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: S5F-01925

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 January 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 January 2018

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland's campaign, Get it Minuted.

Question reference: S5W-13495

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-10912 by Mark McDonald on 22 September 2017 and, in light of reported increased awareness of period poverty, whether it will include sanitary products in the baby box.

This highlighted that mothers were satisfied with inclusion of maternity towels in the box. However, we did not receive any requests from mothers for the inclusion of further sanitary products in Scotland’s Baby Box. As such, there are no plans at this stage to add sanitary products, however, we will continue to keep the contents of Scotland’s Baby Box under review - consulting with health care experts and, more importantly, listening to the views of parents, as the scheme evolves.

Our immediate priority on sanitary products remains with the delivery of our Programme for Government commitment to provide free access in schools, colleges and universities. We will consider further action in light of the findings of our Aberdeen pilot which will conclude in March.

Question reference: S5W-13493

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 9 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the key findings of the Citizens Advice Scotland annual report on burial and cremation charges, and what discussions it is having with COSLA and local authorities regarding the widening costs.

The Scottish Government welcomes the report from Citizen’s Advice Scotland (CAS), which highlights that funeral costs have increased significantly in recent years. We are working closely with a range of stakeholders including CAS, funeral directors and the Third Sector as part of our work to tackle funeral poverty in Scotland. Our recently published Funeral Costs Plan commits the Scottish Government to 10 key actions to tackle funeral poverty during this Parliamentary term, including the publication of statutory guidance on funeral costs by December 2018.

While recognising that each local authority is responsible for setting its own charges, the Scottish Government expects that the guidance will explore a range of factors contributing to variability of costs and charging for burial and cremation across Scotland. We are already working with local authorities and COSLA to better understand these issues and will continue to work closely with them in the drafting and publication of the guidance.

Question reference: S5W-13496

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 8 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to each of the 12 recommendations set out in the Mental Health Foundation and Age Scotland policy briefing, Loneliness - the public health challenge of our time.

Question reference: S5O-01630

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of integrated smart ticketing on public transport.

Smart tickets can now be used to make journeys on rail, bus, subway, tram and air – with work progressing with ferries. This means Scotland has one of the most advanced smart integrated multi-modal public transport networks in the UK, outside of London.

Integrated ticketing between the Glasgow Subway and ScotRail, as well as the introduction of multi-operator bus smartzones in Aberdeenshire, Dundee and more recently Glasgow (with Edinburgh set to follow in early 2018) have proven successful, and Transport Scotland is now looking to expand this cross mode interoperability for the full saltire smartcard estate. In addition we are working with the industry to support the contactless bank card payment system to bring more convenience to the travelling public.

The roll out of upgraded standardised ticketing infrastructure across the deregulated bus network is virtually complete, meaning that nearly 150m smart concessionary transactions happen each year.

We have just closed our "Future of Smart Ticketing" consultation which will help to inform the future delivery of a smart ticketing and payment scheme in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-13095

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 14 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-12576 by Aileen Campbell on 22 November 2017, whether it will provide an update on how the £20 million of funding for alcohol and drugs treatment will be allocated.

Question reference: S5O-01582

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 14 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to calls for an independent audit of the child and adolescent mental health services in NHS Forth Valley.

NHS Forth Valley have engaged with the Mental Health Access Improvement Service Team based within Health Improvement Scotland. which was funded as part of the package of support offered to Boards to improve access to services.

The support offered by the improvement team already includes locally based ISD analysts undertaking analysis and reporting on data within CAMHS and PT services to inform improvements in service provision. Also work undertaken within Forth Valley on a major service review and redesign has seen a new service model introduced. The new model looks to address delays identified in the system, as well as undertaking staff recruitment and working to reduce waiting times.

In terms of working to improve child and adolescent mental health services at a national level we have announced a review of rejected referrals to CAMHS to gather evidence from young people, their families and carers to inform the approach to mental health services. As part of our Mental Health Strategy, we have commenced a national review of Personal and Social Education, including counselling in schools. In addition on the 6 December we announced a £95,000 investment in a Youth Commission on mental health, which will be delivered in partnership between SAMH and Young Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-12961

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the take-up rate has been of the ScotRail Smartcard; when it will be rolled out across all routes; what it considers the advantages of the card are, and how the services that it offers compare with the Oyster Card in London and other similar cards across the UK.

ScotRail's Smartcard has been introduced on all routes and is available for most ticket types.

There a number of advantages for passengers using a ScotRail smartcard (saltirecard). Some special promotional fares are only available on Smart. Super Off Peak Day Return and Club 50 are exclusive to Smart which provide discount travel. For Smart season ticket holders, exclusive online benefits are also offered, including discounts and deals on the high street. Smart also offers more convenience for passengers as tickets can be purchased online making it faster and easier with no need to queue at the ticket office as well as providing more security against lost and stolen cards. Smartcard also brings the rail industry in line with other transport operators and it provides the opportunity for Transport Scotland to expand and create new ways of making Scotland's public transport interoperable.

ScotRail will be piloting Account Based Ticketing in 2018, which will allow payment to be added to Smartcards and offer passengers daily and weekly best fares without having to purchase tickets before traveling (similar to that which is offered on Oyster in London).

Question reference: S5W-12963

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce contactless payments across all ScotRail services.

Question reference: S5O-01567

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what consideration it is giving to the provision of universal free access to sanitary products.

Our immediate priority is to focus on delivery of our Programme for Government commitment to provide access to free sanitary products in schools, colleges and universities, and we will consider further action in light of the findings of our Aberdeen pilot which will conclude in March next year.

This is a ground-breaking commitment to tackle this gender injustice and we are proud to be the first nation in the world to take this action.