Seòmar agus comataidhean

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

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 3180 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S5W-04073

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 8 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to raise awareness among new mothers about the benefits of breastfeeding.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting breastfeeding by new mothers through a range of activities which include:

A number of stakeholder events and a breastfeeding summit have taken place over the last 18 months, to share information, gather views and make recommendations. We have taken significant steps to act on these recommendations, and will continue to do so.

The Scottish Government took the decision to fund a Lead Officer post from UNICEF to support the implementation of the UNICEF BFI Standards across Scotland, and this has been highly successful.

The publication of the Improving Maternal and Infant Nutrition: A Framework for Action (2011). As part of the implementation of the Framework the Scottish Government appointed a National Maternal and Infant Nutrition Co-ordinator to coordinate the breastfeeding improvement activity and to link with other partners across Scotland and the rest of the UK.

The Scottish Government launched a replacement of the previous Feedgood factor website in June 2016. http://www.feedgood.scot

The Scottish Government also provides funding to support the National Breastfeeding Helpline. http://www.nationalbreastfeedinghelpline.org.uk/

Question reference: S5W-04063

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 8 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-01436 by Shona Robison on 9 August 2016, how much it has cost the NHS to prescribe omeprazole in each year since 2010-11.

Question reference: S5W-03581

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 4 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02771 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 28 September 2016, what progress has been made to appoint a commissioner for fair access, and what the deadline is for this.

This is a key appointment that will play a pivotal role in achieving the Government’s ambitions on widening access to higher education. It is therefore essential that we identify a candidate with the necessary skills, experience and availability to succeed.

The Commission on Widening Access recommended that an appointment be made by the end of the year; but we are working to progress this as a matter of priority.

Question reference: S5W-03998

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 3 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-00143 by Aileen Campbell on 15 September 2016 (Official Report, c. 5), what recent discussions it has had with (a) Engender, (b) Scottish Women’s Aid, (c) Barnardo’s Scotland and (d) the Trussell Trust regarding the affordability of feminine hygiene products and health challenges that can arise when women and girls do not have access to these.

Question reference: S5W-03996

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether the recommendations of VOX Scotland and the Mental Health Foundation report, A Review of Mental Health Services in Scotland: Perspectives and Experiences of Service Users, Carers and Professionals, will be incorporated in the 10-year vision for mental health in Scotland.

The Scottish Government welcomes the report which was delivered and published in January 2016, identifying the general direction of mental health services over the last ten years. The report provides a baseline for the status of services and the views of the services, both those providing and those recipients in the areas they focussed on.

The report’s findings, which illustrate positive change, will contribute to the thinking around the content of the next mental health strategy.

Question reference: S5W-03997

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendations in the Scottish Human Rights Commission and the Mental Welfare Commission report, Human rights in mental health care in Scotland, and whether these will be incorporated in the 10-year vision for mental health in Scotland.

The Scottish Government welcomes the report from the Mental Welfare Commission and the Scottish Human Rights Commission, commissioned through commitment 5 of the Mental Health Strategy 2012-2015 with supporting recommendations.

This was the culmination of a wide ranging piece of work engaging stakeholders across Scotland and provided a range of recommendations to progress the Human Rights Agenda across mental health services in Scotland.

The report’s findings, which illustrate positive change, will contribute to the thinking around the content of the next mental health strategy.

We want to embed a human-rights based approach across our priorities and actions. We’re using the PANEL approach (Participation, Accountability, Non-discrimination and equality, Empowerment, and Legislation) to think about actions that deliver on human rights. In particular, Non-discrimination and equality are featuring strongly.

The Scottish Parliament recently passed the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 2015. The 2015 Act is currently being implemented and contains several measures which strengthen the provisions in the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 that promote and protect service users’ rights. This includes giving service users more control over their representation and strengthening the position of advance statements and advocacy which help service users express their will and preferences.

The 2015 Act also ensures that service users can more clearly express their will and preferences about how they are supported and we are currently engaging with stakeholders about how the work to implement the 2015 Act can be used to further promote the rights of service users.

Question reference: S5W-03842

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-01444 by Mark McDonald on 5 August 2016, whether it will provide a breakdown, by sector, of the planned £150 million investment in mental health services over the next five years.

