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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: S5W-13420

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reports that there is an infestation of bed bugs in the Govanhill area of Glasgow.

Question reference: S5W-13431

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what main environmental impacts of the A9 dualling project between Killiecrankie and Glen Garry were recorded in the recent assessment by Jacobs.

The Environmental Statement for the A9 Dualling Killiecrankie to Glen Garry project was published on 28 November 2017. This provides full details of the environmental impacts, mitigation and residual impacts associated with the project. It is publicly available and can be viewed on the Transport Scotland website at https://www.transport.gov.scot/projects/a9-dualling-perth-to-inverness/a9-killiecrankie-to-glen-garry/

Question reference: S5W-13579

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-13577

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-13424

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the total annual salary of nurses has been in each year since 2006-07.

Nurses are on the Agenda for Change pay system which matches staff to a series of pay bands according to their job description. There are nursing staff from Band 2 to Band 9, depending on their level of responsibility, with qualified nurses starting at Band 5. Pay scales for NHS Scotland staff are published each year and become Annex 3(S) of the Scottish Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions Handbook. An archive of historic pay rates going back to 2004 is set out in Annex 2(S). The Handbook can be found on-line at - www.msg.scot.nhs.uk/pay/agenda-for-change.

Question reference: S5W-13418

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the compulsory teaching of LGBT issues in schools to help tackle bullying.

We published guidance on relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education in 2014 and the LGBTI Inclusive Education Working Group are currently looking at what else can be done to improve the delivery of LGBTI inclusive RSHP education. Scotland does not have a statutory curriculum, learning is tailored to meet the needs of individual children and young people.

The Scottish Government published Respect for All: The National Approach to Anti-bullying for Scotland's Children and Young People on 15 November 2017 which provides guidance to schools on tackling prejudice-based bullying.

Question reference: S5W-13416

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 19 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported concerns among people in Culter in Aberdeenshire regarding the disruption that has been caused by installation of temporary traffic lights in place of the roundabout at Milltimber Brae.

Transport Scotland attended a community meeting in Culter on
5 December 2017 to explain the junction changes. Although permanent traffic signals have been operational since 5 December, they are still on a temporary phasing until the traffic is introduced from the AWPR itself. I am advised that this has improved the situation for road users. Temporary signals are also still in place outside peak times to complete associated barrier and verge works.

When complete, the AWPR will deliver over a £6 billion economic benefit for the North East, reducing costs to business and providing opportunities for increased sales and over 14,000 jobs created in the first 30 years after the scheme opens. Around 1,500 people are currently working on the project, including on-the-job training for apprentices and local employment opportunities for long-term unemployed people. I would like to thank road users in the area for their patience whilst these essential works are being undertaken.

Question reference: S5W-12906

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in the (a) rail and (b) bus network in each year since 2007, also broken down by the amount invested in (i) Aberdeen, (ii) Edinburgh and (iii) Glasgow.

Investing in rail is a key priority of the Scottish Government, with over £7 billion committed since 2007 to support Network Rail’s operation, maintenance, renewal and enhancement of the rail infrastructure, and to deliver the economic and social benefits of the ScotRail franchise contract across the full network. This core investment is not disaggregated to individual route levels.

In respect of investment in the bus network we are unable to provide a geographical analysis. The national figures for Support for Bus Services in respect of Concessionary Fares and the Bus Service Operators Grant are published on the Transport Scotland website to 2015-16 - https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/scottish-transport-statistics-no-35-2016-edition/. The investment in respect of 2016-17 is £53m for the Bus Service Operators Grant and £194m for Concessionary Travel.

The details of support for the Green Bus Fund are also published on the Transport Scotland website - https://www.transport.gov.scot/public-transport/buses/scottish-green-bus-fund/#45456

The Scottish Government also provided support for the Bus Investment Fund in financial years 2013-14 (£1m), 2014-15 (£2m) and 2015-16 (£4m).

Question reference: S5W-12889

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 6 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to address the 0.8% decrease in total sales in the last year reported by the Scottish Retail Consortium and KPMG.

Although the Scottish Retail Sales Monitor is a useful indication of retail trends the more widely recognised measure of retail sales activity is the Retail Sales Index, based on the Retail Sales Inquiry carried out by the Office for National Statistics. This survey captures approximately 90 per cent of the British retail industry in terms of turnover. Estimates of the Retail Sales Index for Scotland are produced by the Scottish Government. The latest release (2017 Q3) showed that the volume of retail sales in Scotland remained stable in 2017 Q3 compared to the previous quarter (2017 Q2) and expanded on an annual basis (2017 Q3 on 2016 Q3) by 0.6 per cent.

We recognise, and these figures show, that UK Government austerity measures and Brexit are affecting consumer confidence and spending. Despite this, we are doing everything within our powers to support our economy, including our retailers. For example, this year we have reduced the business rates poundage by 3.7 per cent and funded total rates relief of around £660 million, including the Small Business Bonus Scheme which will lift 100,000 properties out of rates altogether. In addition, we are working with the Scottish Retail Consortium to develop a retail strategy which will set out a clear road map for future tax and regulatory changes.

Question reference: S5W-12886

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it will address A&E waiting times, in light of reports from NHS Scotland that almost 800 people faced long delays in September 2017, an increase of 42% from the previous year.

The Scottish Government National Unscheduled Care Team is working with hospitals across Scotland to minimise unnecessary long delays in A&E departments and deliver safe, person centred and effective care to every patient, every time through the six essential action improvement programme.

Scotland has outperformed the rest of the UK in terms of performance against the four hour A&E target for more than two and a half years and has the lowest rate of long (12 hour) delays in the UK. Figures released this week (5 December) show that the number of patients delayed more than 8 and 12 hours in October 2017 has reduced compared to the previous month (September 2017) and has also reduced by more than 10% and almost 50% respectively compared to the equivalent period the previous year; the number of patients waiting over 12 hours in October 2017 was the lowest in any October since 2013.

However, we recognise that more needs to be done to sustainably improve performance especially as we go in to the winter period, which is why we have put record investment and increased levels of staffing into hospitals to further reduce waits in A&E departments. I recently announced an additional £5million to support winter resilience this year, over and above the £9 million, announced in May 2017, to support unscheduled care - total of £14 million for winter 2017.