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-22666

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what most recent assessment it has made of the impact of Abellio ScotRail's performance on the economy, and when it will next carry out another one.

The ScotRail Franchise plays a key role towards the economic wellbeing of the Scottish economy. A report which was published in 2016 for Transport Scotland (The Oxera report) estimated that the rail sector’s contribution to Scotland’s economy included:

contributes up to £670 million in gross value added per year
employs around 12,800 people
makes an estimated tax contribution of £292 million per year
total user benefits of up to £1 billion per year

A follow up assessment on the impact of the rail network on the Scottish economy has not yet been scheduled.

Question reference: S5W-22668

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 3 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21457 by Kevin Stewart on 19 February 2019, how residents and owners in non-registered social landlord (RSL) properties can find out about the grants and support that are available.

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 requires local authorities to prepare a statement of assistance detailing the forms of assistance provided, including adaptations and the provision of grants, and the criteria for providing assistance for home owners and private tenants (including tenants of unregistered social landlords).

Statements are available on local authority websites and many Councils also publish information sheets in other formats for specific audiences (easy read, braille, languages other than English ).

Question reference: S5O-03219

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that some tattoo parlours are refusing services to customers who disclose their HIV status.

Question reference: S5W-22669

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 1 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21461 by Kevin Stewart on 19 February 2019, how the framework will establish and inform reporting to help ensure that a Scotland-wide picture can be assessed.

Question reference: S5W-22595

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 30 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to implement the reasonable adjustment duty, described in the Equality Act 2010, for those with invisible disabilities who cannot tolerate loud music in shops and other public spaces, to protect them from unlawful discrimination.

The Equality Act 2010 provides a legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all. The Equality Act 2010 prohibits both direct and indirect discrimination on the grounds of any of the protected characteristics, including disability.

Enforcement and compliance of the Equality Act 2010 are matters for the courts and for the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission, which is linked below, is a useful source of information on various issues including what individuals rights are regarding equality if they are using the services of a business, or buying goods or using facilities provided by a business. The guidance contains a range of options which individuals may wish to consider along with a list of organisations who can provide you with further information and advice.

https://equalityhumanrights.com/en

The Scottish Government strongly encourages businesses, retailers and councils to involve disabled people, and for organisations to consider how they can improve accessibility and inclusion for all their customers.

Question reference: S5W-22594

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 25 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many times under the Equality Act 2010 the Equality and Human Rights Commission has challenged the policy and practice of playing of loud music by service suppliers in Scotland, which can cause significant disadvantage to people with invisible disabilities, such as hearing problems, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), autism and brain injuries.

Question reference: S5W-22462

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 24 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that firms that it has awarded contracts to pay their sub-contractors on time, and what action it takes if they fail to do so.

The Scottish Government is committed to paying our contractors promptly and ensuring that they do the same with their subcontractors.

We include a standard clause in our contracts requiring prompt payment of valid invoices within 30 days down the supply chain and have urged other public bodies to do the same. Also any subcontractor in our contracts who believes that they are not being paid on time can raise the issue directly with us for resolution.

We announced on 19 February 2019 that we had delivered on our Economic Action Plan pledge to increase the number of Scottish Government construction contracts to which Project Bank Accounts (PBAs) can be applied. PBAs ensure that payments to supply chain firms are made promptly and protected from upstream insolvency. PBAs are now available to more small businesses after we brought more Scottish Government construction contracts into scope - infrastructure projects over
‎ £5 million, replacing the previous £10 million threshold; and building projects over
‎ £2 million, instead of £4 million. This is to make prompt and protected payment a reality for many more small businesses in our construction industry.

Question reference: S5W-22461

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 24 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how sub-contracted staff working on public projects can raise grievances with the firms that it has awarded the contracts to.

Employers must by law set out a grievance procedure and share it in writing with all employees. It must include who the employee should contact about a grievance and how to contact this person. Within the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 regulation 19(4) places a legal obligation on public bodies to include in each public contract or framework agreement such conditions relating to the performance of the contract or framework as reasonably necessary to ensure that the contractor complies with environmental, social and employment law. Guidance was issued in June 2016 in the form of a Scottish Procurement Policy Note on ensuring compliance with environment, social and labour laws.

Question reference: S5W-22497

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 23 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what powers it has to regulate the promotion of protected trust deeds.

The Scottish Government has no powers to regulate the promotion of Protected Trust Deeds (PTDs) by firms or advice organisations. However, if the Scottish Government becomes aware of any promotional material that contains factual inaccuracies or misrepresentation of PTD legislation, action is taken to ensure that these issues are rectified. The Scottish Government has reported such instances to the organisations involved and content has been amended. Additionally, the Scottish Government has reported concerns over the propriety of promotional material relating to debt resolution to the Financial Conduct Authority where it has had no direct powers to intervene.

Question reference: S5W-22498

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 23 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it regulates the administration fees for protected trust deeds.

A trustee under a Protect Trust Deed (PTD) can receive a fixed administration fee and an additional fee based on a percentage of funds collected during the trust deed. Legislative reforms introduced in 2013 make it a statutory requirement that these fixed fee arrangements are declared when the initial proposal is circulated to creditors. Once the trustee’s fixed fee has been set, it may only be increased with the consent of creditors or Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB), the Scottish Government Agency with responsibility for the supervision of PTDs. AiB may, at any time, audit the trustee’s accounts and fix the outlays in the administration of the trust deed. The Scottish Government’s current consultation on PTDs includes options to introduce greater transparency and certainty in PTD administration fees.