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: S4W-24453

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 25 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to encourage banks to finance small and medium-sized enterprises.

In regular meetings with banks, ministers, Scottish Government officials and our enterprise agencies will discuss access to finance for small and medium sized businesses. For example at the last local economic partnership forum on 4 November 2014, I invited the banks to consider how best to provide information relevant to small businesses to form part an integral of the finance hub on the Scottish business portal.

In tandem, the Scottish Government is providing advisory support through our enterprise agencies - Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Business Gateway, to companies before they approach lenders, helping companies build stronger propositions to improve their chances of securing funding. Viable businesses should be able to access financial products required to support the various stages of their life cycle and aid their start-up, development, growth and internationalisation.

Question reference: S4W-24455

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 25 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered the impact of a tax designed to encourage banks to finance small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Scottish Parliament has limited powers over taxation and the majority of taxes paid by banks, including corporation tax, remain reserved to the Westminster Parliament.

However, the Scottish Government, through its enterprise agencies Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and the local authority delivered Business Gateway, continues to work with businesses to help them understand the approach of the banks – the banks risk lending profiles have changed materially since 2008, with availability of security now being absolute key for businesses to be able to secure debt funding, the processing of loans can take longer and companies need to demonstrate that future loan repayments can be met. Businesses need to ensure that they present a viable funding proposition to banks and seek to secure the right funding product for their business.

Question reference: S4O-04037

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with farmers or their representatives on the impact of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership on animal welfare and food standards.

Question reference: S4F-02613

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 February 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2015

To ask the First Minister what impact ongoing austerity will have on the finance available for public services in Scotland.

Question reference: S4O-03972

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to people facing poverty.

Question reference: S4W-23845

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how it is implementing the recommendation by the Commission on Women Offenders that most prisoners held on remand or serving short-term sentences should be held in their local prisons.

Question reference: S4W-23843

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether HMP Inverclyde will follow all of the recommendations set out in the report by the Commission on Women Offenders.

Question reference: S4W-24161

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2015
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether the construction of a women’s prison at Greenock will take place as proposed.

I have decided that the current plans for a prison for women in Inverclyde should not go ahead. The proposals do not fit with my vision of how to address female offending, and I have taken the view that a more ambitious approach is required.

I have instructed Scottish Government and Scottish Prison Service officials to undertake a period of extensive engagement with key partners, with a view to investing in smaller regional and community-based custodial facilities across the country.

The Justice Committee have been informed of this decision, and I will be announcing the decision publically later today.

Question reference: S4W-23844

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the number of women prisoners.

The Scottish Government is working in partnership with justice bodies and other agencies to deliver the recommendations of the Commission on Women Offenders (CWO), to improve outcomes for women across the criminal justice system, reduce reoffending and reduce the female prison population.

£3 million has been invested by the Scottish Government from 2013-15 to support sixteen projects delivering new or enhanced services for women offenders in communities across Scotland. The projects have been developed by local justice organisations and their partners and, while a range of approaches are being tested, they are all designed to reflect the CWO’s aspiration for person centred provision of services to reduce reoffending and bring about behavioural change. As well as supporting projects helping women offenders address their problems and aid their future desistance, this funding has also supported projects trialling early intervention for women entering the criminal justice system, trialling enhanced support to the summary court to assist their consideration of non-custodial options, and researching how support for women offenders can be implemented more effectively in rural areas.

The CWO identified mentoring as a key way in which women could be supported. The Reducing Reoffending Change Fund has provided £3 million over 2013-15 to support offender mentoring services for women offenders, which provides practical support and guidance in the community, on release from prison, on remand, or to complete Community Payback Orders. The national mentoring service for women, ‘Shine’, received £2.7 million in 2013-15, and additional funding has also been issued to projects delivered by Tayside Council on alcohol (£311k in 2013-15) and Voluntary Action South Lanarkshire (£179k in 2013-15) to provide offender mentoring provision for men and women in their local areas.

Question reference: S4W-23617

Asked by: Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 7 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to tackle xenophobia in Scotland.

The Scottish Government launched the One Scotland campaign ‘Scotland believes in equality’ in July 2014 to promote equality in Scotland and celebrate Scotland’s diversity. A new phase of the campaign was launched on 6 November 2014 with a focus on race and LGBTI equality. The race phase of the campaign includes radio and press advertising, partnership work, PR and social media to emphasise the contribution that people from minority ethnic communities make to Scotland, as well as celebrate the progress Scotland has made in the promotion of equal rights and opportunities. The campaign also reflects that, while progress has been made, there is still work to be done to ensure equality for all.

The One Scotland campaign follows our high profile Speak Up Against Hate Crime campaign, which was launched in February 2014 to empower victims of and witnesses to hate crime to report all incidents to Police Scotland.