Johann Lamont

8 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government in light of the responses to the consultation on the Review of The Non-Commercial Movement of Pet Animals Order 2011, whether it will hold discussions with the Welsh Government and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) regarding the next steps of the post-impleme…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Initial discussions on the responses to this consultation and next steps have already taken place. The Scottish Government will continue to be involved in all further discussions with both Defra and the Welsh Government over the coming months, on completion o…

8 Nov 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Shelter Scotland's appeal to alleviate homelessness.

24 Oct 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the cabinet secretary for communities has held with Glasgow City Council regarding its budget allocation.

19 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many bed days resulted from emergency hospital admissions for people with (a) multiple sclerosis, (b) motor neurone disease, (c) Parkinson's disease and (d) Huntington's disease in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board, and what the total cost of this was to the NHS in each …

Answer · Shona Robison: Copies of the tables are available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 59288)

19 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the work plan is of the National Advisory Committee on Neurological Conditions.

Answer · Shona Robison: The National Advisory Committee for Chronic Pain (NACNC) was asked to identify priorities for the committee’s scope of work. These priorities were agreed and following further discussion, now form the basis for the development of Scotland’s first National Act…

19 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it has received from the National Advisory Committee on Neurological Conditions since it was established in 2016, and what action it has taken as a result.

Answer · Shona Robison: The National Advisory Committee for Neurological Conditions (NACNC) has given advice to Scottish Government on various matters including, but not limited to, the Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s (HIS) Review of Neurological Standards; the Mental Health Strat…

19 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost of care is to (a) the NHS and (b) local authorities of people with neurological conditions.

Answer · Shona Robison: (a) The ISD Scotland National Statistical Release, Scottish Health Service Costs, published 22 November 2016, includes information on health service costs at a specialty level. This data shows that NHS Scotland spends £56,518,000 on neurology services. These…

17 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on Glasgow City Council issuing advice to head teachers to use the Pupil Equity Fund to pay for janitorial services; whether the local authority sought advice from it regarding this and, if so, what advice it provided.

Answer · John Swinney: Pupil Equity Funding provides £120m of additional support to thousands of schools across Scotland to be spent at the discretion of teachers and school leaders. Any school staying open beyond school hours for attainment-related purposes would require to have …

11 Sep 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the national tourism strategy will increase the number of visitors to Glasgow and attract investment.

5 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average primary class size has been in Glasgow in each year since 2007.

Answer · John Swinney: This information can be found in the 'Summary statistics for schools in Scotland’ and ‘Pupils in Scotland’ publication supplementary documents. Average class size of primary pupils 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Glasgow City …

29 Aug 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many children in Glasgow have lived in temporary accommodation in each year since 2007.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Information on the number of homeless adults and children who have lived in temporary accommodation throughout the course of each year is not currently available. The Scottish Government collects temporary accommodation information from local authorities in …

29 Aug 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) families with children and (b) pregnant women have lived in B&B temporary accommodation in Glasgow in each year since 2007.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Information on the number of homeless people who have used temporary accommodation throughout the course of each year is not currently available. The Scottish Government collects temporary accommodation information from local authorities in the HL2 form whic…

14 Aug 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Constitution had with the Leader of Glasgow City Council during his visit to the city chambers on 8 August 2017.

Answer · Derek Mackay: My meeting with Councillor Aitken on 8 August was our first opportunity to meet following her appointment as Leader of Glasgow City Council. We discussed and agreed that the Council's decision to rejoin COSLA would mean the start of a new, refreshed relations…

20 Jul 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland report, Themed visit to homeless people with mental ill health, published in July 2017, which found that homeless people who were diagnosed with both mental ill health and addiction issues sometimes had difficulty getting…

Answer · Kevin Stewart: There are strong rights for homeless households in Scotland, but we recognise that for some people, including those with mental ill health and addiction issues, additional support to address homelessness is required. We welcome the report of the Mental Welfar…

10 Jul 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish details of any (a) meetings, (b) discussions and (c) correspondence with the UK Government regarding proposals to close six Jobcentre Plus offices in Glasgow.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government has published the correspondence sent by Scottish Ministers to UK Government Ministers on DWP proposals to close job centres and DWP back office functions in Scotland. This is available at https://beta.gov.scot/publications/foi-17-0104…

3 Jul 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on any changes that have been made to the 12-week semester structure at universities; when any changes came into force, and for what reason they were made.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the structure of the academic year at universities in Scotland. As autonomous institutions, it is for each individual university to determine the structure of their own academic year.

