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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: S5O-02259

Asked by: Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 June 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to close the gender pay gap.

Question reference: S5W-17008

Asked by: Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how it is tackling bullying in schools.

Bullying of any kind is entirely unacceptable and must be addressed swiftly and effectively whenever it arises in schools.

To support schools and local authorities in November 2017 the Scottish Government published ‘ Respect for All – The National Approach to Anti-Bullying for Scotland’s Children and Young People’ .

Respect for All provides an overarching framework and context for all anti-bullying work that is undertaken in Scotland. It reflects Getting it Right for Every Child and promotes an approach of working with children and young people to help change their behaviour.

Additionally, on 28 May, a Short Life Working Group established by the Scottish Government, published supplementary guidance for schools and local authorities on Recording and Monitoring of Bullying Incidents in Schools. The guidance will complement the introduction of a national approach to recording incidents of bullying in schools using the SEEMiS schools management system.

The Scottish Government also fully funded respect me, Scotland’s anti-bullying service, since its inception and in 2018-19 will continue to provide over £298,000. Respect me provide direct support to local authorities, youth groups and all those working with children and young people to build confidence and capacity to address all types of bullying effectively.

Question reference: S5W-17002

Asked by: Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its investment in attainment in education.

We are investing £750m through the Attainment Scotland Fund over the course of this Parliament to tackle the poverty related attainment gap. This year alone we will invest £179m – up £9m from last year – including over £120m in Pupil Equity Funding and £50m for the Challenge Authorities and Schools Programmes.

This is a long term commitment and there is evidence that the investment is starting to make a real impact and we are confident that this will continue. For example, in West Dunbartonshire (one of 9 Challenge Authorities) inspectors found significant progress in the attainment of young people living in SIMD areas 1 and 2, while the recently published interim evaluation report of the Attainment Scotland Fund found that 97% of headteachers expect to see further improvements in closing the attainment gap as a consequence of Attainment Scotland Fund initiatives. This investment will continue to be evaluated in line with the published Attainment Scotland Fund (years 3 and 4): evaluation strategy.

Question reference: S5O-02187

Asked by: Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the Divisional Commander for the North East Division of Police Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-16520

Asked by: Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that the Scottish National Investment Bank will promote equality of access to funding with regard to gender.

Currently different groups face different constraints with regards to access to finance. We know that the ability to access finance has been highlighted by a quarter of women business owners as a key challenge to them starting their own business, and evidence has shown that women on average start their businesses with a third less capital than that of their male counterparts. The Bank will consider how it could play a role in addressing challenges like this. The Bank will play a clear role in promoting diversity and inclusiveness and the Government is clear that the Bank should have inclusivity and diversity at the heart of all it does.

Question reference: S5W-16518

Asked by: Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 22 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that, in order to signpost vulnerable people to assistance, suicide prevention organisations are charged premium advertising rates by search engines.

Decisions taken by private businesses to charge organisations for advertising are a matter for them and their customers rather than being something within Scottish Government control.

Whilst not a search engine, Mygov does provide links to support for mental health issues, including NHS Inform and the Scottish Association for Mental Health, on the following page:- https://www.mygov.scot/financial-support-mental-illness/

Suicide prevention is a top priority for this government. In our engagement process which ended on April 30, we acknowledged the importance of promoting suicide prevention through multiple approaches. One of the proposed aims in the draft suicide prevention action plan is developing the use of social media and online resources. A good example of an existing online resource for suicide prevention is the local Choose Life North East Suicide Prevention App.

Scottish Government is aware that organisations such as “Google for Non-profits” can offer UK charities access to discounted or free products.

Question reference: S5W-16512

Asked by: Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the findings of the period poverty pilot that took place in Aberdeen.

Our pilot in Aberdeen has allowed us to gain insight into the issue of lack of access to sanitary products and test different approaches to providing free sanitary products to those who need them most. This project has helped over 1,000 people in Aberdeen and parts of Aberdeenshire access products they couldn’t afford.

We expect to publish the report on the Scottish Government website by the end of May.

Question reference: S5W-16519

Asked by: Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in order to help tackle stigma, whether it will issue guidelines to schools, colleges and universities regarding providing access to free sanitary products in a discreet manner.

In partnership with key stakeholders including COSLA, Universities Scotland, Colleges Scotland and the National Union of Students, we have developed a set of guiding principles to underpin delivery of our commitment to provide access to free sanitary products in schools, colleges and universities. These have been shared widely across the education sector via the key stakeholders.

The principles include protecting students’ dignity; giving them choice about the products they want to use; and ensuring sanitary products are easily accessible to meet individual needs. The principles also require that education establishments undertake awareness raising and education to both promote the provision and to change cultural norms.

Question reference: S5W-16521

Asked by: Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 15 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to calls for women to be categorised as an economic growth sector.

Question reference: S5W-16294

Asked by: Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 10 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it can give in relation to biosecurity concerns that the tree stock for compensatory planting along the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) is sourced and grown in the UK.

All trees used in landscaping on the AWPR project are sourced and grown in the UK, with the exception of Larch and Norway Spruce. The two non-native species are commonly found in the area and are fast growing species, used to provide visual screening, these species make up less than 10% of the total planting on the project.

Biosecurity is taken very seriously and the supplier of trees for the project meet all the relevant standards to ensure the strictest provenance and controls for non-native species. The project contractor also operates a further internal approval procedure to check the provenance of all trees before they are used on site.