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-17515

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 13 July 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of 600 people taking part in the Walking Football Scotland Scottish Cup, how it is (a) supporting and (b) funding the organisation to ensure (i) its viability and (ii) that it is able to provide the opportunity to more participants.

The Scottish Government funds Paths for All to deliver against national physical activity priorities, including walking for health. Paths for All, Age Scotland, Scottish FA, SPFL Trust and SAMH initially developed walking football in Scotland to establish the Scottish Walking Football Network. This led to the creation of Walking Football Scotland which my predecessor helped launch on 6 December 2017.

The Scottish FA is also supportive of Walking Football Scotland, with much of the local delivery already coordinated by the community clubs and partners the Scottish FA invests in.

I look forward to working with Walking Football Scotland as the sport grows across Scotland. The new organisation already has more than 45 member organisations which run more than 70 sessions every week. As well as physical and mental health, the additional social benefits that come from playing walking football make this an excellent and inclusive game.

Question reference: S5W-17525

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 12 July 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-16949 by Humza Yousaf on 14 June 2018, on what date it will consider the A70 and the A77 Bellfield Interchange as part of its second Strategic Transport Projects Review.

The second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) will be an examination of the strategic transport infrastructure interventions required to support the delivery of the Scotland’s Economic Strategy and deliver a transport network which is fit for the 21st century, in the context of priorities to be set out in the new National Transport Strategy. It will provide a clear alignment with Scotland’s national plans, policies and strategies, including the National Planning Framework (NPF4) and the Climate Change Plan and will inform the next Infrastructure Investment Plan.

Initial work on STPR2 is underway. Transport Scotland will continue engagement with regional partners and groupings, including the Ayrshire councils, over the coming months which will provide an opportunity for partners to be involved and influence the review.

Question reference: S5W-17237

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 27 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has carried out of whether any long-term savings could be achieved by increasing expenditure over the next two years on hepatitis C treatments.

Question reference: S5W-17233

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 27 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its timeline is for the elimination of the hepatitis C virus, and whether its expected eradication date is in line with (a) France, which has set a target of 2025, and (b) other European countries.

Question reference: S5W-17106

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when the public engagement phase of the West of Scotland Transport Study will begin, and what action it is taking to promote this to help increase participation.

The engagement phase will begin this summer and will include a range of formats including a public online survey. Transport Scotland will work with a variety of stakeholders including Dumfries and Galloway Council, The Ayrshire Roads Alliance (comprising East and South Ayrshire Councils) SWestrans and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) to encourage wide participation. This builds on the successful approach to engagement adopted in 2017 in the Borders Transport Corridors study which reached around 3000 people, groups and businesses.

Question reference: S5O-02267

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 21 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how nutritious school meals impact on attainment.

It is well established that nutrition has a key role to play in children’s health and wellbeing and that the lack of a healthy, nutritious diet and enough to eat can impact on children’s ability to learn.

That is why this Government introduced nutrition standards for school lunches. A working group has recently reviewed those standards and new guidelines have been produced which are now being consulted upon.

Question reference: S5W-16949

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on including the A70 and the Bellfield Interchange as part of its transport infrastructure review of the south west of Scotland.

The Scottish Government is currently taking forward the South West Scotland Transport Study which will consider the rationale for improvements to road, rail, public transport and active travel on the key strategic corridors in the region, including the A75, A76, A77 and A701.

Inception discussions with study partners, East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and Dumfries & Galloway Councils, have confirmed that the study will not consider the A70 or the A77 Bellfield Interchange. The scope of the study will consider the A77 south of Whitletts junction.

The Scottish Government recognise the importance of strategic routes within Ayrshire and these will be considered as part of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review.

Question reference: S5O-02219

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that school meals are of the highest quality and that the uptake of these is maximised.

Question reference: S5W-16883

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15778 by Shona Robison on 24 April 2018, whether it will provide an update on work to deliver the routine provision of Orkambi for the treatment of cystic fibrosis.

Question reference: S5W-16797

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 5 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to households and businesses using exchange only (EO) lines, particularly those with long or degraded EO lines, and what action it is taking to ensure that these households and businesses are included in the roll-out of superfast broadband.

The roll out of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme has seen around 222,600 EO lines upgraded since 2014.

With regards to the roll-out of superfast broadband, you will no doubt be aware that the delivery of telecoms services in Scotland is a matter reserved to the UK Government.

In spite of this, the Scottish Government has chosen to act, and is now working to build upon the success of the DSSB roll-out.

We have announced a substantial investment of £600 million in the initial phase of the Reaching 100% programme, as per our commitment to deliver 100% superfast broadband access across the country.

Any home or business unable to access superfast broadband commercially, or through programmes such as DSSB, will be eligible for investment through R100.