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-01553

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 7 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the use of glyphosate in farming.

The Scottish Government supports the recent five year renewal of the glyphosate licence which allows its continued use in Scotland and the rest of Europe.

Glyphosate is important to Scottish farmers who use it to control weeds, manage harvests, and reduce grain drying costs. It is also used in Scotland's forests and is the only currently approved suitable herbicide for weed control in establishing conifer and broadleaf trees.

Question reference: S5O-01513

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the accessibility of childminders for all families.

Question reference: S5W-12627

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 22 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what legislation there is regarding wearing bright or reflective clothing when walking or jogging on unlit rural roads and highways.

Legislation covering what pedestrians should wear on unlit roads and highways remains under the jurisdiction of the UK Government; however, the Scottish Government recognises that high visibility clothing can play a role in preventing pedestrian incidents in low light conditions. That is why we recommend in our Road safety Framework that the Highway Code “Rules for Pedestrians” advice be followed. This includes encouraging pedestrians to wear or carry something light-coloured, bright or fluorescent in poor daylight conditions, and, when it is dark to use reflective materials.

Question reference: S5W-12556

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2017
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what action it can take to ensure that any prepared food left over at the end of the day in the catering outlets is distributed to charitable causes.

Question reference: S5W-12723

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 21 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance there is on the use of physical intervention and restraint in schools.

Question reference: S5F-01734

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2017

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the recently published internal staff survey from the Scottish Ambulance Service, which suggests that work pressure had affected the health of more than half of the respondents.

Question reference: S5O-01495

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to young people with special educational needs.

Question reference: S5W-12445

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 14 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme 2017 reports that no NHS board delivers rehabilitation on a needs-led basis, what plans it has to improve stroke rehabilitation services, and when these plans will enable NHS boards to deliver such services on this basis.

We know that early assessment / provision of rehabilitation within the first few days following an acute stroke by multi-disciplinary working achieves the best outcomes for the person. This is why it is included as a priority within the Scottish Stroke Improvement Plan (2014). Each NHS Board reports on progress in the implementation of the Improvement Plan priorities and are supported by the Stroke Improvement Programme Lead and Scottish Stroke Care Audit (SSCA) to further improve, sharing good practice across Scotland and the development of tools and resources to build capacity, knowledge and skills.

Question reference: S5W-11527

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 24 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that NHS Forth Valley fills vacant consultant posts, and what its response is to reports that some posts have been unfilled for over three years.

Under this Government, the number of consultants in NHS Forth Valley have increased by 49.9%, to 212.8 Whole Time Equivalent. It is normal for fluctuations in vacancies to occur as we expand capacity by recruiting even more staff.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to a sustainable NHS and its workforce, which continues to deliver a consistently high quality healthcare service to the people of Scotland.

While the Scottish Government sets strategic policies for the NHS in Scotland, it is the responsibility of NHS Boards – including NHS Forth Valley – to ensure that the workforce planning arrangements they have in place ensure enough professional staff and facilities are available to provide the best possible care for patients, in a variety of settings.

In June 2017 the Scottish Government published Part 1 of the National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan, which will strengthen and harmonise workforce planning practice, take full account of the future demand for safe and high quality services for Scotland’s people and work to accurately identify gaps in supply, including within the consultant workforce. We continue to work with all major stakeholders across Health and Social Care, including NHS Boards, as we take the Plan forward.

Parts 2 and 3 of the Plan, to be published later in 2017, will examine how to improve integrated workforce planning in social care and primary care settings. These important steps will enable different health and social care systems to move together towards publication of a second full Health and Social Care Workforce Plan in 2018 and beyond.

Question reference: S5W-11469

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 3 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what reassurances it can give to people in the Mid Scotland and Fife parliamentary region regarding the presence of combustible cladding on private high rise flats in the region.

Scottish building regulations since 2005 require that any cladding on high rise domestic buildings must be of non-combustible material or be part of a system that has been rigorously tested. In addition all local authorities within the Mid Scotland and Fife parliamentary region have reported that the material used on the Grenfell Tower (Aluminium Composite Material) has not been used in cladding systems in local authority, Registered Social Landlord or private sector high rise domestic buildings.