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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: S4W-23474

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 11 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much out-of-authority care placements supported or funded by the Scottish Government have cost in each of the last five years for which information is available, broken down by type of placement.

Scottish local authorities have a duty under Section 12 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to provide social care services within their area, as they may consider suitable and adequate. Placements by local authorities for care outside their area would be arranged and paid for by local authorities.

Information on care placements outside each local authority area is not held centrally. This would be a matter for individual local authorities.

Question reference: S4W-23264

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 4 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many leisure facilities have been closed by each local authority in each year since 1999.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. It is a matter for local authorities as they have a statutory responsibility to determine the provision of facilities based on local need.

As the national agency for sport, sportscotland takes part in strategic discussions with local authorities about local provision and generally presumes against the loss of outdoor sports facilities except in certain defined circumstances, including where the facility to be lost will be compensated for.

Question reference: S4W-23033

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 19 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how (a) many people have been employed in and (b) much money has been generated by the film industry in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S4W-22983

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many miles of new rail line it has opened in each year since 1999.

The following table shows the number of miles of rail line open in Scotland in each year since 1999:

	Total miles of rail lines	Change since previous year (miles)
1999-00	1,696	-
2000-01	1,696	0
2001-02	1,696	0
2002-03	1,696	0
2003-04	1,696	0
2004-05	1,696	0
2005-06	1,700	4
2006-07	1,700	0
2007-08	1,700	0
2008-09	1,706	6
2009-10	1,714	9
2010-11	1,717	2
2011-12	1,717	0

Source: Network Rail

Note: Rounded to the nearest mile; annual changes may not sum due to rounding.

The figures are derived from table 7.14 in the publication Scottish Transport Statistics 2013 Edition which can be found at:

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/statistics/j285663-00.htm

Question reference: S4W-22981

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 18 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many children have been disciplined in relation to phone use in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

This information is not collated centrally.

In November 2013 the Scottish Government published Guidance on Developing Policies to promote the Safe and Responsible Use of Mobile Technology in Schools. The purpose of this guidance is to provide schools and local authorities with advice on how to develop local policies that encourage the safe and responsible use of personal mobile technology in school, and beyond. These policies should help schools to secure the potential benefits for learning and teaching whilst protecting staff and children and young people from harassment and abuse which can arise from the misuse of such technology.

Question reference: S4F-02397

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 November 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 November 2014

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government will take to ensure that all children receive their full two years entitlement of nursery provision.

Question reference: S4W-22982

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many miles of new road it has opened in each year since 1999.

The following table shows the equivalent road lane length of new trunk road constructed or opened in each year since 1999:

Year	Lane-miles (estimated)
1999-00	15
2000-01	20
2001-02	3
2002-03	6
2003-04	15
2004-05	55
2005-06	67
2006-07	4
2007-08	0
2008-09	36
2009-10	0
2010-11	32
2011-12	82
2012-13 (provisional)	0

The figures are derived from table 4.3 in the publication Scottish Transport Statistics 2013 which can be found at http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/statistics/j285663-00.htm

Question reference: S4W-22712

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 31 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what secure provision is available in Scotland for children and young people with mental health issues.

Young people receiving secure care in one of the five secure care centres in Scotland (Edinburgh Secure Services; the Good Shepherd Centre, Bishopton; Kibble Education and Care Centre, Paisley; Rossie Secure Accommodation Service, Montrose; St Mary’s Kenmure, Bishopbriggs) who require specialist mental health services will have their needs met by local child and adolescent mental health services working with secure care staff.

Question reference: S4W-22713

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 29 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many inpatient psychiatric units there are in Scotland for children and young people with (a) mental health issues and (b) severe learning difficulties.

The following table shows the three regional adolescent inpatient units operating across Scotland based in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee:

Unit	No. of beds	Area served
Royal Edinburgh Hospital	12	South East of Scotland (Lothian, Fife and Borders)
Skye House, Stobhill, Glasgow	24	West of Scotland (Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Forth Valley, Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway and Ayrshire and Arran)
Dudhope House, Dundee	6 (a further six beds will be available from mid-2015).	North of Scotland (Tayside, Grampian, Highland, Shetland, Orkney and Western Isles)

Severe psychiatric conditions are rare in children under 12, but those who require intensive support and treatment can be cared for in the nine bedded specialist units within the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill.

Admission for children with a learning disability would be considered on a case-by-case basis, normally only being required in the most severe and complex cases. One specialist bed is provided for children and young people with severe learning disability in Lothian, at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, staffed when required, by the intensive learning disability Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services team.

Question reference: S4W-22720

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what specialist child and adolescent mental health service provision there is in Scotland for people with complex autism and learning difficulties.

Ensuring that child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) meet the needs of their local population is the responsibility of NHS boards. This includes meeting the needs of children and young people with mental illness and learning disability and autism. In the national mental health strategy we include a commitment to work with clinicians in Scotland to identify good models of learning disability CAMHS from across Scotland and the UK which could be used as tests in Scotland. That work, being undertaken by the University of Glasgow, is well underway, and will inform service development.

The Scottish Strategy for Autism aims to enable people with autistic spectrum disorder to access mainstream services that are appropriate to meet individual needs.