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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-07819

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to figures that suggest that there was a 40% increase in the number of unsolved sex crimes between 2013 and 2016.

The Scottish Government note that there has been an increase in the number of unsolved sexual crimes between 2013 and 2016. This increase is, in part, a consequence of the increased number of sexual crimes reported to Police Scotland over this period.

Police Scotland note that there can be multiple reasons why crimes remain unsolved, including evidential shortfalls occasioned by factors beyond the control of the police which prevent the crime recording detection test being met. They note that this especially true of historical crimes where there can be investigatory challenges around the lack of forensic evidence and witnesses.

Question reference: S5W-07816

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 20 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to encourage healthier lifestyles for young people not in education, employment or training in light of the recent University of Glasgow study, which suggests that they are at greater risk of developing cancer-related conditions.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that healthier lifestyles are adopted by people from all age groups including young people through a wide range of actions. We know that young people not in education, employment or training are particularly vulnerable to poorer health outcomes including cancer-related conditions. Our priority is to reduce youth unemployment.

That is why we are implementing the recommendations of Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce on our Youth Employment Strategy to reduce youth unemployment by 40% by 2021.

In 2016, we announced a £59million investment of European Social Funds for the Youth Employment Initiative to support young people in South West Scotland into secure and sustainable employment.

Question reference: S5W-07822

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 15 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of (a) claims that a culture of denial exists regarding the extent of problems caused by sectarianism and (b) recommendations that a review of hate crime legislation should consider how sectarianism and sectarian incidents could be integrated into a more general approach.

As part of his independent ‘Review of the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Advisory Group on Tackling Sectarianism in Scotland’, Dr Duncan Morrow, former Chair of the Advisory Group, gathered evidence from a wide range of sources across Scottish society, including all political parties represented in the Scottish Parliament, and presented a number of constructive findings and recommendations. This highlighted concerns that a culture of denial and a lack of urgency exists in some quarters when it comes to tackling sectarianism.

It is very clear from the review that, while progress has been made, more work remains to be done to eradicate sectarianism and that we all have a responsibility to meet this challenge. I welcome Dr Morrow’s Review and will give full consideration to the findings and recommendations.

I am aware that a number of organisations, such as the Law Society, Stonewall and the Equality Network, have expressed support for the idea of consolidated hate crime legislation. That is why I have commissioned the independent ‘Review of Hate Crime Legislation in Scotland’ to ensure that all communities subjected to hate crime have appropriate regress to law and that our legislation is fit for the 21st century. The review, which began on 30 January 2017, will consider all hate crime legislation, including legislation which supports tackling sectarianism. I look forward to Lord Bracadale presenting his findings in due course.

Question reference: S5F-01034

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 March 2017

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to tackle gun crime.

Question reference: S5O-00745

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 8 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how personal and social education in schools can help to tackle mental health issues affecting LGBTI pupils.

Question reference: S5W-06942

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle drug-related driving offences in light of statistics published in the Forensic Science International journal, which indicate that drug-driving kills as many motorists as drink-driving in Scotland.

The Scottish Government prioritised lowering the drink-driving limit in 2014 as evidence showed such a policy could help save lives. Scotland has long standing legislation used by Police Scotland, prosecutors and our courts that makes it an offence to drive while being impaired due to drugs.

We are considering very carefully whether evidence shows that specific drug driving limits should be introduced in Scotland and this consideration will include evaluation of the evidence of the impact of drug driving limits that have been introduced in England and Wales.

Question reference: S5W-07365

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to figures suggesting that 999 call-out response times in Glasgow have become 30% slower since two casualty units were closed in the city.

Despite attending an increasing number of incidents, the Scottish Ambulance Service is saving the lives of more patients than ever before.

Emergency response times are monitored on an on-going basis and are affected throughout the year by a number of factors including peaks in demand, extreme weather and road closures, as well as turnaround times at hospitals.

The Scottish Ambulance Service continue to work jointly with colleagues in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Royal Alexandra Hospital to improve the flow of patients in and out of these hospitals in order to improve turnaround times.

Question reference: S5W-07364

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to deal with sexual harassment in public sector workplaces in light of a report by Zero Tolerance suggesting that two-thirds of the women surveyed had experienced or witnessed sexual harassment or innuendo.

The Scottish Government realises the importance of tackling all forms of sexual harassment as set out in Equally Safe, Scotland's strategy to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls. We are currently investing £11.8 million in 2016-2017 to support a range of projects and initiatives, as well as take forward the implementation of Equally Safe.

We are working closely with Zero Tolerance and others through the Capability and Capacity workstream of Equally Safe to consider further steps to support public sector workplaces as employers in this area, and have also provided funding to Zero Tolerance to develop their Policy, Action, Communication and Training (PACT) resource which can be used by employers to support efforts to tackle violence against women in the workplace. As a major public sector employer, the Scottish Government intends to lead by example and review its own policy in this area using the PACT resource. We will be forwarding a draft delivery plan for Equally Safe in the spring outlining further steps in this area.

Question reference: S5W-06897

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 24 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that there has been a 50% increase in the number of violent assaults carried out by school pupils in the last 12 months, and that Glasgow has the highest number of violent incidents.

The Scottish Government takes the issue of violence in schools very seriously and any attack on a teacher is one too many. The Scottish Government is committed to working with our partners to continue to improve relationships and behaviour in schools.

We recognise that any violence towards staff or pupils is unacceptable and we are working with schools and local authorities to actively tackle serious indiscipline and violence.

The latest Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research did not indicate significant issues with violence in schools and showed that the overwhelming majority of staff found pupils well behaved.

Scottish Government are investing significantly in various violence reduction and preventative approaches, such as Mentors in Violence Prevention and No Knives Better Lives. Children and young people across Scotland through schools, stakeholders and local authorities are also involved in the implementation of wider strategies to promote positive relationships and behaviour.

Question reference: S5W-06943

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 22 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on Glasgow Queen Street station redevelopment plans and the impact of this on retail redevelopment plans at the Buchanan Galleries.

The redevelopment of Queen Street station continues to make progress, some advanced works are already underway and Transport Scotland authorised a further package of enabling works in December 2016 which should commence March 2017.

The remaining works package is reliant on the outcome of the Transport and Works Scotland Order application which remains under active consideration.

The introduction of 7-car services from December 2017 and 8-car services with improved journey times from December 2018 remain on schedule.

I had a very positive meeting with representatives of Land Securities, the owner of Buchanan Galleries, and Glasgow Chamber of Commerce on 26 January 2017 when all parties re-affirmed their commitment to working closely to deliver both the Queen Street station redevelopment and the extension of the Buchanan Galleries.