Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-07680

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 14 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether its new social security system will exempt claimants with brain tumours from being re-assessed for (a) personal independence payments and (b) employment support allowance.

In relation to Personal Independent Payments, the Scottish Government has already committed to introducing longer-term awards for people whose conditions are unlikely to improve. We plan to do this across all disability benefits that are being devolved. How best to approach longer-term awards and re-assessment was part of our consultation and we are continuing to work closely with people who receive benefits and their representative organisations to ensure this is designed in a way that meets peoples needs. The recently established Disability and Carers' Benefits Expert Advisory Group will have a key role in providing recommendations and guidance on issues such as this. We will involve people directly in the design of our approach to longer-term awards and re-assessment through the recently launched ‘Experience Panels’. This will involve at least 2,000 people, with recent experience of applying for or receiving benefits. Employment and Support Allowance will remain reserved to the UK Government.

Question reference: S5O-00775

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how the NHS tackles health issues resulting from cold homes and fuel poverty.

Question reference: S5W-07029

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Scottish Medicines Consortium regarding the use of cannabidiol (CBD), in light of the recent statement by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approving the product's use.

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) operate independently of the Scottish Government and provides advice to NHSScotland on newly licensed medicines. The independence of SMC decisions on individual drugs is well established.

Regulation for the licensing, safety and efficacy of medicines is currently reserved to the UK Government and is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) who operate on a UK wide basis. The MHRA have come to the opinion that products containing cannabidiol (CBD) used for medical purposes are a medicine. MHRA is currently working with individual companies and trade bodies in relation to making sure products containing CBD, used for a medical purpose, which can be classified as medicines, satisfy the legal requirements of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012

Medicinal products must have a product licence (marketing authorisation) before they can be legally sold, supplied or advertised in the UK, unless exempt. If a company obtains such a licence for a product containing CBD then it will be for the manufacturer to make a submission to the SMC to have the medicine considered for routine use in NHSScotland.

Question reference: S5W-06974

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-06198 by Kevin Stewart on 30 January 2017, whether it will provide further details of the "novel proposals" that it is assessing in relation to the building of new mid-market rent homes, and at what stage these assessments are.

The Mid-Market Rent Invitation, launched in 2016 as part of the More Homes Scotland approach, was open to prospective mid-market rent providers to submit proposals that will expand mid-market rented housing and contribute to the target to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes by 2021. Since the invitation closed, the proposals received have been progressing through detailed assessment to establish whether they are deliverable and can be supported by Scottish Government. While this process is on-going details of the proposals remain commercially confidential. We continue to have specific discussions with the proposers on their models and their engagement with the house-building industry as well as regular contact with house-building industry bodies, such as Homes for Scotland to promote the wide range of Scottish Government backed initiatives that will play a vital role in delivering affordable housing, including the Mid-Market Rent Invitation.

Question reference: S5W-06973

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce a Scottish version of "Florrie’s Law", which caps the amount that councils can charge leaseholders for repairs to their homes.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to introduce legislation equivalent to the Social Landlords Mandatory Reduction of Service Charges (England) Directions 2014 commonly known as “Florrie’s Law”. This will be considered further when legislation in this area is next reviewed.

Property law in Scotland is fundamentally different from in England and Wales. Long residential leasehold tenure is common in England and Wales whereas it is restricted and rare in Scotland. In Scotland, procedures between homeowners on taking decisions on common repairs in tenements are either laid down in title deeds or, if the title deeds are unclear or lay nothing down on how decisions should be taken, the tenement management scheme contained in the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004. The tenement management scheme makes provision for decisions on common repairs, to be taken by majority, but not improvements unless reasonably ancillary to maintenance,

A homeowner who is aggrieved by a decision taken in relation to common repairs can apply to the sheriff to have it annulled. The sheriff may annul the decision if satisfied that it is not in the best interests of all the owners taken as a group or it is unfairly prejudicial to one or more of the owners.

Question reference: S5W-06976

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-06198 by Kevin Stewart on 30 January 2017, what discussions it has had with the housebuilding industry about the "novel proposals" that it is assessing in relation to the building of mid-market rent homes.

The Mid-Market Rent Invitation, launched in 2016 as part of the More Homes Scotland approach, was open to prospective mid-market rent providers to submit proposals that will expand mid-market rented housing and contribute to the target to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes by 2021. Since the invitation closed, the proposals received have been progressing through detailed assessment to establish whether they are deliverable and can be supported by Scottish Government. While this process is on-going details of the proposals remain commercially confidential. We continue to have specific discussions with the proposers on their models and their engagement with the house-building industry as well as regular contact with house-building industry bodies, such as Homes for Scotland to promote the wide range of Scottish Government backed initiatives that will play a vital role in delivering affordable housing, including the Mid-Market Rent Invitation.

Question reference: S5W-06931

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03905 by Humza Yousaf on 28 October 2016, whether the saltirecard is still the basis for its plans for single smart cards for travel on all public transport.

Question reference: S5W-06933

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03905 by Humza Yousaf on 28 October 2016, on what date it will introduce single smart cards for travel on all public transport in each city.

As noted in the response to question S5W-03905, city schemes have been launched in Aberdeen and Dundee, and operators have committed to introduce compatible schemes in Glasgow and Edinburgh in 2017. The Scottish Government continues to work with operators across all modes of transport in Scotland to deliver the vision of compatible smart ticketing. It is already possible to use saltirecards across the complete ScotRail network.

Question reference: S5W-06927

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03905 by Humza Yousaf on 28 October 2016, what the obstacles are to introducing single smart cards for travel on all public transport.

Question reference: S5W-06932

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03905 by Humza Yousaf on 28 October 2016, what delays there have been to its plans to introduce single smart cards for travel on all public transport.

Through partnership working, the Scottish Government continues to work with transport operators across all modes in Scotland to deliver the vision of compatible smart ticketing. This programme is proceeding as planned.

The ScotRail network is already equipped for saltirecard season tickets, Super
off-peak tickets and anytime off-peak tickets across the complete network. Plans are in place to introduce a pilot for PlusBus tickets.

Chamber and committees