Linda Fabiani

27 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) operations in East Kilbride since the announcement of the proposed relocation of HMRC operations to regional centres.

Answer · Derek Mackay: When HMRC announced the next stage of their Building our Future transformation programme on 12 November 2015, the First Minister spoke personally to the second Permanent Secretary at HMRC to relay her grave concerns over job losses. Keith Brown, Cabinet Secre…

27 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the number of people employed by (a) HM Revenue and Customs and (b) the Department for International Development in East Kilbride.

Answer · Derek Mackay: We understand that there are approximately 2271 HM Revenue and Customs employees based in East Kilbride. We have no information on the number of Department for International Development employees based there.

21 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the findings of the Enterprise and Skills Ministerial Review Group.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Enterprise and Skills Ministerial Review Group, which met for the fourth time on 20 September, agreed to meet again in early October to further explore outputs of the Review and phase one recommendations will be published shortly thereafter. As announced…

21 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the future use of Dungavel House.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government has not had any discussions yet with the UK Government and was not given any advance warning of the announcement of plans to close Dungavel. I wrote to the Home Secretary on 9 September 2016 to seek urgent clarification of the implicat…

21 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government following the announcement of a facility for immigration removal to be located at Glasgow International Airport, and what information it has on when this will become operational.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government has not had any discussions yet with the UK Government and was not given any advance warning of the announcement of plans to build a short term holding facility near Glasgow Airport. I wrote to the Home Secretary on 9 September 2016 to…

21 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government following the announcement that Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre will be closed, and what information it has on a closure date.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government has not had any discussions yet with the UK Government, or given any advance warning of the announcement of the closure of Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre. I wrote to the Home Secretary on 9 September 2016 to seek urgent clarificat…

19 Sep 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will next meet ScotRail.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I am due to meet with Scotrail's Managing Director next week.

7 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Scotland have sought protection each year under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, as amended by the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2011 by way of a (a) civil and (b) criminal court, and what proportion of cases have led to the court to (i) award damages, (ii) gra…

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government does not have all of the information requested by the member as the data held on damages and interdicts does not specifically identify cases relating to protection from harassment. However, the information that is available is shown in…

5 Sep 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the importance of deer control in urban settings.

29 Aug 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it contributes to international development.

22 Jul 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether its funding for overseas development assistance contributes to the UK Government’s 0.7% target for aid spending and, if so, by how much.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government notifies its overseas development assistance (ODA) spend annually to the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID). The UK Government includes Scottish Government funded ODA within overall UK ODA that it reports t…

22 Jul 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its budget has been for (a) international development and (b) overseas development assistance in each year since 2007.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government International Development Fund began in 2005, with a budget of £3 million for Malawi. From 2008-09 the International Development Fund budget was doubled to £6 million per annum, fulfilling the commitment in the Scottish National Party’…

20 Jul 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-00877 by Angela Constance on 24 June 2016, which local authorities are still to settle their outstanding equal pay claims, also broken down by the (a) number of staff affected and (b) stage the claims are at in each council.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government believes it is completely unacceptable that any equal pay claims against local authorities have not yet been settled. We believe that there is no excuse for any councils continuing to avoid their responsibilities, and that this is some…

22 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether any dawn raids on the homes of asylum seekers have been carried out since May 2015.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The Scottish Government is fundamentally opposed to dawn raids and believes asylum seekers must be treated humanely and sensitively at every stage of the asylum process. This is particularly important i…

22 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government further to the answer to question S4W-24964 by Paul Wheelhouse on 8 April 2015, whether Police Scotland personnel have been involved in the transfer of asylum seekers from Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre since 1 April 2013, and what information it has on which private contractors are…

Answer · Mark McDonald: Police Scotland have advised that there are no Police Scotland personnel involved at Dungavel, they were able to advise that the Home Office have brought in private contractors to carry out this work, the private contractors are GEO Group Ltd. Therefore, Poli…

22 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions in the last 12 months personnel from South Lanarkshire Council have been involved in "age dispute" cases relating to asylum seekers held at the Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre.

