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-05010

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many units were proposed in the Strategic Housing Investment Plans that were submitted to its More Homes Division (a) in total and (b) from each local authority.

Question reference: S5W-05012

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the units that are proposed in the Strategic Housing Investment Plans that were submitted to its More Homes Division will require agreement and grant funding by the end of the financial year, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S5W-04997

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 5 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding devolving the power to re-classify cannabis.

Question reference: S5W-05007

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 5 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will allow Housing Infrastructure Fund loans to be used from 2017-18 to support the provision of community infrastructure, such as schools, that is required as a result of new housing development.

Question reference: S5W-04928

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government on provisions in the UK Digital Economy Bill to protect consumers in Scotland from counterfeit electrical goods being sold online.

The Scottish Government has had a number of discussions with the UK Government on aspects of the Digital Economy Bill but we have not had any specific discussions over the online sale of counterfeit electrical goods.

Regulations over counterfeit goods are reserved to the UK Government and it would be incumbent on them to take every appropriate opportunity available to enhance the protection of consumers across the UK from the sale of counterfeit goods online.

Question reference: S5W-04927

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to warn consumers about the dangers of buying counterfeit electrical goods in the run-up to the festive season.

As a member of the Consumer Protection Partnership, the Scottish Government supports National Consumer Week which ran from 28 November to 2 December. The theme of this year's campaign is 'Switched On' and aims to alert the public to potential problems with electrical goods, including counterfeit goods.

Police Scotland has also run a Festive Safety campaign on the dangers of counterfeit goods. These campaigns offer sound, practical advice to the general public. It is essential that the public understands the potential for disaster with over half of all accidental house fires, caused by electricity and of those, nine out of ten are caused by electrical products.

Question reference: S5W-04926

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any recent assessment being undertaken of the extent of the sale of counterfeit electrical goods in Scotland and the (a) cost to the Scottish economy of such sales, (b) amounts of such goods being imported and (c) the extent of the sale of such goods.

Scotland's Serious Organised Crime Strategy 2016 Annual Report noted that an estimated £6.8 million of counterfeit goods and products had been forfeited through the activity of the Scottish Anti-illicit Trade Group (SAITG) following the launch of Scotland's refreshed Serious organised crime strategy in June 2015.

As part of its ongoing work, the SAITG are working with Police Scotland to develop a mechanism to highlight which illicit products represent a threat to Scotland and develop the most appropriate consumer advice.

Regulations concerning counterfeit goods are reserved to the UK Government and the UK-wide Intellectual Property Office works with law enforcement and industry partners across Scotland to help reduce the availability and impact of all counterfeit goods, including electrical goods. The IP Crime Report for 2015-16 which was published in September 2016 highlights current and emerging threats surrounding counterfeiting and piracy, including those conducted via the internet. A copy of the report can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-ip-crime-report-2015-to-2016.”

Question reference: S5W-04930

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 30 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the average cost to the Scottish economy of a domestic house fire in the latest period for which figures are available.

This information for Scotland is not held centrally. A methodology for estimating costs for England was developed in 2008 by the UK Department for Communities and Local Government, using data available at that time, and published in its Fire Research Report 3/2011. The report is available online here; http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121108165934/http:/www.communities.gov.uk/documents/corporate/pdf/1838338.pdf

Question reference: S5W-04929

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 30 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any discussions with the UK Government on the fire risk from faulty white goods and, if so, what the outcome was.

Regulations concerning the safety of products are reserved and, while there is no discussion between Scottish Government and UK Government on this, we welcome the UK Government’s recent action in establishing a working group to improve the safety of white goods.

In Scotland there is an information sharing protocol between the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and its network of partnership agencies which allows the sharing of information about fire-related product safety issues.

Question reference: S5O-00397

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how long it would take to make a decision on the future of Lightburn Hospital if this was to come to ministers.