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-16160

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 10 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact of the European Court of Justice judgement, Ville de Nivelles v Rudy Matzak, Case C-518/15, will be on (a) employment practices, (b) terms and conditions and (c) pay for (i) retained firefighters, (ii) on-call carers and (iii) other workers who may be affected.

The legal case in question related to a Belgian fire-fighter's on-call period and counting such periods as working time under the Working Time Directive. As the ruling related to a specific set of circumstances in place for that person it does not follow that the same opinion would be reached for the different circumstances in place in Scotland for (i) retained fire-fighters, (ii) on-call carers or (iii) other workers. Clarity would only be reached on the counting of stand-by or ‎on-call time as working time if a specific set of circumstances was examined by a UK court or employment tribunal.

Having reached clarity on the counting of on-call time as working time there would be a separate consideration on possible impacts on (a) employment practices (b) terms and conditions of service and (c) pay.

Question reference: S5W-16159

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 10 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to discuss with (a) its agencies, (b) local government, (c) other public sector employers and (d) private sector employers regarding the impact of the European Court of Justice judgement, Ville de Nivelles v Rudy Matzak, Case C-518/15.

Question reference: S5W-16193

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how student support eligibility is assessed for young migrants who have moved to Scotland, including those who have "limited leave to remain" status.

Access to Higher Education student support in Scotland is assessed by the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) and is determined based on an applicant’s residency status, as laid out in The Students’ Allowances (Scotland) Regulations 2007 - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2007/153/contents/made .

These regulations make provision for various categories of student to access tuition fee and living-cost support, including, in some cases, those with Limited Leave to Remain.

Question reference: S5O-02096

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what planning requirements there are for public input prior to the sale of large public buildings and public land.

Question reference: S5W-16199

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 9 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the submission to the UK Government's Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety from the Association of British Insurers, which details research on the adequacy of fire safety standards of building materials, what action it will take to apply higher standards in both existing and new buildings in Scotland.

The Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety (MWG), set up after the Grenfell Tower fire in London, is overseeing a review of building and fire safety regulatory frameworks, and any other relevant matters, to help ensure that people are safe in Scotland's buildings, and make any recommendations for improvement as required.

The remit of the Building Standards (Fire Safety) Review Panel sub-group includes reviewing the appropriateness of British and European standards referred to in building regulations and providing an opinion on whether changes are necessary. The sub-group will report progress at the next meeting of the MWG on the
‎ 13 June 2018.

Question reference: S5W-16174

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the legal consequences are of the post of the Chief Constable being vacant.

The vacancy of the chief constable post is covered by section 18(3) of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 which sets out that the Scottish Police Authority must designate a deputy chief constable to carry out the chief constable’s functions where the office of chief constable is vacant, or the chief constable is unable to carry out those functions by reason of being absent, incapacitated or suspended from duty.

Question reference: S5W-16175

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government on what dates since July 2017 ministers have met the (a) Chair of the Scottish Police Authority and (b) Chief Constable; what was discussed; whether minutes were taken, and, if so, whether it will publish these.

Question reference: S5W-16173

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the role not being defined in the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, what the legal status is of the Acting Chief Constable.

Section 18(3) of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 sets out that the Scottish Police Authority must designate a deputy chief constable to carry out the chief constable’s functions where the office of chief constable is vacant, or the chief constable is unable to carry out those functions by reason of being absent, incapacitated or suspended from duty.

Deputy Chief Constable designate Iain Livingstone has been carrying out the functions of the Chief Constable since 8 September 2017.

Question reference: S5W-15649

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 3 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what alternatives to full integration of the British Transport Police and Police Scotland it has considered.

Before introducing primary legislation to this Parliament in December 2016, to pave the way for the integration of BTP in Scotland into Police Scotland, the Scottish Government issued a consultation in June 2016 which set out the proposed arrangements for full integration. Views from key stakeholders and the public were invited by 24 August 2016. The resulting legislation was thoroughly scrutinised by the Justice Committee and passed twice in the Scottish Parliament with a majority.

The Scottish Government considered other options to full integration; however, they would not provide the benefits of integrated policing across all of Scotland’s transport infrastructure nor the level of accountability to the people of Scotland and the Scottish Parliament that integration will deliver.

Question reference: S5O-02081

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on delivering the Policing 2026 strategy.