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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: S4O-02671

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many times Police Scotland has found so-called legal highs cut with illegal substances but not seized them.

Question reference: S4O-02649

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many stop-and-searches Police Scotland has carried out.

Question reference: S4W-17778

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 8 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many hospital admissions there have been of people who have taken so-called legal highs in each NHS board area in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S4W-17779

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 8 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many seizures of so-called legal highs cut with illegal drugs there have been in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S4W-17780

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 8 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether shops or internet sites selling so-called legal highs and drug paraphernalia are subject to any licensing regime.

The subject matter of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is reserved to the UK Government, as is the regulation of internet services. Section 9A of the UK’s Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 makes it an offence to supply any article (often referred to as paraphernalia) used for administering a controlled drug unlawfully (i.e. without a doctor’s prescription). ‘Legal highs’ or Novel/New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) as they are also known, are substances which produce similar effects to illegal drugs, but they are not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. In response to the availability of NPS, the UK Government’s Home Office introduced a new temporary class drug order (15 November 2011). See UK Government website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/98006/temporary-class-drug-factsheet.pdf.

Some substances sold as NPS have also been found to contain drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act. There is no other specific legislation outwith the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and temporary class drug order that uniquely deals with the supply of NPS. However, Police Scotland together with partners are exploring other options, including Trading Standards powers. The Scottish Government will continue to work with the Home Office and the Police Scotland to understand more about the use and supply of these substances and options to tackle their supply.

The planning system in Scotland does not generally seek to control the types of goods and services sold from shops, offices and other premises. Where products or services have potentially negative health or social implications, their availability or sale is usually subject to other statutory controls, for example, licensing as in the case of the sale of alcohol or knives. There is no licensing that is specific to the sale of NPS and drug paraphernalia.

Question reference: S4W-17776

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 1 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many local authorities run (a) household and (b) business oil and fat recycling collection services.

In 2012, 8 local authorities ran a waste vegetable oil collection service for households, collecting 62.2 tonnes of oil. Three local authorities ran a similar service for businesses and collected 23.3 tonnes.

With regard to waste mineral oils, 29 local authorities provided a collection service to households in 2012, collecting 490.2 tonnes. Seven local authorities ran the same service for businesses and 73.6 tonnes was collected.

Question reference: S4W-17781

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 31 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has carried out an analysis of how many steroid users are using needle exchanges.

There has been no analysis carried out on the number of Performance and Image Enhancing Drugs (PIEDs) users accessing needle exchange services in Scotland.

The distribution of needles/syringes and other injecting paraphernalia by needle exchange outlets in Scotland has been monitored by ISD Scotland since 2009. Community and pharmacy outlets are surveyed annually to obtain information on the volume of such items distributed, number of attendances, number and characteristics of individuals attending and drugs injected. However, it is not possible from this centrally held information to analyse how many PIED users are using needle exchanges.

Question reference: S4O-02479

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Aberdeen City Council regarding economic development.

Question reference: S4O-02434

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 September 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 September 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to universities to attract students from overseas.

Question reference: S4W-16706

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 August 2013
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 10 September 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the protection offered to gulls by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

All wild birds are protected by law in Scotland. The Scottish Government has no plans to review the protection offered to gulls.

Scottish Natural Heritage General Licence 03/2013, which allows local authorities and authorised persons to control or manage certain birds, including herring gulls, greater black-backed gulls, and lesser black-backed gulls, for the protection of public health, public safety and to prevent the spread of disease, is reviewed on an annual basis by Scottish Natural Heritage.

In recognition of the scale of the difficulties that can arise where gulls interact in urban environments, the Scottish Government has funded a study on control of gulls in Dumfries which provided a number of recommendations which should be of use to local authorities in their efforts to tackle similar difficulties regarding urban gull populations.