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made prohibiting smoking on NHS property, and how this has contributed towards the aim of making Scotland a tobacco-free country.

Our 2013 strategy, Creating a Tobacco-Free Generation, committed us to making all hospital grounds tobacco-free. This was implemented across the NHS Scotland estate in April 2015.

However, smoking still persists around many hospitals. To address this, offences and penalties will be introduced for smoking around hospital buildings in 2018.

Eliminating smoking from all hospital settings will protect patients, staff and visitors from the harms of second-hand smoke. It will further de-normalise smoking which should help prevent future generations taking up the habit and reinforce the nature of hospitals as health-promoting environments.

Question reference: S5T-00654

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 September 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will give to families of children who died at the Smyllum Park orphanage in Lanark.