We have been investing in mental health services for a number of years. Spending on mental health by NHS Scotland has increased under this Government, from £651.4 million in 2006-07 to £904.9 million in 2014-15 – an increase of 38.9%.

We are using the additional package of £150m to boost support for areas which are absolute priorities for us, and which will deliver the transformation in mental health services we want to achieve over the next ten years – including for children and young people. We are investing:

£54.1million over four years to support further reduction in waiting times;

£10million over two years to support new ways of improving mental health in primary care settings;

£15million over three years in a Mental Health Innovation Fund to support better access to Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and to develop innovative approaches to delivering mental health services;

£1million over three years to support people with mental health problems to become more physically active, and;

£4.2million over four years to support people in crisis who turn to frontline services.

Our remaining package of funding will support the priorities in our forthcoming Mental Health Strategy, to ensure we continue to improve access to services – including for children and young people. It will also focus on supporting early years and early interventions; improved support in primary care, and parity of esteem between physical and mental health so that we support people to keep well, whilst also providing treatment of the highest quality when it is necessary. We will take these decisions in conjunction with our stakeholders and partners.

Question reference: S5W-03844

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much it allocated in its budget for Education Maintenance Allowance payments in each of the last 12 years.

The following table details the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) budget set out in the Draft Budget from financial year 2004-05. The budget level is set to meet the cost of making EMA payments to recipients and the administration of the programme.

Year	Budget (£M)
2005-2006	28.4
2006-2007	37.1
2007-2008	42.6
2008-2009	36.7
2009-2010	36.5
2010-2011	31.6
2011-2012	31.6
2012-2013	31.6
2013-2014	31.6
2014-2015	29.6
2015-2016	29.6
2016-2017	39.6

Question reference: S5W-03843

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much was paid in Education Maintenance Allowance payments in each of the last 12 years to (a) male and (b) female students.

The following table details the Education Maintenance Payments (EMA) made to young people since academic year 2006-07 disaggregated by gender. The most recent EMA statistics publication is available at http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/03/8840/downloads.

The EMA is an entitlement in Scotland and a demand led programme which means that any person who meets the eligibility criteria will receive support. Therefore, the spend will fluctuate depending on how many people qualify for the award.

Table 6. EMA payment spend (£) by gender: 2006-07 to 2014-15

Number of Recipients

Total Payments (£)

Weekly Payments (£)

Bonus Payments (£)

Academic Year	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
2006-07	17,245	20,235	14,847,315	17,585,970	11,663,865	13,766,220	3,183,450	3,819,750
2007-08	16,955	20,320	15,207,780	18,132,660	11,864,430	14,112,660	3,343,350	4,020,000
2008-09	17,870	21,130	16,250,880	19,190,280	12,636,180	14,901,780	3,614,700	4,288,500
2009-10	17,385	19,850	15,527,450	17,664,240	12,545,450	14,255,640	2,982,000	3,408,600
2010-11	16,660	18,115	12,939,870	14,237,350	12,939,870	14,237,350	0	0
2011-12	16,730	17,660	13,327,560	14,285,580	13,327,560	14,285,580	0	0
2012-13	17,400	18,115	13,544,105	14,273,090	13,544,105	14,273,090	0	0
2013-14	17,175	17,885	13,807,980	14,526,005	13,807,980	14,526,005	0	0
2014-15	16,300	16,875	12,864,120	13,620,240	12,864,120	13,620,240	0	0

Revision: The college EMA figures and total EMA figures for 2013-14 and 2014-15 have been revised.

The figures originally published on Wednesday 23 March 2016 were based on incomplete college EMA datasets.

Figures in this table have been rounded to the nearest 5.

Information about EMA payments made to young people in academic years 2004-05 and 2005-06 are available through the following links –

2004-05 – http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2005/06/21164517/45189

2005-06 - http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2006/11/13100200/0

Due to changes made to EMA eligibility criteria in the first years of roll out and improvements made to the data collection methodology in academic year 2006-07 which reduced double counting of recipients, direct comparison with later years and is not included in the table.

Question reference: S5T-00150

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to address the financial deficit that is reported to be facing 16 out of 20 colleges in the current financial year.