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: S6O-01493

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 October 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to address the discharge of sewage into rivers, lochs and waterways.

Question reference: S6F-01442

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2022

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6W-11374

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 14 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09151 by Kevin Stewart on 23 June 2022, and in light of the publication of the NHS Recovery Plan: Annual progress update, whether it is the case that it remains committed to meeting the standard that 90% of patients start treatment for CAMHS and Psychological Therapies within 18 weeks of referral by March 2023.

Improving mental health is a priority for the Scottish Government and we remain committed to meet the standard that 90% of patients start treatment within 18 weeks of referral by March 2023.

Public Health Scotland’s statistical release providing Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and Psychological Services waiting times for the quarter ending 31 March 2023 will be available on 6 June 2023.

Question reference: S6W-11053

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10195 by Jenny Gilruth on 7 September 2022, whether it will publish copies of any notes or minutes from the meetings that took place on 20 April and 10 October 2017.

Question reference: S6W-10231

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many Afghan refugees are currently in (a) permanent and (b) temporary accommodation in Scotland, broken down by local authority.

Under current constitutional arrangements in the United Kingdom immigration, including the Afghan resettlement schemes, are reserved to the UK Government and handled by the Home Office.

The UK Government has published statistics on the number of people who have arrived in the UK under the Afghan resettlement schemes since 2021. This does not currently include a breakdown of Afghan refugees in temporary and permanent accommodation by local authority, however, the Home Office have committed to providing more detailed data in their quarterly immigration statistics going forward. Afghan Resettlement Programme: operational data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The latest published data (25 August) shows that across the UK 9,667 people are in temporary accommodation and 7,385 people are in settled accommodation. This does not include people who have made their own accommodation arrangements.

Question reference: S6O-01394

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Sanjeev Gupta.

Question reference: S6W-10824

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 02 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what powers it has to ensure that owners of aggressive dogs maintain control of their pets in public places.

The power to deal with the owners of aggressive dogs rests with local authorities and Police Scotland. The two main pieces of legislation in relation to dog control are the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (“the 1991 Act”) and the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010 (“the 2010 Act”).

The 1991 Act makes it a criminal offence for anyone in charge of a dog to allow it to be ‘dangerously out of control’. A dog is regarded as being dangerously out of control if there are grounds for reasonable apprehension that it will injure a person or assistance dog, whether or not it actually does so. For any given incident it is for Police Scotland to determine whether a crime has been committed.

The 1991 Act also gives power to any constable or authorised local authority officer (i.e. dog warden) to seize any dog they believe to be prohibited and/or a dog which appears to them to be dangerously out of control when it is in a public place.

The 2010 Act provides for a civil regime in respect of dog owners who allow their dogs to be ‘out of control’. The 2010 Act introduced the Dog Control Notice (DCN) regime. Local authority dog wardens are able to issue a DCN on dog owners. The DCN is a civil notice which can contain a number of conditions, such as requiring a dog to be kept on a lead when in public, muzzling the dog when in public, and undertaking training to modify/control the dog’s behaviour. A breach of a DCN is a criminal offence.

Scottish Government Guidance on the 2010 Act, published in December 2020, is available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/updated-guidance-control-dogs-scotland-act-2010/

Local authorities can also consider byelaw making powers to address a specific problem. For example, if there is an area where dogs are often a nuisance, the matter can be raised for consideration by the council who have powers to make appropriate bye-laws, i.e. to keep dogs on leads in particular areas.

Question reference: S6F-01353

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2022

To ask the First Minister when the Scottish Government will announce the outcome of its review into the pausing of the Super Sponsor scheme for Ukrainian refugees coming to Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-10512

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that infants can register with an NHS dentist.

Question reference: S6W-10454

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 22 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government which agencies it consulted with regarding the welfare of residents on the cruise ship being used to house Ukrainian refugees in Leith prior to its opening.

The welfare of all displaced Ukrainians staying across the country is the Scottish Government’s absolute priority. Before the first guests boarded the M/S Victoria, a full Joint Assurance Review was undertaken with City of Edinburgh Council and other stakeholders, covering issues like safeguarding and security. The Scottish Refugee Council and the Ukrainian Consul General were both consulted as part of preparations for displaced people to live aboard the ship. Local health partners were also closely involved in preparations for opening the ship as temporary accommodation. Additionally, in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council, we engaged with key stakeholders, community groups and third sector partners, including Public Health Scotland, Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations' Council, Volunteer Edinburgh, Scottish Chambers of Commerce, and Capital City Partnership.