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: S5O-02667

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with ScotRail regarding timetable changes for the Edinburgh to Stirling route via Polmont and Linlithgow.

Transport Scotland has had extensive discussions with ScotRail in the development of the December 2018 timetable to deliver the best possible benefits from Scottish Government investment.

These timetable changes benefit the vast majority of travellers across the Central Belt, stimulate growth and support modal shift. This includes providing much needed relief to overcrowding at Polmont and Linlithgow.

Although there will be a loss of direct connectivity to Stirling from Polmont and Linlithgow, connectivity to Scotland’s two main cities will be enhanced, with services from these two stations now increasing from 2 to 4 trains per hour in each direction between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Question reference: S5W-19853

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 21 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-19508 by Joe FitzPatrick on 6 November 2018, whether it will increase the funding of the Scottish Infected Blood Support Scheme to take account of stage 1 victims in the roll-out of support payments.

Question reference: S5W-19841

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many applications for crisis grants in the last 12 months in the Falkirk Council area were due to delays in receiving benefits payments.

Information on the number of crisis grants due to 'Other - delay in payment of benefits' is available in "Scottish Welfare Fund statistics" published at: https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Social-Welfare/swf. Figures for the last 12 months can be found in table 7 of "Scottish Welfare Fund statistics: Update to 30 June 2018", "Scottish Welfare Fund statistics: Update to 31 December 2017", and "Scottish Welfare Fund statistics: Update to 30 September 2018", and in table 12 of "Scottish Welfare Fund statistics: Annual update 2017-18".

Question reference: S5W-19842

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many crisis grant (a) applications and (b) awards there have been in the last quarter in the Falkirk Council area; what the average grant was, and how many applications were due to delays in receiving benefits payments.

Crisis grant statistics for the latest quarter, broken down by local authority, are available in "Scottish Welfare Fund statistics: update to
‎ 30 June 2018", published at https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Social-Welfare/swf.

Figures for applications are presented in Table 3, awards and average award value in Table 15, and reasons for applications including 'Other - delay in payment of benefits' in Table 7.

Question reference: S5O-02545

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 14 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with AHDB, industry representatives and the UK Government regarding the impact of a no-deal Brexit on Scottish seed potato exports.

Regular engagement takes place between officials and industry, and Scotland’s Chief Plant Health Officer will be the keynote speaker at the AHDB’s seed potato event tomorrow, where he will be addressing the potential impacts Brexit will have on the industry.

Officials have been in regular discussions with Defra and conducted a joint call for evidence to industry in the summer requesting information on the sufficiency of domestic seed potatoes in supplying the UK demand.

Scottish seed potatoes are world-renowned for their high quality and a third of our marketable tonnage is currently exported to the EU- so this is a vitally important sector for us, and more so than across the rest of the UK.

We believe Scotland has the capacity to meet UK wide domestic demand for seed potatoes. I have written to the Secretary of State Michael Gove expressing my disappointment in the Defra position and asked him to reconsider.

I have also discussed this with his colleague and Defra Minister, David Rutley.

Question reference: S5T-01326

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 November 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what protections it has put in place for young offenders in custody.

Question reference: S5O-02467

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 October 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to ensure that there are more Changing Places toilet facilities throughout Scotland.

Question reference: S5O-02343

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 September 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to help farmers and crofters cope with the impact of adverse weather.

Question reference: S5W-18003

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 27 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to be in a position to respond to the recommendations contained in the Clinical Review of the Impacts of Hepatitis C: Short Life Working Group Report.

Question reference: S5W-17717

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 July 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Falkirk Council regarding support for (a) the introduction of a Gaelic medium school and (b) Gaelic medium education units being attached to existing schools in the council area.

There have not been any recent discussions with Falkirk Council in relation to the introduction of Gaelic medium education in any schools, or units, in the Council area. However, the Scottish Government remains willing to discuss the opportunities for support for any development that the Council may wish to consider to meet demand in the future.

In line with the provisions of the Education (Scotland) Act 2016, Falkirk openly promotes the opportunities to access Gaelic education. This is currently provided through neighbouring authorities and Falkirk Council has not refused any parental request for a child to attend full time Gaelic provision in other areas. Interest in Gaelic within the Falkirk Council area continues and recent Gaelic Bookbug sessions have built upon this and may lead to future demand for GME.

In addition, the Scottish Government and Falkirk Council remain active members of a number of networks which work to support current and future Gaelic education provision including the Gaelic Local Authorities Network, the National Gaelic Education Steering Group and Gaelic Learners in the Primary School Consortium.