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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-09566

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 15 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in light of it being fined following the deaths in 2012 of two patients by suicide at Stobhill Hospital.

It would be inappropriate for Ministers to comment in detail on individual patient care or on individual tragic deaths. However we would expect NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to implement any appropriate safety improvements which might be required in light of these tragic deaths.

The Suicide Review Community of Practice http://www.knowledge.scot.nhs.uk/suicidereviews.aspx (hosted by NHS Education for Scotland in liaison with Healthcare Improvement Scotland) provides very useful guidance for mental health services staff on the process of suicide reviews, with a view to helping improve safety and driving service improvements.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland is piloting an improvement programme supporting the development of practice of mental health observation within six pilot sites across Scotland. This includes NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. The pilot aims to improve observation practice through therapeutic engagement with suicidal, violent or vulnerable patients, to prevent them from harming themselves or others at times of high risk during their recovery. Revised guidance on this is to be published by Healthcare Improvement Scotland in late 2017.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland is also available to provide tailored support, guidance and advice to NHS boards and services by request, or in response to identifying improvement needs - through external quality assurance processes. Requests can be made by emailing the Healthcare Improvement Scotland Suicide Review team on hcis.suicidereviewteam@nhs.net.

The Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness http://research.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/cmhs/research/centreforsuicideprevention/nci/ also provides evidence-based recommendations on improving safety in mental health services.

Question reference: S5O-01144

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 June 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce hospital waiting times in the West Scotland parliamentary region.

Question reference: S5O-01117

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce class sizes.

In 2010 we introduced legislation to reduce the maximum class size in P1 to its lowest ever level of 25, and we have committed £88 million to local authorities to maintain pupil-teacher ratios.

Our investment in teacher numbers will allow local authorities to take flexible decisions about how best to meet the needs of their schools. Had we not taken action to maintain teacher numbers, the number of teachers in our schools could have fallen further, resulting in larger classes with much higher pupil teacher ratios.

Question reference: S5W-09565

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport on 16 May 2017 (Official Report, c. 4), what support it has offered to NHS Ayrshire and Arran following the cyber-attack.

Question reference: S5T-00586

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 June 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the final cost will be of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme.

Question reference: S5W-09563

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 7 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to help prevent young people being bullied on internet gaming platforms.

Internet safety is a reserved matter. However, Scottish Ministers do have significant scope to develop and implement policy relating to child internet safety as a direct result of devolved responsibility for education, policing and child protection.

The Scottish Governments National Action Plan on Internet Safety for Children and Young People published on 21 April 2017 sets out a number of actions to improve internet safety. Its priorities include equipping children and young people to build their own personal resilience to stay safe online, supporting professionals, parents and carers and continuing to work with digital and social media providers to ensure children are not exposed to harm.

The Scottish Government also launched ‘A National Approach to Anti-bullying for Scotland’s Children and Young People’ in 2010. This approach forms part of our wider attempts to improve the health and wellbeing of our children and young people. In recognition that there have been a number of significant policy developments since the publication of the National Approach a working group was established in January 2015 to refresh the guidance.

The Deputy First Minister recently agreed to a request from the Scottish Parliament’s Equalities and Human Rights Committee for further engagement by the Committee on this issue. We will carefully consider the issues raised by the Committee before we publish the refreshed guidance later this year.

Question reference: S5T-00578

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to comply with freedom of information requests.

Question reference: S5O-01093

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect low- and middle-income earners from negative growth.

Question reference: S5W-09178

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent review by the property adviser, Ryden, which suggests that the possibility of a second independence referendum is undermining investor confidence in the housing market.

Question reference: S5W-09180

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to tackle so-called fake news and its impact on people in Scotland.

It is important that all news organisations do all they can to ensure that their reporting is as accurate as possible. Platforms through which news is accessed - including print, broadcast and online media - should consider how they can ensure that intentionally inaccurate reporting is not disseminated through their platforms.

An inquiry was launched into the issue of fake news in January 2017 by the Westminster Culture, Media and Sport Committee. We look forward to seeing any published findings from that inquiry.