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-14250

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 7 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many responses it has received to each of its two consultations on proposals to classify 15 special protection areas (SPA) in the Scottish marine area, and when it expects to make a decision on formal classification.

Question reference: S5W-13918

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the reports that 79 jobs at the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) are at risk because of restructuring plans, and what discussions it has had with NTS regarding (a) these plans and (b) staff numbers.

Question reference: S5W-13917

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken in response to each of the "issues for consideration" that were set out at chapter six of A Retrospective 2014/15 Evaluation of the Youth Music Initiative.

Creative Scotland administer the Youth Music Initiative (YMI) on behalf of the Scottish Government. Following the 2014-15 Evaluation Creative Scotland appointed consultants to work closely with key stakeholders, including Scottish Government officials, to help ensure the new direction and focus of the refresh of the YMI was informed by this evaluation. I have therefore asked Creative Scotland's Chief Executive, Janet Archer, to respond to the member with the detailed information requested.

Question reference: S5W-13921

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 29 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many and what percentage of (a) disabled and (b) non-disabled children and young people have received support from (i) the youth music initiative programme and (ii) each Sistema Scotland project (A) in and (B) out of school in each of the last five years, broken down by (1) gender, (2) age, (3) social grade, (4) Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) cohort, (5) constituency and (6) parliamentary region.

Creative Scotland administers the Youth Music Initiative (YMI) on behalf of the Scottish Government. YMI projects are required to complete an End of Project Monitoring Report on their activities and participants, with information submitted to Creative Scotland and an external research agency. Projects report on their activities to engage young people from the YMI fund’s priority groups which are defined as:-

looked-after children and young and care leavers,
resident in areas of social and economic deprivation ranking high in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation,
from minority ethnic backgrounds,
have a disability and/or additional support needs,
at risk of offending or who have previously offended,
young carers or young parents, and those
in the early years (0-5 years) of their life.

During 2015-16, a new outcomes-focused evaluation model was introduced to gather information about the impact YMI has for young people, communities and the youth music sector. The model records the number of local authorities and school-based projects pro-actively targeting YMI’s priority groups.The most recent YMI Impact Report (2015-16) is available on the Creative Scotland website and may be found here:- http://www.creativescotland.com/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/36878/YMI-2015-16-Impact-Report.pdf.

The report highlights the main areas of focus for local authority projects were young people in disadvantaged areas (96 projects) and young people with additional support needs (58 projects). The report found that a high proportion of school-based targeted projects were aimed at young people living in deprived areas, many of whom did not normally engage, or get the opportunity to engage, in music making activities. Out of school projects also reported on the priority groups that they actively engaged and the total number of young people taking part, with children in the early years of their life (actively engaged by 9 projects / total 28,853 participants) and young people living in deprived areas (actively engaged by 21 projects / total 10,628 participants) as the main areas of focus.

With regards to the detailed information relating to Sistema Scotland I have asked Sistema Scotland's Chief Executive, Nicola Killean, to respond to the member.

Question reference: S5W-13920

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 29 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of report by the Arts Council England, Literature in the 21st Century: Understanding Models of Support for Literary Fiction, what analysis it has carried out on the state of the publishing sector in Scotland, including what information it has regarding how many full-time authors there are, and what support it provides to the sector.

Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland. In 2015 they published a Sector Review of Literature and Publishing in Scotland 2015, which contains the most comprehensive and up to date source of information in this area. The report can be found here: http://www.creativescotland.com/resources/our-publications/sector-reviews/literature-and-publishing-sector-review

Creative Scotland supports a number of literature and publishing organisations through their Regularly Funded Network. The organisations funded for the period 2018-2021 can be found here: http://www.creativescotland.com/funding/latest-information/funded-organisations/regularly-funded-organisations-2018-21/the-regular-funding-network-2018-21.

In addition, they also support literature and publishing via their Open Project Funding route, a proportion of which is grants to publishers or individuals who are creating and publishing work.

Question reference: S5O-01713

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 24 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Fife and what issues were discussed.

Question reference: S5O-01642

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 11 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Fife College and what issues were discussed.

Question reference: S5W-13492

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 10 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the status of the four proposed Nature Conservation marine protected areas, identified to protect a host of marine species and habitats in Scotland and for which Scottish Natural Heritage provided formal advice in 2014 and what measures it is taking to ensure the conservation status of these species and habitats in the meantime.

Current work is focused on ensuring that the existing MPA network is well managed, and progressing protected areas for marine birds. The four locations are proposed for a range of biodiversity and geodiversity which are representative of Scotland's seas. The plan is to consider their suitability for being Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in 2019.

Basking shark, Minke whale, and Risso's dolphin are highly protected species. This means they are protected from intentional or reckless killing, injury or disturbance wherever they are found in Scottish waters; Sandeels are subject to fisheries regulations including a complete prohibition of fishing on the west coast of Scotland; Burrowed mud is already protected by 12 MPAs; and Northern seafan and sponge communities are already protected by 6 MPAs.

Question reference: S5W-13298

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 8 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS Fife regarding Macmillan Cancer Support’s Transforming Care After Treatment pilot projects; what analysis it has made of the outcomes of the projects, and whether it plans to roll-out best practice from the pilots across the rest of the NHS.

The Scottish Government has not had any discussions with NHS Fife specifically regarding the pilot projects in the Transforming Care After Treatment (TCAT) programme.

The TCAT Programme Board has begun a process of systematic evaluation of the pilot projects by theme. This process is expected to conclude in the final quarter of 2018. The Scottish Government looks forward to receiving and reviewing the recommendations for the Programme evaluation at that point.

Question reference: S5W-13367

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5T-00813 by Michael Matheson on 12 December 2017 (Official Report, c. 8), on what date it received the Audit Scotland report.

Audit Scotland sent an electronic copy of the Auditor General for Scotland’s section 22 report on the 2016-17 Audit of the Scottish Police Authority, to the Scottish Government on 1 December 2017. The hard copy of the report was received from Audit Scotland on 4 December 2017.

The Auditor General’s report and the SPA Annual Report and Accounts 2016-17 were laid before Parliament on Friday 8 December, well within the statutory deadline.