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-14040

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent survey in The Times, which suggests that 75% of the public support assisted dying.

The Stage 1 debate of the Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill was held in the Scottish Parliament in May 2015. The views expressed were considered, sincere, and respectfully heard by all involved. Ultimately, the Scottish Parliament decided not to proceed with this legislation.

The Scottish Government respects the will of the Parliament on assisted suicide, and is focussed on improving the care and support available to people at the end of life.

Question reference: S5O-01695

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made towards Scotland becoming a good food nation.

Question reference: S5O-01637

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many probationer teachers there will be in the academic year 2018-19.

Question reference: S5W-13006

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how the Advisory Council on Women and Girls will help tackle gender inequality.

The Scottish Government continues to take positive strides to tackle the different forms of inequality experienced by women and girls, for example in strengthening its response to violence against women and girls and addressing the under-representation of women at senior levels. The Scottish Government is under no illusion that there is much work still to do, at all levels of society, and that many barriers still exist towards achieving the goal of equality.

The role of the Advisory Council on Women and Girls will be: to raise awareness of gender inequality; to act as a champion for positive progress and policies, and to provide effective challenge and be a catalyst for change where progress simply isn’t good enough.

The Council members will be supported by a wider circle of stakeholders from across all sectors, who wish to work with it to address gender inequality where it exists. The Council will consult widely across Scotland on issues that matter to women and girls, and submit annual reports to the First Minister which will outline the progress made over the year.

Question reference: S5W-12776

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many men have experienced complications as a result of hernia repairs using mesh implants in each of the last five years.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government, however Information Services Division publish details of all Inpatient and Day case Surgical Procedures and Operations, including 'Inguinal hernia procedures' and 'Other hernia repair', which can be accessed here:

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Hospital-Care/Operations-and-Procedures/

There is however no specific procedure code for hernia repairs using mesh, and ‘complications’ have not been defined and there are a number of comorbidities associated with hernias, which means identifying complications is not possible.

Question reference: S5W-12728

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider reconfiguring the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation to take greater account of remote and rural poverty.

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) is the Scottish Government’s official tool for identifying concentrations of deprivation in Scotland. It is a relative measure of deprivation and takes into account aspects of deprivation that affect local areas, whether rural or urban.

SIMD is a measure designed to ensure comparability across Scotland. When investigating particular aspects of deprivation, or specific local areas, it is recommended to use SIMD in conjunction with other data sources.

The SIMD team provide two case studies that demonstrate how to combine data to examine issues that affect rural communities: one on child poverty in the Orkney Islands and another one on fuel poverty in Dumfries and Galloway. The case studies are available at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/SIMD/analysis.

In addition to using other data sources, it is recommended to consider the individual SIMD domains for particular aspects of deprivation. The different domains consider different aspects of poverty. One element of SIMD with particular relevance to rural deprivation is the Geographic Access to Services domain. It contributes 9% of the overall index for SIMD16. It reflects the adverse effects of long travel times for basic services, which are more common in rural than urban areas, and is a good proxy measure for the additional barriers that people in rural areas face.

Changes to SIMD were supported by an advisory group, made up of data suppliers and users. The SIMD team has recently reviewed how it gains expertise for all areas and is inviting people with rural interests to take part in a dedicated expert panel. Councils, the police service, health boards and academics will be invited to contribute to future developments of SIMD.

Question reference: S5W-12727

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it will roll out electric charging points for vehicles in remote and rural areas, and what the timescale for this work is.

As detailed in September’s Programme for Government announcement, in order to lead the way on electric vehicles, we plan to expand our electric vehicle charging infrastructure between now and 2022, whether in rural, urban or domestic settings. We will continue to build on the actions set out in the "Switched on Scotland" action plan launched in June this year and further announcements on timescales will be made in the coming months.

Question reference: S5W-12913

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2017
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Angela Constance on 22 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has reached a decision on the future of civil partnership in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is publishing later today its response to the consultation carried out from 22 September 2015 to 15 December 2015.

The Scottish Government has decided not to legislate now on civil partnership but does not rule out legislation later in this Parliament We will carry out further evidence-gathering and evaluation. This will include questions on potential take up of mixed sex civil partnership as part of an omnibus survey of social attitudes; further analysis of take up of mixed sex civil partnership in other jurisdictions; and continued monitoring of the number of same sex civil partnerships entered into in Scotland.

The Scottish Government considers that five years from the introduction of same sex marriage (i.e. the end of 2019) is likely to be a reasonable time period to obtain evidence. We will further evaluate and assess the best way forward on civil partnership as soon as possible thereafter. The Scottish Government will keep the timescales for consideration of the way forward under review as further evidence and evaluation emerges.

We will consider if there should be improved rights for cohabitants. We are already reviewing the law on succession. We will consider, in due course, whether the law on financial provision for cohabitants who split up could be improved. The Scottish Government has already announced that we will issue a consultation paper on Emergency Barring Orders, which could be applied for by a third party, such as the police, to exclude a domestic abuser from the family home. Part of this consultation will consider exclusion orders, which can be applied for by the person at risk to exclude a domestic abuser from the family home. This consideration will include whether exclusion orders work appropriately at the moment in relation to cohabitants.

Finally, we are considering, as part of our review of the Gender Recognition Act 2004, whether any changes should be made to the requirement on civil partners seeking gender recognition to end their civil partnership or change it to marriage. The consultation we have recently issued on the Gender Recognition Act 2004 asks a specific question on this issue.

Question reference: S5O-01469

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what workforce planning and recruitment plans there are for the police and fire and rescue services in remote and rural areas.

Question reference: S5O-01451

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, in light of the recent reports on the issue, how it defines sexual harassment.