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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-16154

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has allocated toward repairing potholes in each of the next three years, also broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S5W-16167

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 4 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that the level of asbestos in public buildings remains at safe levels, in light of reports that a classroom was found to contain asbestos dust.

The Scottish Government take the issue of the handling of asbestos within schools and other public buildings very seriously. The Scottish Government is absolutely clear that local authorities follow Health and Safety Executive recommendations for managing asbestos.

In addition, I wrote to all local authorities following the publication of the Cole Report on schools to underline their obligations in relation to verifying and enforcing building regulations, technical standards and the inspection processes which are in place to protect the public.

Question reference: S5W-16148

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 4 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) under-12-year-olds, (b) 12- to 18-year-olds and (c) adults have been classified as obese in each year since 2010.

The Scottish Health Survey collects height and weight measurements from a representative sample of adults and children across Scotland each year. This provides the national estimates of obesity prevalence.

It is not possible to provide figures for all of the age-groups requested, as the survey assesses obesity differently depending on whether the individual is an adult (aged 16 and over) or a child (aged 2-15). The available age-groups are presented in the following table.

	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
% of all children (aged 2-15) at risk of obesity 1	16%	17%	17%	16%	17%	15%	14%
% of children aged 12-15 at risk of obesity 1	16%	18%	22%	17%	21%	15%	16%
% of children under 12 (aged 2-11) at risk of obesity 1	16%	17%	14%	16%	16%	15%	13%
% of all adults (aged 16+) obese 2	28%	28%	27%	28%	28%	29%	29%

Source: Scottish Health Survey

1. BMI above 2nd percentile, below 85th percentile

2. BMI of 30 and over

Question reference: S5W-16149

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 4 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) under-12-year-olds, (b) 12- to 18-year-olds and (c) adults have been diagnosed with myopia in each year since 2010.

An estimate of the number of (a) children aged under 12 and (b) school children aged 12-17 who have had an eye examination and spectacles or contact lenses dispensed for myopia is given in the following table for each year since 2010. Information is not available on adults diagnosed with myopia.

Estimate of number of children diagnosed with myopia who have had a pair of spectacles / contact lenses dispensed during the year: 2010-2017

Calendar Year	Children aged under 12 years	School children aged 12-17 years
2010	16,740	37,550
2011	16,640	38,460
2012	16,110	38,420
2013	16,470	38,910
2014	16,620	38,830
2015	16,980	37,930
2016	18,220	38,740
2017	19,920	41,450

Source: Ophthalmic Data Warehouse: extracted 27-04-2018

Note: Myopia estimated by looking at children with a negative spherical component to their prescription. Data is only available for those who had spectacles or contact lenses dispensed. Excludes private eye examinations.

Question reference: S5W-15720

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 26 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it has taken to promote the safe disposal of syringes.

The Scottish Government Guidelines for Services Providing Injecting Equipment (2010) specify that NHS Boards should ensure that all services in their area have robust policies and procedures in place in relation to the safe disposal of used injecting equipment.

In particular, Injecting Equipment Provision services should:

Educate staff and clients to safely handle and dispose of used injecting equipment;
Provide multiple options and locations for safe disposal of used injecting equipment;
Inform staff and clients that they could be prosecuted if they are found disposing of used injecting equipment in a way that could put the public at risk.

Prescribers are also required to provide needle-clipping devices and/or sharps boxes as necessary for the disposal of sharps waste generated in the community through self-administration of medication. Black sharps boxes are available for domestic/personal use.

Question reference: S5W-15674

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 26 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken regarding the impact of mobile phones on (a) public and (b) children's health.

In line with our approach to other public health issues, the Scottish Government receives evidence-based advice from Health Protection Scotland (HPS), our national health protection experts, and also from Public Health England (PHE). They have the expertise to assess the scientific literature available on this topic, and keep it under review.

At the current time, there is not sufficient evidence to conclude that exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) within the international guidelines set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) have negative health impacts and the resulting evidence from UK and international research is reassuring.

Question reference: S5O-02031

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 April 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action schools take to protect children from knife crime.

Question reference: S5W-15681

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken regarding the modes of public transport that are the (a) most and (b) least accessible to people on low incomes.

Data on transport used by income level focuses on bus and train. Of the two, the bus is the most frequently used mode of public transport for those on the lowest incomes. The ongoing review of the National Transport Strategy is being conducted in collaboration with a wide range of key stakeholders with an interest in the issues of affordability and accessibility regarding public transport. The review will be published in summer 2019 following a formal public consultation.

Question reference: S5W-15677

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken regarding the incomes of people who use (a) (i) bus and (ii) train services, (b) the Glasgow underground and (c) CalMac ferries.

a) We are investing over £1 billion annually in public transport and other sustainable transport options. Our publication, Transport and Travel in Scotland (September 2017), shows that people in lower income households were more likely to walk or take the bus and that adults in lower income households were much more likely to have used the bus in the past month than the train. Employed adults travelling to work were more likely to take the bus than the train at all levels of household income except for those earning more than £40,000 per annum. Train use by employed adults for travel to work is highest for households within an income of £30,000 to £40,000 and more than £40,000 per annum.

b) The Glasgow Underground is the responsibility of Strathclyde Passenger Transport.

c) The roll out of Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) was completed on the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services network in October 2015. RET has brought significantly lower fares for passengers, cars, small commercial vehicles and coaches. Evaluation reports of the RET pilots are available on the Transport Scotland website and Transport Scotland will be conducting a network-wide evaluation of RET over the coming years.

Question reference: S5W-15663

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what cost- (a) benefit and (b) utility analysis it has undertaken regarding concessionary railcards for 16 to 25-year-olds.

The 16-25 Railcard is provided by the UK rail industry and not by the Scottish or UK governments. Therefore, the Scottish Government does not hold details on the cost, benefit or utility of this scheme. The scheme offers a discount of one third off most fares for an annual fee of £30, with some restrictions (such as a minimum fare before 10 am on weekdays). More information is available at www.railcard.co.uk .

The Scottish Government offers a further rail discount scheme, the Scottish Youth Railcard (SYR), for those in Scotland aged 16-18 and for full-time volunteers aged 19-25. This scheme helps to connect young people with business, education and leisure opportunities. It is free to access the scheme with a Young Scot Card and, in addition to one third off most fares, it offers half-price Season tickets. There were 2,337,203 journeys made using the SYR in 2016-17, at a cost of £529,152 to the Scottish Government.