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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-07017

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve access to care closer to home for young people with inflammatory bowel disease.

The National Clinical Strategy is the Scottish Government’s blueprint for health and social care over the next 15 years. It’s one of the key drivers that will help deliver transformational change across our NHS.

Its foundation is to provide care as locally as possible through a whole-team, community-based approach which is vital to the future of the NHS, allowing people to continue to be treated close to home, or in their home, in the majority of cases.

The National Clinical Strategy sets out why the NHS in Scotland needs to adapt in the face of increasing and changing demand, along with significant constraints in terms of workforce and finances. The National Clinical Strategy sits alongside the Health and Social Care Integration and GIRFEC to ensure that there is a comprehensive approach to both improving the health of the population, and the healthcare available.

The Scottish Government has supported and funded Crohn’s and Colitis UK in the production of “Scotland Leading the Way - a National Blueprint for Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Scotland”, which seeks support NHS Boards in improving care and treatment for all people living with inflammatory bowel disease in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-06788

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Scotland report, The State of Child Health, and which of the report's recommendations it plans to take forward.

The Scottish Government welcomes the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health's State of Child Health report which reaffirms the work currently underway across government to improve child health. The Scottish Government is carefully considering all of the recommendations in the report to identify any further work needed.

Many of the report's recommendations are already being taken forward in Scotland including: rolling out the Family Nurse Partnership to reach every eligible teenage mother in Scotland by the end of 2018; prioritisation and expansion of the health visiting service provided to families; bringing forward a Child Poverty Bill for Scotland; maintaining our commitment to support people in Scotland affected by the UK Government's welfare cuts; providing a Baby Box for all newborn babies; progress in achieving the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly best practice standards; placing relationships, sexual health and parenthood education at the centre of the school curriculum; achieving the target of halving exposure to second hand smoke through the Take it Right Outside campaign five years early; investing in a range of programmes to support and encourage healthy eating; investing in free school meals for all primary one to three children; investing in physical education in schools; exceeding our target of delivering 150 Community Sport Hubs across all local authorities; working on a new Mental Health Strategy which will focus on the earliest and most effective interventions to prevent children and young people from becoming ill; and committing to producing an overarching child health and wellbeing strategy to consolidate all of the actions.

Question reference: S5W-06784

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 500 new health visitors that it announced in June 2014 will be in post by 2017-18.

Question reference: S5W-06762

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported increase in housebreaking across Edinburgh.

Day to day decisions on policing matters are a matter for Police Scotland, with the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority. Police Scotland continue to tackle housebreaking through the City’s dedicated housebreaking team and a range of tactics and measures to best serve Edinburgh’s communities. Police Scotland are also delivering local home security conferences and working with partners across the city to tackle the issue of break-ins and pursue offenders.

Question reference: S5W-06786

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many integrated care homes there are.

At 31 January 2017 there were 1,149 care homes for adults operating.

Of these, 853 were care homes for older people and 296 were care homes for other adults, primarily adults with disabilities. Care homes provide a variety of services and support people who are funded in different ways.

We estimate that there are around 700 Intermediate Care beds across Scotland. These beds are commissioned by individual Integration Joint Boards to provide short-term rehabilitation and reablement in a more homely setting, following an acute episode of care, with the aim or returning the person back to their own home.

Many more care home places are commissioned by health and social care partnerships to support people with a range of needs.

Question reference: S5W-07362

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the City of Edinburgh Council regarding traffic congestion and what support it is providing to the council to help it alleviate this.

Although the mitigation of congestion on local roads within Edinburgh is a matter for the City of Edinburgh Council, the Scottish Government recognises the important contribution that Edinburgh makes to the economy of Scotland. With this in mind, Transport Scotland is currently working with regional and local planning and transport authorities, including City of Edinburgh Council, to undertake a cross boundary multi-modal transport study.

This will assess the impact of current and projected future travel demand on the strategic transport network in the South East of Scotland. It will also assist in identifying options for infrastructure and for other measures which can be considered to improve transport in the Edinburgh area.

Question reference: S5W-07363

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the recent reports by (a) Inrix and (b) TomTom regarding traffic congestion in Edinburgh.

The Scottish Government is familiar with the content of recent studies. The Scottish Government recognises the important role that Edinburgh and its region plays in the economy of Scotland. As such, Transport Scotland, on behalf of the Scottish Government, is currently working with regional and local planning and transport authorities to undertake a cross boundary multi-modal transport study to assess the impact of current and projected future travel demand on the strategic transport network in the South East of Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-06987

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendations set out in the report, The Best Start: A Five-Year Forward Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Care in Scotland, what investment it is providing to support transport services for neonatal care.

Work is underway to plan for implementation of the recommendations in The Best Start. We will take this planning work forward in partnership with boards, including the Scottish Ambulance Service to develop a comprehensive understanding of the resource implications of the recommendations.

The Scottish Ambulance Service, through funding from the Scottish Government and NHS boards, deliver the ScotSTAR (Scottish Specialist Transport and Retrieval) Service. The service undertakes all neonatal transfers providing a safe and dedicated transport service for a group who, because of their clinical condition, may require an augmented clinical team during transport.

Question reference: S5O-00736

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that schools have adequate numbers of support staff.

Question reference: S5W-06952

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many convictions there have been involving cases of people shining (a) laser pens and (b) other laser devices at transport operators in each year since 1999, broken down by transport type.

The information requested cannot be identified from the Criminal Proceedings database. Offences involving cases of people shining (a) laser pens and (b) other laser devices at transport operators would be prosecuted under either the common law offence of culpable and reckless conduct or, with regards to aircraft, as a contravention of a statutory Air Navigation Order. In addition, legislation does not separately identify lasers from other lights and our database does not contain further detail with regards to the common law offence.

The Scottish Government holds information on the number of convictions under the air navigation order 2009 (Article 222). The following table contains data on convictions for offences relating to endangering aircraft and lights which dazzle or distract.

	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2014-15	2015-16
THE AIR NAVIGATION ORDER 2009 ARTICLE 222	1	1	2	1	1

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database.