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-21213

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 11 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to consider the proposal in the report by the Cross Party Group on Heart Disease, Beating High Blood Pressure: Scotland’s Silent Killer, to implement an effective approach to tackling common modifiable drivers of poor cardiovascular health.

Question reference: S5W-21242

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 7 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve and build relationships with countries that have a strong connection with Scotland's historic role in slavery.

The Scottish Government’s international ambitions are set out in our International Framework and various country plans. It aims to create an environment within Scotland that supports a better understanding of international opportunities and to influence the world around us on the issues that matter most. Scotland’s International Framework sets out how our international work supports the Government’s central purpose of creating a more successful country. The International Framework can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-international-framework-9781788514033/ .

Our partner countries in Africa are Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia. Scotland has identified it’s partner countries across the world based on historical and contemporary relationships, shared values, partnership and trust. Our bilateral relationships are primarily focused on Scotland acting as a good Global Citizen, through collaboration opportunities in trade and investment, culture and tourism, research and innovation, education links and international development to support poverty alleviation and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Question reference: S5W-21214

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 6 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to ensure that early detection of high blood pressure is prioritised, particularly among people at high risk or those underserved by current models of detection, including those with poor health or literacy and BME communities.

Question reference: S5W-21212

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 6 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether, as recommended by the Cross Party Group on Heart Disease report, Beating High Blood Pressure: Scotland’s Silent Killer, it plans to consider the proposal to research the feasibility and cost effectiveness of the provision of BP monitors to people with high blood pressure.

Question reference: S5W-21241

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 5 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recent research and projects highlighting Scotland's previously underplayed part in the slave trade, what steps can be taken to recognise Scotland's historic role in slavery.

Scotland has many different and complex aspects to its history and it is important that these are acknowledged. In order to support this process, in March 2007 a book was published entitled “Scotland and the Slave Trade” to mark the bicentenary of the abolition of the Slave Trade Act. http://www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/172082/0048155.pdf .

The most important way to learn lessons from that past is by showing leadership in tackling racism today. In December 2017 we published the Race Equality Action Plan outlining more than 120 actions we will take over the course of this Parliament to secure better outcomes for minority ethnic communities in Scotland.

One of the commitments we have given in the Race Equality Action Plan is to mark the International Decade for People of African Descent with an innovative programme of events. This provides us with an opportunity to work with stakeholders and consider how we can mark Scotland’s role in the slave trade in a way that will have the greatest impact for their communities today.

Question reference: S5W-21243

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 5 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to improving the general level of education and cultural liaison concerning slavery.

History is an area of the curriculum which provides opportunities to study a wide range of people and historical events, and diversity is important within that, ensuring that pupils develop a nuanced, balanced, informed understanding of past people and events and their impact on how our society has developed.

The “People, past events and societies” element of the history curriculum provide flexibility to teachers to choose the topics to meet the needs of children and young people. While it is the responsibility of individual local authorities and schools to decide how to deliver the curriculum, based on local needs and circumstances, teachers will use their professional judgement to carefully select which historical periods and topics to study.

Within both the history and modern studies areas of the curriculum pupils learn about the similarities and differences between current and past values and attitudes, as well as historical reasons behind inequality in our society.

Question reference: S5W-21000

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 29 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how the NHS educates its staff at all levels regarding LGBT issues and discrimination.

All NHS Scotland Health Boards are required to deliver mandatory equalities training to all staff, which includes LGBT issues and discrimination as outlined in the Equality Act. Guidance is available to Boards on how to develop training and what should be included, with regards to both rights and responsibilities. Our national partnership between Stonewall Scotland and NHS Scotland is supporting health boards to ensure that the workforce has the skills and knowledge of LGBT issues in the health service. Improvements to how the NHS educates its staff is underpinned by our commitment to deliver a continuously improving safe working environment, in which staff are treated consistently and fairly with dignity and respect, in an environment where diversity is valued.

Question reference: S5W-21001

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 29 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how the NHS handles the reporting and management of allegations of homophobic and transphobic abuse among its staff.

The welfare of staff in our NHS is paramount and everything must be done to eradicate bullying in the workplace. This is why we have made clear to Health Boards that bullying and harassment is unacceptable, and we expect them to ensure any reported incidents are taken seriously and fully investigated. The Scottish Government is committed to equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. All workplaces must have robust processes for reporting and dealing with harassment or bullying and there are policies in place which support Boards to tackle workplace bullying. We recognise that more still needs to be done and we are working with LGBT equality organisations, to help us eradicate discrimination and stigma in the workforce.

Question reference: S5T-01462

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the not-for-profit energy supply company, Our Power, going out of business.

Question reference: S5W-21057

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 25 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are available to deal with persistent breaches of the code of conduct by private factoring companies regarding the complaint process for individual clients.

Protections for homeowners are provided under the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011. Homeowners who are unhappy about the service provided by their property factor should, in the first instance, raise the matter with the factor directly and follow the factor’s own internal complaints procedure. If the homeowner remains dissatisfied, they can apply to have their case considered by the First-tier Tribunal Housing and Property Chamber, which can issue legally-binding enforcement orders.