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

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 1894 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-03342

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 14 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported figures stating that Police Scotland lost 6,487 days of work in 2020-21 due to officers being assaulted.

Question reference: S6W-03343

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 11 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the (a) availability and (b) reliability of broadband in the west of Scotland.

The £463 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme delivered over 101,300 fibre connections in the West Scotland region with over 96,600 of those capable of delivering speeds of 24 Megabits per second (Mbps) and above. The Reaching 100% (R100) programme will build upon this work by ensuring all homes and businesses can access superfast broadband – including those in the constituencies of Clydebank and Milngavie, Cunninghame North, Cunninghame South, Dumbarton, Eastwood, Greenock and Inverclyde, Paisley, Renfrewshire North and West, Renfrewshire South, and Strathkelvin and Bearsden. The £600 million R100 contracts will deliver a substantial number of fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) connections, and the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) will also ensure that anyone who wants a superfast connection of 30Mbps and above by the end of 2021 can have one.

Question reference: S6W-03344

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 11 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the (a) availability and (b) reliability of broadband in rural communities.

The £463 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme delivered over 951,500 fibre connections across Scotland with over 841,600 of those capable of delivering superfast speeds of 30 Megabits per second (Mbps), the vast majority of which were in rural areas. The Reaching 100% (R100) programme will build upon this by delivering universal access to superfast broadband, regardless of remoteness or rurality. However, the contracts we have signed with BT for all three lots (North, Central and South) – alongside greater than anticipated commercial build – will also go significantly beyond our superfast commitment by delivering a substantial amount of full-fibre connections, meaning many premises will be capable of accessing download speeds of up to 1 Gigabit (1,000 Megabits) per second.

Question reference: S6W-03357

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reported comments from the Scottish Police Federation that victims of crime were considered of lesser importance than the perpetrators of crime during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted our criminal justice system, and others throughout the world, in ways never seen before. Our priority was, and remains, to ensure that our system can operate as effectively as possible for everyone involved in it: victims, witnesses, accused and offenders, and for society as a whole

We have committed an additional £50 million to increase capacity across the justice system as we tackle backlogs built up while public health restrictions are in place. This includes recruitment of additional staff, greater use of digital tools and improved support for victims and witnesses. We continue to work with partners, including victims organisations, the Scottish courts and prosecution services, and the legal profession to identify the best way to deal with the backlog.

We have also taken action to ensure victims have been able to quickly access practical, emotional and financial support. This includes providing an additional £10.75 million since the start of the pandemic to frontline domestic abuse and rape crisis services and awarding £157,000 through the Victim Surcharge Fund to meet the immediate financial needs of the most vulnerable victims.

Furthermore, as part of the early release of a limited number of short-term prisoners in response to the pandemic, we ensured public protection was paramount through a ‘triple lock’ set of restrictions. These included the exclusion from the process of those in prison for the most serious crimes, including sexual offences.

We remain committed to delivering solutions which keep victims at the centre of our decision making, whilst balancing the rights of the accused to ensure a fair justice system for all.

Question reference: S6W-03353

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action has been taken by the Scottish Prison Service in light of reports of mobile phones that were given to prisoners being hacked and used for criminal activity.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

A solution was identified with the provider in relation to illicit SIM cards being used in prison issued mobile phones and it is currently being implemented across the prison estate. This solution enables the SPS to blacklist handsets on various network providers rendering the handsets unusable with a non-prison issued SIM. The security measures in place will continue to be monitored by the SPS.

Question reference: S6W-03356

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the announcement in its Programme for Government, whether it will provide further details of its planned legislation to "change the way imprisonment is used".

As noted in the Programme for Government, we intend to consult shortly on proposed reforms to the law relating to bail and release from custody. Public protection and victims’ safety are at the heart of our proposals for reform, which focus on reduce reoffending and associated victimisation.

In relation to bail, we will be consulting on proposals to refocus how remand is used, especially for those who pose little or no risk to public safety. With regards to release from custody, we intend to consult on reforms to support release arrangements, with a focus on enabling reintegration into the community.

The responses to this consultation will inform a year 1 bill.

Question reference: S6W-03068

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 1 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when the Victims Taskforce will next meet.

Question reference: S6W-03071

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what sort of behaviour from a child under the age of criminal responsibility would constitute the "significant harm or abuse" necessary for the child to qualify for the Bairns' Hoose criteria, as referred to in its paper Bairns' Hoose - Scottish Barnahaus: Vision, Values and Approach.

It will be a matter for professional judgement for practitioners as to whether the behaviour carried out by the child has caused or is likely to cause “significant harm or abuse” requiring the intervention of a Bairns’ Hoose. It is recognised that children exhibiting or carrying out harmful behaviour are often themselves victims of significant harm and abuse. It is with this in mind that a Bairns’ Hoose is considered the most holistic form of intervention and support for the child to ascertain the circumstances of the harm, whilst at the same time offering therapeutic support to a child who may themselves have been harmed.

There is no legal definition of significant harm or distinction between harm and significant harm. The extent to which harm is significant will relate to the severity or anticipated severity of impact upon a child’s health and development. ‘Harm’ in this context refers to the ill treatment or the impairment of the health or development of the child, including, for example, impairment suffered as a result of seeing or hearing the ill treatment of another. ‘Development’ can mean physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development. ‘Health’ can mean physical or mental health.

Forming a view on the significance of harm and whether or not a child is suitable for a Bairns’ Hoose will be undertaken by an Inter-agency Referral Discussion (IRD). An IRD is a formal process of information sharing, assessment, analysis and decision making following a reported concern about abuse. Placing this decision making forum ahead of any child attending a Bairns’ Hoose is necessary to ensure multi agency professional judgement and decision making informs all decisions relating to investigating harm and subsequent interventions, including whether accessing a Bairns’ Hoose is in the best interests of the child.

Question reference: S6O-00235

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service consultation, Reducing Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals.

Question reference: S6W-03070

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 28 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what age group applies to the category "children under the age of criminal responsibility whose behaviour has caused significant harm or abuse" who are one of the eligible groups for the Bairns' Hoose, as stated in the Scottish Government’s paper Bairns' Hoose - Scottish Barnahaus: Vision, Values and Approach.