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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-03255

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 17 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to establishing a working group to examine the impact of incidental cetacean entanglement on (a) the whale population and (b) fishing communities.

Question reference: S5W-01827

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 1 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-01495 by Derek Mackay on 3 August 2016, whether the insertion by paragraph 6 of the Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2013 (SSI 2013 No. 37) at 4(e) and (f) of “and the person entitled to possession of the lands and heritages has submitted an application to the rating authority” means that submitting an application is a mandatory condition to establish that a property has been unoccupied and therefore entitled to empty property relief; what guidance has been issued to local authorities on the implementation of the conditions to be met to access the Fresh Start initiative, and whether fresh start relief is unavailable if no application for empty property relief has been made.

Two of the conditions for rates relief under regulation 4 of The Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) (Scotland) Regulations 1994, referred to as 'Fresh Start', are submission of an application to the rating authority, and that for a continuous period of 12 months immediately prior to being occupied the person or persons entitled to possession of the lands and heritages during that period were in receipt of relief under section 24 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1966. There is no statutory requirement for an application to the rating authority for empty property relief, although in practice councils make application forms available to enable ratepayers to notify vacancies. Information on rates reliefs for local authorities is published by the Scottish Government at: www.gov.scot/Topics/Government/local-government/17999/11203/nondomratesinfo

Question reference: S5W-01495

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 3 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether, under the Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2013 (SSI 2013 No. 37) paragraph 6, which inserts “Lands and Heritages to be treated as unoccupied” at 4 (f), it is mandatory that an application has been submitted, in particular that failure by a previous occupant to formally submit an application would prohibit an incoming tenant from accessing a rates discount under the Fresh Start initiative.

Question reference: S5W-00388

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 9 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government which cabinet secretary has responsibility for animal welfare issues.

Question reference: S5W-00219

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 7 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will revisit the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 and, in particular, whether it is effective in dealing with anti-social neighbours.

The Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 provides a wide range of measures for dealing with anti-social neighbours. Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) can be used to prevent persons from engaging in antisocial behaviours which cause alarm or distress to their neighbours, including antisocial noise nuisance. Breaching an ASBO is a criminal offence which can result in a fine or imprisonment for up to five years.

The Scottish Government is currently convening a working group with local authorities to look at the existing guidance to the antisocial behaviour legislation and revise it where necessary. This will include taking newer legislation, such as the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 giving social landlords additional powers to deal with antisocial behaviour in social housing, into account. These new powers include taking previous antisocial behaviour into account in the allocation of social housing to new applicants, extending the use of the short Scottish secure tenancy for antisocial tenants in social housing and introducing a streamlined eviction process for those social tenants who cause harm to their immediate community.

Question reference: S4F-03287

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 March 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 March 2016

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government considers that the rehousing provisions for victims of domestic abuse are satisfactory.

Question reference: S4W-27807

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government which sections of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 have yet to come into force and when.

The provisions of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 that are yet to come into force are section 52 insofar as introducing paragraphs 6, 9(b), (d) (insofar as not already in force), (h) to (l), (n) and (p) of schedule 2 to that Act. These relate to powers provided to the Scottish Ministers for the revocation of existing legislation on the welfare of animals.

These powers will be used to present secondary statutory legislation for the approval of the Scottish Parliament when the Scottish Ministers consider it necessary, following the ongoing review of pet animal welfare.

Question reference: S4W-27808

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on microchipping cats.

Question reference: S4W-27467

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 25 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of paragraphs 61 to 63 of the National Accommodation Strategy for Sex Offenders in Scotland, which deal with out-of-area placements and exceptional circumstances, on how many occasions in each of the last four years sex offenders have been relocated outwith their local area.

The Scottish Government does not collect this information. The National Accommodation Strategy for Sex Offenders (NASSO) explains that the responsibility for making the necessary arrangements for an out of area placement lies with the placing local authority. The NASSO also places the responsibility on local authorities for ensuring that monitoring arrangements are in place to track the incidence of out-of-area placements.

Question reference: S4T-01103

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what benefits it considers there will be for Midlothian and the Borders from the Borders Railway.