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-25715

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25444 by Fiona Hyslop on 3 October 2019, in light of its webpage, Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts, not recording data about ministerial bus travel, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding the last 10 bus journeys that the First Minister has travelled on official business, broken down by the (a) date, (b) length and (c) cost of the journey.

Question reference: S5W-26044

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25662 by Graeme Dey on 29 October 2019, in light of the webpage publishing only limited details of ministerial meetings, whether it will confirm how many times each (a) cabinet secretary and (b) minister has met a representative of Charlotte Street Partners in each year since 2016, broken down by for what reason each meeting took place, and whether it will publish (i) the agenda of each meeting and (ii) details of any formal or informal minute that was taken.

The answer for S5W-25662 provides a link to all Ministerial engagements broken down by month/year with the subject of each engagement included.

As per section 4.22 of the Scottish Ministerial code, “Private Offices should arrange for the basic facts of formal meetings between Ministers and outside interest groups to be recorded, setting out the reasons for the meeting, the name of those attending and the interests represented.”

Formal minutes are taken where there are discussions on substantive government business, where policy decisions arise or where there are significant action points.

Question reference: S5W-25990

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Andy Wightman on 6 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what its position is on whether the rules regarding MSPs having more than one job are fit for purpose.

Question reference: S5W-25862

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 5 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether a Minister using a (a) private and (b) political party email account for Scottish Government business (i) is a breach of (A) GDPR legislation and (B) the Ministerial code and (ii) increases the risk of a security breach, and what the reasons are for its position on this.

Question reference: S5W-25562

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 September 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 1 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether drugs testing is carried out at music festivals, and what information it has regarding how many times in each of the last 10 years illegal drugs have been found.

Drugs testing is not currently carried out at Music Festivals in Scotland for the purposes of law enforcement or harm prevention. The Drug Deaths Taskforce will consider a range of options for reducing the harms from substance use, including the introduction of drug testing facilities.

There is no information held centrally on how many times illegal drugs have been found at music festivals. It is possible that Police Scotland may be able to provide further data.

Question reference: S5W-25859

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action, other than legal action, can be taken by a complainant against a private factor company, following the rejection of a complaint by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber).

A homeowner can appeal to the Upper Tribunal for Scotland on a point of law only if they are aggrieved by the decision of the First-tier Tribunal. Before an appeal can be made to the Upper Tribunal, the party must first seek permission to appeal from the First-tier Tribunal within 30 days of the date the decision was sent to them.

A homeowner may consider dismissing their property factor and appointing a new one. The Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003 and the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 have given house owners with communal responsibilities important rights with regard to property managers, including a the dismissal and appointment of a factor.

A homeowner can also contact their local citizens advice bureau or a solicitor for advice.

Question reference: S5W-25857

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance and support is available to individuals who are in dispute with their private factor company, and what advice is provided to those who cannot afford to take legal action in this regard.

A homeowner who is unhappy about the service provided by their property factor should, in the first instance, raise the matter with the factor directly and follow the factor’s own internal complaints procedure.

If the property factor refuses to resolve or unreasonably delays in attempting to resolve the homeowner's concerns, then the homeowner can apply to have their case considered by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Housing and Property Chamber (First-tier Tribunal) who have the power to issue a legally binding property factor enforcement order if it finds in the homeowner’s favour.

No fees are charged for anyone taking a case to the First-tier Tribunal and legal representation is not required.

Question reference: S5W-25662

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 29 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many times each (a) cabinet secretary and (b) minister has met a representative of Charlotte Street Partners in each year since 2016, and for what reason.

Question reference: S5W-25978

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2019
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it considers that being employed as a corporate lobbyist is compatible with being a member of the SPCB.

Question reference: S5W-25618

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many homeless people in each local authority area live in temporary accommodation that provides access to cooking facilities additional to a kettle.

The Scottish Government do not collect data on the type of cooking facilities available in temporary accommodation placements.

Statistics on the number of homeless households in temporary accommodation, including the type of accommodation are published here:

https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/RefTables

We want to see significantly fewer people spend shorter periods in temporary accommodation which is why we are moving to a system of rapid rehousing. Where temporary accommodation is still needed, the quality of provision should be of a consistently high standard and we recently consulted on ways to achieve this.

The consultation closed on 14 August. The full results are still being analysed but as a result of initial analysis we will extend the Unsuitable Accommodation Order to all homeless households this parliamentary term, which will ensure that all temporary accommodation contains cooking facilities. We will also publish advisory standards in our refreshed Code of Guidance later this year and following that will develop a legally enforceable standards framework.