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: S5F-03490

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 September 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 September 2019

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-23720

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 21 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what mental health support is offered by each NHS board specifically to people with diabetes.

Question reference: S5W-23721

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 21 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has undertaken of the provision of specialist mental health support for people who have been diagnosed with diabetes and who may require such support.

Question reference: S5W-23722

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 21 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many people (a) under 18 and (b) aged 18 and over who have diabetes have also been diagnosed with a mental health condition, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S5W-23355

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 5 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what forms of direct financial support it offers to those local authorities not included within its Vacant and Derelict Land Fund for the purposes of redeveloping waste land.

The Vacant & Derelict Land Fund, which is a ring-fenced capital grant fund included in the overall annual local government finance settlement, is the only designated fund for the regeneration of long-term vacant and derelict land. It is allocated to the five local authorities in Scotland which have the greatest extent of long-term vacant and derelict land and highest levels of deprivation.

Regeneration of vacant and derelict land might, however, be undertaken as part of other projects supported by Scottish Government that are not in scope of the Vacant & Derelict Land Fund. For example, through the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund.

The vast majority of the 2019-20 local government settlement funds are provided by means of a block grant and it is the responsibility of local authorities to allocate the total resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities. This could include any additional funding that local authorities wish to allocate to the regeneration of any vacant and derelict land.

Question reference: S5W-23357

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 5 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, when formulating the criteria for determining local authorities to be included in its Vacant and Derelict Land Fund, what consideration it has given to the (a) potential levels of contamination on the land left over from previous and historical structures and (b) length of time that various pieces of land in each of local authority area have been left unoccupied.

The objectives of the Vacant & Derelict Land Fund, as agreed with COSLA, are to stimulate economic growth, create jobs, promote environmental justice and improved quality of life, and support communities to flourish and tackle inequalities. The criteria and methodology for the fund, also agreed with COSLA, have been designed to ensure that these objectives are met, supporting the delivery of inclusive growth in Scotland’s most disadvantaged areas.

Whilst eligible local authorities might propose to use their allocation from the Vacant & Derelict Land Fund for remediation of long-term vacant and derelict land with historic contamination issues - and indeed they have used the fund this way before - land decontamination is not a specific objective for the fund.

The extent of long-term vacant and derelict land in Scotland’s local authority areas, as shown by the vacant and derelict land register, is a key factor (together with deprivation levels) in how the eligibility for funding and allocations are determined.

Question reference: S5W-23356

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 5 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to including East Renfrewshire Council as part of its Vacant and Derelict Land Fund, and for what reason it has not been chosen to benefit from this source of funding.

The Vacant & Derelict Land Fund is limited each year to the five local authorities in Scotland which have the greatest extent of long-term vacant and derelict land and levels of deprivation.

The criteria and methodology, which includes prioritising five local authorities, was agreed with COSLA. It ensures that the fund will deliver on its objectives and support the delivery of inclusive growth in our most disadvantaged communities in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-23359

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 5 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what opportunities have been given to East Renfrewshire Council and all other local authorities to present a case for inclusion in its Vacant and Derelict Land Fund.

The Vacant & Derelict Land Fund is allocated using an established methodology that was agreed with COSLA.

The fund is allocated on a priority basis to the five eligible local authorities in Scotland that have the greatest extent of long-term vacant and derelict land and levels of deprivation. The objectives of the fund, criteria, and methodology for allocation of funds, are not currently up for review.

Question reference: S5W-23358

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 5 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £11.4 million budget allocated to its Vacant and Derelict Land Fund for projects in 2019-20 has (a) been fully committed and (b) yet to be allocated for the development of vacant and derelict sites.

Question reference: S5W-22931

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 30 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on (a) NHS resources and (b) waiting times for patients in situations where the faulty storage of original blood samples when being transported from GP surgeries to laboratories has resulted in additional blood tests being required to confirm the earlier results.

All blood sample deliveries from GPs to laboratories must comply with section 5.4.5 of ISO15189:2012. This, alongside individual laboratories transport monitoring and acceptance/rejection policies, exists so that all blood samples taken in GP surgeries are delivered, received and tested within a time frame and temperature appropriate to the examinations requested. As such the impact of faulty storage of original blood samples on NHS resources and waiting times for patients should be minimal.