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-11364

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents involving new psychoactive substances have been reported in Scotland’s prison estate in each of the last three years, broken down by prison.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

There has been one incident in the last year across the SPS prison estate, where forensic testing has confirmed the possession of psychoactive substances.

There have also been a number of varying incidents, across all prisons, where the unsubstantiated abuse of substances may have been a contributing factor. Intelligence suggests that some of these may relate to the illegal use of psychoactive substances however it is impossible to say conclusively that this is the case.

SPS will continue to review its policy and tactical options to address this emerging issue.

Question reference: S5W-11222

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 27 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many fire and rescue service support staff have seen their pay reduced in 2017; what the reason for this has been; what the average reduction was, and what support it is providing to the staff to protect them from the impact of low pay.

Staffing and pay are operational matters for the Board of the SFRS.

SFRS have confirmed that as a result of the Support Staff Pay and Reward Framework introduced in August 2015, and with the agreed 2 year pay protection period ceasing in February 2017, 99 staff are currently in detriment as at June 2017. This is a reduction from 226 when the Framework was introduced. The average amount of pay protection is £2.2k.

With Scottish Government encouragement, the SFRS became accredited as a Living Wage employer in May 2017. Scottish Government has long championed payment of the Living Wage and the real benefits to our economy of treating people who work more fairly. Addressing low pay is an explicit objective of our Public Sector Pay Policy and we have taken direct action to raise minimum rates of pay for those parts of the public sector under our direct responsibility.

Through development opportunities and the 'Invest in You' programme, SFRS is also working with all staff to give them the skills and confidence to realise their career aspirations and gain promotion where it is wanted.

Question reference: S5W-11251

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made by the independent review of undercover policing in Scotland; when it will report; from whom it has taken evidence, and how much it will cost.

Question reference: S5O-01307

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it will confirm whether there will be an inquiry into the policing of the 1984-85 miners’ strike in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-11014

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government on what date the report into NHS targets and performance will be published.

The Scottish Government appointed Sir Harry Burns to carry out an independent review of targets and indicators in health and social care. The review considered ways in which targets and indicators can be used to support a whole-system approach to improving population health and enhancing community-based and preventative approaches as well as supporting the best use of public resources. We expect to publish Sir Harry Burns’ report shortly and the Scottish Government and COSLA will work with partners to consider the detailed findings from the review.

Question reference: S5W-11058

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it has given to the Kabin in Loanhead in the last five years.

Question reference: S5W-11015

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 14 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the role is of the three regional managers appointed by the NHS.

The Health and Social Care Delivery Plan published in December 2016 sets out an ambitious programme of change for health and social care services in Scotland. To support implementation of the Delivery Plan at a regional level, three Regional Implementation Leads have been selected from the existing cohort of NHS Board Chief Executives. Working collaboratively with NHS Boards and their partners they will lead the overall design and planning of services at a Regional level, to provide better patient outcomes and more efficient and sustainable services for their populations.

Question reference: S5W-10952

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether the recent appointment to the position of deputy chief executive of NHS Lothian was advertised and an open recruitment process followed.

Question reference: S5W-10933

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 11 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its figures that predict that Midlothian will be the fastest growing area in Scotland in the next 25 years, how it considers the council will be able to maintain current services or increase essential services in line with predicted growth given the reduction in its budget as a result of the latest local government settlement.

The Scottish Government have treated local government very fairly, despite the cuts to the Scottish Budget from the UK Government.

The 2017-18 local government finance settlement including the extra £160 million announced on 2 February, plus the other sources of support available through the actual and potential increases in council tax income, and the additional investment from the NHS for social care, amounted to an overall potential increase of over
£400 million or 3.9 per cent in cash terms or £249.7 million or 2.4 per cent in real terms. Midlothian Council's share of the overall increase in spending power to support local authority services amounts to over £6.7 million or 4.3 per cent in comparison to 2016-17.

Decisions on future local government finance settlements will be taken forward in partnership with COSLA and confirmed later this year.

Question reference: S5W-10934

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 11 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the latest local government settlement will have on Midlothian Council's budget in the next five financial years.