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: S5O-01404

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 1 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement the finance secretary has had with trade unions regarding scrapping the cap on public sector pay.

9 May 2017, the STUC on 1 August and had further discussions with Grahame Smith, STUC General Secretary, on 9 October. Following that discussion, we sent a joint letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer calling on the UK Government to lift their 1 per cent pay cap. The Scottish Government was the first government in the UK to commit to lifting our pay cap. The STUC and I are jointly urging the Chancellor to follow our lead and invest in public services by providing sufficient resources to allow for fair pay settlements for all UK public sector workers.

Question reference: S5W-11638

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 13 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made prohibiting smoking on NHS property, and how this has contributed towards the aim of making Scotland a tobacco-free country.

Our 2013 strategy, Creating a Tobacco-Free Generation, committed us to making all hospital grounds tobacco-free. This was implemented across the NHS Scotland estate in April 2015.

However, smoking still persists around many hospitals. To address this, offences and penalties will be introduced for smoking around hospital buildings in 2018.

Eliminating smoking from all hospital settings will protect patients, staff and visitors from the harms of second-hand smoke. It will further de-normalise smoking which should help prevent future generations taking up the habit and reinforce the nature of hospitals as health-promoting environments.

Question reference: S5T-00654

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 September 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will give to families of children who died at the Smyllum Park orphanage in Lanark.

Question reference: S5W-10611

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 August 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how the number of staff working in the NHS in September 2006 compares to the latest available statistics.

Question reference: S5W-10396

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 July 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 9 August 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-10034 by Kevin Stewart on 14 July 2017, whether the Scottish Funding Council received the information that it requested from the principals and chairs of college buildings and from the Scottish Association of University Directors of Estates (SAUDE) regarding the use of aluminium composite material by 13 July and, if so, how (a) this information will be used and (b) ministers will ensure that all relevant action is taken.

As outlined in S5W-10034, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) requested information from Principals and Chairs of college buildings and from the Scottish Association of University Directors of Estates (SAUDE) about the use of Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) in Scottish colleges and universities.

All institutions have now responded to the SFC providing information on cladding across the college and university estate. In addition, all institutions have responded to the additional request for information on privately-owned student residences. Due to the technical nature of some of the responses received, SFC is seeking professional advice to help assist them analyse the information received in order to determine whether any further action is required. The SFC will remain closely engaged with SAUDE throughout this process.

Ministers continue to monitor the situation and are in close contact with the SFC to ensure that all necessary action is taken once the responses have been fully analysed.

Question reference: S5W-10027

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 31 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds regarding the growth of microbreweries in Scotland, and how many people are employed in this sector.

The Scottish Government does not have access to specific information on the growth of microbreweries in Scotland due to the structure of the Standard Industrial Classification.

For statistical purposes, data is collected for businesses where their main activity is in the manufacture of beer. The following tables set out the number of enterprises and number of employees within the category of Manufacture of Beer Enterprises by employee size band in Scotland for the period March 2011-2016. This data is sourced from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR). The IDBR, maintained by the Office for National Statistics, is a database of all enterprises registered for VAT and/or PAYE. Those excluded are small businesses with no employees and an annual turnover below the VAT threshold (£82,000 as at March 2016).

Number of 'Manufacture of Beer' enterprises by employee sizeband*, Scotland March2011-2016

Employee Size	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
0-9 Employees	30	40	45	55	60	75
10+ Employees	10	10	10	10	15	15
Total	40	50	55	70	75	90

Employment in 'Manufacture of Beer' enterprises by employee sizeband*, Scotland March2011 - 2016

Employment Size	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
0-9 Employees	^	110	120	160	190	190
10+employees	^	480	520	560	620	750
Total	580	590	640	730	810	950

Note: Totals may not equal the sum of the consitiuent parts due to rounding.

^ Not available due to confidentiality constraints

* Sizeband is based on the number of employees that the enterprise employs across the UK

Question reference: S5W-10028

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 25 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to encourage people to save for retirement.

The Scottish Government's Fairer Scotland Action Plan (FSAP), published in October 2016, sets out a number of commitments to ensure that older people can enjoy a thriving "third age". This means supporting people who want to keep on working, and ensuring that older people have access to high quality advice on maximising their incomes and reducing costs where possible.

It is, however, important that people in the general population are aware of the importance of saving for the future. That is why the Scottish Government is committed to improving levels of financial knowledge and capability across the generations. In Scotland, opportunities to develop financial education are available to our young people in the senior phase of school based learning. The FSAP sets out our commitments to financial inclusion for all, including ensuring that advice services provide accessible and high quality advice to those who need it, and introducing a Financial Health Check Service for pensioners and those on low incomes, to be rolled out in 2018.

Question reference: S5W-10033

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 24 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what continuing representations it is making to the Treasury regarding Scotland’s share of any Barnett funding that may arise from the agreement between the Conservative and Democratic Unionist parties.

I wrote to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 27 June to request an urgent meeting of the Scottish, Welsh and UK Governments to discuss this issue. That request was declined, but the Chief Secretary had separate telephone discussions on 6 July with me and with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government in the Welsh Government.

I believe this deal is a clear breach of the Statement of Funding Policy and has resulted in the Scottish Government losing out on almost £3bn of additional funding over the next 5 years. The Chief Secretary currently takes a different view. If we are unable to reach a satisfactory resolution which results in a fair and reasonable funding allocation across Scotland, Wales and the rest of the UK, I will look to the formal dispute resolution mechanism.

Question reference: S5W-10029

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 24 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Widows Retirement Report.

The Scottish Widows Retirement Report 2017 sets out a range of interesting findings about attitudes and behaviours around saving for retirement; a vital issue for current and future generations. The recommendations of the report relate, in large part, to improvements which could be made to auto-enrolment in pension schemes, and the public's level of knowledge about the pensions system.

State Pension policy is currently reserved to the UK Government and administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). As such, Scottish Ministers do not have any power to affect State Pension legislation. However, the Scottish Government is committed to improving the levels of financial knowledge and capability in the general population. In Scotland, opportunities to develop financial education are available to our young people in the senior phase of learning, and the Scottish Government's Fairer Scotland Action Plan sets out our commitments to financial inclusion for all, including ensuring that advice services provide accessible and high quality advice to those who need it, and introducing a Financial Health Check Service for pensioners and those on low incomes, which will be rolled out in 2018.

Question reference: S5W-10034

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 14 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether wider inspections of student accommodation will take place, in light of reports that cladding on a hall of residence at Edinburgh Napier University was found to be made of the same material used on Grenfell Tower.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) have requested information from Principals and Chairs of Scotland’s college buildings and from the Scottish Association of University Directors of Estates (SAUDE) about the use of Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding systems used in all Scottish colleges and universities including student accommodation.

SFC have requested the information to be provided by 13 July and will liaise with Universities Scotland, SAUDE and College Principals to determine whether specific action is required.