The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S6W-08500

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to research by Professor Steve Turner of the University of Aberdeen, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health, which found that a link between household income, poverty and fetal size is present in the second trimester of pregnancy, and what action it is taking to improve antenatal health and wellbeing.

We provide a wide range of antenatal support to help reduce the effects of poverty. For example, Best Start Foods provides pregnant women in receipt of benefits, with £18 every four weeks. To improve the nutrition of pregnant women, we provide free vitamins and are working, on a UK basis, to introduce mandatory fortification with folic acid. We provide £2.3m annually to NHS Boards to implement the Maternal and Infant Nutrition Framework (2011) and we have agreed standards with them to ensure early access to antenatal services where fetal growth, smoking/alcohol use, diet and maternal wellbeing is monitored.

Question reference: S6W-08533

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what major orthopaedics surgery will be available to patients at Carrick Glen Hospital following its reopening.

Question reference: S6W-08517

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking to protect pregnant women from reported increasing levels of chemicals from plastics and pesticides, in light of the recent findings of a study funded by the United States' National Institutes of Health.

The NHS and Public Health Scotland provide support to expectant mothers for a healthy and safe pregnancy. Currently, the Committee on Toxicity has been supporting Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition by conducting a large scale risk assessment of the maternal health issues associated with legacy pesticides such as hexachlorocyclohexanes, endosulfan, and other organochlorine pesticides; and the plastic additive bisphenol A (BPA).

Additionally, The Scottish Government have legislated to end the supply and manufacture of the single use plastic items most commonly found littered, as set in the Programme for Government 2021-2021. The new regulations on single-use plastics are coming into force on 01 June 2022.

Question reference: S6W-08494

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 24 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to a national screening programme in schools to identify dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and other learning difficulties.

Education Authorities have duties under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) Act 2004 (as amended) to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. Under the Act, a formal diagnosis is not required for a child or young person to receive support.

However, we recognise that early identification of an additional support need, such as dyscalculia, dyspraxia or dyslexia, can ensure that children and young people get the support that they need to reach their full potential. Our national approach recommends that the Scottish working definitions of dyslexia and dyscalculia are used by practitioners, schools and local authorities during a collaborative and holistic assessment process. This process should take place over a period of time and should include consultation with teachers, school staff, parents, pupils and other relevant agencies when there are concerns about a pupil’s progress.

We provide a range of free professional learning opportunities for teachers aimed at supporting practitioners to further develop their knowledge, understanding and skills in supporting learners with dyslexia, and reduce barriers to learning. This includes the Addressing Dyslexia Toolkit and identification pathway, launched in 2017, and the Dyslexia and Inclusive Practice online professional learning modules, which enable staff to gain professional recognition in this area.

Question reference: S6W-08019

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the latest projections for the total costs of the (a) Baird Family Hospital and (b) ANCHOR Centre at NHS Grampian, and the expected completion dates of each.

Question reference: S6W-08547

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 24 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in (a) South Ayrshire and (b) East Ayrshire who have been charged with the offence of fire-raising since 2010 were not given a prison sentence.

COPFS collates data based on reports to each Procurator Fiscal (PF) office, not by local authority area and so, based on geographic proximities, for (a) South Ayrshire the relevant PF office is Ayr and (b) East Ayrshire, the data is based on reports received at PF office Kilmarnock.

COPFS can provide the number of charges reported to COPFS and of those, the number that were convicted. A further breakdown of charges convicted excluding any with a disposal of prison sentence has also been provided.

Although most charges were prosecuted with the majority convicted, others resulted in no conviction or no further action and a number are still live and ongoing.

Other charges received an alternative to prosecution such as diversion to social work department or referral to children’s reporter or were marked “no action” for example, in cases where there was insufficient admissible evidence.

