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-05987

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether social care providers will be expected to contribute to the cost of providing at least the living wage to employees in 2017-18 and what contribution it will make towards this.

Question reference: S5O-00601

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce its wild fisheries bill and what it will contain.

Question reference: S5W-06078

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 18 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many offences of fishing without permission have resulted in a (a) prosecution and (b) conviction in each of the last five years.

The available information is provided in the following table.

Total offences prosecuted for fishing without permission, 2011-12 to 2015-16

Charge	Main Result of Proceedings	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
Total prosecuted		20	26	46	23	7
SALMON AND FRESHWATER FISHERIES (PROTECTION)(SCOTLAND) ACT 1951: Section 1	Not Guilty	-	3	1	-	-
SALMON & FRESHWATER FISHERIES ACT 1975: Section 27(A)	Guilty	-	-	-	-	-

SALMON AND FRESHWATER FISHERIES (CONSOLIDATION) (SCOTLAND) ACT 2003: Section 6(1)&(2)

Not Guilty	6	6	8	10	1
Guilty	5	7	18	5	2

Section 7

Not Guilty	6	4	5	2	-
Guilty	1	5	1	1	3

Section 11(1)

Not Guilty	2	1	1	5	1
Guilty	-	-	12	-	-

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Question reference: S5W-06077

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 18 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been (a) arrested, (b) prosecuted and (c) convicted for fishing for (i) migratory and (ii) non-migratory fish without permission in each of the last five years.

The available information is provided in the following table which includes the legislation the charges relate to as a way to identify whether migratory or non-migratory fish. The Scottish Government does not hold data on arrests.

People proceeded against in court for offences¹ of fishing without permission, 2011-12 to 2015-16

Charge	Main Result of Proceedings	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
Total prosecuted		7	12	33	10	4
SALMON AND FRESHWATER FISHERIES (PROTECTION)(SCOTLAND) ACT 1951: Section 1	Not Guilty	-	2	1	-	-
SALMON & FRESHWATER FISHERIES ACT 1975: Section 27(A)	Guilty	-	-	-	-	-

SALMON AND FRESHWATER FISHERIES (CONSOLIDATION) (SCOTLAND) ACT 2003: Section 6(1)&(2)

Not Guilty	3	1	4	3	-
Guilty	3	4	13	2	1

Section 7

Not Guilty	-	1	1	-	-
Guilty	1	3	1	-	3

Section 11(1)

Not Guilty	-	1	1	5	-
Guilty	-	-	12	-	-

1. Where main charge.

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Question reference: S5W-05864

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 17 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the words or phrases, “inequality”, “inequalities” and “inverse care law”, appear in its new Health and Social Care Delivery Plan.

Of the three words and phrases, the word "inequalities" occurs three times in the Health and Social Care Delivery Plan. For example, in paragraph six of the Delivery Plan, one of the aims of the Delivery Plan is to "improve everyone’s health and wellbeing by promoting and supporting healthier lives from the earliest years, reducing health inequalities and adopting an approach based on anticipation, prevention and self-management".

Question reference: S5W-05862

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 17 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report by the University of Aberdeen on the outcome of pelvic organ prolapse repairs reinforced by non-absorbable synthetic mesh or biological grafts compared with standard native tissue repairs, and what action it will take in light of these findings.

Question reference: S5W-05699

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the core participants in the Pitchford inquiry were targeted in Scotland by UK undercover police or by undercover Scottish police officers.

Question reference: S5W-05700

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the review by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland, what it can do to ensure that all core participants in the Pitchford inquiry have full access to justice, irrespective of where they live now or have lived at the time of undercover police operations against them.

As stated in my previous answer to S4W-29540 on 10 February 2016, the options available to any individual will depend on the facts and circumstances of their case. Depending on the particular circumstances, individuals may seek redress via the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which has jurisdiction to consider certain proceedings for actions which concern the use of investigatory powers, and additionally may seek redress through the courts, subject to the rules which determine the jurisdiction of the courts.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Question reference: S5W-05701

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether, in the interest of transparency, it will ensure that all core participants in the Pitchford inquiry have complete access to their police files held in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-05597

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 17 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what mechanisms are in place to monitor the actions of construction employment supply chains on major public sector infrastructure projects and to ensure that fair work practices are implemented, in light of problems reported in this regard relating to the Forth Replacement Crossing project.

Each public body is responsible for putting in place effective contract management and monitoring arrangements for its construction projects to ensure that contract terms continue to be applied through the duration of a contract. This is reflected in the Statutory Guidance on Addressing Fair Work Practices, including the Living Wage, in Procurement where fair work practices have been included and we have been assured that the Forth Replacement Crossing project is compliant.