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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-02495

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 October 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what budget it expects Social Security Scotland to have for IT for the rest of the parliamentary session.

Question reference: S5W-19362

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 23 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how much it will spend on research into public attitudes to, and knowledge of, key resilience advice, and the differing community experiences of severe weather across Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s Resilience Division regularly supports first responders, local authorities, transport operators and others in their duty to warn and inform the public of major events and incidents.

A key aspect of this support is the “Ready Scotland” brand, which includes a dedicated website and social media channels. Where appropriate we also activate a short-term marketing campaign during major events, in particular in the run up to and during periods of severe weather, to ensure that as many people as possible have access to warnings and advice.

As with all communications and marketing campaigns, it is crucial that the information provided to the public through these channels is tailored to their needs and preferences, and as such we routinely conduct a range of research to support and inform the work. This includes desk-based research from a variety of relevant publications and reports, including for instance the Scottish Household Survey; analysis of user engagement with our web content and social media channels; and public consultation following our marketing campaigns.

This work is generally conducted at no cost beyond the associated staff time - the only recent exception is a spend of approximately £12,000 on a public survey following the marketing campaign over the winter of 2017-18.

In certain circumstances we may also commission limited additional research or surveys where we consider further evidence would be of value. At present we have not funded any such research this year.

Question reference: S5W-18917

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 19 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it has received from Police Scotland on the future costs of railway policing in (a) the event of the merger with British Transport Police as originally planned and (b) the new scenario of an interim arrangement followed by a merger in the longer term, including in relation to the estimated £21 million running costs savings, referred to by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice at the Justice Committee meeting on 18 September 2018.

As I advised the Justice Committee on 18 September the current total cost allocation for railway policing in Scotland is £21.9m. This is not a saving but the cost of policing the railways in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is currently considering appropriate interim arrangements and as yet are not in a position to determine the future costs of these. Upon full integration we do not anticipate the costs of railway policing to rise.

Question reference: S5W-19101

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 19 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what further role it will have in the Police Scotland digital, data and ICT strategy.

In line with its statutory role, the Scottish Police Authority is responsible for holding the Chief Constable to account for continuous improvement, best value and the use of resources allocated to the Police Service of Scotland.

At its meeting on 27 September 2018, the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) considered the Outline Business Case for investment in Police Scotland’s Digital, Data and ICT capability and highlighted the need for robust, but agile governance that reflects the wider roles and responsibilities of the Scottish Government and scrutiny bodies. Discussions are ongoing with the SPA to establish these arrangements.

Question reference: S5W-19283

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 19 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-18692 by Humza Yousaf on 3 October 2018, in which the independent contractor, described as an "interim manager", is integrated into a wider team and produces no specific work, for what reason the role was given to an independent contractor at £600 per day rather than one of its employees, and what investigation it carried out on whether it employed suitable resource prior to engaging the consultant.

Question reference: S5W-19173

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 19 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-17470 by Humza Yousaf on 25 July 2018, by what date the findings of the independent deliverability assessment will be published.

The purpose of the replanning exercise on BTP integration was to identify when a fully integrated high quality service could be delivered. Once the replanning exercise was completed a Gateway Review was to have taken place to test the deliverability of the project.

The Scottish Government announced its decision in August to re-examine all options for the devolution of railway policing in Scotland. Therefore, a Gateway Review will not be conducted at this time.

Question reference: S5O-02471

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 October 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reach the 60% target of frontline staff immunised with the flu vaccine.

Question reference: S5W-18692

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 3 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on making all work produced by consultants in relation to the merger of British Transport Police and Police Scotland publicly available, and when it plans to do so.

The interim manager who has been working with Scottish Government has worked as part of a wider team, so there is no specific work that the individual has produced that can be released. The re-planning exercise prioritised the areas which would support identification of a new date for integration. Given that the status of the programme has now changed, this work has been superseded by the announcement that I made to review the options. Work is currently being undertaken to consolidate existing re-planning information and signpost to further work as required. I will proactively publish this in due course.

The work delivered by Ernst and Young for Police Scotland is a matter for Police Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-18841

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-18239 whether it will answer the question that was asked in terms of how much it estimates the Police Scotland Digital, Data and ICT strategy will cost.

The Scottish Police Authority considered the Digital, Data and ICT Outline Business Case (OBC) at its meeting on 27 September 2018. The overall financial requirements of a number of options are outlined within the OBC.

The estimated total cost of the preferred option approved by the SPA Board is:

£244m in capital in reform funding over 9 years
£54m in reform funding over 9 years

The Outline Business Case estimates that this level of investment would deliver £357m in benefits, delivered over 9 years.

Question reference: S5W-18576

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when its proposal to implement Finn’s Law, to establish a specific criminal offence of attacking or killing a service animal, will come into effect, and whether its plans for the legislation will (a) include treating these animals as sentient beings and (b) recognise the dangerous work that these animals can undertake.

The Scottish Government values the important and brave work undertaken by police dogs and other service animals. The Scottish Government Programme for Government 2018-19 includes a commitment to specifically consult on a “Finn’s Law” along with other proposals to amend the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 (“the 2006 Act”). This consultation is planned for later this year. The 2006 Act implicitly recognises that all vertebrate animals are sentient.