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-14129

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 9 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many employment opportunities, including apprenticeships, have been made available to unemployed young people as a result of Scotland's Employer Recruitment Incentive (SERI), broken down by (a) disabled people or people with a long-term health condition, (b) care-experienced young people, (c) carers, (d) people with convictions, including community payback orders, (e) early leavers from the armed forces, veterans or ex-forces personnel, (f) people unemployed for six months or more who are not on the Work Programme or a Community Work Placement, (g) people who have failed their ESA Work Capability Assessment, (h) Work Programme completers who remain unemployed, (i) ethnic minority groups, (j) people from the Gypsy/Traveller community, (k) partners of current or ex-Armed Forces personnel, (l) people requiring support with language, literacy or numeracy, including those for whom English is an additional language, (m) lone parents, (n) people with lower than SCQF Level 5 qualifications, (o) young people who received additional support for learning in school, (p) refugees or other people granted leave to stay in the UK, (q) homeless people, including those in temporary or unstable accommodation and (r) people affected by substance misuse.

The information on the number of employment opportunities supported by Scotland’s Employer Recruitment Incentive, broken down by eligible groups in set out in the following table.

Eligibility	Employment Opportunities 2016-17
Disability or long term health condition	162
Care Experienced	21
Carer	20
Person with a conviction	26
Early leaver from forces & veterans	*
Partner of current or ex-armed forces	*
Long term unemployed (6 months +)	116
Failed ESA Work Capability Assessment	0
Work Programme completer - unemployed	*
Ethnic minority groups	15
Gypsy/Travelling community	0
Language, Literacy, Numeracy (Inc ESOL)	22
Lone Parent	8
Person with lower than SCQF Level 5	130
Received additional support - learning in school	15
Refugee or other granted leave to stay in the UK	0
Person affected by substance misuse	*
Homeless person	7

Those marked with a * are to protect anonymity as the numbers are less than 5.

** Eligibility for SERI changes in 2016-17. Figures in 2015-16 broadly reflect the same criteria.

Question reference: S5W-14128

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 9 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what level of funding it made available to Scotland's Employer Recruitment Incentive (SERI).

Question reference: S5W-14130

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 9 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of young people offered a job or apprenticeship through Scotland's Employer Recruitment Incentive (SERI) remained in employment after 13 weeks, broken down by (a) disabled people or people with a long-term health condition, (b) care-experienced young people, (c) carers, (d) people with convictions, including community payback orders, (e) early leavers from the armed forces, veterans or ex-forces personnel, (f) people unemployed for six months or more who are not on the Work Programme or a Community Work Placement, (g) people who have failed their ESA Work Capability Assessment, (h) Work Programme completers who remain unemployed, (i) ethnic minority groups, (j) people from the Gypsy/Traveller community, (k) partners of current or ex-Armed Forces personnel, (l) people requiring support with language, literacy or numeracy, including those for whom English is an additional language, (m) lone parents, (n) people with lower than SCQF Level 5 qualifications, (o) young people who received additional support for learning in school, (p) refugees or other people granted leave to stay in the UK, (q) homeless people, including those in temporary or unstable accommodation and (r) people affected by substance misuse.

The percentage of young people supported into employment, including apprenticeships, that remain in employment after 13 weeks is set out in the following table.

Eligibility	Percentage sustained at 13 weeks 2016-17
Disability or long term health condition	90.1%
Care Experienced	81.0%
Carer	90.0%
Person with a conviction	88.5%
Early leaver from forces & veterans	100.0%
Partner of current or ex-armed forces	66.7%
Long term unemployed (6 months +)	93.1%
Failed ESA Work Capability Assessment	N/A
Work Programme completer - unemployed	100.0%
Ethnic minority groups	80.0%
Gypsy/Travelling community	N/A
Language, Literacy, Numeracy (Inc ESOL)	100.0%
Lone Parent	75.0%
Person with lower than SCQF Level 5	90.0%
Received additional support - learning in school	93.3%
Refugee or other granted leave to stay in the UK	N/A
Person affected by substance misuse	100.0%
Homeless person	85.7%

* Eligibility for SERI change in 2016-17. Figures for 2015-16 reflect broadly the same criteria however related to the outcome at 12 weeks rather than 13 weeks.