The information requested is provided in the following table: -

Fire-raising charges reported to COPFS
Procurator Fiscal Office - Ayr

Financial Year Reported	Total Charges Reported	Total Charges Convicted	Charges Convicted (excluding any with prison sentence)
2010-11	11	3	3
2011-12	24	9	5
2012-13	18	3	0
2013-14	17	6	5
2014-15	12	1	0
2015-16	17	3	2
2016-17	15	2	0
2017-18	30	18	14
2018-19	8	4	2
2019-20	16	3	2
2020-21	22	2	0
2021-22	11	1	1


Fire-raising charges reported to COPFS
Procurator Fiscal Office - Kilmarnock

Financial Year Reported	Total Charges Reported	Total Charges Convicted	Charges Convicted (excluding any with prison sentence)
2010-11	26	3	1
2011-12	34	10	7
2012-13	21	6	5
2013-14	13	3	3
2014-15	10	5	1
2015-16	46	16	6
2016-17	19	7	4
2017-18	11	3	2
2018-19	13	4	2
2019-20	24	10	5
2020-21	27	6	1
2021-22	26	2	0

Other sentences include: - Admonished, Children's Hearing, Community Payback Order,
Community Service Order, No Order, Probation Order, Restriction of Liberty Order

Question reference: S6W-08546

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 24 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in (a) South Ayrshire and (b) East Ayrshire who have been (i) charged with and (ii) found guilty of possessing child pornography since 2010 were not given a prison sentence.

COPFS collates data based on reports to each Procurator Fiscal (PF) office, not by local authority area and so, based on geographic proximities, for (a) South Ayrshire the relevant PF office is Ayr and (b) East Ayrshire, the data is based on reports received at PF office Kilmarnock.

COPFS can provide the number of charges reported to COPFS and of those, the number that were convicted. A further breakdown of charges convicted excluding any with a prison sentence has also been provided.

Although most charges were prosecuted with the majority convicted, others resulted in no conviction or no further action and a number are still live and ongoing.

Other charges received an alternative to prosecution such as diversion to social work department or referral to children’s reporter or were marked “no action” for example, in cases where there was insufficient admissible evidence.

The information requested is provided in the following table: -

Possession of Child Pornography charges reported to COPFS
Procurator Fiscal Office - Ayr

Financial Year Reported	Total Charges Reported	Total Charges Convicted	Charges Convicted (excluding any with prison sentence)
2010-11	8	4	2
2011-12	10	4	3
2012-13	15	1	0
2013-14	13	4	4
2014-15	7	0	0
2015-16	13	2	1
2016-17	9	5	3
2017-18	6	3	3
2018-19	18	7	5
2019-20	10	7	6
2020-21	14	9	7
2021-22	9	0	0


Possession of Child Pornography charges reported to COPFS
Procurator Fiscal Office - Kilmarnock

Financial Year Reported	Total Charges Reported	Total Charges Convicted	Charges Convicted (excluding any with prison sentence)
2010-11	11	7	6
2011-12	10	5	1
2012-13	26	7	5
2013-14	32	11	8
2014-15	14	5	5
2015-16	17	5	3
2016-17	14	13	9
2017-18	16	13	11
2018-19	20	11	8
2019-20	12	8	2
2020-21	22	14	12
2021-22	20	0	0


Other sentences include: - Admonished, Community Payback Order, No Order, Probation Order,
Restriction of Liberty Order, Sex Offenders Register, Sexual Offences Prevention Order

Question reference: S6W-08561

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 13 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 24 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the publication, RentBetter: Research on the impact of changes to the private rented sector tenancy regime in Scotland: Wave 2 Final Report.

The Scottish Government welcomes the publication of Wave 2 of the ‘RentBetter’ research programme. This research provides a valuable insight into the experiences of households living in, and landlords providing, rental properties in Scotland.

We will consider the findings as part of the evidence to inform policy development for the Year 2 Housing Bill and in finalising the Rented Sector Strategy.

Question reference: S6T-00732

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports of an outbreak of the monkeypox virus in the UK, including cases in Scotland, what action it is taking to monitor transmission of the virus in Scotland and support people affected.

Question reference: S6T-00730

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the sports and events sectors regarding alternative transport arrangements in light of the revised ScotRail train timetable.

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