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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-12963

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce contactless payments across all ScotRail services.

Question reference: S5O-01567

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what consideration it is giving to the provision of universal free access to sanitary products.

Our immediate priority is to focus on delivery of our Programme for Government commitment to provide access to free sanitary products in schools, colleges and universities, and we will consider further action in light of the findings of our Aberdeen pilot which will conclude in March next year.

This is a ground-breaking commitment to tackle this gender injustice and we are proud to be the first nation in the world to take this action.

Question reference: S5W-12962

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03905 by Humza Yousaf on 28 October 2016, how many smartcards a person would need to travel by bus, rail, ferry, subway and tram.

We continue to work towards our vision that all journeys on Scotland’s bus, rail, ferry, subway and tram can be made using some form of smart ticket or payment. For some time now this has focused on creating an infrastructure across all of Scotland that can support saltirecards (ITSO secure smartcard) and – particularly for bus - contactless bank cards (EMV).

To make using public transport around Scotland a simpler experience for the public, and having now largely put the infrastructure in place, we are now working to improve smart ticketing interoperability by persuading over 200 transport operators across all modes to accept products on each others’ cards.

Over the last few months many of the major operators have also launched EMV on their services, benefitting the travelling public with an additional, easy and convenient way to pay. As technology moves apace we are also looking to take advantage of ITSO’s emerging options for using a mobile phone rather than a smartcard.

Lastly, we have just closed our “Future of Smart Ticketing” consultation (December 5^th) which considers whether legislation and governance requirements are needed to enable further, quicker progress with this consistent and standardised approach.

Question reference: S5F-01705

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 November 2017

To ask the First Minister, in light of it being Alcohol Awareness Week, whether she will provide an update on what action the Scottish Government is taking to reduce alcohol harm.

Question reference: S5W-12228

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 13 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent Scottish Health Survey finding that up to 51,000 children live with a parent or guardian whose alcohol use is problematic.

Government recognises that children who live with substance–misusing parents are among the most vulnerable in society and require particular care and support. We have an Alcohol Framework in place which contains a package of measures to tackle alcohol misuse. A key measure is the introduction of a minimum price for alcohol which we believe is the most effective and efficient way of reducing overall alcohol consumption and harm. We have confirmed an additional £20m for alcohol and drugs services as part of our Programme for Government 2017.

Improving outcomes for children affected by parental substance and alcohol misuse is a priority for the Scottish Government. That is why we currently provide funding of £600,000 per year to the CORRA Foundation who support Scottish voluntary organisations to deliver vital on the ground support largely to children and families across Scotland affected by substance and alcohol misuse. The CORRA Foundation receive a further £160,000 for the delivery of the recommendations contained in "Everyone Has A Story", an action learning project that aims to hear the voices and experiences of children and young people whose parents are in recovery from drugs and alcohol.

We also provide £269,000 to Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs for support to families across Scotland affected by a loved one’s substance and alcohol misuse, raising awareness of their needs and the issues affecting them and ensuring that these are recognised and addressed.

Question reference: S5W-12232

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 7 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Health Survey 2016 finding that 4% more women than men exhibit mental ill-health.

The Scottish Health Survey 2016 reports that 15% of adults exhibited signs of a possible psychiatric disorder (GHQ-12 score of four or more). The reported rate is 17% for women and 13% for men. It is important to note that the rate for women has consistently been 3 to 6 percentage points higher than for men since 2003. It should also be noted that the World Health Organisation reports that anxiety and depression are more common in women than in men worldwide.

Nonetheless, these statistics show the importance of achieving the vision laid out by the Mental Health Strategy 2017-27. Our aspirations include that we will see, and be able to measure, the following for mental health compared to physical health:

Equal access to the most effective and safest care and treatment
Equal efforts to improve the quality of care
Allocation of time, effort and resources on a basis commensurate with need
Equal status within healthcare education and practice:
Equally high aspirations for service users
Equal status in the measurement of health outcomes

Question reference: S5W-12231

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 7 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to communicate the new guidelines on alcohol consumption, which were published in 2016 by UK Chief Medical Officers.

The new drinking guidelines were revised by the UK Chief Medical Officers in February 2016, and advise that both men and women consume no more than 14 units per week, spread evenly over 3 or more days, and that alcohol should be avoided if you are pregnant or trying to conceive.

We have been clear to the industry that we expect the UK Chief Medical Officers’ guidance to be reflected on alcohol labels, and clear advice has been provided along with examples of how best to display the message (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/602132/Communicating_2016_CMO_guidelines_Mar_17.pdf.)

We are aware that a number of responsible organisations, such as the British Retail Consortium, the Scottish Retail Consortium and Tennent’s, are already implementing, or in the process of implementing, this guidance.

Question reference: S5W-12229

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 7 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the reported increasing rates of alcohol-related mortality.

The Scottish Government’s alcohol strategy, Changing Scotland's Relationship with Alcohol: A Framework for Action, is well regarded internationally and contains over 40 measures to tackle alcohol misuse. The Framework has been shown to have a positive impact including 2.6 per cent reduction in consumption due to the multi-buy discount ban; increased delivery of Alcohol Brief Interventions; legislation to ban irresponsible promotions and the introduction of a lower drink drive limit. However, given the link between affordability and harm, we remain committed to minimum unit pricing which is the most effective pricing measure to tackle the high strength, low cost alcohol that causes so much damage to our communities.

The latest alcohol-related mortality statistics highlight the need for continued action to reduce alcohol-related harm in Scotland. We have seen improvements from historic peaks but we know we need to do more. We are in the process of refreshing our Framework and will consider what further action to take to reduce alcohol-related harm.

Question reference: S5W-12230

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 7 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Health Survey 2016 finding that alcohol-related morbidity and mortality disproportionately affects people living in the most deprived areas.

Question reference: S5W-12046

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 6 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-11463 by Maureen Watt on 5 October 2017, whether it will confirm by what date the findings of the audit of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) rejected referrals will commence.