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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: S5W-26743

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 16 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what impact it expects the Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm will have over the next 10 years on (a) employment and (b) investment in (i) the Port of Dundee and (ii) Eyemouth Harbour.

Question reference: S5W-26744

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 16 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many seafarer jobs will be required for (a) installing, (b) operating and (c) maintaining the Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm.

Question reference: S5O-04046

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to allow NHS Dumfries and Galloway to change existing cancer pathways by aligning with the West of Scotland Cancer Network rather than the South East Scotland Network in order to reduce journey times for treatment for cancer patients in Wigtownshire.

Question reference: S5T-01953

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that complaints about Caledonian Sleeper services have increased by 221%.

Question reference: S5W-26734

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 10 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-26596 by Fergus Ewing on 16 December 2019, who will take on the role of Chief Forester when Jo O'Hara leaves her position as Chief Executive of Scottish Forestry.

We will shortly be beginning the selection process for a Chief Forester, with a view to making an appointment early in 2020.

This is an exciting and challenging time for forestry in Scotland, and this role will be an invaluable source of technical expertise and advice for Ministers. The appointee will also have key responsibilities to provide professional leadership across the public agencies, and to work with the wider sector to promote and grow the profession of forestry in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-26672

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many and what percentage of railway stations offer full accessibility to disabled people.

Rail accessibility is a reserved matter, funding for accessibility improvements remains the responsibility of the UK Government. It is the policy of Scottish Ministers to have all rail matters, including accessibility, fully devolved to the Scottish Government.

In line with the Office of Rail and Road’s new Assisted Travel Policy guidance, railway stations in Scotland and throughout the UK have been reclassified into the following:-

Category	Scotland
Category	Number of stations	%
Category A: The station has step-free access to and between all platforms, at all times trains are running, via level access, lifts or ramps (in accordance with new-build standards re gradient/length).	134	37%
Category B: The station does not meet category A, but has step-free access to either all platforms or at least one platform. In some cases, the station may be usable for some disabled and older people, but in others major barriers may exist which are likely to restrict the ability of some disabled or older people to use the station. This may include long or steep ramps, access between platforms that may be via the street, and there may not be step-free access to or between all station areas.	182	51%
Category C: The station has no step-free access to any platform.	43	12%

Question reference: S5O-03972

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether the timetable for its proposed legislation on fox hunting allows sufficient time for it to be passed within the current parliamentary session.

Question reference: S5W-26596

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 16 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government who currently holds the role of Chief Forester, as established by section 73 of the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018.

Question reference: S5O-03919

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government when the root cause analysis report on the North West Community Campus in Dumfries will be published.

Question reference: S5W-26465

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 5 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it will address the incompatibilities between the UN Charter on the Rights of the Child and existing legislation in its proposals to incorporate it into Scots Law.

Incorporation of the UNCRC into Scots law will ensure that children’s rights can be enforced. At present as part of their compliance with the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, Scottish Ministers carry out a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) when they develop new legislation.

Consideration is being given to whether the Bill should include a regime to enable rulings to be obtained from the courts as to whether legislation is incompatible with the children’s rights included in the Bill. The Scottish Government is also investigating whether it would be possible to provide for a remedial order procedure, so that the Scottish Government could remedy the incompatibility, as under the Convention Rights Compliance (Scotland) Act 2001.