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: S5O-02360

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 September 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of households in the Stirling constituency have faster broadband connectivity.

Question reference: S5F-02470

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 June 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 June 2018

To ask the First Minister whether she will provide an update on the impact of the EU Withdrawal Bill on Scotland.

Question reference: S5O-02166

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 31 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on SEPA's investigation into the dust pollution in Cowie that has reportedly been caused by a nearby factory, and, in light of the possible impact on public health, what specific enforcement action the agency is considering taking.

The Member will understand that this is primarily an operational matter for SEPA who are currently undertaking investigations into the two recent incidents that caused dust nuisance to residents from the Norbord plant in Cowie. SEPA has requested that the offending activities be stopped until such times as appropriate abatement measures were in place and has asked the company to submit full detailed incident reports for these events.

Additional follow up visits have also been undertaken to ensure compliance. SEPA is in the process of deploying dust monitoring equipment and is working closely with Stirling Council to explore joint working opportunities for additional monitoring and public protection measures. SEPA also attended the recent meeting of Cowie Community Council on Monday 28th May to listen to concerns and reassure the local community regarding the steps being taken to prevent any recurrence of these events.

Question reference: S5O-01971

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 April 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in the Stirling constituency have received support from the Help to Buy scheme.

Question reference: S5O-01965

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on 4G mobile coverage across Scotland and, in particular, in the Stirling constituency.

Ofcom’s published data (May 2017) indicates that 76% of premises in the Stirling local authority area were able to access outdoor 4G across all four networks; indoor coverage is at 50%. The Regulator recently announced that all four mobile operators met their 2017 coverage obligations, including O2’s 4G licence requirement to deliver 95% population coverage in Scotland.

Despite telecoms being reserved, the UK Government lacks a plan to increase 4G access beyond what the market has delivered. We are taking action, investing £25M in our Scottish 4G Infill Programme. This will deliver future-proofed, 4G mobile infrastructure and services to around 60-70 complete 4G notspots. The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Connectivity launched the procurement for this programme on 12 March.

Question reference: S5O-01910

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 March 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the impact of universal credit in areas where it has been introduced.

Question reference: S5O-01902

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 14 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with the building of a new health centre in Doune.

In December 2017, the Scottish Government approved the Outline Business Case for the new Integrated Primary and Community Care Centre in Doune. NHS Forth Valley are currently developing the Full Business Case which I expect will be submitted in June to the NHS Capital Investment Group for review. The Scottish Government remain committed to this project and we look forward to reviewing the business case in due course.

Question reference: S5W-14945

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2018
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by James Wolffe QC on 27 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the proposed continuity bill.

The Scottish Government today introduced the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Legal Continuity) (Scotland) Bill (“the Bill”). The Bill, like all Scottish Government Bills, was accompanied by a Ministerial statement, cleared with me, that it is within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament.

The legislative competence of any Bill is determined by applying the relevant legal tests. The principal question in relation to the competence of the Bill arises under section 29(2)(d) of the Scotland Act 1998 – namely, whether the Bill is incompatible with EU law. That question falls to be assessed in the relevant legal context, which includes the following circumstances:

(i) The UK Government has taken steps under Article 50 TEU to withdraw the UK from the EU.

(ii) Upon withdrawal of the UK from the EU, EU law will cease to apply, and the EU law constraint on the powers of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Ministers will cease to have any content.

(iii) There is a practical necessity to make provision, of the sort contained in the Bill, to enable the law to operate effectively upon and after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

The Bill has been carefully framed so that it does not do anything or enable anything to be done, while the UK remains a member of the EU, which would be incompatible with EU law. Rather, it enables provision to be made to deal with the consequences of withdrawal from the EU – to ensure that the law, insofar as within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament, continues to operate effectively immediately upon the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. It is modeled, in that regard, on the UK Government’s EU (Withdrawal) Bill. In the context of a process of withdrawal from the EU in accordance with EU law, the enactment of such provisions to ensure legal certainty and legal continuity is not incompatible with EU law. In short, it is compatible with EU law to make provision, in the way that this Bill does, for what is to happen when EU law no longer applies, following a process which is provided for in EU law itself and which has already been initiated.

Question reference: S5O-01788

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress regarding the Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal.

Question reference: S5O-01777

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on providing faster broadband connectivity in the Stirling constituency.