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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-22803

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry team regarding extending the remit of the inquiry to include allegations of abuse of children who were placed in the care of other family members.

Prior to my statement in Parliament on 17 November 2016, which included reference to the scope of the Inquiry in relation to non-residential settings (answer to S5W-22804 on 2 May 2019 refers), I consulted with Lady Smith, Chair of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, as I am required to do under the terms of the Inquiries Act 2005. I have had no discussions with the Inquiry about its remit since then.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Question reference: S5W-22804

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will expand the remit of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry to ensure that it can investigate allegations of abuse of children placed in the care of other family members.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry’s remit was set in 2015 following an extensive public consultation and engagement with survivors of in care child abuse and other interested parties. The issue of the scope of the Inquiry in relation to non-residential settings has been raised previously. In a statement to Parliament on 17 November 2016 I set out my reasoning that a wider remit to include abuse in other settings would take many more years to conclude. We need to ensure that the Inquiry remains manageable in order to deliver its findings in a reasonable timescale. A full transcript of my statement can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=10630&mode=pdf .

Question reference: S5W-22802

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to investigate allegations of abuse of children who were placed in the care of other family members.

Protecting children and young people from all forms of abuse is a priority for the Scottish Government as set out in current national policy and legislation.

Under the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 and the Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011 social work services and the police have a legal responsibility to investigate any child protection concerns. The Scottish Government has published the National Child Protection Guidance (2014) which sets out the national framework within which agencies and practitioners at local level – individually and jointly – can understand and agree processes for working together to support, promote and safeguard the wellbeing of all children, regardless of their care setting.

Question reference: S5O-03209

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to eliminate using single-use plastic packaging.

Question reference: S5F-03299

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 April 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2019

To ask the First Minister what the social and economic impacts are of immigration.

Question reference: S5O-03171

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been invested in social housing in the Greenock and Inverclyde constituency since May 2011.

Question reference: S5F-03275

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 April 2019

To ask the First Minister what assistance will be provided to help the mental health of school pupils.

Question reference: S5W-22380

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 17 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to renew or refresh the 2014 strategy, See Hear: A strategic framework for meeting the needs of people with a sensory impairment in Scotland.

The See Hear strategy was developed as a long term strategic framework in partnership with local authorities, health boards and third sector partners and is jointly endorsed by COSLA. Since 2014, the Scottish Government has provided almost £4m to establish and support a national network of See Hear Leads, supported by a See Hear National Co-ordinator post based the Health and Social Care Alliance. Local partnerships are in place across every local authority area in Scotland to assist in delivering the strategy. Areas for action and recommendations are implemented through local partnerships between statutory and third sector partners who are responsible for identifying local priorities, developing work streams, timescales and implementation plans based on local priorities and need. This ensures a responsive, flexible approach to deliver person centred outcomes, support and care.

Question reference: S5W-22403

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2019
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Ben Macpherson on 29 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with its 2019-20 International Development Small Grants Programme funding round.

I am pleased to announce that funding amounting to a total of £468,525 will be provided to 18 organisations, from our Small Grants Programme 2019-2020, for projects to commence in April 2019.

Total amount of Recommended funding - Programme Year 2019-2020

Type of Grant	Number	Total Recommendation
Project	6	£359,225
Feasibility	5	£47,029
Capacity Building	7	£62,271
TOTAL	18	£468,525

Recommendations for funding after assessment by country and grant type - Programme Year 2019-2020

Country	Project	Capacity Building	Feasibility Study	Totals
Malawi	5	-	2	7
Zambia & Malawi	1	-	-	1
Zambia		2	-	2
Rwanda	-	-	1	1
Bangladesh	-	-	1	1
DRC	-	-	1	1
Uganda	-	-	-	-
Tanzania	-	3	-	3
Myanmar	-	1	-	1
Kenya	-	-	-	-
India	-	1	-	1
Total	6	7	5	18

The Small Grants Programme 2019-2020 attracted 28 applications before the deadline. Four applications were rejected as outwith our eligibility criteria, and therefore were not part of the full assessment process. The remaining 24 applications were fully assessed.

The full list of the organisations to be funded is available on the following web link:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/small-grants-programme-funding-awards-2019-to-2020

Question reference: S5O-03113

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Silverline Care Caledonia derecognising GMB Scotland as the trade union representing the staff in six of its care homes.