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-05565

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Quintiles regarding the possible relocation of jobs from Livingston.

The Scottish Government’s economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise (SE), has an account management relationship with Quintiles. As part of that engagement process, SE is aware that the company is currently in consultation with staff on potential changes to its Scottish operation. SE is engaging with Quintiles to explore all possible options for supporting the business and its workforce.

Question reference: S5W-05569

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how often the cancer patient experience survey is carried out and what plans it has to increase the frequency of this.

Question reference: S5W-05482

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the possible impact on jobs in Scotland, what its position is on the proposed takeover of Sky by Fox News and whether it considers that there should be an inquiry into the proposal by OFCOM and the competition authorities.

The Scottish Government is committed to media plurality. A flourishing democracy needs diverse and independent voices across all media and a wide range of media outlets is vital to this. Processes that could have an impact on the diversity of voices in our media therefore should be very carefully looked at by the appropriate bodies. Such decisions can also affect the skills base and staffing levels within the media and can therefore impact on the quality of journalism. The Scottish Government would welcome scrutiny into the proposed takeover of Sky by 21st Century Fox by Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority.

Question reference: S5W-05594

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, what actions it has taken to investigate concerns raised by the UCATT trade union relating to reports of wage exploitation of migrant construction workers on the Forth Replacement Crossing project.

Question reference: S5W-05593

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will immediately implement the pay audit called for by the UCATT trade union in relation to the Forth Replacement Crossing, in light of the reports concerning a subcontractor engaging migrant workers.

There is no evidence to support the UCATT allegations regarding low pay. However, I have offered to ask ACAS to undertake further work in conjunction with Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors (FCBC), Transport Scotland and UCATT to examine this and related issues.

I have received confirmation from UCATT that they are supportive of my proposal and they have undertaken to write to me regarding the remit of this work.

Question reference: S5W-05610

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list all of the investors in the (a) Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, (b) new Dumfries hospital, (c) new Royal Edinburgh Hospital and (d) new Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service headquarters project, also broken down by the level of investment.

Information on the investors and their share of the debt share in the (a) Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, (b) Dumfries and Galloway Royal Hospital, (c) Royal Edinburgh Hospital and (d) Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service headquarters project is available on the Scottish Government website from the following link:

www.gov.scot/Topics/Government/Finance/18232/12308/NPDhubPipelinepayments.

Question reference: S5W-05595

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of information provided by the UCATT trade union concerning the actions of employers on flagship public infrastructure projects, including denial of trade union access to speak freely to workers and wage exploitation of migrant workers, what its position is on the effectiveness of its fair work policy.

We share the vision of the Fair Work Convention that 'by 2025, people in Scotland will have a world-leading working life where fair work drives success, wellbeing and prosperity for individuals, businesses, organisations and society.’ We would undoubtedly be better able to realise this vision more easily if we had the full set of powers around employment law, as the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) has called for. So in the absence of such powers we will continue to utilise all the levers at our disposal to make the case to employers in the public, private and third sectors of the benefits of fair work. We already have 299 employers signed up to the Business Pledge, 694 Scottish Living Wage accredited companies and the highest proportion of employees paid the Living Wage or more of all four UK countries.

And while there is progress we recognise that there remains challenges for business and employers. We will therefore continue to support the work of the Fair Work Convention in promoting their Fair Work Framework, and through our public contracts we will continue to encourage public bodies to promote fair working practices for those who work on public contracts through our statutory guidance on 'Addressing Fair Work Practices, including Living Wage, in Procurement'.

Finally, we fully recognise the benefits to employees and to business of strong, effective and modern industrial relations. We have committed £2.2 million to support trade unions in accessing skills and lifelong learning opportunities that contribute to collective prosperity, fairness and equality for workers across Scotland and a further £250,000 to help to support Trade Unions to mitigate the negative impacts of the UK Trade Union Act and to help unions to embed the Fair Work Framework in workplaces across Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-05596

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent incidents that have been reported involving construction workers on the Forth Replacement Crossing, including the arrest of workers brought to Scotland illegally and the underpayment of migrant workers by a subcontractor on the project.

The individuals referred to were not employed directly by Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors (FCBC) but through a second tier labour only sub-contractor. The Home Office confirmed that the investigation was not directed at FCBC but related to a specific named subcontractor which was of interest to them. I wrote to the Home Office Immigration Minister on 23 November 2016 requesting assurances on what actions the Home Office were taking to address the issue of illegal foreign workers. I also had a follow up call regarding my concerns.

I also refer the member to the answer to question S5W-05593 on 22 December 2016. 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: S5O-00524

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that victims in Scotland of unethical undercover policing have access to justice.

Question reference: S5W-04024

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 21 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been diagnosed with (a) malnutrition and (b) conditions associated with malnutrition in each of the last 10 years.