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-08708

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 April 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 5 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that infants and young children are being registered as members of political parties and, in light of the potential impact on child welfare, whether it plans to discuss this with the Electoral Commission Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-08660

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 3 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-05420 by Mark McDonald on 15 December 2016, whether it will publish the research that it commissioned with parents and, if so, when.

Question reference: S5W-08659

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 3 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-05422 by Mark McDonald on 15 December 2016, what breastfeeding outcomes were achieved in the pilot areas, and whether breastfeeding aids will be included when the baby boxes are rolled out nationally.

Question reference: S5W-08695

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 3 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what items were (a) rejected and (b) selected for inclusion in the baby box; what criteria and evidence it used in determining this, and how often it plans to review the contents.

Question reference: S5W-08664

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 3 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many unique visitors there have been each month to its breastfeeding website, feedgood.scot; what the most popular pages on the site are, and how the number of unique visits compares with the previous site, feedgoodfactor.org.uk.

Feedgood.scot was launched on 1 July 2016. The following table sets out the number of users per month for the first nine-months of the feedgood.scot and provides a comparison figure for feedgoodfactor.org.uk the year before. Google Analytics now reports Users rather than Unique Visitors.

Site

July

Aug.

Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Total

Feedgood

factor.org.uk

890

809

737

714

740

617

931

764

845

7047

Feedgood.scot

833

865

887

723

881

537

1215

798

952

7691

Most popular page on Feedgood.scot since launch

Page	% of visitors
Home Page	19.13
How-to-guides	11.29
Stages – deciding how to feed	5.21
Support groups in your area	4.44
Information for each stage	3.80
Finding support- mums, support groups, helpful links	3.39
Stages/planning – your feeding options	3.06
Stages/first few days	2.52
How to guides – challenging situations, problems	2.45
Health Professionals	2.11

Question reference: S5W-08658

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 3 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-05421 by Mark McDonald on 15 December 2016, what evidence it used to reach the decision to (a) include maternity pads in and (b) exclude sanitary pads from the baby box, and whether it will reconsider the decision regarding sanitary pads when the boxes are rolled out nationally.

Question reference: S5F-01234

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 28 April 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 May 2017

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government has taken to improve access to sanitary products.

Question reference: S5O-00924

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 April 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to improve literacy rates.

Question reference: S5W-08699

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is planning to extend the charitable status to state schools, in light of the resolution that was passed at the October 2016 SNP conference calling for this, and, if so, what (a) meetings and (b) discussions have taken place or are scheduled.

The number one priority of this Government is education and our focus is on raising attainment and closing the equity gap. We want to ensure that every child has an equal chance to fulfil his or her potential, deliver the best outcomes for all children while taking every opportunity to interrupt the cycle of deprivation and poverty which attacks the life chances of far too many children and young people in Scotland. The education system has many strengths and we need to build on them by reforming our approach to get the whole system pulling in the same direction. We need an integrated framework that meets the needs of all young people at every stage of their journey through life which can be achieved by building on our Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC), Curriculum for Excellence and Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce policies.

The education landscape is complex. We regularly reflect on current practice and explore and listen to ideas for change. Any such ideas are given full consideration as to the implications they would have and the benefits they would bring to the children of Scotland. Our public services need to focus on delivering improved outcomes for children rather than organisational arrangements.

Question reference: S5W-08697

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the question S5W-06644 by John Swinney on 8 February 2017, for what reason it has no plans to review the charitable status of private or independent schools.

The Scottish Government are focused on ensuring that our public schools deliver the best possible outcomes for our children giving priority to raising attainment and closing the equity gap. We remain committed to publicly funded, comprehensive school education ensuring that every child has the chance to succeed.

As previously stated we currently have no plans to review the charitable status of independent schools. Any independent school wishing to obtain charitable status must meet the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) requirements. OSCR’s public benefits test asks whether an organisation has charitable purposes – advancement of education being one such purpose – and whether it provides public benefit. Whether schools meet the test is a matter for OSCR who operate independently of Government.