Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-12629

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 24 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether its ministers work to the same standards as UK ministers regarding having officials present when they meet with others in their capacity as a minister.

When meeting with external organisations Scottish Government Ministers work to the Scottish Ministerial Code, see section 10.18:

https://beta.gov.scot/publications/scottish-ministerial-code-2016-edition/pages/11/

The code is in line with section 8.14 of the UK Government Ministerial Code:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/579752/ministerial_code_december_2016.pdf

Where a Minister is involved in a meeting, conversation or exchange with external organisations which raises substantive issues relating to Government decisions or contracts, and where no Private Secretary, adviser or official is present, they should inform their Private Office, who will arrange for the basic facts to be recorded (see Ministerial Code paragraph 4.23).

Question reference: S5W-12630

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 24 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many times since May 2016 have ministers met with others in their capacity as a minister with no officials present; when these meetings took place; what the purpose of the meeting was, and who attended.

Question reference: S5W-12628

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 24 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance ministers work to regarding how ministerial meetings are (a) conducted and (b) recorded.

Scottish Government Ministers adhere to the Scottish Ministerial Code which includes a section on Ministerial Conduct (section 1.2):

https://beta.gov.scot/publications/scottish-ministerial-code-2016-edition/pages/2/

Scottish Government guidance requires that formal minutes are taken where there are discussions of substantive government business, where policy areas arise or where there are significant action points.

We would not generally take minutes of goodwill visits, hospitality events, catch ups or courtesy conversations where no policy decisions arise and where it may be sufficient to record within the official diary that the meeting has taken place.

Where a Minister is involved in a meeting, conversation or exchange with external organisations which raises substantive issues relating to Government decisions or contracts, and where no Private Secretary, adviser or official is present, they should inform their Private Office, who will arrange for the basic facts to be recorded (see Ministerial Code paragraph 4.23).

Question reference: S5W-12785

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 22 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff have (a) been made redundant and (b) taken voluntary severance since Abellio took over the ScotRail franchise.

Question reference: S5W-12784

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 22 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many rail staff are employed by Abellio ScotRail.

Question reference: S5W-12718

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 22 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to standardise the provision of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) across the country.

Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) are provided by Health Boards to meet the requirements of their local population. Health Boards may provide services in different ways according to local need. All CAMHS services are working to the target that 90% of children and young people should start treatment within 18 weeks of referral.

We want to drive improvements in CAMH services and are committed to ensuring that children and young people get access to high quality mental health services. Action 17 in the Mental Health Strategy is to fund improved provision of services to treat child and adolescent mental health problems and we are investing £15 million supporting better access to CAMHS and innovation.

Question reference: S5F-01746

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2017

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to concerns that A&E waiting times at St John's Hospital have been misrepresented.

Question reference: S5O-01490

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure there are no fire station closures during the current parliamentary session.

Question reference: S5O-01455

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact is on the culture sector of reduced local government budgets.

Question reference: S5W-11644

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 29 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 8 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to questions S5W-09925 and S5W-09927 by Alasdair Allan on 17 July 2017, whether it will (a) provide an update on its engagement with (i) Home Office, (ii) Police Scotland, (iii) City of Edinburgh Council and (iv) the COSLA Migration, Population and Diversity Team and (b) publish its letter to the UK minister, and a copy of any response it has received.

I wrote to the UK Immigration Minister in July expressing concern that the Scottish Government was not consulted in advance of these measures being adopted, and seeking assurance from the UK Government that EU Treaty rights, and the dignity of EEA nationals, are being respected. This letter has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre and can be accessed using Bib number 59225. The UK Immigration Minister replied in September, and we are waiting for confirmation from the UK Government that they are content for us to publish their response.

Scottish Government officials have had no further engagement with Police Scotland. Rather than dealing directly with Edinburgh City Council on this issue, officials have been working with the CoSLA Migration, Population and Diversity Team since June to get more clarity from the Home Office on these operations in Scotland.

I have a longstanding request to meet the UK Immigration Minister and intend to raise this issue in person when we meet.

Chamber and committees