Parliamentary questions
Kezia Dugdale
1,684 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
6 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many breaches of the Fireworks (Scotland) Regulations 2004 there have been each year, broken down by police area.
Answer · Ash Denham: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The figures provided by Police Scotland are a simple count of the number of crimes and offences recorded in each local authority, and we are unable to break these down for the specific legislation to whi…
6 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the Fireworks (Scotland) Regulations 2004, and what its position is on amending section 3(3) to redefine "night hours" to be the period beginning at 9.00 pm.
Answer · Ash Denham: The Scottish Government recognises concerns about the antisocial use of fireworks and has put in place restrictions on when fireworks can be set off. We continue to keep under review the effectiveness of the current regulations. I will be launching a consulta…
6 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many times police officers in each police area have seized fireworks in each year since 2003, also broken down by the legislation used to carry this out.
Answer · Ash Denham: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The figures provided by Police Scotland are a simple count of the number of crimes and offences recorded in each local authority, and we don’t receive further details on the characteristics or circumstan…
6 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many reports in each police area there have been each year of contraventions of the (a) Fireworks Act 2003 and (b) Fireworks (Scotland) Regulations 2004, and how many subsequent (i) arrests, (ii) charges, (iii) prosecutions and (iv) convictions there were.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: (i) Scottish Government does not hold this information. Police Scotland have confirmed they do not currently collect data in respect of 'arrests'. (ii) Number of charges (data provided by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service). 2007-08 2008-09 2…
31 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been (a) reported for, (b) charged with, (c) prosecuted for and (d) convicted of blasphemy in each of the last five years.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: (a) There were no charges of blasphemy reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in the last five years. (b) The number of people charged for blasphemy may be obtained from Police Scotland. Scottish Government does not hold this information.…
31 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent meetings the Cabinet Secretary for Justice has had with the Victims' Commissioner for (a) England and Wales and (b) London, and what issues were discussed.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: I have not had any recent meetings with the Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales or the Victims’ Commissioner for London. I have met a number of victim support organisations and victims’ families. These discussions have directly informed the package o…
31 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether its proposed homicide service will be available to the families of all people who have been unlawfully killed and not only victims of homicide.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The new Homicide Service will initially be available to families bereaved by murder or culpable homicide. We recognise that there are other victims that might benefit from the type of support that the new service will provide and we will work with Victim Sup…
25 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many graduate radiotherapists have joined the NHS in each year since 2012-13, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Information on the number of graduate radiotherapists who have joined the NHS in each year since 2012-13, by NHS Board, is not held centrally.
25 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many training places for radiotherapists there have been in each year since 2012-13, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Radiography education is not commissioned or controlled by the Scottish Government. The following table sets out the number of Scottish entrants to radiography courses at Scottish Higher Education Institutions in each year since 2012-13. This information is n…
25 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to encourage radiotherapy graduates who are trained in Scotland to find employment in Scotland.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government are investing in training and offering attractive and rewarding careers to those who commit to radiography posts in NHSScotland. We are working in partnership with the Scottish Radiology Transformation Programme and the NHS Education f…
22 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on national and local public bodies in the health and social care sector in Scotland using exceptions under the Equality Act 2010; what its position is on issuing guidance to these bodies regarding such use; what information it has regarding how often exceptions are …
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government expects all relevant public bodies to comply with their obligations under the Equality Act 2010, and with the relevant codes of practice and other guidance published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. We do not collect infor…
19 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of leases that were not notifiable for Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) purposes being subject to penalties under the LBTT late returns review.
Answer · Kate Forbes: This is an operational matter for Revenue Scotland and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to respond directly to the member. Generally, when a lease is not notifiable, no return is due.
19 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many penalties have been imposed each year on businesses that have failed to submit their Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) returns on time.
Answer · Kate Forbes: This is an operational matter for Revenue Scotland and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to respond directly to the member. Statistics on tax revenue and penalties are published on a yearly basis in Revenue Scotland’s Annual Accounts, which are avai…
19 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) returns have been submitted following the three-year review return date that were (a) within one to three and (b) over three months late.
