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: S4W-22830

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006 and, if so, how it complies with the provisions of article 33.

The UK Government ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2009 on behalf of all administrations in the UK. The Scottish Government Equality Unit is the designated focal point for facilitating and co-ordinating the implementation of the UNCRPD in Scotland, for devolved matters. We work closely with the Scottish Human Rights Commission and the Equality and Human Rights Commission in Scotland who have been appointed by the UK Government to be part of the independent mechanism, with a formal role to monitor implementation in Scotland.

We developed our approach to implementing UNCRPD in partnership with the three national disabled people’s organisations, and they are working with us to support the development of our disability delivery plan which we intend to publish for consultation at a disability summit in spring 2015. We have also provided funding to Inclusion Scotland to enable them to develop a single report from disabled people in Scotland to the UN committee.

In addition, the Independent Living in Scotland project – funded by the Scottish Government – is delivering a seminar on the UNCRPD for MSPs in the Scottish Parliament on 14 January 2015. As minister with responsibility for equality I will be attending the seminar and providing my assistance to secure the participation of other members from across all parties.

Question reference: S4O-03651

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many problem drugs users there are.

Question reference: S4W-22613

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 26 September 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 8 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many homes designed to meet the requirements of (a) disabled and (b) older people in order to facilitate independent living have been built in each year since 2009-10.

The following table shows a breakdown of completions for older/wheelchair/physically disabled provision from 2009-10 to 2013-14:

Category	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14 Provisional
Older	489	577	575	401	458
Older Physical Disabled	15	39	0	1	10
Older Wheelchair	13	22	12	10	14
Older Supported Residential	73	18	0	12	32
Wheelchair	129	208	223	140	140
Physical Disabled	84	79	59	23	4
Total	803	943	869	587	658

Notwithstanding these specific categories, the Affordable Housing Supply Programme supports the delivery of flexible housing capable of being adapted to suit peoples’ changing requirements. Therefore wherever possible, all units are built to varying needs standards. While there are projects specifically for particular needs, many projects that we fund will include a mix of homes for both general needs and particular needs.

Question reference: S4W-22615

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 26 September 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 8 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has received each year from the European Investment Bank for use in housing projects.

Question reference: S4W-22603

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 8 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether any extra funds have been allocated to social landlords to help meet the April 2015 target for the Scottish Housing Quality Standard and, if so, how much.

The Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) is not funded directly by the Scottish Government. The SHQS is funded through social landlords’ investment plans, including prudential borrowing for local authorities and private sector borrowing for housing associations. Social landlords are also able to access funding for energy efficiency improvements from energy companies. The Scottish Housing Regulator reported earlier this year that landlords intend to spend approximately £852 million in 2014 and 2015 to bring homes up to SHQS.

Question reference: S4W-22614

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 26 September 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 8 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the approach set out in Homes Fit for the 21st Century: The Scottish Government's Strategy and Action Plan for Housing in the Next Decade: 2011-2020, which green industries are involved in the completion of affordable homes.

The promotion of environmental sustainability in the development of greener homes is being supported through the Scottish Government Greener Homes Innovation Scheme. This scheme, currently comprising 319 new homes (13 projects) was launched on 25 September 2012, and is specifically for affordable homes that employ modern, environmentally friendly methods of off-site construction. This includes walls, floors, pipes, kitchens and roofs which are assembled in a factory then transported, as a unit, to the building site, ensuring a faster construction process, reduced waste and less disruption to the environment. We will look at evaluating the scheme later this year.

Question reference: S4W-22602

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 6 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether any social landlords have indicated that they might not meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard by April 2015.

The independent Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) is responsible for monitoring landlords’ progress towards meeting the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS). The SHR reported earlier this year that ten social landlords anticipated that some of their housing stock will not meet the SHQS by April 2015. The SHR is engaging with these landlords to seek further assurance on how they plan to address this shortfall.

The SHR recently published landlord reports which include updated SHQS information for each landlord along with performance data in other key service areas. The SHR has also published national figures on compliance and exemption as at 31 March 2014 as part of the dataset available on its website and later this year will publish national analysis of all social landlords’ performance.

Question reference: S4W-22601

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 6 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that all social landlords will meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard by April 2015.

Question reference: S4W-22598

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4O-03527 by Michael Matheson on 24 September 2014, how many people are on the waiting list at each IVF centre.

Question reference: S4W-22596

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4O-03527 by Michael Matheson on 24 September 2014, which IVF centres have met the 12-month waiting time target.