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-27384

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to make improvements to Sunday services provided by any future rail operators.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that our rail services deliver the best possible connectivity for the people of Scotland. Over the last ten years we have significantly improved both the frequency of weekday and Sunday services. In addition, we have introduced Sunday services on routes which were not served before. We remain committed to further such improvements, subject to affordability and rail industry deliverability constraints.

Question reference: S5W-27377

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government in the last three years regarding HS2.

Over the last three years, Transport Scotland and Department for Transport officials have been working in partnership with HS2 Ltd and Network Rail to deliver a joint UK and Scottish Government commitment to identify options that could improve capacity and reduce journey time on the rail routes between Scotland and England.

Officials last met their UK Government counterparts on 18 December 2019 as part of a regular set of meetings at which they discussed infrastructure options for high speed rail to improve speed, capacity, connectivity and resilience on rail routes between England and Scotland. The next scheduled meeting is due to be held on 5 March 2020.

Question reference: S5W-27385

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the frequency of rail services in areas that currently have an hourly service.

Question reference: S5W-27386

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the rail network's capacity to increase the number of passengers using it, and whether it will publish the findings of any such assessment.

As a result of the significant investment made in Scotland’s Railway infrastructure, stations and services, we have seen patronage grow by 35% in the last ten years.

Our National Transport Strategy, which was published on 5 February, sets out the future direction for transport and reflects the declaration of the global climate emergency with climate change action identified as a priority.

https://www.transport.gov.scot/our-approach/national-transport-strategy/

We are fully committed to increasing public and sustainable transport options across the country. The second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2), due to report Spring 2021, is underway and is currently identifying the transport interventions required to provide Scotland with a network fit for the 21st Century, which will inform Scottish Ministers’ investment decisions for the next 20 years. Any decisions on future funding of transport infrastructure in Scotland will be informed by the outputs of STPR2 and through the normal cycle of government spending reviews.

In terms of rail capacity assessment I would refer the member to Network Rail’s Scotland Route Study publication:-

https://cdn.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Scotland-Route-Study.pdf

Question reference: S5O-04155

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it will grow the live music industry in Scotland, given the closure of the O2 ABC.

Question reference: S5W-27379

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 19 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what funding is available to support disabled people who wish to stand for electoral office.

Political parties should support their disabled candidates with additional costs , however we recognise that this may not always be possible.

In February 2016 the Scottish Government launched the Access to Elected Office Fund to provide support for disabled people seeking to stand for selection or election in the 2017 local government elections. The Fund offered financial assistance to disabled people to help meet the additional costs they face when seeking election. It was initially delivered on a pilot basis by Inclusion Scotland however, after achieving positive outcomes, the fund has been continued for local and Scottish Parliamentary elections to 2021.

For the 2017 local authority elections, 44 disabled people were supported by the Fund with 39 becoming official candidates. Of those, 15 disabled people were elected to local councils, covering a wide geographical area and a range of political parties and impairments.

Question reference: S5O-04116

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on introducing a single consent form to allow benefit claimants to agree to share their data for the purpose of benefit take-up.

Question reference: S5O-04026

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 22 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the transfer of powers to Scotland following Brexit.

Question reference: S5O-03964

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to calls for it to no longer offer contracts to private firms that employ people on zero-hours contracts.

Question reference: S5F-03806

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 December 2019

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to prevent people with mental health conditions becoming homeless.