Parliamentary questions
Jackie Baillie
9,397 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
8 May 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on asking Scottish Water to advise customers of forthcoming or ongoing consultations by enclosing information about these to water bills, in light of its paper, Investing in and paying for your water services from 2021, Summary of Responses, recording 107 responses o…
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government contacts key stakeholders directly to notify them of consultations and encourages them to assist in raising awareness. Scottish Water does not bill households directly as water and sewerage charges are included within the yearly counci…
8 May 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what correlation there is between property values and the supply and removal of water by Scottish Water from eligible properties.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: In Scotland, non-domestic water and sewerage charges are made up of 6 elements: a fixed charge for water, a volumetric charge for water, a fixed charge for wastewater, a volumetric charge for wastewater, property drainage and roads drainage. Property and road…
8 May 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason owner-occupiers in multi-storey properties reportedly pay more for the removal of the same volume of roof water as owners of single-storey ground properties with similar carbon footprints.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-23063 on 22 May 2019. Property drainage charges are calculated by reference to the rateable value a property, not volume of water. Properties with higher rateable values will also have a higher bill. All answer…
8 May 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its paper, Investing in and paying for your water services from 2021, Summary of Responses, recording 107 responses to the consultation, what its response is to concerns that this is an inadequate level of response to determine the charging principles for 2021-27.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The consultation paper “Investing in and paying for your water services from 2021” outlined the Scottish Government’s broad charging principles for the 2021-27 regulatory period. As previously explained, any significant changes to the current principles, such…
8 May 2019 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what funding is provided for social work services, and how it ensures that these services are adequately staffed and have the appropriate facilities and resources to help children and families.
2 May 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether funding allocated for town centre regeneration can be used for the repair and refurbishment of a pier, where it is integral to the economic viability of the town.
Answer · Derek Mackay: The Town Centre Fund is a ring-fenced capital fund for local authorities. An overarching aim of the fund is to contribute to transformative investments which drive local economic activities and re-purpose town centres to become more diverse, successful and su…
30 Apr 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21125 by Christina McKelvie on 25 January 2019, on what date it will publish outcomes from the Race Equality Conference and the final report on Year 1 Race Equality Actions.
Answer · Christina McKelvie: The Race Equality Action Plan Year 1 Actions Report with a summary of discussion from the end of year event will be published on gov.scot on 24 June 2019.
24 Apr 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on making the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) independent of government.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-22790 on 7 May 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28…
24 Apr 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering making changes to charity law and, if so, what proposals are being considered.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government recently consulted on potential improvements to the statutory charity regulation framework, in light of proposals put forward by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) that focus on increasing transparency, accountability …
24 Apr 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the responses to its consultation on the charity regulation framework.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-22790 on 7 May 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/288…
23 Apr 2019 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to young people from armed forces families when applying for further and higher education.
2 Apr 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the organisers of the Great Scottish Swim in Loch Lomond regarding their decision to cancel the event in 2019.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-22485 on 24 April 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/…
2 Apr 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Great Scottish Swim in Loch Lomond has been cancelled in 2019.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-22485 on 24 April 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/…
2 Apr 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to organise an alternative event to the Great Scottish Swim in Loch Lomond, and whether such an event will take place in 2019.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: As a funding partner of the Great Scottish Swim for a number of years, EventScotland were in ongoing contact with the organisers of the event, The Great Run Company, regarding this year’s event and their decision to cancel it. Despite growing numbers of parti…
21 Mar 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comment by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work on 19 March 2019 (Official Report, c. 21) that "we are about to launch our exports strategy", by what date this strategy will be published.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The work on the Export Growth Plan is well underway, including engaging with a range of business and sector organisations. The plan will be published on 1st May, subject to avoiding major disruption from Brexit.
