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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-23614

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what was discussed at the meeting between of the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity and representatives of East Dunbartonshire Council on 29 May 2019.

The meeting was arranged to discuss East Dunbartonshire Council concerns regarding performance on the Milngavie line. The historic performance issues were acknowledged, however it was confirmed that the PPM for the day, 29 May was 92%, resulting from the changes made following the Donovan recommendations and recent timetable changes.

Further, since the introduction of the December 2018 timetable there has been a step-change improvement to PPM of around 15% in both arriving and departing services at Milngavie. The first week of the new May 2019 timetable saw on-time arrivals at Milngavie performing 20% better than at any other week in the past year.

The improvements were welcomed by the Council leaders with acknowledgement that further improvements were anticipated following the full implementation of the Donovan recommendations and the introduction of the new timetable developed by ScotRail for the North Electrics and Argyle line in 2020. Additionally Network Rail will be undertaking a review of the North Electrics & Argyle lines which will include considerations on forecast demand identified in the Scotland Route Study whilst taking cognisance of existing performance issues.

Question reference: S5W-23674

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 18 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) Scottish Enterprise and (b) Highlands and Islands Enterprise can turn down an application for enterprise funding following the outcome of a human rights due diligence check of the company under consideration for support.

Question reference: S5W-23673

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 18 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) Scottish Enterprise and (b) Highlands and Islands Enterprise can turn down the business support services that it provides following the outcome of a human rights due diligence check of the company under consideration for support.

Question reference: S5W-23686

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 13 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government which non-governmental organisations were consulted on the development of the operational guidance on human rights due diligence checks.

Question reference: S5W-23456

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what human rights and equality checks are carried out by the SQA prior to it entering a (a) commercial and (b) other relationship with an international partner; whether these were followed in relation to its partnership with the Micronet International College in Brunei, and, if so, what steps it took to ensure the rights of LGBT students at that college are respected, including the right to life.

I have asked Dr Janet Brown, Chief Executive and Chief Examiner of SQA, to respond. Her response is as follows:

"While the reported treatment of the LGBT community in Brunei is to be condemned, education is a positive force for change on wider society, as well as the lives and economic mobility of learners.

"Micronet International College is a private college, and has been approved to deliver SQA qualifications since August 2016. Among a host of other courses, the college offers SQA qualifications in Computing and Mobile Technology at a range of SCQF levels.

SQA carries out a number of evaluations before working in a country, including an assessment of the risks, and seeking the latest advice from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

"SQA supports the principle of equal opportunities in employment, education and training and opposes all forms of unlawful discrimination on the grounds of disability, race, age, religion or belief, sex, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity or sexual orientation.

"SQA approves all our centres to the same Scottish standard, no matter where in the world they are based. The approval process ensures that centres have appropriate systems, resources and expertise to deliver and assess SQA’s qualifications to the defined standard. This includes the need for the centre to have a number of documented policies and procedures in place, including a candidate equal opportunities policy, and a candidate complaints policy.

"Any centre offering SQA qualifications must ensure that everyone eligible to take a qualification has an equal chance of benefitting from the assessment services that the centre provides. There must be no discriminatory barriers in the way of any individual who wishes to take SQA qualifications.

"As a public body, SQA has a range of policies in place that adhere to all appropriate legislation, such as the Equality Act 2010, Bribery Act 2010, and the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

"SQA is committed to equality of opportunity and to a culture that respects difference. As an employer and a public body, we play a leading part in promoting equality and diversity more widely, including to members of the LGBT community. We do this through policy development, updates to our qualifications, and awareness-raising events for our staff. We are proud to be a Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champion, and to promote a workplace where all employees, including LGBT colleagues, can be themselves."

Question reference: S5W-22963

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-19849 by John Swinney on 20 November 2018, whether it plans to carry out an evaluation of the money given to local authorities to provide mental health first aid training to school staff.

Delivery of the Mental Health First Aid Training programme is administered by NHS Health Scotland and Education Scotland and is a valuable and important element of the provision of mental health support for everyone who works with children and young people.

Scotland’s Mental Health First Aid Training is delivered by a qualified Scottish Mental Health First Aid instructor and is continuously monitored by NHS Health Scotland.

Local authorities whose staff have undertaken the training, provide a summary and a brief evaluation of the impact of the training within their authority area, to Education Scotland on an annual basis. Education Scotland is currently undertaking an audit of the number of teachers and school staff in all local authorities that have undergone the training in order to identify future Career-Long Professional Learning requirements.

Question reference: S5W-22965

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitments made in the Programme for Government 2018-19, what progress has been made in relation to the rollout of school-based counselling; how many counsellors have been assessed as having the relevant counselling qualifications and experience to work with children and young people in schools; how many counsellors have been recruited to deliver counselling in schools to date; whether it still expects the 350 counsellors to be operational in schools by September 2020, and how much money was provided to each local authority as part of the General Revenue Grant to provide for counselling in schools in the financial year 2019-20.

The investment in school counsellors is part of a package of measures to ensure that children and young people get the support that they require.

As well as local authority partners, we are working with the professional registration bodies, training and qualification providers and other key third sector organisations to assist in the delivery of this key Programme for Government commitment.

We will provide £12m in 2019-20 rising to £16m per annum thereafter to develop access to counselling services in schools. The Scottish Government is in the process of agreeing the distribution of this additional funding with COSLA.

Local authorities will be responsible for the recruitment of counsellors and on how best to deliver the service in their local area; as such we cannot provide any figures on how many counsellors will be in schools in 2019-20. We are continuing discussions with local authority partners on an agreed approach to report progress in delivering the commitment.

It is intended that the Programme for Government commitment will be delivered in full by September 2020.

Question reference: S5W-22982

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the use of Applied Behavioural Analysis in schools for young people with autism.

The approaches used by schools in the provision of support for pupils with autism is a matter for local authorities and schools. They are empowered to decide how to best meet the needs of individual pupils.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s SIGN Clinical Guideline 145 Assessment, diagnosis and interventions for autism spectrum disorders indicates that “Access to support from staff trained in applied behaviour analysis-based technologies (eg Picture Exchange Communication System, discrete trial training, task analysis, prompting, fading or shaping) to build independence in adaptive, communication and social skills should be considered for children with ASD”.

Furthermore, we have taken action to establish a short-life working group drawing together key stakeholders in order to look into areas affecting pupils with autism in schools.

Question reference: S5O-03227

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met representatives from the fishing industry and what was discussed.

Question reference: S5W-22574

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many human rights checks have been carried out on companies involved in the arms trade that receive funding and/or account management support from its enterprise agencies.