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: S4O-03859

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address human trafficking.

Question reference: S4O-03805

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that the high level of democratic participation seen in the referendum continues.

Question reference: S4O-03767

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how it assists general teaching staff in helping them to ensure that pupils with autistic spectrum disorders receive full support.

Question reference: S4W-22754

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 30 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998 would have on Scottish legislation.

Repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) would have a range of potential implications for the making, interpretation and implementation of Scottish legislation. The precise implications for Scotland would depend on the detail of the legislation which repealed the HRA.

Such effects could be both direct and indirect. There would, for example, be a direct impact if the operative provisions of the HRA ceased to have effect in relation to the activities of public authorities in Scotland. An indirect effect might arise, in the event of repeal, because the Scotland Act 1998 defines the concept of “Convention rights” by reference to the HRA. That concept is, in turn, of central importance in defining the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament and the executive competence of the Scottish Government.

Repeal of the HRA in Scotland would represent a radical and unwelcome upheaval in the fundamental constitutional structure of Scotland’s devolution settlement, and could potentially mean people in Scotland being deprived of legal remedies and human rights safeguards that exist in other modern democracies.

Question reference: S4W-22699

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 30 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998 would have on the Scotland Act 2012 and the Scottish Government's human rights strategy.

The Scotland Act 2012 (the 2012 Act) amends the Scotland Act 1998 (the 1998 Act). Repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) would have implications for the 1998 Act, as amended by the 2012 Act, because the concept of “Convention rights”, which is of central importance in relation to the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament and the executive competence of the Scottish Government, is defined in the 1998 Act by reference to the HRA.

Repeal of the HRA would also have implications for the arrangements introduced by the 2012 Act for determining “compatibility issues” in criminal proceedings – including whether a public authority has acted unlawfully under the HRA or whether provision in an Act of the Scottish Parliament is incompatible with the Convention rights.

The precise implications of repeal of the HRA would depend on the detail of the repealing legislation.

The Scottish Government is committed to creating a modern, inclusive Scotland which protects, respects and realises internationally recognised human rights, for the benefit of all. That commitment is reflected in our support for Scotland’s National Action Plan for Human Rights (SNAP) and the shared vision, which SNAP establishes, of a Scotland in which everyone is able to live with human dignity. SNAP is being taken forward as a collaborative process, which focuses and co-ordinates action by a wide range of partners in pursuit of that overall vision.

Question reference: S4O-03639

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what impact exiting the EU would have on the Scottish economy.

Question reference: S4O-03622

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 October 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect people from the impact of revenge pornography.

Question reference: S4O-03537

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 September 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the report, Challenges from the Frontline, which suggests that Barnardo’s Scotland is increasingly reporting extreme levels of destitution among the families of the vulnerable children that it works with.

Question reference: S4O-03447

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 July 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 August 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to address income poverty.

Question reference: S4W-21714

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how it will inform victims of sexual and domestic abuse of the various support networks available to them.

The Scottish Government works collaboratively with its stakeholders in both the statutory and third sector to ensure that victims of sexual and domestic abuse are informed of the support networks available to them.

The Scottish Government provides funding to organisations such as Scottish Women’s Aid, Rape Crisis Scotland and Zero Tolerance and has provided funding for Police Scotland’s rape prevention campaign.

Equally Safe, Scotland’s strategy aimed at all forms of violence against women and girls, which was published on 25 June 2014, has been co-produced by the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and is Scotland’s first national strategy aimed at all forms of violence against women and girls. Delivery of the strategy will be taken forward by a number of dynamic workstreams with membership drawn from a wide range of partners who have a wealth of experience in this area.