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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-14739

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 1 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how it will respond to SEPA’s reported announcement that major firms are failing to meet environmental protection measures.

Regulation of businesses’ compliance with environmental protection measures is a matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). SEPA’s Compliance Assessment Scheme (CAS) results for 2016 showed that 92% of its regulated sites were compliant with their environmental consent requirements. The scheme is a regulatory tool that helps SEPA ensure that compliance is delivered and that action is taken to deal with any compliance failures that they identify.

Question reference: S5W-14725

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the subsidy cost will be of extending the contract with Argyll Ferries Limited until December 2018.

Question reference: S5W-14738

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 28 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to promote working mothers and pregnant women in the workplace, in light of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s comment that employers across the UK are “in the dark ages” regarding the role of working mothers in the private sector.

The Scottish Government is committed to the development of an inclusive labour market. Following the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) pregnancy and maternity report in 2016, a Ministerial working group, whose membership includes the EHRC and representation from the private sector, was established in December 2016 to challenge pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace. I chair this working group.

Minutes from Working Group’s meetings are available on http://www.employabilityinscotland.com/key-clients/women-and-work/pregnancy-and-maternity-discrimination-working-group/ .

While powers over flexible working, including parental leave and pay, are reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Government encourages flexible working practices by funding Family Friendly Working Scotland, which is working with employers to change workplace cultures. Family Friendly Working Scotland are also members of the Working Group on Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination.

We have recently launched the £500,000 Workplace Equality Fund which will deliver employer led innovative solutions to overcome workforce inequality, including those faced by faced by women. We also fund a Returner’s programme to assist women to re-enter the workforce following a career break.

We will continue to engage with partners, including the EHRC and employers, to support pregnant women and working mothers in the workplace.

Question reference: S5W-14740

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 27 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how it will respond to recent data from the Care Inspectorate, which reportedly highlights issues with malnutrition in care homes.

The Care Inspectorate is the scrutiny body that supports improvement and monitors the quality of care in Scotland, including care homes.

The Care Inspectorate carries out regular, unannounced inspections of every care home in Scotland and if a concern is raised about any aspect of care, including food or nutrition, it works with care services to help them improve. If the Care Inspectorate is not satisfied that sufficient improvement has been made, nor sustained, further action can be taken.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with the Care Inspectorate to improve nutrition and hydration in care homes. The Care Inspectorate is to publish an improvement resource on food and fluid in care homes later this year, to support improvement in this area.

Question reference: S5W-14741

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 23 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects its EU CAP IT system will be fully functional and allow farmers to receive their CAP payments in full.

The system has been functional for some time and, for example, has enabled us to process approximately 18,000 Basic Payment Scheme claims for both 2015 and 2016. Further enhancements in functionality continue to be applied.

The Scottish Government has issued 17,595 Basic Payment Scheme loan offers, and made loan payments, worth 90% of their full anticipated Basic Payment Scheme payment, to 13,350 business with a total value of £312.6 million.

We are aiming to complete full Basic Payment Scheme payments to all businesses for scheme year 2017 by 30 June 2018. However in any year there are a small number of more complex cases that take longer to process, which could extend final completion for some payments beyond that date.

Question reference: S5O-01839

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 February 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the proposed merger between Police Scotland and the British Transport Police.

Question reference: S5O-01768

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in North Ayrshire will see their income tax increase in 2018-19.

Question reference: S5W-13657

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) delayed and (b) cancelled trains there were between Edinburgh and Perth in 2017, broken down by date and time.

Performance in the railway system in Great Britain is measured using the Public-Performance Measure (PPM), which counts all trains planned to run, which run and arrive within five minutes of their scheduled arrival time. Trains which are cancelled, either in full or in part, or which do not stop at stations at which they are meant to stop, are counted against this measure.

The lateness of ScotRail services is measured using the industry standard of the Public-Performance-Measure (PPM). In the year to early-December 2017 (period 9), 90.5 percent of trains arrived at Perth within the 5 minutes allowed under the PPM measure. More information on ScotRail’s performance can be found at this weblink: https://www.scotrail.co.uk/performance-and-reliability

ScotRail provides Transport Scotland with performance information by Sector Group and these data are monitored against the specified benchmarks contained in the Franchise Agreement.

Question reference: S5W-13722

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 18 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government which stakeholders are being consulted by the water charges exemption scheme review.

The Scottish Government has sought feedback from a number of charities, Community Amateur Sports Clubs and voluntary organisations and has consulted with a wide range of stakeholders including:

Scottish Water
the Water Industry Commission for Scotland
Citizens Advice Scotland
Licensed Providers
The Scottish Charity Regulator
The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
Federation of Small Businesses
Scottish Sports Association
The Scottish Licensed Trade Association

Question reference: S5W-13721

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 18 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the water charges exemption scheme review will be (a) completed and (b) published.