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-13343

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 12 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the resolution to eliminate plastic pollution in seas, which was passed by the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of tackling marine plastics and welcomes the UN’s Resolution and the international attention it brings to the serious problem of plastic pollution in our seas. We published our Marine Litter Strategy in 2014 with over 40 action points to reduce marine litter, and have also prioritised tackling marine plastics in our Programme for Government with four further commitments;

We will establish a deposit return scheme to increase recycling rates and reduce littering
We will establish an expert panel to consider environmental charges for disposable items, such as coffee cups.
We have committed £500,000 to begin to address litter sinks around the coast and to develop policy to address marine plastics, which will involve working with community groups.
We will host an international conference in 2019 to discuss improving our marine environment and protecting our wildlife, focusing on marine plastics. This collaboration will take forward the ambitions of the UN environment assembly’s resolution.

We are introducing a ban on the manufacture and sale of rinse-off personal care products containing plastic microbeads with the rest of the UK which is expected to be in place in the summer of 2018. In December we also pledged our support of the Global Ghost Gear Initiative to ensure that the issue of loss or abandoned fishing gear, often made of plastics, is addressed around the world.

There are many Scottish Government policy areas working collaboratively with external stakeholders and other Administrations to ensure the success of current and new actions to deliver cleaner and healthier seas.

Question reference: S5O-01667

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress towards the expansion of Scottish Ambulance Service provision in Moray.

Question reference: S5W-13387

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) Quality Improvement Officers, (b) Education Support Officers and (c) Quality Improvement Managers are employed in each local authority’s education department; how many were employed in (i) 2012 and (ii) 2007, and what the current ratio is to the number of (A) schools and (B) pupils in each authority area.

Statistics on the number of Quality Improvement Officers (including Educational Advisors and Support Officers) by local authority are published on the Scottish Government website in the school staff census supplementary data (Table 10.3) available here: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/teachcenssuppdata and here for 2007: http://www.gov.scot/stats/bulletins/00646

Statistics on the number of schools and pupils in each local authority area are published here: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/HistoricDatasets/PupilTeacherHistoric

Question reference: S5W-13361

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 21 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the expected timeline is for the roll-out of tomography for breast screening in Scotland.

Question reference: S5O-01655

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its plans are for the Dallas Dhu Historic Distillery.

Question reference: S5O-01632

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 20 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to protect and promote Scotland the Brand for food and drink.

The Scottish brand – whether the saltire or ‘Scottish’ label - is a key provenance mark and a signal of quality, at home, in the rest of the UK and throughout the world.

Our Programme for Government commits to a range of initiatives that will help increase demand for locally sourced and produced food and drink here in Scotland. The Ambition 2030 food and drink industry strategy also focuses specifically on the importance of the Scottish brand with aims to grow markets for Scottish produce, and double the value of the sector by 2030.

I can confirm that Scotland Food & Drink are now looking at what more can be done to develop and protect the Scottish brand further and I look forward to hearing their thoughts on the matter.

Question reference: S5W-13116

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 14 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how awareness of the needs of stroke survivors is promoted across (a) the NHS and (b) health professionals that do not specialise in the treatment of the condition.

To improve the experience and clinical outcomes for patients living with stroke, the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme sets clear aims which have been established through the Scottish Stroke Care Standards and the priority actions from the Stroke Improvement Plan (2014). Each NHS Board reports on progress in the implementation of the Improvement Plan priorities and Standards are measured by the Scottish Stroke Care Audit.

The Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme (SSIP) Coordinator works with Health Boards and their Managed Clinical Networks for stroke to support all staff to further improve, share good practice across Scotland and develop tools and resources to build capacity, knowledge and skills. In making these improvements the National Advisory Committee for Stroke will continue to work with our stakeholders, including health boards, third sector organisations and patients.

Question reference: S5W-13115

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 14 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available for stroke survivors in Moray, and for their carers and families, following discharge from hospital.

While policies, frameworks and resources are provided by the Scottish Government, individual NHS Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships are responsible for planning, funding and implementing services in their area and for managing the resources to deliver them.

We expect Health Boards, including NHS Grampian, to work with their Health and Social Care Partnerships to plan and fund stroke services to deliver Priority 7: Transition to the Community and Priority 8: Supported Self-Management and Living with Stroke in our Stroke Improvement Plan (2014) for their local population, with appropriate care provided to those individuals in need.

Moray Health and Social Care Partnership should work together with patients, family and carers to ensure appropriate on-going support is provided to people with long term care needs, on discharge from hospital. Wherever possible assessment should start prior to discharge, and continue once the individual is settled at home, to ensure support is tailored to the individuals long term needs in a more homely setting.

Question reference: S5W-13113

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 12 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing for the establishment of further scenic routes, and what analysis it has carried out of the impact of the current routes.

Question reference: S5W-12796

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 30 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether an individual declared insolvent is deemed no longer liable for child maintenance payments.

An individual declared insolvent is required to meet their on-going liabilities for child maintenance payments. Arrears of child maintenance existing at the commencement of insolvency proceedings will rank with other equivalent debts and will be repaid from any available estate recovered by the trustee. Any balance remaining following the completion of the trustee’s administration is written off. This does not apply where child maintenance arrears are payable by virtue of a court order and in these circumstances the debt will survive the bankruptcy.