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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-00805

Asked by: Mairi Gougeon, MSP for Angus North and Mearns, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received assurances from the UK Government that it will not impose the changes to housing benefit for 18- to 21-year-olds in Scotland while discussions regarding a possible exemption are ongoing.

Question reference: S5O-00767

Asked by: Mairi Gougeon, MSP for Angus North and Mearns, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what is being done to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination in the workplace.

Question reference: S5W-07304

Asked by: Mairi Gougeon, MSP for Angus North and Mearns, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 3 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of the Schmallenberg virus on sheep stocks, in light of reports that more than 50 flocks in England and Wales have been infected.

On the basis of current evidence, including an assessment by the European Food Safety Authority, the long-term impact on the UK susceptible livestock from Schmallenberg virus is likely to be low. However, it can have a significant effect on a small number of flocks and herds. The impact on individual flocks and herds depends on the number of ewes or cattle without immunity that are at the vulnerable stage of pregnancy when infection begins, so it is possible that in a small number of cases the consequences could be much more severe than the average. Tests are available commercially to enable farmers to find the status of their herds and flocks.

The Scottish Government continues to fund Scotland’s Rural College to help diagnose new cases of the disease and that information will be shared with the relevant livestock sectors to help farmers make better informed choices during the breeding season.

Question reference: S5W-06969

Asked by: Mairi Gougeon, MSP for Angus North and Mearns, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it works with (a) Europol and (b) Interpol to reduce the likelihood of terrorist attacks.

Question reference: S5W-07242

Asked by: Mairi Gougeon, MSP for Angus North and Mearns, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the economic impact on ports and harbours from the downturn in the oil and gas industry.

Our ports are forward looking and adaptable and seek to diversify in times of downturn in certain cargos/business areas.

Projects such as the Aberdeen Harbour expansion, expected to start on site in April /May, will allow the port to access new markets and provide enhanced services to existing customers as well as providing a significant boost to the local economy.

The North Sea will have a bright future if the focus of industry and Government is on maximising economic recovery, efficiency of extraction and encouraging new investment. As the fields reach the end of their economic lives, decommissioning is an economic opportunity in its own right.

That is why we launched the £5 million Decommissioning Challenge Fund, focused on innovation in salvage and investment in ports and harbours to facilitate disposal activity.

Question reference: S5W-06970

Asked by: Mairi Gougeon, MSP for Angus North and Mearns, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it works with (a) Europol and (b) Interpol to tackle drug-related crime.

Question reference: S5W-06925

Asked by: Mairi Gougeon, MSP for Angus North and Mearns, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 27 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many homes in (a) Angus North and Mearns and (b) Scotland are connected to fibre broadband, and what information it has regarding how many are connected as a result of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of premises connected through commercial deployment of superfast broadband. Ofcom’s Connected Nations Report 2016 indicates that speeds of 30 Mbps or above are now available to 83% of premises in Scotland, up from 73% in 2015.

The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme has brought fibre broadband access to over 700,000 homes and businesses so far and will extend to at least 95% of premises across Scotland by the end of 2017. Without this, only 66% of premises would have been reached, with just 21% coverage across the Highlands and no coverage at all in Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles. Over 7,000 premises in Angus North and Mearns now have access to fibre broadband as a result of the DSSB programme, over 80% of which are capable of accessing superfast speeds.

We are committed to extending superfast broadband access to every premise in Scotland by 2021. At the end of last year we launched an Open Market Review to determine commercial investment plans over the next three years. This is a key state aid requirement ahead of any large-scale public investment programme in broadband and will help Scottish Government determine a new intervention area, ahead of new procurement activity to begin later this year.

Question reference: S5W-06924

Asked by: Mairi Gougeon, MSP for Angus North and Mearns, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 27 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making with its plan to extend broadband to 95% of premises by the end of 2017.

The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme has brought fibre broadband access to over 700,000 homes and businesses so far and remains on track to deliver access to at least 95% of premises across Scotland by the end of 2017. This has been a huge undertaking with over 7,300km of access cabling and 400km of subsea cabling laid to date, and over 3,400 cabinets now enabled for connections.

Without this investment from the Scottish Government and our partners, only 66% of premises across Scotland would have been reached, with just 21% coverage across the Highlands and no coverage at all in Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.

Question reference: S5W-07241

Asked by: Mairi Gougeon, MSP for Angus North and Mearns, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is giving to ports and harbours.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting Scotland’s ports and harbours, whilst recognising that ports in Scotland operate in a commercial environment and are substantially self-funding. In certain circumstances, and in compliance with restrictions on state aid, the Scottish Government can provide grant funding to approved schemes, as we have done, for example, in contributions to developments at Stornoway and Ullapool. Scottish Ministers engage with ports on a regular basis on a range of issues, including at an individual and industry body level. Officials regularly attend the Scottish Ports Group meetings of the British Ports Association as well as meeting with UK Major Ports Group.

Question reference: S5W-06516

Asked by: Mairi Gougeon, MSP for Angus North and Mearns, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to improve access to justice for victims of domestic violence.

The Scottish Government is committed to action to improve access to justice for victims of domestic violence, which is why we are investing significant levels of funding as well as bringing forward new legislation to tackle it. In 2015, we announced an additional dedicated £20 million over 2015-18 from Justice budgets to be invested in a range of measures to tackle all forms of this type of violence. Some specific funding examples include:

£1.85 million to Rape Crisis Scotland over the period 2015/16 to 2017/18 to enhance the services they offer to victims of sexual offences including operating new services in Orkney and Shetland;
£1 million in each of the years 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 to ASSIST who provide vital advocacy services to domestic abuse victims in the west of Scotland;
£2.4 million in each of the years 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 to our courts and prosecutors to ensure domestic abuse cases are heard without undue delay;
£665k to the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre to extend the Centre’s capacity and geographical reach of specialist independent legal advice for victims of gender based violence.

The Programme for Government in September announced that we will introduce legislation in this Parliamentary year to create a specific offence of domestic abuse that will cover not just physical abuse but also other forms of psychological abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour that cannot easily be prosecuted using the existing criminal law. Creation of this new offence will bring clarity for victims so they can see explicitly that what their partner or ex-partner has done to them is wrong and can be dealt with under the law. Justice agencies are already showing strong leadership in this area; Police Scotland have established a National Domestic Abuse Taskforce to target the most prolific perpetrators, and the Crown Office have a dedicated National Prosecutor for Domestic Abuse.