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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5W-22464

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported rise in abuse, threats and incitement of violence toward civil servants and people who hold public office.

The Scottish Government is clear that violence of any kind is totally unacceptable. Every person should feel safe and protected from abuse and violence regardless of where they work and we encourage anyone who experiences violence or abuse, be that in work or outside of work, to report it. Any immediate threat or danger should be immediately reported to the Police.

Scotland’s justice system provides for protection for all workers under our common law of assault, threatening and abusive behaviour and breach of the peace.

Question reference: S5W-22465

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 30 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that its services that are delivered through Citizens Advice bureaux are equally accessible to people in council areas that have no bureau.

In those areas without Citizen Advice Bureaux services neighbouring bureau deliver advice provision for many national services such as; Welfare Mitigation, Financial Health Checks, Patients Advice & Support Service, Armed Services Advice Project, Pension Wise and Help to claim. Additionally, webchat and telephony services are available on a national basis along with information, advice and signposting on the CAB website.

Scottish Government also funds other independent advice providers either directly or through local authorities to provide advice services on a wide range of citizen issues, We also directly fund Advice Direct Scotland to provide the consumeradvice.scot service. This service provides free multi-channel, impartial advice on a broad range of consumer issues including mobile phone and internet providers, shops, airlines, rail operators, banks and insurance firms, restaurants, delivery companies, public bodies and other organisations, across the whole of Scotland.

Question reference: S5O-03135

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 April 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what impact it anticipates Brexit having on the supply of skilled labour.

Question reference: S5O-03115

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the birth rate falling to its lowest level since records began, whether it will provide details of the steps that it will take to support people to have children, including supporting existing families to have more children.

Question reference: S5W-22239

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 March 2019

To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government will ensure the recent revision of the severe deafness definition by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) will be reflected in the eligibility for cochlear implants under the NHS.

NHS National Services Scotland's National Services Division is working with the Scottish Health Technologies Group (part of Healthcare Improvement Scotland) and the Scottish Cochlear Implantation Service to assess the potential implications and impact of the recent revision.

NHS National Services Scotland expects this work to be considered by the National Patient, Public and Professional Reference Group (NPPPRG) on 20 August 2019 and reported to the National Specialist Services Committee (NSSC), which is the Governance Group for all National Specialist Services, in September.

The NSSC will be asked to provide a recommendation on the outcome of the assessment for NHS Scotland for consideration by the Board Chief Executives.

Question reference: S5W-22238

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 26 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of figures showing that, in 2018, Scotland’s birth rate fell to its lowest level since records began in 1855, what steps it will take to encourage people across Scotland to have more children.

Deciding when, and if, to have children is largely a matter of personal choice. The Scottish Government is working hard to create a country that is the best place in the world to grow up, through a variety of initiatives aimed at supporting pregnant women, children and families.

The decreasing birth rate is not new but part of an on-going trend. Whilst not unique to Scotland, it reflects broader societal changes, such as an increase in the average age of women and couples starting a family, the average family size has reduced over the past few years and possibly economic uncertainty influencing decisions around starting a family.

Question reference: S5W-22107

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 21 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to halt the advance of ash dieback.

Question reference: S5O-03026

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can confirm that the new accredited specialist endometriosis unit will open in Glasgow in April 2019.

Question reference: S5W-21755

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 7 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath in 2020.

Question reference: S5W-21803

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 5 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many households in North Ayrshire were in receipt of mitigation for the so-called bedroom tax in the last year for which figures were available, and how much funding was allocated.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of households in receipt of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) for mitigation of the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy. Information on the funding allocated to local authorities is available in Table 1 of “Discretionary Housing Payments in Scotland: as at 30 September 2018” published at: https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Social-Welfare/dhp/30Sep2018 .