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

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Question reference: S5W-03531

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 26 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance there is on the level of training required by nursing staff working with people with dementia.

Question reference: S5W-03708

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 26 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether private landlords carrying out repairs and improvements to their properties themselves without appointing or registering as a factor are breaking the law.

There is no legal obligation for a private landlord to appoint a property factor to carry out repairs and improvements to their property.

There is no legal obligation on a private landlord to register as a property factor unless they fall under the meaning of property factor specified under section 2 of the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011. It is an offence for a person to operate as a property factor whilst unregistered.

Question reference: S5W-03707

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 26 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to amend the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011.

There are no current plans to review the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011, but a review of the code of conduct for registered property factors established under the Act is currently underway. The current code sets out minimum standards of practice which all registered property factors are obliged to comply with.

Any revised code prepared as part of that review would be subject to public consultation and approval by the Scottish Parliament.

Question reference: S5W-03230

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 18 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, on average, how many people does a post-diagnostic dementia link worker support.

Question reference: S5W-03229

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 18 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many post-diagnostic dementia link workers there are in each NHS board.

Question reference: S5W-03276

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it provides for parents who are concerned about health and safety in a school.

Health and safety legislation is not devolved to Scottish Government. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has UK wide responsibility for this matter.

The HSE’s current schools guidance can be found online at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/services/education/index.htm. Moreover, information about managing health and safety in school grounds can be found on Education Scotland's website at: http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningandteaching/approaches/outdoorlearning/placestolearnoutdoors/schoolgrounds/managingsafety.asp

Question reference: S5W-03277

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its role is in ensuring appropriate health and safety in schools.

Question reference: S5W-03219

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 11 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with integration authorities about the inclusion of services and support for people with musculoskeletal conditions in their strategic plans.

Health boards can with agreement from local partners delegate all services and support for people with musculoskeletal conditions to their local Health and Social Care Partnership for inclusion in strategic plans. Where the decision is taken by the Health board not to delegate a specific musculoskeletal service or specialty we expect both parties to work together to ensure that any interactions between delegated and non-delegated services are as seamless as possible.

The Scottish Government has regular contact with local Health and Social Care Partnerships regarding the implementation of their locally agreed strategic plans and their effectiveness in the delivery of better outcomes.

Question reference: S5W-03287

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 7 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the UK Chief Medical Officers' Alcohol Guidelines Review and what action it will take to (a) tackle excessive alcohol consumption and (b) help people to make informed choices about their alcohol consumption.

The Scottish Government is supportive of the review, and we have taken considerable action to reduce alcohol harm through our Alcohol Framework to help prevent problems arising in the first place, and ensuring support and treatment for those who are already experiencing problems. As part of the Alcohol Framework we have taken forward education programmes and social marketing campaigns to raise awareness of the risks associated with alcohol and will continue to do so through the next phase of the Alcohol Framework.

Question reference: S5W-03049

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 30 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many people infected with hepatitis C because of treatment with infected blood or blood products have (a) received a stage 1 payment from the Skipton Fund and (b) died without progressing to stage 2 from the Skipton Fund, also broken down by those who died leaving a widow, widower or partner.

762 people identified as infected in Scotland with Hepatitis C via NHS blood or blood products have received a Stage 1 lump sum payment of £20,000 from the Skipton Fund, to recognise chronic infection. Of those, the Skipton Fund is aware of 103 people who have been confirmed as deceased without progressing to Stage two. Stage two represents disease progression to more serious associated conditions - cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver transplant and B-cell lymphoma. Stage one represents chronic infection only and the impact on life expectancy is significantly less for the Stage one group. Highly effective treatments for Hepatitis C are now available.

The Skipton Fund does not have any reliable data on the number who died leaving a widow, widower or partner.