3 Jul 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many students from deprived areas have dropped out of university in each year since 2011, and what action it is taking to reduce these numbers.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) publishes retention rates in their publication “Learning for All: Measures of Success”, which is defined as full-time first-degree entrants who are continuing into the next year or who qualified at the same Higher Education …

3 Jul 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the drop-out rate has been for Art and Design courses at Scottish universities in each year since 2011.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) publishes retention rates in their publication “Learning for all: Measures of Success”, which is defined as full-time first-degree entrants who are continuing into the next year or who qualified at the same HEI. The retentio…

22 Jun 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-09628 by Michael Matheson on 16 June 2017, what the issues are that require further consideration, and what the timescale is for its deliberations on these.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government published an independent analysis of the consultation responses on 22 December 2015. This can be found at: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/12/1435 The Executive Summary to this analysis summarises the range of issues raised tha…

7 Jun 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government when a minister last met representatives of teachers and what issues were discussed.

7 Jun 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will announce its proposed reforms of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and, in light of the consultation on this ending in December 2013, what the reason has been for the delay.

Answer · Michael Matheson: In 2013, the Scottish Government published a discussion paper to explain how the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 operated and to gather evidence and views from stakeholders to help consider what changes may be required to modernise and improve the legisl…

30 May 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided to third sector organisations to tackle homelessness in Glasgow since 2007.

23 May 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to ensure that local authorities take account of disability-related expenditure when agreeing social care charges.

Answer · Shona Robison: COSLA's Charging Guidance recommends that local authorities should be proactive in gathering information about additional disability related expenses as part of their financial assessment process. Ideally, questions about disability related expenditure should…

19 May 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it can provide to residents of sheltered housing who have had their overnight sleepover warden service removed.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Residents of sheltered housing should feel secure and comfortable at home. Any person who feels that their needs are not being met should contact their local social services department who can work with them and discuss potential options to ensure their need…

19 May 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it can provide to health and social care integration boards to ensure delivery of key services, such as the continuation of sleepover arrangements.

Answer · Shona Robison: We work closely with Health and Social Care Partnership providing support in regards to the integration of health and social care services where appropriate to do so. Partnerships and providers indicated the need for support in regards to sleepover provision …

19 May 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Bield Housing regarding its decision to change its sleepover arrangements in sheltered housing complexes.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government has not discussed this matter with Bield Housing.

10 Apr 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people whose spouse or partner died as a result of being given blood products contaminated with hepatitis C have received Skipton Fund stage 1 payments but not stage 2.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Skipton Fund is aware of 112 people who have been confirmed as deceased without progressing to Stage 2. However, the Skipton Fund does not have data to confirm how many of these individuals died leaving a widow, widower or partner; nor does it have any in…

10 Apr 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the introduction of hybrid and electric buses in Glasgow.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Green Bus Fund (SGBF) is helping our bus industry invest in the latest emission reducing technology and is another clear indication of the Government's commitment to Scotland's bus industry. Round seven of the fund was launched on 7 April 2017 wi…

24 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many rough sleepers there are in (a) Glasgow and (b) the rest of the country, and what methodology it uses to calculate this.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Rough Sleeping: 2015-16 Applications for homelessness where applicant slept rough: at least once during the last 3 months the night before Glasgow City 425 370 Rest of Scotland 1,955 980 Scotland Total 2,380 1,350 Source: HL1 dataset as at 25…

24 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has made available in each year since 2007 to tackle (a) homelessness and (b) rough sleeping in (i) Glasgow and (ii) the rest of the country.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Since 2007, the vast majority of the total funding is provided as a block grant and it is the responsibility of each local authority to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including funding to tackle homel…