Parliamentary questions

Katy Clark

746 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

5 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what correspondence it has had with the UK Government regarding the impact in Scotland of the £400 energy bill discount.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The £400 Energy Bills Discount Scheme will provide important relief for consumers. However, the Scottish Government believes that much more action is required at UK Government level to help mitigate the impact of the energy price crisis, especially for those …

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the amount of remuneration for each individual currently serving on two or more boards of public bodies, and whether it will provide a list showing the amount for each position held.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government public appointments team, in line with the Ethical Standards Commissioner Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies in Scotland, publishes information including the rate of remuneration on those holding board membe…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many individuals currently serve on the boards of two or more public bodies, and whether it will provide a list of those individuals and the positions that they hold.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government public appointments team in line with the Ethical Standards Commissioner Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies in Scotland publishes information on those holding board member and Chair positions on the boards o…

24 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider adding discounted CalMac ferry services as a permanent offer for those eligible for a Young Scot National Entitlement Card.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: I slanders who are eligible for a Young Scot National Entitlement Card currently receive two free return journeys to the mainland each year. The introduction of the Road Equivalent Tariff on CalMac ferry services delivered an estimated average 34% reduction …

24 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the reported commitment by the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport to the Cumbrae Ferry Committee and Cumbrae Community Council in a meeting on 1 June 2022, what discussions there have been with Transport Scotland regarding the request to provide a discounted…

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: I met with Cumbrae ferry stakeholders on 1 June 2022 to discuss a range of ferry issues. It was agreed that Transport Scotland and CalMac would consider if books of tickets could be offered to islanders under the new ‘Ar Turas’ ticketing & reservation system.…

24 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the contracts to build ScotRail’s new hydrogen-powered trains will be awarded to Scotland-based train builders.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Any future procurement activity to secure new rolling stock for Scotland’s Railway will be governed by the Public Procurement Regulations , as all such procurements are. By adhering to these regulations, ScotRail Trains Ltd will ensure that the Scottish su…

11 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether any pharmacies that do not meet required standards could be taken into special measures control, where the operation of such pharmacies is taken over by NHS Scotland.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government is not considering the introduction of special measures for community pharmacies that are struggling to meet required standards. Community pharmacies, along with other primary care contractors, are wholly independent private entities p…

11 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what sanctions can be imposed on any pharmacy that does not deliver community pharmacy services for all hours and days that are specified in its contract.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Health boards can take a range of actions in response to any breach of terms by a pharmacy contractor as set out in the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 and the National Health Service (Discipline Committees) (Scot…

11 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that community pharmacies are not closed during agreed opening hours.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: While pharmacy closures can occur, this on the whole represents a small proportion of the network and is often limited to a small proportion of the required model hours. The Scottish Government continue to work with all Health Boards and community pharmacy re…

22 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09572 by Kevin Stewart on 4 July 2022, whether the National Care Service will continue to work with the private sector in addition to (a) specialist charities and (b) third sector providers of care services, under the new ethical commissioning model…

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The National Care Service Bill proposes to enable the National Care Service (NCS) to support Fair Work in the sector, by including Fair Work within the guiding principles of the NCS (section 1 of the Bill) and establishing it as an exemplar of Fair Work. The …

12 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what legislative options it is exploring to achieve a sustainable reduction in the prison population.

Answer · Keith Brown: We are taking action to change the way that imprisonment is used in Scotland. The Vision for Justice in Scotland (published 8 February 2022) sets out the ambition that people in Scotland live in a just, safe and resilient society, where they will be supported…

12 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it holds any statistics on the number of people currently staying in community-based bail accommodation.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government does not hold statistics on the number of people staying in community based bail accommodation. Officials are currently exploring what further data could be practically recorded beyond the current information collated annually on total…

6 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that all Marine Scotland staff receive any overdue pay for specified leave days.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Marine Scotland officials have been in touch with the pay team and have confirmed that the remaining claims for pay for specified leave days will be paid in July’s salary. Steps are being taken to review the current process to reduce the chance of similar del…

6 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it is taking to close the reported wage gap between seafarers at Marine Scotland and those at Caledonian MacBrayne.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The pay of Marine Scotland seafarers is determined by the Scottish Government’s Public Sector Pay Policy as these staff are civil servants with civil service terms and conditions. CalMac Ferries Ltd is a private company - their staff are not civil servants, s…

6 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with Unite the Union representatives regarding the pay dispute with Marine Scotland workers.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Officials met Unite the Union representatives on 13th July 2022 regarding the pay dispute with Marine Scotland seafarers and subsequently met Union representatives along with Nautilus International representatives on 19th July 2022 for pay negotiations.

6 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it plans to take to improve recruitment and retention of Marine Scotland seafarers.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Since 2019, the number of Marine Scotland seafarers leaving the Scottish Government for alternative employment is less than 1.7% of our seafaring headcount. The key reason for leaving over this period was retirement. We therefore have no current concerns abou…

5 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners on remand there were in 2021-22, broken down by the number of days they were held on remand for, also broken down by those who were awaiting (a) trial and (b) sentencing.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government publish official statistics on the prison population on an annual basis. The most recent annual statistics were published on the 23 June 2022 covering the financial year 2020-21 [1]. The official statistics provide information on the a…

5 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of prisoners (a) are currently and (b) in 2021-22 were on remand awaiting trial for more than 140 days.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government publishes monthly and annual information on time held on remand in the Justice Analytical Services Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Report [1] and the annual official Scottish Prison Population Statistics [2]. Official …

4 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made regarding the exploratory research undertaken by KSO Research on understanding the use of remand, which was announced on 25 January 2020.

Answer · Keith Brown: Access requests to commence fieldwork for the research were sent to the Lord President and Sheriffs Principal in March 2020. However, due to the rapid escalation of the pandemic and national lockdown, the judiciary collectively asked for the research to be pa…

1 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08793 by Clare Haughey on 14 June 2022, what progress was made at its meeting with COSLA, in June 2022, regarding the introduction of a national minimum allowance for foster and kinship carers.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government continues to work closely with COSLA to find a way forward on the introduction of a Scottish Recommended Allowance for foster and kinship carers.

29 Jun 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to extend freedom of information legislation to all care providers in receipt of public funding.

Answer · George Adam: Following the 2019 consultation on the future use of the Scottish Ministers’ power under section 5 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to extend coverage of the Act, the Scottish Government is currently considering all the issues highlighted in …

29 Jun 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Care Inspectorate will be required to proactively assess the risk of failure of care providers, and work with public bodies to establish contingency plans for taking assets into public or community ownership where care providers fail altogether or where care quality is persis…

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government has no plans to widen the statutory remit of the Care Inspectorate to include working with other public bodies to take assets into public ownership. However, we intend to strengthen the Care Inspectorate’s enforcement powers. This will…

29 Jun 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the publication of the STUC report, Profiting from Care: Why Scotland Can’t Afford Privatised Social Care, and its findings that large private providers are associated with lower wages, more complaints about care quality, and higher levels of rent extraction than …

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The National Care Service will allow us to improve standards across the whole of the social care sector. The current model of securing care services will be replaced by a model of ethical commissioning and ethical procurement. As part of this the entire adu…

29 Jun 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it is taking to tackle the reported issue of care companies operating in Scotland registering in offshore tax havens.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government introduced the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill to the Scottish Parliament on 20th June 2022. As part of the approach to the National Care Service, ethical commissioning and ethical procurement will be used to shape all commission…