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-04046

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to allow NHS Dumfries and Galloway to change existing cancer pathways by aligning with the West of Scotland Cancer Network rather than the South East Scotland Network in order to reduce journey times for treatment for cancer patients in Wigtownshire.

Question reference: S5T-01953

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that complaints about Caledonian Sleeper services have increased by 221%.

Question reference: S5W-26734

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 10 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-26596 by Fergus Ewing on 16 December 2019, who will take on the role of Chief Forester when Jo O'Hara leaves her position as Chief Executive of Scottish Forestry.

We will shortly be beginning the selection process for a Chief Forester, with a view to making an appointment early in 2020.

This is an exciting and challenging time for forestry in Scotland, and this role will be an invaluable source of technical expertise and advice for Ministers. The appointee will also have key responsibilities to provide professional leadership across the public agencies, and to work with the wider sector to promote and grow the profession of forestry in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-26672

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many and what percentage of railway stations offer full accessibility to disabled people.

Rail accessibility is a reserved matter, funding for accessibility improvements remains the responsibility of the UK Government. It is the policy of Scottish Ministers to have all rail matters, including accessibility, fully devolved to the Scottish Government.

In line with the Office of Rail and Road’s new Assisted Travel Policy guidance, railway stations in Scotland and throughout the UK have been reclassified into the following:-

Category	Scotland
Category	Number of stations	%
Category A: The station has step-free access to and between all platforms, at all times trains are running, via level access, lifts or ramps (in accordance with new-build standards re gradient/length).	134	37%
Category B: The station does not meet category A, but has step-free access to either all platforms or at least one platform. In some cases, the station may be usable for some disabled and older people, but in others major barriers may exist which are likely to restrict the ability of some disabled or older people to use the station. This may include long or steep ramps, access between platforms that may be via the street, and there may not be step-free access to or between all station areas.	182	51%
Category C: The station has no step-free access to any platform.	43	12%

Question reference: S5O-03972

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether the timetable for its proposed legislation on fox hunting allows sufficient time for it to be passed within the current parliamentary session.

Question reference: S5W-26596

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 16 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government who currently holds the role of Chief Forester, as established by section 73 of the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018.

Question reference: S5O-03919

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government when the root cause analysis report on the North West Community Campus in Dumfries will be published.

Question reference: S5W-26465

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 5 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it will address the incompatibilities between the UN Charter on the Rights of the Child and existing legislation in its proposals to incorporate it into Scots Law.

Incorporation of the UNCRC into Scots law will ensure that children’s rights can be enforced. At present as part of their compliance with the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, Scottish Ministers carry out a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) when they develop new legislation.

Consideration is being given to whether the Bill should include a regime to enable rulings to be obtained from the courts as to whether legislation is incompatible with the children’s rights included in the Bill. The Scottish Government is also investigating whether it would be possible to provide for a remedial order procedure, so that the Scottish Government could remedy the incompatibility, as under the Convention Rights Compliance (Scotland) Act 2001.

Question reference: S5W-26462

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 5 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it would expect the Scottish Prison Service to take to ensure that it is compliant with the Articles in the UN Charter on the Rights of the Child.

As an executive agency of the Scottish Government, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) is already subject to the duties of Scottish Ministers under Part 1 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. Scottish Ministers are required to consider whether there are steps which they could take which would or might secure better of further effect of the UNCRC and to take those steps if they consider it appropriate to do so.

SPS launched a Family Strategy in 2017 that sets a clear direction for the improved delivery of family engagement for people in custody and a focus on how SPS can play its part in avoiding the intergenerational impact of parental imprisonment.

The incorporation of the UNCRC into domestic law aims to ensure that there is a proactive culture of everyday accountability for children’s rights across public services in Scotland. This will mean that children, young people and their families will experience public bodies consistently acting to uphold the rights of all children in Scotland. Like every devolved body, every health board, every council – the Scottish Prison Service – will be legally obliged to respect children’s rights.

Question reference: S5W-26466

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 5 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how the Scottish Prison Service will be impacted by its proposals to incorporate the UN Charter on the Rights of the Child into Scots Law.