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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-01286

Asked by: Maree Todd, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has with Inverness College UHI.

Question reference: S5W-11091

Asked by: Maree Todd, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of whether NHS England's new budget impact test will have an effect on the (a) approval process for new medicines in Scotland and (b) other aspects of NHS Scotland's work.

The appraisal process for new medicines in Scotland is entirely separate from arrangements in England. In Scotland we have a clear route for new drugs to be appraised through the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC). The SMC operates independently of Scottish Government and provides advice to NHS Scotland on newly licensed medicines. As NHS England's budget impact test relates to the medicines approval process, an analysis of its effects has not been carried out.

Question reference: S5F-01524

Asked by: Maree Todd, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 September 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 September 2017

To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government is marking the 20th anniversary of the devolution referendum.

Question reference: S5O-01245

Asked by: Maree Todd, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 September 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards the provision of local forensic medical examinations for victims of sexual crimes in Orkney and Shetland.

Question reference: S5W-10175

Asked by: Maree Todd, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 July 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 19 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what representations it has made to the UK Government in relation to reconsidering planned military base closures in Scotland.

The Scottish Government remains opposed to the Ministry of Defence’s planned base closures in Scotland and has made repeated representations to the UK Government to set out concerns regarding their November 2016 announcement, “A Better Defence Estate”. The extensive cuts outlined will result in a 19% reduction to the defence estate in Scotland and will have a major impact on communities across the country. Following repeated requests for meetings, I met with Mark Lancaster MP (the former Defence Minister for Veterans, Reserves and Personnel) on 25 March to outline concerns.

In April this year, the Scottish Parliament passed a motion calling on the UK Government to properly engage with the Scottish Government, Local Authorities and communities before the cuts go ahead. I met the Defence People and Veterans Minister, Tobias Ellwood MP, on 03 July to urge Defence Ministers to act on this and to request again that the planned base closures in Scotland be reconsidered. After the meeting, I wrote to Mr Ellwood on 10 July stressing that it is vital that MOD Ministers commence meaningful dialogue.

Question reference: S5W-10023

Asked by: Maree Todd, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 June 2017
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 29 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent reports published by (a) the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee and (b) Scottish Natural Heritage on deer management.

The Scottish Government welcomes the reports on deer management from the Environment Climate Change and Land Reform Committee and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and notes that both reports draw similar conclusions in that while progress has been made by Scotland’s deer sector, significant further effort is required.

We therefore look to all deer managers to ensure that the public interest is properly taken into account in deer management planning. The Scottish Government will also look to SNH to be proactive in ensuring the public interest is protected and to use the full range of intervention powers under the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 where appropriate.

We intend to set up an independent expert group to examine and develop solutions to barriers to effective deer management in the uplands and a separate panel under the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 to look at lowland deer management.

We will ask SNH to report on progress on deer management in 2019. We will be looking to see effective deer management that protects the public interest embedded across the upland deer range, with appropriate deer management plans in place and commensurate action being taken on the ground. In the lowlands, we will be looking to see all those who own or manage significant areas of land taking responsibility for deer management, and in particular taking action to reduce the risk of collisions between deer and road traffic. If the review does not find sufficient progress with these objectives, then we would have no alternative but to consider fundamental changes to the framework for deer management in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-09589

Asked by: Maree Todd, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 14 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of people have indicated in the Scottish Health Survey in each year since 1995 that they would like to give up smoking, and what information it has regarding how many succeeded in doing so.

The following table shows information from the Scottish Health Survey on the proportion of adult smokers indicating that they would like to give up smoking in each year since 2003. This information is not available from the two earlier Scottish Health Surveys in 1995 and 1998.

Adult smokers: proportion wanting to give up

	2003	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Yes	70	68	70	69	72	73	70	67	70
No	30	32	30	31	28	27	30	33	30

Source: Scottish Health Survey

Information on successful quit attempts is only collected for those using smoking cessation services in Scotland as recorded on the National Smoking Cessation Database. This is only a subset of the overall smoking population attempting to quit smoking and therefore not representative. Information on this subset can be viewed in the NHS Smoking Cessation Service Statistics (Scotland) 1st April 2014 to 31st March 2015 publication.

Question reference: S5O-01111

Asked by: Maree Todd, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in implementing the recommendations of the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce.

Question reference: S5W-09544

Asked by: Maree Todd, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fergus Ewing on 31 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent Scottish Shellfish Farm Production Survey report.

Scottish Government welcomes the publication of the Scottish Shellfish Farm Production Survey for 2016, which was published earlier today. These new figures show welcome continued growth in the industry with 6% increases in production of mussels and 31% increases in Pacific oyster shells over the year.

The report provides clear evidence of the continued sustainable growth of the sector, and reaffirms the level of optimism and confidence that was evident at the Scottish Farmed Shellfish Summit which I chaired late last year.

Shellfish growing is a significant food and drink success story and the farmed shellfish industry generates significant social and economic benefits to Scotland, now worth £11.7 million at first sale value.

In 2016, the farmed shellfish sector was awarded £3,784,489.58 in European and Maritime Fisheries Fund funding, with a further £1,777,725.20 awarded so far in 2017, which will continue to support the industry in future and drive growth this year and beyond. This includes £562,000 towards the establishing the shellfish hatchery stepping stone project supported by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre. This project is testing the commercial feasibility of mussel spat production in Scotland – a project which aims to secure Scotland’s future production.

Scottish Government continues to work closely with Scotland’s shellfish growers and their key partners such as the banks, including through the Aquaculture Industry Leadership Group, to deliver further sustainable growth.

Question reference: S5W-09249

Asked by: Maree Todd, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 30 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much EU funding has been awarded in Scotland to support the maritime and fisheries sector in each year since 2009, broken down by type of funding.

Since 2009, the Scottish Government has awarded the following EU funding in Scotland to support the maritime and fisheries sector;

	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Aquaculture	3,630,269	2,259,496	79,576	1,469,370	1,024,071.5	184,624	0	2,649,418.75	1,843,813
Sea fisheries	5,989,914	1442,080	1,343,341	1,570,770	1,500,676	2,324,422	0	5,142,274.25	2,760,360
Ports	877,336	122,806	4,329,772	808,528	149,781.5	1,161,723	0	2,666,138.5	541,746
Processing and marketing	3,332,051	2,219,118	2,589,673	1,815,950	1,442,428.5	547,778	0	1,451,086.75	956,628
Community Led Local Development	0	0	0	0	0	3,443,626	0	6,500,000	0
Total	13,829,570	6,043,500	8,342,362	5,664,618	4,116,957.5	7,662,137	0	18,408,918.25	6,102,548

Intervention rate (EU element) %	60.39	62.74	52.43	61.52	51.93	65.57	-	60.53	74.23

Additionally £655k has been awarded to Fisheries Local Action Groups towards encouraging integrated and connected use of funds to deliver local development strategies.

This sector would have also benefitted from Structural Fund support through research and development activity delivered through UHI and SME support funded largely through wider HIE and SE schemes. However this funding is not available split by maritime and fisheries sector.