20 Mar 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its original target was for the growth in exportingfor 2010-17, expressed in (a) percentage terms and (b) value; what the actual figures were and, if the target was not met, (i) for what reason and (ii) what lessons it has learned.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government set an ambitious target to grow the value of Scottish exports by 50% between 2010 and 2017. This would have required a increase of approximately £11billion based on the value of exports calculated at the time. In 2017, Scottish exports…
18 Mar 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers 18 months is an extensive period of time for the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator to have been investigating a complaint without concluding their investigation.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) is a non-ministerial office and part of the Scottish Administration. OSCR is an independent regulator and does not form part of the Scottish Government. In line with the framework agreement between the Scottish Governmen…
18 Mar 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the rate of offending for sexual crimes has been in each year since 2010.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The latest rates of crimes per 10,000 population were published in the Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2017-18 available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/recorded-crime-scotland-2017-18/ (Table 8) Sexual Crimes recorded in Scotland per 10,000 population, 2…
18 Mar 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the adequacy of the resources and arrangements for the monitoring of sex offenders deemed (a) high and (b) low risk.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: This Government is committed to doing all it can to minimise the risks posed by Registered Sex Offenders (RSOs). This includes our support for multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) for RSOs. MAPPA arrangements provide a number of safeguards, thi…
18 Mar 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the rate of re-offending has been for people convicted of sexual crimes in each year since 2010.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Reconviction rates for sexual crimes from 1997-98 to the most recent available year of 2015-16 are published in Table 6 of the National Statistics publication, Reconviction Rates in Scotland: 2015-16 Offender Cohort. The publication can be found at the follow…
18 Mar 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has reduced payments to bus companies for concessionary fares in March 2019; how much notice it gave, and what its likely impact is.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Final payments made to bus operators have been reduced in accordance with the legislation which underpins the concessionary travel scheme. Concessionary travel reimbursement rates and the payment cap level are agreed each year by negotiation with the Confeder…
18 Mar 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government by (a) how much and (b) what percentage it has reduced payments to bus companies for concessionary fares in March 2019, broken down by bus company.
Answer · Michael Matheson: An operator by operator breakdown would not be appropriate due to commercial sensitivity.
12 Mar 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21944 by Roseanna Cunningham on 7 March 2019, whether the Principles of Charging and Ministerial Objectives will be framed to provide support for people who are least able to afford water charges by ensuring that there is no overall increase in the …
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: As referred to in the answer to S5W-21944, my officials will continue to work with industry stakeholders to determine how the Scottish Government can continue to keep customer charges as low as practicable and provide support for those members of society that…
12 Mar 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has updated the estimate set out in its consultation paper, Investing in and paying for your water services from 2021, that "between 10-15% of households pay more than 3% of net household income after housing costs on water charges", and, if so, what the revised figure is.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Citizens Advice Scotland’s report “Charting a new course: a study in developing affordability policy for water and sewerage charges”, published in October 2018, confirmed this estimate.
6 Mar 2019 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £55 million it received in Barnett consequentials for 2019-20 to prepare for leaving the EU has been allocated and to what.
28 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to draft a new learning disability strategy to follow the current strategy, The keys to life, which ends in 2021.
Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government is committed to improving the lives of people with learning disabilities, their families and carers. The Scottish Government is pleased to announce that a new learning disability framework, 'The keys to life: unlocking futures for peo…
28 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on the implementation of the learning disability strategy, The keys to life.
Answer · Clare Haughey: Many actions included in the strategy when it was published in 2011 have been delivered and others continue to be delivered through the work of the Scottish Commission for Learning Disabilities and the Learning Disabilities Observatory. I am delighted to ann…
28 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether any members of the national implementation group for the loneliness strategy have a learning disability, and, if not, whether it will ensure that such a person is appointed to the group.
Answer · Christina McKelvie: The Scottish Government is not aware of whether or not any member of the implementation group has a learning disability. Our work to address social isolation and loneliness will consider the needs of a range of groups including people with learning disabilit…
28 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will organise and fund a social care recruitment campaign.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Part 2 of the original iteration of the National Health & Social Care Workforce Plan included a recommendation that a national recruitment campaign for the social care sector should be undertaken, promoting the sector as a positive career destination. Prepara…
28 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the living wage will be paid to all social care workers in the third sector for overnight care by 31 March 2019.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that the investment provided to Local Authorities to support the delivery of the real living wage commitment in social care including overnight support, reaches social care workers. The Scottish Government wro…