Question reference: S5W-12782

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many doctors from across the UK have applied to become GPs in Scotland in each of the last five years.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the numbers of applicants by qualified GPs for established GP posts in Scotland. Where GP Practices advertise posts, established /qualified GPs apply directly to the GP Practice.

The following table shows the number of UK wide applications for GP Training posts alongside the number of posts advertised and filled in Scotland, between 2013 and 2017. This reflects that recruitment into GPST posts operates on a UK-wide basis.

Year	UK Applications	UK posts	Scotland posts	Scotland Accepts
2017	7726	4108	430	318
2016	7197	3975	444	286
2015	7166	3641	305	239
2014	7942	3649	306	269
2013	7736	3260	305	280

Question reference: S5O-01750

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 31 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had regarding the improvement of support services for vulnerable people finding themselves homeless or in temporary accommodation.

The Scottish Government has been involved in a range of discussions with partners, which has led to swift, concrete actions, on improving support to vulnerable people facing homelessness through the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group.

Importantly, these discussions are informed by input from people with lived experience of homelessness.

Having delivered actions on rough sleeping this winter, the Action Group is working on recommendations to deliver actions to end rough sleeping for good and to transform the delivery of temporary accommodation services.

The Action Group’s work is building from the strong base of Housing Options, and the sharing of information and best practice across the network of Housing Options Hubs, to ensure people can access the appropriate support to meet their needs.

Question reference: S5O-01683

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported high pupil-teacher ratios across the Lothian area.

Question reference: S5O-01621

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 20 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the quality of watercourses in the Lothian region.

Through Scotland’s river basin management plans we have set out a programme of measures to protect and improve our water environment across the country.

We recognise the importance of such improvements for our communities and the wider economy. The draft budget published last Thursday provided an increase of £2 million per annum to address a range of specific pressures on our water environment.

Question reference: S5W-13013

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 12 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) process and (b) timetable is for revising the licensing of misoprostol to allow it to be taken outside of a hospital or clinic, and in the absence of medical staff, for the purpose of carrying out an abortion, and which stakeholders it has consulted or plans to consult regarding this.

Regulation for the licensing and safety of medicines is currently a reserved area for the UK Government. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for regulating medicines and medical devices in the UK.

The Scottish Government has used powers under the 1967 Abortion Act to class a patient’s home as a place where abortion treatment can be carried out in specific circumstances, in order to enable women for whom it is clinically appropriate to take misoprostol at home.

Question reference: S5W-13020

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 12 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it began consulting stakeholders regarding its decision to revise the licensing of misoprostol to allow it to be taken outside of a hospital or clinic, and in the absence of medical staff, for the purpose of carrying out an abortion; for what reason it did not carry out a public consultation on the decision, and what action it has taken to take account of public opinion on the matter.

The Scottish Government has used powers under the 1967 Abortion Act to class a patient’s home as a place where abortion treatment can be carried out in some circumstances, in order to enable women for whom it is clinically appropriate to take misoprostol at home.

The Scottish Government has no plans to consult on this decision.

As part of on-going work to support improvements to abortion services in Scotland, the Scottish Government regularly engages with NHS specialists in abortion care. This enables policy considerations to be informed by the expertise and experience of staff working directly with women accessing abortion services, thereby enabling the views of these women to be taken into account.

Question reference: S5W-13015

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 12 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted a pilot exercise to establish the safety of allowing misoprostol to be taken outside of a hospital or clinic, and in the absence of medical staff, for the purpose of carrying out an abortion and, if so, whether it will publish the results, and what other action it has taken to determine the safety of the practice.

Patient safety is a priority for the Scottish Government. Allowing women to take misoprostol outwith a hospital setting where clinically appropriate is standard practice in other countries, including France, Sweden and Portugal and is supported by research studies demonstrating both its safety and effectiveness, and its acceptability to women.

Prior to this approach being permitted in Scotland, many women undergoing an early medical abortion would have taken misoprostol in a clinical setting, and then immediately travelled home in order to pass the pregnancy at home. Allowing misoprostol to be taken at home removes the need for an additional journey to a clinic, and the risk of a woman starting to pass the pregnancy while travelling to her home.