Answer · Mark McDonald: Over the past 12 months, South Lanarkshire Council has been asked to age assess seven individuals. Of those seven, three were assessed as over 18 and four assessed as being between 16 and 18. Social work resources continue to support those individuals under 1…

22 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has in relation to children of asylum seekers who are living in Scotland being detained in secure facilities in Scotland or elsewhere in the UK.

Answer · Mark McDonald: This is a reserved matter by the UK Government and both the Scottish Government and South Lanarkshire Council do not hold this information. The Scottish Government remains opposed to detaining any children of asylum seekers; detention of children in an asyl…

21 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made with the UK Government in relation to recommendations made in the Smith Agreement regarding devolving the operation of asylum support.

Answer · Angela Constance: In the period since the Smith Commission's report was published, the Scottish and UK Governments have sought to progress the recommendation on issues relating to asylum seekers. This has been done through meetings and a visit to the Home Office in Glasgow for…

20 Jun 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its discussions with South Lanarkshire Council regarding the provision of a one stop shop for people with autism in the East Kilbride area.

Answer · Maureen Watt: Further to the positive meetings between North Lanarkshire Council, NHS Lanarkshire and Scottish Autism, I am pleased to report that Scottish Government officials met with South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership on Monday 20th June. Positive disc…

20 Jun 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4O-04817 by Roseanna Cunningham on 19 November 2015, whether it will provide an update on what progress has been made by local authorities in progressing equal pay claims.

Answer · Angela Constance: The government welcomes recent progress made by councils in settling outstanding equal pay claims and in particular that made by North Lanarkshire Council in reaching a settlement with the GMB union affecting around 200 employees across a range of jobs. How…

26 May 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the status is of the Glasgow City Deal Project.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government remains absolutely committed to working with all our cities to unlock investment and is a partner in the Glasgow City Region City Deal Project, contributing £500 million over 20 years to the Infrastructure Investment Fund. The Glasgow …

14 Mar 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will increase affordable housing supply in East Kilbride.

10 Mar 2016 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in implementing the findings in the National Review of Primary Care Out-of- Hours Services being led by Professor Lewis Ritchie.

Answer · Shona Robison: I welcomed the publication of the independent report of the National Review of Primary Care Out-of-Hours Services, Pulling together: transforming urgent care for the people of Scotland in November 2015. I announced initial financial support from the Primary C…

7 Mar 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent representations it has made to the UK Government regarding international students and further education colleges.

29 Feb 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how its procurement processes encourage the use of local small and medium-sized enterprises.

25 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the monthly average number of people in each year since 2006-07 who reported that they had slept rough the night before they applied to be registered as homeless.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The following table shows the monthly average number of homelessness applications in Scotland where a household member slept rough on the night immediately preceding the date of application. Financial year of application The monthly average number of homele…

22 Feb 2016 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what progress there has been on the fiscal framework negotiations.

3 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government following the latest impact assessment of the smart meter roll-out.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The UK Government’s latest impact assessment of the smart meter roll-out was published in January 2014. The Scottish Government has engaged and continues to engage extensively with not only the UK Government but the wide range of stakeholders involved in the …

2 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what increase there has been in nursing staff in (a) Lanarkshire and (b) Scotland since 2007.

Answer · Shona Robison: Qualified nursing and midwifery staff in NHS Lanarkshire have increased by 452.8 whole time equivalent (wte), or 13.4 per cent from September 2007-15. Qualified nursing and midwifery staff across NHSScotland have increased by 5,570.7 wte, or 14.8 per cent fr…

2 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on Barnett consequentials of the removal of nursing bursary funding in England for student support and tuition.

Answer · Shona Robison: The changes to nursing and midwifery student funding announced by the UK Government in November 2015 will take effect from September 2017; any impact of that announcement on Scottish Government consequentials will therefore be considered as part of the Scotti…