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: S5F-02497

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 June 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 June 2018

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the recent report by ISD Scotland, which suggests that antidepressants are detected in nearly half of post-mortems involving accidental drug deaths.

Question reference: S5W-17038

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle so-called county lines and cuckooing processes reportedly used by drug gangs to spread their networks and set up business in new areas.

The Scottish Government worked with the UK Government on the introduction of Drug Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Orders (DDTROs) which enables Police Scotland to apply to a Sheriff Court for an order to close down a mobile device or mobile telephone number and disrupt the flow of drugs and the activity of organised crime groups. This is one of a range of measures available to Police Scotland to address the issue of county lines and cuckooing and it will be an operational matter for Police Scotland to determine which measures are appropriate in any particular investigation.

Question reference: S5W-16850

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 7 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how much the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has spent housing (a) trainees and (b) staff in (i) hotels and (ii) other temporary accommodation in each year since 2010-11.

Question reference: S5W-16835

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 7 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether a property has been acquired to house the Scottish Social Security Agency and, if so, where.

The Scottish Ministers have acquired accommodation to meet the interim property requirements for the administrative functions of the new Social Security Scotland.

We announced the Dundee interim property location in April.

https://jobs.socialsecurity.gov.scot/social-security-scotland-interim-locations-update/

We announced the Glasgow interim property location in June.

https://jobs.socialsecurity.gov.scot/glasgow-base-secured-for-social-security-scotland/

These arrangements will allow the establishment of the agency and the delivery of the first wave of devolved benefits. The agency will now work on plans to finalise its future requirements in terms of property, and identify suitable premises for its permanent home in both cities.

Question reference: S5W-16848

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 7 June 2018

Question reference: S5W-16851

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 7 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what residential accommodation for (a) staff and (b) trainees is available at the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service National Training Centre in Cambuslang.

Question reference: S5W-16849

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 7 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how much the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spent on overtime in (a) 2016-17 and (b) 2017-18.

Question reference: S5O-02228

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its plan is for the elimination of hepatitis C.

Question reference: S5W-16867

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what evidence was used to reach its decision to introduce testing for P1 pupils.

The Scottish National Standardised Assessments were introduced as part of the National Improvement Framework, which was first launched in 2015. The development of the National Improvement Framework was based on the best practice which exists internationally on the use of data and intelligence to improve education at national, local, school and individual child level. This includes the OECD publications Synergies for Better Learning and Education Policy Outlook.

Assessment is a central part of everyday learning and teaching for children and young people. The Scottish National Standardised Assessment are designed to be experienced by children as part of ongoing learning and teaching activities in the classroom. The assessments provide teachers with an additional piece of evidence to assess a child’s progress and identify whether further support is required. The assessments are uniquely aligned to Curriculum for Excellence and are designed around the early level compatible with play-based learning approaches in P1. We are not introducing national testing at P1 or any other stage of schooling.

Question reference: S5W-16868

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what processes or information are in place to inform parents that their children can opt out of P1 testing.

The Scottish Government provided information for parents on the Scottish National Standardised Assessments to schools in November 2016, encouraging them to share this material widely with parents and the school community. This information made clear that the assessments should be used as part of everyday teaching and learning and that they are a diagnostic tool providing information to teachers on children’s progress and helping identify where further support may be required.

As such, the Government sees no benefit to opting out of the assessments. Any parent who does have concerns about their child undertaking the assessments should discuss them with their child’s class teacher or headteacher.