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-13914

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 30 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what modifications have taken place in the last five years to upgrade central reservation barriers on motorways and dual carriageways to allow sections to be temporarily removed in bad weather to assist with clearing stranded vehicles.

The provision of crossover points on a dual carriageway is dictated by national standards (Design Manual for Roads and Bridges). We continue to review our network to assess the merit of introducing new crossovers at strategic locations and wider incident response arrangements are being considered for the next trunk road maintenance contracts.

The provision of crossovers on the wider dualling programme will be taken forward as we progress future stages of detailed design. For example, for the dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness, demountable barriers (posts are slotted rather than driven or cast in) will be provided at cross-over points. Maintenance crossovers will be provided at regular intervals (approximately 4 km or less) and are primarily located to assist road maintenance operations but also help to control traffic during road incidents. Winter resilience mitigation measures such as planting of shelter belts, snow fences and earthworks profiling will also reduce the effects of drifting snow and improve snow clearance operations.

For the dualling of the A96 between Inverness and Aberdeen, emergency crossovers are anticipated to be required at regular intervals over length of dualling for both incident management and winter service operations. The A96 Dualling Inverness to Aberdeen Scheme Resilience Strategy sets out the approach to scheme resilience on the A96.

On the proposed A96 Inverness to Nairn (including Nairn Bypass) scheme an additional 5 crossover sites are proposed in addition to the 12 required by the design standard (DMRB, TA 92/03, Crossover and Changeover Design) to enhance operational resilience.

Question reference: S5W-13979

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with local authorities regarding their statutory requirement to provide adequate assistance for pupils with additional support needs.

To support local authorities to carry out their statutory duties under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004 (as amended), the Scottish Government regularly engages, through appropriate networks, with local authority representatives including CoSLA, ADES and other relevant organisations.

The Scottish Government has sought the views of these organisations in its development of guidance on the implementation of additional support for learning legislation, including the Supporting Children's Learning Code of Practice. This statutory guidance sets out in detail the statutory duties placed on local authorities to support children and young people with additional support needs.

Question reference: S5O-01724

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with ScotRail regarding train punctuality and stop-skipping in the Mid Scotland and Fife region.

Question reference: S5W-13881

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 24 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers have left the profession in each of the last three years for reasons other than retirement.

Question reference: S5O-01615

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in light of concerns raised by COSLA regarding local authorities not being able to register all of their properties on the Land Register of Scotland by 2019.

Question reference: S5W-13009

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what repairs were undertaken on the Queensferry Crossing between 4 September and 27 November 2017.

Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors have undertaken a variety of minor snagging works and finishes on the Queensferry Crossing between 4 September and 27 November 2017. These relate to the installation and commissioning of mechanical and electrical equipment, lighting, wind shielding, concrete, towers and piers. Snagging works of this nature are entirely normal on a large infrastructure project, particularly on a project of this scale and complexity.

Question reference: S5W-13010

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost was of any repairs undertaken on the Queensferry Crossing between 4 September and 27 November 2017.

Question reference: S5F-01815

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 December 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 December 2017

To ask the First Minister for what reason the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy has been abandoned.

Question reference: S5F-01764

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 November 2017

To ask the First Minister what maintenance procedures are in place for the Queensferry Crossing.

Question reference: S5W-12221

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much money, other than the £19.9 million spent on Getting it Right for Every Child and the £41.6 million for extra health visitors, has been allocated to the administration of the Named Person Scheme each year.

In 2014 the Scottish Government announced funding of £41.6 million for additional Health Visitors with the goal to grow the workforce by 500 by the end of 2018. The scale of the Scottish Government’s investment in and expansion of the health Visiting workforce by around 50% is unprecedented. The investment will ensure that NHS Scotland has the right levels of staff to provide visits and reviews for children in order that they can get the best possible start in life and meet Health Board obligations under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act.

Local authorities were provided with £400k in 2015-16 and £9.8m in 2016-17 to support preparation for the commencement of the services covered in Parts 4 and 5 of the 2014 Act.

The Scottish Government has listened closely to what has been said to the Committee on resources and support for implementation. The Scottish Government accepts that further financial resources, over and above that set out in the Financial Memorandum, will be required to assist implementation and that this will be required over a longer period of time than the first year of implementation. The Scottish Government will consult with stakeholders on the detail of this multiyear approach as the Bill proceeds.