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-22232

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 1 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-10219 by Shona Robison on 21 March 2018, how much funding has been allocated to support the work of the national co-ordinator for child bereavement services in (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2019-20.

Discussions regarding the appointment of a national co-ordinator are now nearing conclusion. No funding has been allocated towards this post so far, as the work associated with refining this post has not concluded.

The position will be advertised shortly and someone will be appointed in due course.

The report provided by Children in Scotland has been helpful in shaping our work to appoint a childhood bereavement coordinator.

As the childhood bereavement coordinator position will be advertised shortly, I have instructed my officials to make this report publically available to support the recruitment process and attract as many high calibre applicants as possible.

Question reference: S5W-22233

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 1 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15086 by Shona Robison on 21 March 2018, whether it will provide an update on the appointment of the national co-ordinator for child bereavement services, including the timescale for the process.

Question reference: S5W-22316

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 29 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how best practice regarding social media use and mental health can be shared with all schools to support minimum standards.

We are committed to making sure child internet safety is properly recognised in Scottish education and wider child protection policies. We take online safety incredibly seriously and we continue to liaise with law enforcement agencies to ensure that they have the powers and resources to tackle any incidents of criminality and bring those responsible to justice, whenever and wherever they occur.

There are a wide range of tools available for schools to share good practice across all areas of the curriculum. Education Scotland’s National Improvement Hub provides access to exemplars of practice and support for online collaboration and networks through Glow, the Scottish Schools National Intranet.

In addition, during Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week earlier this year, we announced that we will be producing guidance, specific to Scotland, on the healthy use of social media and screen time.

Question reference: S5W-22234

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 28 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15086 by Shona Robison on 21 March 2018, whether it will publish the Children in Scotland report that it commissioned, and whether it has disseminated the findings to the stakeholders and other organisations that contributed.

Question reference: S5W-22126

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 26 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to research from the National Autistic Society Scotland, which suggests that, although 99% of people have heard of autism, only 15% of autistic people feel that the public understands the condition in a meaningful way.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the lives of autistic people through the implementation of the Scottish Strategy for Autism.

We accept the findings from the National Autistic Society Scotland and that is why one of our key priorities for the future is to improve awareness and understanding of autism across Scotland. I am pleased to announce a programme of work that will help shift the negative assumptions and stigma about being autistic. Working in partnership with Inspiring Scotland, we plan to deliver a national campaign to break down barriers for autistic people. To do this, we need the commitment of national and local organisations to work with us to challenge and change the perception of autism.

Question reference: S5W-22131

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 26 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have autism, and what action it is taking to improve the public's understanding of the condition.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the lives of autistic people through the implementation of the Scottish Strategy for Autism.

As part of the launch of the Scottish Strategy for Autism 2011, the Scottish Government commissioned the Microsegmentation for Autism report which was published in 2018. This comprehensive analysis estimates a prevalence rate of 1.035% of autism among the Scottish population, which translates to 47,231 individuals (2017).

The full report is available from the Scottish Government website here:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/microsegmentation-autism-spectrum/pages/4/

One of our key priorities for the future is to improve awareness and understanding of autism across Scotland. I am pleased to announce a programme of work that will help shift the negative assumptions and stigma about being autistic. Working in partnership with Inspiring Scotland, we plan to deliver a national campaign to break down barriers for autistic people. To do this, we need the commitment of national and local organisations to work with us to challenge and change the perception of autism.

We will continue to work closely with and fully support the work of the national autism charities who raise autism awareness across Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-22147

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 26 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact has been of the Autism Strategy, and how it will continue to support autistic people when the strategy concludes in 2020.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the lives of autistic people through the implementation of the Scottish Strategy for Autism.

The refreshed priorities and outcomes 2018-2021 of the Scottish Strategy for Autism was published in 2018 and sets out the Scottish Government’s priorities to 2021. The publication is available from the following link: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-strategy-autism-outcomes-priorities-2018-2021/ .

Supporting autistic people across Scotland and meeting their needs is only possible through a collaborative approach, one that involves national and local government, statutory agencies, third sector and the public. What we achieve together will be critical to informing our actions beyond the life of the existing strategy.

We have committed to review the evidence and evaluate the impact of the strategy and report to the Scottish Parliament before any decisions are made on how this work continues.

Question reference: S5O-03067

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on delivering additional payments of the Best Start Grant to help with early learning costs.

Question reference: S5O-03019

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support school pupils on part-time timetables.

Question reference: S5O-02987

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the progress being made by the Health and Social Care in Prisons Programme Board.