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: S5W-19636

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 26 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it can give to workers at the Knorr-Bremse RailServices site at Springburn with regard to a commitment to the future of the site.

Question reference: S5O-02581

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 November 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when the transport secretary last met ScotRail Alliance and what was discussed.

Question reference: S5W-19693

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 14 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what factors it is taking into consideration to determine the extent of the additional resources that it will allocate to the victims of contaminated blood products, and whether the people affected and their families will be treated as a priority.

The Scottish Government has always worked hard to provide support for those infected with hepatitis c and/or HIV via infected blood or blood products and their families.

The Scottish Government is taking into consideration the findings of the Clinical Review of the impacts of chronic hepatitis c in determining the extent of the additional resources that will be allocated to support the new annual payments for those with chronic hepatitis c and the widows, widowers, civil partners and other long-term partners of those with chronic hepatitis c who have died. The additional resources provided will also depend upon the information provided in the application for funds, particularly reported impacts on infected and affected applicants.

Question reference: S5O-02553

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 November 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action the Environment Secretary is taking to enable people from deprived areas to access woodland areas.

Question reference: S5W-18527

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 24 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-17668 by Michael Matheson on 1 August 2018, whether it will outline the specific actions that it has taken with employers in the ferry industry to ensure that they promote trade union representation and collective bargaining agreements.

The recent Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services tender reflected The Scottish Government’s Statutory Guidance on Addressing Fair Work Practices. The tender required bidders to outline their approach to union representation and collective bargaining. A similar approach will be adopted for the forthcoming tender for the Northern Isles Ferry Services, with the unions consulted ahead of the detailed specification being issued to pre-qualifying bidders.

Post contract award, Transport Scotland hold regular meetings with the employers of the ferry services subsidised by the Scottish Government. The meetings cover a variety of contractual matters, including union and employment issues.

Question reference: S5W-18118

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 3 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to figures released by NHS Forth Valley, which suggest that, between February 2017 to February 2018, it recorded a fall of almost 50% in meeting the child and adolescent mental health waiting times for treatment within 18 weeks of referral; what action it is taking to support these young people, and what discussions it has had with the NHS board to ensure that the target is met.

We are deeply disappointed that despite mental health being a key priority for this Government a number of NHS Boards, including NHS Forth Valley, are still not meeting the 18 week waiting times standard for access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). We remain determined to drive improvements in CAMHS and are committed to ensuring that children and young people get access to high quality mental health services.

This is why we continue to invest in services. Between 2016-17 and 2019-20, NHS Forth Valley will receive a total of £2,014,396 for capacity building and workforce development to improve access to CAMHS and psychological therapies. We have also directly engaged with NHS Forth Valley, as well as other Boards whose current performance suggests underlying problems, to discuss performance and expectations for the coming year. We will continue to work closely with NHS Forth Valley, both directly, and via support provided by the Healthcare Improvement Scotland Mental Health Access Improvement Support Team (MHAIST), to deliver sustained improvements in access to CAMHS.

Question reference: S5W-18119

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 3 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in light of reports that, over the last year, there has been a fall nationally in meeting the child and adolescent mental health waiting times for treatment within 18 weeks of referral.

Young people’s mental health is a key priority for the Scottish Government, and when a child or young person experiences mental ill health it is vital that they are able to access the support and help they need, when they need it. However, increasing public awareness and reducing stigma about mental ill-health, combined with the work we are doing to improve access to child and adolescent mental health services, has led to an increase in the number of young people coming forward for help. In some cases, this has led to waits of longer than 18 weeks for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

In order to address these challenges, and to achieve sustained improvements in CAMHS, we are both supporting and challenging local areas to improve access to mental health services through whole systems change. Our 10-year Mental Health Strategy published in March 2017 includes a number of actions aimed at ensuring that children and young people have good mental health and that agencies act early enough when issues emerge and impact young lives. We are investing £15 million to support better access to CAMHS and innovation, and have increased the CAMHS workforce by over 65%.

We see the best results where provision is embedded in the community, working closely with specialist services. As a result, we are working with partners like COSLA to help improve this community-based provision for consistent care across the country. We have also created a new taskforce for CAMHS, led by the internationally respected mental health expert Dr Dame Denise Coia, and supported by £5 million of investment, to reshape and continue to improve child and adolescent mental health services. The Taskforce will look at how the current service response from community, primary and specialist services can be reorganised so that all children and young people who need support receive it at a level appropriate to the nature and severity of their problems.

Question reference: S5W-17667

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 July 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15590 by Keith Brown on 17 April 2018, what recent assessment it has made of access to trade union representation at Scottish ferry companies operating in the Pentland Firth that it is currently negotiating with regarding inclusion in the Road Equivalent Tariff fares subsidy scheme.

Question reference: S5W-17668

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 July 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15590 by Keith Brown on 17 April 2018, what steps it is taking to ensure that all staff in the ferry industry have access to trade union representation.

The laws relating to employment, trade unions, their activities and membership/representation are currently a reserved matter and enforcement is therefore an issue for the UK government. However, the Scottish Government believes that a progressive approach to trade unionism is at the very heart of a fairer, more successful society. Trade union representation and collective bargaining agreements ensure that workers have an effective voice in the workplace, and this is a vital aspect of Fair Work which we encourage all employers to adopt.

Question reference: S5W-17229

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 10 July 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-16751 by Aileen Campbell on 5 June 2018, how much has been spent in each local authority on the Active Schools programme in each year since 2015.

Sport Scotland publish their overall revenue investment into each local authority each year. This investment covers Active Schools as well as other areas such as Community Sport Hubs. At present this information covers financial years 2013-14 to 2016-17. sport scotland plans to publish the 2017-18 investment figures following publication of their annual report.

The funding directed every year since 2015 to the Active Scotland programme is an operational matter for sport scotland. However, given your request I have asked the Chief Executive of sport scotland to write to you direct to provide a breakdown of the overall investment figure for Active Schools.