Chamber and committees

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: S4W-06179

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 27 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of recent allegations that the Crown Office did not act with propriety in the disclosure of evidence to the defence team in the case of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, whether the Scottish Government (a) has the power under the Inquiries Act 2005 to establish an inquiry into the actions of the Crown Office and (b) can refer the matter to the Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland.

The only appropriate forum for determining Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi’s guilt is a court of law. The recent selective and partial reporting of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission’s Statement of Reasons in relation to his conviction referred to issues in Mr Al-Megrahi’s second appeal which would have been properly considered by the Appeal Court had Mr Al-Megrahi not withdrawn his appeal.

The Scottish Ministers have a general power under section 1 of the Inquiries Act 2005 which allows a minister to hold an inquiry in relation to a case where it appears to him that particular events have caused, or are capable of causing, public concern, or there is public concern that particular events may have occurred.

Under the Criminal Proceedings etc (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007, the Chief Inspector of Prosecution in Scotland is required to submit to the Lord Advocate a report on any particular matter connected with the operation of the Service which the Lord Advocate refers to the Inspector. The Scottish Government has no power to direct the Inspectorate of Prosecutions to establish an inquiry on any matter.

Question reference: S4W-05662

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 12 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has commissioned in the last three years on the incidence of post natal depression; what treatment options are available for those with the condition, and what funding is available for the provision of such treatment.

While The Scottish Government has not funded research specifically on the incidence of post natal depression (PND) in the last three years, evidence referenced in the current Scottish Intercollegiate Guidance Network (SIGN) guideline on the treatment of PND shows that for approximately 1,000 births, 100-150 women experience depression, with a small number developing the more severe form of the illness.

Treatment, care and support is provided on the basis of a multi-disciplinary needs assessment and in line with clinical and other guidelines. A new SIGN guideline on the treatment of PND is published later this month. This updates the current guideline and includes recommendations based on updated evidence, expanding the guideline’s scope to include mood disorders in the antenatal period.

Most people will be treated in the community in primary or community mental health services. For those who require specialist inpatient care, the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 provides for mothers with PND to be admitted to hospital accompanied by their child. NHS boards are responsible for delivering services in line with this specific provision. The NHS response is part of a wider range of integrated community and specialist services across Scotland, including specialist in-patient units in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

NHS boards are responsible for designing, funding and commissioning PND services for their local populations from their overall Board allocations.

Question reference: S4F-00502

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 March 2012

To ask the First Minister whether, in light of comments in the recently published biography of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, the Scottish Government considers that an inquiry into all aspects of the Lockerbie bombing is now urgent.

Question reference: S4F-00420

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 January 2012

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions' statement that the UK Government's proposed benefit reforms will not lead to an increase in child poverty in Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-04332

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 8 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what actions it is taking regarding the operation of the Scottish Greenbelt Company Limited and the maintenance of common parts in various developments in the Scottish Borders.

The Scottish Government is taking forward two main areas of work to raise the standard of services provided by land maintenance companies.

Earlier this year the Scottish Government issued this consultation http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/03/04104005/17.

It asked for views on whether any changes should be made to legislation, such as the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003, in relation to dismissing and replacing bodies carrying out land maintenance on private housing estates. We are currently considering the responses to this consultation.

We are also working on implementing the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011, which will come fully into force on 1 October 2012. Its main aim is to create a statutory framework which will provide protection for homeowners in Scotland who use the services of property and land managers.

One of the elements of the act is the introduction of a statutory Code of Conduct setting out minimum standards of practice which all registered property factors, including land maintenance companies, will have to comply with. We are currently consulting on a draft of this Code of Conduct: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/09/23151014/0. This consultation closes on 16 December 2011.

Question reference: S4F-00313

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 December 2011

To ask the First Minister how many cases the Scottish Government considers might be affected retrospectively by the Double Jeopardy (Scotland) Act 2011.

Question reference: S4W-04021

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the (a) Cabinet Secretary for Justice or (b) Lord Advocate had received any communication from the (i) US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, (ii) Home Office or (iii) interim Libyan government concerning proposals to extradite Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi to the USA.

Question reference: S4W-03742

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 9 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) investigations have been carried out and (b) dog control notices have been issued since the commencement of the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010, broken down by local authority.

Individual local authorities have provided information in the following table that provides a breakdown of the number of investigations carried out and Dog Control Notices served by each local authority since the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010 came into force on 26 February 2011. The information is current up to 4 November 2011.

Local Authority	Number of Dog Control Notices Served	Number of Investigations
Aberdeen City Council	2	159
Aberdeenshire Council	2	51
Angus Council	0	25
Argyll and Bute Council	4	11
Clackmannanshire Council	0	25
Dumfries and Galloway Council	1	12
Dundee City Council	0	2
East Ayrshire Council	8	17
East Dunbartonshire Council	6	17
East Lothian Council	10	11
East Renfrewshire Council	0	1
Edinburgh City Council	0	2
Falkirk Council	0	3
Fife Council	5	25
Glasgow City Council	0	7
Highland Council	2	6
Inverclyde Council	0	0
Midlothian Council	0	8
Moray Council	0	20
North Ayrshire Council	1	15
North Lanarkshire Council	0	11
Orkney Council	0	2
Perth and Kinross Council	0	36
Renfrewshire Council	0	26
Scottish Borders Council	2	12
Shetland Islands Council	3	4
South Ayrshire Council	0	1
South Lanarkshire Council	0	25
Stirling Council	1	18
West Dunbartonshire Council	0	23
West Lothian Council	20	117
Western Isles Council	0	1
Total	67	693

Question reference: S4W-03077

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 18 October 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-02834 by Nicola Sturgeon on 29 September 2011, whether it will introduce legislation to regulate the charging of fees by private care homes.

Question reference: S4W-02834

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 29 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the regulations relating to the charging regime of private care homes.