Answer · Kate Forbes: This is an operational matter for Revenue Scotland and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to respond directly to the member.
19 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to businesses that are tenants and are being served with Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) return reminders after their solicitors filed their initial returns.
Answer · Kate Forbes: This is an operational matter for Revenue Scotland and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to respond directly to the member.
19 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how all tenants, including businesses, can notify Revenue Scotland that a lease has been terminated with regard to the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT).
Answer · Kate Forbes: This is an operational matter for Revenue Scotland and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to respond directly to the member.
19 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether a form was made available for businesses to complete if a lease was terminated or assigned to another party prior to the start of the three-year Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) lease reviews.
Answer · Kate Forbes: This is an operational matter for Revenue Scotland and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to respond directly to the member.
19 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has set Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) late return penalties higher than those for stamp duty.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The arrangements for LBTT have been designed to reflect Scots law and practice, the specifics of the Scottish housing market and the Scottish approach to taxation. As such, there are a number of areas where LBTT and Stamp Duty Land Tax differ. The LBTT penalt…
17 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has issued or plans to issue to national and local public bodies regarding the use of the exemptions under the Equality Act 2010.
17 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what research it has carried out regarding the use in the health and social care sector of the exemptions under the Equality Act 2010.
17 Oct 2018 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce a right to rehabilitation for patients with chest, heart and stroke conditions.
10 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to revise the pricing structure of accessing the National Records of Scotland (a) online and (b) in person.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: National Records of Scotland (NRS) continually keeps its pricing structure under review to ensure that it remains fair, transparent and provides value for money for its customers. This applies to all aspects of its multi-channel approach to delivering good se…
10 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the accessibility of the National Records of Scotland in terms of (a) affordability and (b) distance from local family history centres.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: National Records of Scotland does not believe that its charges or the locations of Local Family History Centres create a significant barrier to customer access. A multi-channel approach with different price points offers choice to customers wishing to use the…
10 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many unique users the website, scotlandspeople.gov.uk, has; what the average spend is per user, and what percentage of users have more than £15 in credits on their account.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: From 1st April 2017 to 31st March 2018:- The number of unique users for the website was 1,257,094. The average spend per user was £2.16. The percentage of users who had more than £15 in credits on their account on 22 October 2018 was 2.3%
26 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether its national strategy on homelessness will specifically take account of the role that prejudice and discrimination can play in increasing LGBTI+ young people's risk of homelessness.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group (HPSG) will take forward the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group’s (HARSAG) recommendations and will give full consideration of actions and proposals which impact LGBTI+ and young people. Scottish Gover…
26 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase funding for support for LGBTI+ young people in rural areas who face abuse.
Answer · Christina McKelvie: Under the Equality Budget, the Scottish Government provides funding of £300,000 to LGBT Youth Scotland to provide a programme of work that aims to reduce the discrimination experienced by LGBTI young people and the wider community; to build the capacity of pu…
26 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that all (a) young people and (b) LGBTI+ young people. are informed of their rights regarding housing and homelessness.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: Local Authorities have a legal duty to help people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. This includes young people, including LGBTI+ young people. The Scottish Social Housing Charter, which came into effect in 2012, sets the standards and outcom…
26 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether housing and homelessness services should be required to record, monitor and report on equality data, with specific reference to (a) sexual orientation and (b) gender identity.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government’s position on recording, monitoring and reporting equality data is that sexual orientation and gender identity protected characteristics are particularly sensitive and if people are already in a vulnerable position it may not be approp…
26 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps its taking to increase awareness in youth homelessness services of trans and non-binary identities.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: We are working with the Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group (HPSG) and partners to oversee the development of a high level action plan to implement the recommendations made by the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group (HARSAG). The HARSAG recom…
19 Sep 2018 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider establishing a Victim's Commissioner, and, if not, how it plans to learn from the experiences of victims and witnesses in the shaping of public policy.