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: S6W-09904

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 2 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has introduced a new health and wellbeing strategy for prisoners.

Question reference: S6W-09243

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 11 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has conducted of the number of crimes that it estimates will be recorded in Scotland if the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill were to be enacted as currently drafted.

There is considerable uncertainty in variables (e.g. crime levels, types of crime committed, previous histories of those accused of and sentenced for offences etc.) which impact on the decision-making within the criminal justice system in areas covered by the Bill's provisions. Also relevant is the independent nature of many of the component elements of the criminal justice system. As such, it is not possible to provide an analysis of the number of crimes, if any at all, estimated to be recorded if the Bill were to be enacted as currently drafted.

The financial memorandum for the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill outlines the estimated impact of all the provisions contained in the Bill.

Question reference: S6W-09242

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has conducted of how the proportion of people charged with a crime who are granted bail could change if the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill were to be enacted as currently drafted.

Amongst other matters, the bail provisions in the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill provide for a new bail test to be used by the court when assessing whether to grant bail to an accused person or remand them in custody. As the decision in any given case will continue to remain with the court and in light of the various uncertain factors that influence the court's decision-making e.g. levels of crime, types of crime committed, previous history of those accused of offences etc, it is not possible to provide an analysis of how the proportion of people charged with a crime who are granted bail might change as a result of the Bill's provisions.

The financial memorandum for the Bill outlines the estimated impact of all the provisions contained in the Bill. In particular, pages 2 to 14 provides details of the Scottish Government's estimates as to the financial impact of the bail provisions in the Bill.

Question reference: S6F-01290

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 June 2022

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to reduce breakdowns on ferry services to Scotland’s islands.

Question reference: S6O-01213

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what efforts it is making to assist those who work in the nuclear energy sector to transition to suitable alternative employment.

The decommissioning of nuclear sites requires the retention of a highly skilled workforce over many years and their transferable skills could be utilised by the renewables sector as part of our transition to net zero.

Our draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan will be published in Autumn 2022 and will provide a road map for the future of Scotland’s energy system. The development process will include engagement, offering the opportunity for those within or associated with the nuclear energy industry to contribute to this dialogue.

In December 2020 the Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland published the Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP) setting out the actions required to ensure Scotland’s labour market is able to effectively support the transition to net zero.

Question reference: S6T-00713

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the anticipated delivery date of the ferries under construction at Ferguson Marine, in light of recent reports that the number of faults in the two vessels has risen.

Question reference: S6W-08142

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 10 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many local authority social work departments have developed their own policy to manage risk and to respond to and track missing children, as stated at paragraph 621 of the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland (2014).

Local authorities are distinct corporate bodies whose powers and duties are set out in statute. The Scottish Government does not have a record of how many social work departments have their own policy in place for missing children.

Multi-agency risk assessment and co-ordination is essential to managing risk, responding to and tracking missing children. Local Child Protection Committees should ensure that there are specific and appropriate arrangements in place through policy, guidance, protocols and procedures which are known and implemented by relevant services. Local authority social work departments are a core multi-agency partner. The National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021, which replaced the 2014 guidance, states that each agency needs to develop its own policies and protocols to manage risk and track missing children. These should sit alongside and make reference to the multi-agency Child Protection Committee guidance reflecting that other agencies, for example, Police Scotland, will have to become involved very quickly when a child goes missing.

Question reference: S6W-08143

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 4 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many local authorities have developed their own multi-agency, collaborative missing persons strategy and protocols to respond to and track missing children.

Through the National Missing Persons Framework for Scotland, which was launched in 2017, the Scottish Government has developed and strengthened local multi-agency partnerships. A survey in 2020 by the Working Group for Missing People in Scotland showed that there are now multi-agency groups in 27 local authority areas and we aim to work with all areas to implement them by 2025.

The Scottish Government has funded the Missing People charity to deliver a Framework Implementation Project; and funds a National Coordinator to deliver a programme of consultancy, training and best practice sharing in local areas in Scotland.

Since 2019 the Implementation project has worked with local partners in Edinburgh, Fife, Dundee, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Moray, Dumfries and Galloway, East Dunbartonshire, North Ayrshire, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire to develop their multi-agency partnerships, protocols and strategies. A further seven local authority areas will be engaged with the project in 2022-23.

Thankfully, the overwhelming majority of children who go missing in Scotland return home safely – but, any child who goes missing is one too many. Through these actions, Police Scotland, the lead agency for tracking missing people, is working more closely with families, friends and statutory bodies to track and safely return those children who go missing.

Question reference: S6T-00659

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported planned boycott of solicitors taking on summary cases brought under section 1 of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, from 3 May 2022.

Question reference: S6F-00962

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 March 2022

To ask the First Minister what immediate safeguarding measures will be in place to ensure that arrivals from Ukraine are protected from organised criminal activity, human trafficking and exploitation.