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-17058

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many secondary school pupils in each of the last three years have (a) started and (b) completed a week-long work placement in each local authority.

Question reference: S5W-17059

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on week-long work placements being offered to secondary school pupils, and what analysis it has carried out of the effectiveness of these in helping choose future career options.

Question reference: S5W-17057

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has with (a) Cosla and (b) Skills Development Scotland regarding the importance of work placements for secondary school pupils.

Work placements have featured throughout the discussions of the Developing Young Workforce Programme Board of which CoSLA is a member. As part of the DYW quarterly programme management process, Scottish Government meet with Skills Development Scotland to discuss their progress.

The Scottish Government does not collect or publish information on young people's work placements.

As part of the Developing Young Workforce (DYW) programme we expect that all young people should have a relevant, challenging, enjoyable learning experience within the workplace to support informing them about their future career choices. The Work Placements Standard, published in 2015, supports the DYW programme and provides information on expectations for young people, teachers, local authorities, schools, employers and parents to ensure young people experience valuable work placements.Week-long work placements are just one of a range of possible approaches that can be taken to meet a young person’s needs.

The Work Placements Standard was published alongside a Career Education Standard (3- 18yrs) ,which aims to improve careers support for young people in schools earlier and embed careers information and guidance within Curriculum for Excellence earlier, and the School/Employers partnership guidance which sets out the benefits and outlines an approach to partnerships which can enrich learning across the curriculum and help young people's readiness for employment.

The final report of the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce reported that many felt the approach to work experience was formulaic and did not provide a strong experience, and recommended the development of a new standard. The subsequent consultation and development of the work placement standard took account of views, including from young people, that there was a need to improve the quality and range of approaches to work placements.

Question reference: S5W-17043

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers routinely carry Tasers.

Question reference: S5W-16920

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) the UK Government, (b) the UK Chamber of Shipping and (c) Cruise Scotland regarding the implications of Brexit and new border control arrangements on (i) port and harbour authorities and (ii) the cruise sector.

The Scottish Government holds regular and on-going discussions with the UK Government where we have highlighted the need to minimise any impact or disruption at our ports as a result of leaving the European Union, and that the best way of ensuring this is through continued membership of the Single Market and Customs Union.

Scottish Ministers and officials have also held several discussions with UK Chamber of Shipping, Cruise Scotland and the wider maritime industry around the implications of Brexit. This includes the Minister for UK Negotiations on Scotland’s Place in Europe meeting the Chamber of Shipping, British Ports Association and UK Major Ports Group in London in February 2017. I attended a meeting of the British Ports Association Scottish Ports Group in April 2018, and the Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity and Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs hosted a Scottish Cruise Summit in September 2017.

Question reference: S5O-02213

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in schools to address sectarianism.

Question reference: S5O-02064

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-15823

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost to the NHS has been in dealing with patients who had defective dermal filling injections from (a) a regulated and (b) an unregulated practitioner in each of the last four years.

Question reference: S5W-15820

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) businesses and (b) individuals are regulated to operate in the facial aesthetics industry in Scotland.

This information is not held centrally. The regulation of independent clinics by Healthcare Improvement Scotland began in April 2016. Healthcare Improvement Scotland currently have 212 registered independent clinics which are run by a doctor, dentist, nurse, midwife or dental technician. This number includes all services that meet the definition of an independent clinic within the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 and regulates all aesthetic procedures conducted within these premises.

Question reference: S5W-15822

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) businesses and (b) individuals that are unregulated practitioners in the facial aesthetics industry were (i) charged and (ii) convicted as a result of performing defective surgery in each of the last four years.