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-14671

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 15 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what procedures it has in place for the oversight of publicly-funded non-governmental organisations operating abroad.

All of the Scottish Government's international development work undergoes rigorous monitoring and evaluation procedures. The same monitoring and evaluation processes are applied to projects funded under the International Development Fund and the Climate Justice Fund.

All applications for funding are assessed by external experts, and grant applicants must include audited or independently verified accounts, as well as a risk assessment and risk management plan for their proposed project.

Each successful applicant receives a grant offer letter, which amongst other things requests formal, six-monthly progress reports in addition to regular routine monitoring. We scrutinise these project reports against the five Criteria for Evaluating Development Assistance established by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Development Assistance Committee (OECD DAC), and we work closely with grant holders to ensure that progress is satisfactory against agreed objectives and budget. Only once a report is satisfactory will we release the next tranche of project funds.

Standard grant conditions include that:

- grantees shall return funds not used for the approved purposes to the Scottish Government

- grantees must provide six-monthly reports according to guidelines issued by the Scottish Government; and payments will be released only once these are approved.

- the Scottish Government will only pay for what grantees actually spend in a given financial year – the Scottish Government may ask grantees to return any funds not spent by 31 March

- unspent funding in any one year may not automatically be carried over to the subsequent year unless prior permission has been obtained from the Scottish Government and revised budgets have been approved

- the grant is not to be used for party political advocacy or activity.

- specific conditions on random source expenditure checks

- January reporting point requirement, in addition to the two six monthly reporting requirements, specifically on the project's current/forecasted position on budgets, to enable the Scottish Government grant manager to make early decisions about any budgetary changes that have arisen, and to agree those changes or claw back in any resulting underspend.

Question reference: S5O-01911

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 March 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the need to promote gender equality.

Question reference: S5O-01897

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 March 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when the health secretary last met the Chief Executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and what issues were discussed.

Question reference: S5W-14614

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 2 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the 13% rise in personal debt in the Eastwood constituency that has been reported by the UK Personal Debt Index.

Question reference: S5W-14613

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 2 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with the UK Government to reduce personal debt levels in the Eastwood constituency.

The Scottish Government is very concerned about those people who are forced into problem debt because their household income is not enough to sustain a basic standard of living, and is doing all it can to combat it. However, it must recognised that in many cases, people are being forced into debt because of the UK Government's programme of austerity and welfare cuts.

The Scottish Government is, nevertheless, doing a great deal to maximise household income for the most vulnerable, having developed a number of highly successful mechanisms to assist those with low incomes dealing with problem debt, including -

a Debt Arrangement Scheme: the UK’s only statutory debt management scheme that protects debtor’s homes and prevents further action being taken by creditors, by freezing all interest and charges and these are written off on successful completion;
a Minimal Asset Process bankruptcy: to provide streamlined and low cost access to debt relief for those with low incomes and assets;
a moratorium (or ‘breathing space’) for those facing debt issues: allowing time for options to be considered without fear of further action; and
the provision of high quality advice for those in debt, which is central to all statutory debt mechanisms in Scotland.

As part of its drive to reduce problem personal debt in Scotland, the Scottish Government has also been working closely with the UK Government on the devolution of the funding of debt advice to Scotland, as well as over the recommendations made in the Independent Review of the Funding of Debt Advice in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, by Peter Wyman in January 2018.

Question reference: S5W-14422

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many deaths involving a person helping a relative facing a terminal or life-limiting illness to die have been recorded in each of the last five years, and how many subsequent (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there were.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of people who have assisted a terminally ill partner to die. Should such an incident lead to the recording of a homicide by Police Scotland or the prosecution of an individual through the courts, it will be included in the National Statistics on Homicide or the National Statistics on Criminal Proceedings respectively. However the information received for these publications does not specify whether the homicide involved an individual assisting a terminally ill partner to die.

Question reference: S5W-14423

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 28 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will hold an inquiry or set up a commission into assisted dying, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

The Stage 1 debate of the Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill was held in the Scottish Parliament in May 2015. The views expressed were considered, sincere, and respectfully heard by all involved. Ultimately, the Scottish Parliament decided not to proceed with this legislation.

The Scottish Government respects the will of the Parliament on assisted dying, and is focussed on improving the care and support available to people at the end of life. As such there are no plans to set up an inquiry or commission into assisted dying at this time.

Question reference: S5W-14421

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe QC on 27 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent decision to overturn the conviction against a husband who helped his terminally ill wife to die, whether the Lord Advocate will consider issuing guidance regarding the prosecution of cases involving assisted dying.

The Lord Advocate does not intend to issue guidance regarding the prosecution of cases involving assisted dying. In Scotland, such cases are considered according to the law of homicide. As in all cases, the first question is whether or not there is sufficient admissible evidence to justify commencing proceedings. Assuming that the report discloses sufficient admissible, reliable and credible evidence of a crime committed by the accused, the prosecutor must then consider what action is in the public interest. The factors which require to be taken into account in assessing the public interest will vary according to the circumstances of each case. Such a decision would be made in accordance with the published COPFS Prosecution Code.

It should be noted that in the recent appeal case referred to, the husband’s conviction for culpable homicide was not overturned; rather his sentence of imprisonment was quashed and he was admonished. Sentencing is a matter for the court and not for the Lord Advocate.

Question reference: S5W-14166

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 20 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what review it has carried out of the Scottish Procurement Policy Note embedded in the statutory guidance under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014.

Scottish Procurement Policy Notes (SPPNs) provide public bodies with advice on a range of procurement policy issues. SPPN 04/2014, published in August 2014, provides advice to purchasers on the options available to them when dealing with companies active in illegal settlements. While the references to procurement Regulations within that SPPN relate to procurement exercises that have taken place before 18 April 2016, its key points remain applicable under procurement Regulations that came into effect on 18 April 2016.

The statutory guidance under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 published in March 2016 provides further guidance on the selection of tenderers and award of contracts and is available at http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/03/8410/0. The final Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) sets out our commitment to review implementation of this legislation. A copy of the BRIA is available on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0043/00435515.pdf.

Question reference: S5O-01762

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact has been of locating its Dublin trade hub within the British Embassy.

The Dublin Hub has successfully created and strengthened relationships in areas such as culture, business and trade, and government between Scotland and Ireland. The Hub promotes a modern and progressive Scotland as an attractive place to live, work, study and invest.

Scottish Government will continue to assess the specific character of the markets in which it operates, and decide on that basis on the best location for its representatives in country. Our experience in Dublin has been that the location of our Hub in the Embassy has advantages and disadvantages. Operating off an embassy platform allowed the Hub to establish itself quickly and operate at comparatively low cost. Operating as a part of the UK wide platform confers diplomatic status enabling easier access to Irish government structures and buildings. However, given the nature of the property, access to the Embassy is constrained by security considerations, which tends to limit operational scope and flexibility.