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-00188

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 26 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that funding for Scottish Women’s Aid refuge centres is protected from the impact of changes to local housing allowance rates.

The Scottish Government is deeply concerned about the UK Government’s proposals, which will impact on some of the most vulnerable people in our society who may rely on refuge and other forms of supported accommodation for survival. We wrote to the Department for Work and Pensions earlier in 2016 outlining our concerns, and will continue to press the UK Government to ensure that supported accommodation is protected from these proposed changes.

Question reference: S4W-30371

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment that it made during the passage of the Bill, how it will ensure that it will fulfil its duties under the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 to ensure that data will be collected to inform strategic planning processes to ensure that the needs of children affected by parental imprisonment are visible and prioritised locally.

Question reference: S4W-30370

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment that it made during the passage of the Bill, how it will ensure that it will fulfil its duties under the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 to ensure that the relevant stakeholders have the necessary infrastructure to implement the legislation consistently and carry out routine recording of the number of children affected by parental imprisonment.

Question reference: S4W-30369

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment that it made during the passage of the Bill, how it will ensure that it will fulfil its duties under the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 to ensure that children affected by parental imprisonment have their wellbeing needs identified and addressed.

The amendments brought forward at stage 3 by the Scottish Government will ensure that, when a person is imprisoned, information which they disclose about any child they parent can be shared with the child’s named person service provider. These amendments mean that information provided will include the fact the child's parent is in prison, and any other information, which may be relevant to the named person’s functions. This in turn will ensure that any wellbeing needs of a child with a parent in prison are properly assessed and that the child’s Named Person has the opportunity to consider whether any advice, information support or services are necessary to help promote, support and safeguard the child’s wellbeing. This is consistent with the named person’s role under the 2014 Act.

To fulfil our commitment the Scottish Government has, and continues, to work closely with Barnardo's, Families Outside, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and Police Scotland to ensure that children affected by parental imprisonment have their wellbeing needs identified and addressed.

The Scottish Government is holding a dedicated master class for the Scottish Prison Service and secure units in April 2016, after which a short life working group will be established to produce practice materials that would ensure that relevant professionals carry out their existing prospective duties under part 4 and 5 of the CYP Act as well as any relevant new amendments introduced as part of the CJ Bill. The group is to include membership drawn from SPS, Police Scotland, the GIRFEC Lead Officers Group and Barnardo's and will be led by the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S4O-05683

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 March 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and what issues were discussed.

Question reference: S4O-05570

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 February 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what impact it expects its proposals on land reform to have on land in the West Scotland region.

Question reference: S4O-05541

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 February 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the expected impact of its draft budget 2016-17 on public services.

Question reference: S4O-04883

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S4O-04858

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has carried out an assessment to determine the average cost of building new railway stations.

Question reference: S4O-04806

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 November 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve child and adolescent mental health services.