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: S4O-04784

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 November 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve fertility services in West Scotland.

Question reference: S4O-04710

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how it is reducing youth unemployment in West Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-27577

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 5 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many looked after children there are with a parent in prison.

Question reference: S4O-04632

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the availability of rail travel in the West Scotland region.

Question reference: S4O-04559

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many small and medium-sized enterprises it expects to help through the proposed growth fund.

Question reference: S4W-26734

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 10 August 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to improve physical literacy in (a) children and (b) adults.

The Scottish Government continues to support schools to deliver at least two hours of quality physical education (PE) per week in primary schools and two periods per week in secondary schools. Latest statistics show that 98% of primary and secondary schools across Scotland are now meeting this target. The aim of quality PE is to develop physically literate children and young people who have the physical competence and confidence necessary for lifelong participation in sport and physical activity.

As part of our £11.6 million programme of investment in PE we have supported the roll-out of the Better Movers and Thinkers (BMT) programme to schools across Scotland. BMT is designed to develop young people’s ability to move and think in an integrated way, providing more opportunities to successfully engage with PE, physical activity and sport. The BMT process focuses on a series of movement skills, aimed at developing physical literacy, while also developing cognitive skills, and key personal qualities.

The Scottish Government is also committed to supporting adults in Scotland to lead more active lifestyles to improve our physical and mental health and wellbeing. The Active Scotland Outcomes Framework, published in December 2014, sets out a vision for a more active Scotland. To deliver this, the Scottish Government is working with a range of external partners to provide opportunities to encourage adults and older people to be physically active on a regular basis, throughout their lives. This includes initiatives to help people develop physical literacy skills to enable them to make healthy, active choices and move with confidence, imagination and in safety. For example, on 19 July 2014 the Scottish Government launched a new £800,000 Legacy 2014 Physical Activity Fund to provide grant opportunities to support local community projects that aim to reach people who are currently inactive.

Question reference: S4W-26733

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 10 August 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many and what percentage of children are receiving two hours of physical education in school, broken down by year group.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on the number of children who are receiving two hours or two periods of physical education (PE), but we do collect data on the number of schools who provide two hours or two periods of PE. Latest statistics show that 98% of schools are providing at least two hours of PE in primary schools and two periods of PE in secondary schools in S1 to S4, which demonstrates remarkable progress since 2004-05 when only 10% of schools were meeting this target. Education Scotland and sportscotland continue to work with local authorities and schools to ensure that all schools provide two hours or two periods of PE.

The latest statisitcs were published on 17 June 2015 in the Scottish Government statistical publication - Summary statistics for attainment, leaver destinations and healthy living, No. 5: 2015 Edition. Tables 27 and 28 in the accompanying supplementary data, contain details of the number and percentage of schools providing two hours or two periods PE to every pupil, and can be accessed at the following address:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/MealsSD/mealspesd/mealspesd2015. Only the secondary school data is broken down by year group.

Question reference: S4W-25683

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much each local authority in the West Scotland region will receive from the Attainment Scotland Fund.

The initial funding allocations for 2015-16 for the first seven local authorities, including those in the West Scotland region, will be announced soon.

The first seven local authorities to participate in the Attainment Scotland Fund were identified on the basis of their having the highest proportion of primary school children from the 20% most deprived Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation areas. We are now working with the seven authorities – including Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire from the West Scotland region, to identify their priorities for action and will agree resources on the basis of their proposals.

We will also be working with other local authorities to identify and respond to areas where there are pockets of severe deprivation as the programme progresses.

Question reference: S4O-04341

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 May 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce child poverty in West Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-25367

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 April 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 11 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how much local authorities have spent on (a) compensation and (b) legal costs as a result of (i) damage to vehicles and (ii) injuries to pedestrians caused by potholes in each year since 2010-11.