Kezia Dugdale

18 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to delay until after 1 September 2019, the introduction of new licensing regulations that would compel licensing boards to consider previously spent offences when assessing whether an applicant for a personal licence to authorise, manage or supervise the sale of …

Answer · Ash Denham: The Scottish Government can confirm it will not introduce this system until after 1 September 2019.

18 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many personal licences in relation to authorising, managing or supervising the sale of alcohol it expects to be renewed in 2019.

Answer · Ash Denham: Local Licensing Boards are responsible for granting and renewing personal licences to sell alcohol, and the Scottish Government does not therefore hold data on the exact number of personal licence holders who might require to renew their personal licence in 2…

18 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the appropriate training for licence holders in relation to authorising, managing or supervising the sale of alcohol is the Scottish Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (Refresher) course, with the exam based on course content taught on the day.    

Answer · Ash Denham: The appropriate training for existing licence holders seeking to renew their licence is the half day Scottish Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (Refresher) course, which requires some pre-reading prior to attending.

18 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to change the fees for new personal licence holders or renewals in relation to authorising, managing or supervising the sale of alcohol. 

Answer · Ash Denham: The Scottish Government has no plans to change the current £50 fee charged when applying for a personal licence for the first time. However, there is currently no fee set in regulations for a renewal application. The Scottish Government believes that there i…

26 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the ScottishGovernment what plans it has to review the law as it applies to (a) secular celebrants and (b) humanist funerals, weddings, and naming ceremonies.

Answer · Ash Denham: Marriages can be solemnised by civil registrars or by celebrants of authorised religious or belief bodies. Paragraph 28 of the Policy Memorandum for the Bill which became the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 discussed the option of opening u…

26 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how its anti-obesity strategy addresses the specific needs of people with learning disabilities.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government published ‘A Healthier Future: Scotland's Diet & Healthy Weight Delivery Plan’ on 2 July 2018. It sets out a range of actions to help achieve Scotland’s dietary goals, the Scottish Government’s ambition to halve childhood obesity by 20…

26 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will adopt the UK Government’s anti-obesity strategy, which proposes banning the presentation of sweets, chocolates and related products at or near the counters in stores and shops.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government published ‘A Healthier Future: Scotland's Diet & Healthy Weight Delivery Plan’ on 2 July 2018. It sets out a range of actions to help achieve Scotland’s dietary goals, the Scottish Government’s ambition to halve childhood obesity by 20…

26 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support and treatment is available from the NHS for people diagnosed with Lyme disease.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: NHS staff draw on published guidance, for example the British Infection Association’s 2011 position statement on Lyme Borreliosis and the 2018 National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guideline on Lyme disease, when caring for a pati…

26 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it is providing to support research into Lyme disease treatment.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office (CSO) supports two response mode grant funding schemes for applied health research in Scotland across the wide range of health conditions and public health and care challenges, which could include research on L…

20 Jun 2018 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average number of care placement moves are for young people.

13 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what targets are in place to ensure that all schools gain a Unicef Rights Respecting Schools Award.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government encourages all schools to be rights based. This work is achieved through working alongside Education Scotland to further implement ‘Recognising and realising children’s rights’ and ‘Learner Participation in educational settings 3-18’ a…

13 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is encouraging schools to gain a Unicef Rights Respecting Schools Award.

Answer · John Swinney: Education Scotland encourages all schools and local authorities to have a rights based approach through the use of their ‘Recognising and Realising Children’s Rights’ professional learning resource and their ‘Learner Participation in educational settings 3-18…

13 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many schools in Scotland have been recognised with a Unicef Rights Respecting Schools Award.

Answer · John Swinney: UNICEF have confirmed that they currently have 117 gold schools in Scotland. 355 schools have silver awards and 484 schools have bronze awards. The number of registered schools (pre-bronze) is 317. Over 1200 schools in Scotland are working towards or have ach…

13 Jun 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS Lothian regarding GP services in Musselburgh.

7 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-16367 by Aileen Campbell on 18 May 2018, in light of it being the practice for women who travel to England for these services, and to reduce the need for overnight stays in hospital, whether it will reconsider its position on whether women from Nort…

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Abortion Act 1967 (Place for Treatment for the Termination of Pregnancy)(Approval) 2017 permits women to take misoprostol at home where they are ordinarily resident in Scotland. Women resident in Northern Ireland can receive abortion services in Scotland …

6 Jun 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the findings of the report by NSPCC Scotland, The Right to Recover.

4 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that children with complex needs are given a guaranteed minimum of six weeks playscheme provision at a suitable venue each year.

Answer · Maree Todd: Children’s services, including for disabled children, are planned and commissioned locally. There are a number of specialist services operating across local authorities providing play scheme provision and support for children with complex additional support n…

4 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that disabled children are not discriminated against when funding for non-statutory services is reduced to maintain statutory services.

Answer · Maree Todd: Children’s services, including for disabled children, are planned and commissioned locally. Part 3 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 places a duty on each local authority and relevant health board to jointly prepare a children's services p…

4 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the financial support that is made available to families with disabled children.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: When we take over responsibility for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) we will extend entitlement to age 18 from the current age 16, to support families of disabled children during a key transitional period. We will also introduce additional Carer’s Allowanc…

30 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on fracking, and what action it is taking to (a) reinforce and (b) publicise this.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government has taken a cautious, evidence-led approach to considering unconventional oil and gas in Scotland. On 28 January 2015, the Scottish Government put in place a moratorium on unconventional oil and gas development in Scotland. The Scotti…

18 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the law on equal pay is enforceable in the private sector and, if so, what action it can take to remind employers of their obligations.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Equality Act 2010 gives a right to equal pay between women and men for equal work which applies to all employees, including those employed in the private sector. Disputed claims for equal pay are usually heard by the Employment Tribunal and it is for the …

4 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on local authorities charging for the use of city sites for the purpose of film and tv production, and what legislative mechanisms are in place that permit this.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Local authorities operate independently of central government and are accountable to their electorates for the services they provide. Local authorities have broad powers under section 69 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and section 20 of the Local…

3 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the provision of BSL through community learning and development in each local authority area.

Answer · Maree Todd: It is up to local authorities to determine what learning opportunities are provided through Community Learning and Development, and to assess that provision. This information is not held by the Scottish Government. Local authorities and other listed authorit…

3 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support is available to the parents, grandparents and carers of deaf children to learn BSL.

Answer · Maree Todd: Our British Sign Language (BSL) National Plan sets out our long-term goal that families with a Deaf child will be offered the information and support they need at the right time, including access to BSL. We want to ensure that parents, grandparents and carer…

3 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it can take to increase access to affordable BSL lessons.

Answer · Maree Todd: Our British Sign Language (BSL) National Plan which we published in October 2017 sets out specific steps we will take by 2020 to support the teaching and learning of BSL. This includes working with Scotland’s National Centre for Languages to provide resources…

3 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much the Scottish Funding Council has allocated to the teaching of BSL in each of the last five years, broken down by parliamentary region.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Funding Council mostly recently allocated £62,016 for British Sign Language (BSL) at Heriot Watt University in AY 2012-13. The university sits within the Lothian parliamentary region. The Scottish Funding Council does not currently specify that …

3 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which organisations that work with or represent trans people it provides funding for, broken down by (a) the amount provided, (b) the length of contract and (c) how long is left in each contract.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government works closely with a range of key partners to engage with and consult LGBTI people. In February 2017, I announced three year funding under the Equality Budget. As part of this, grant funding was announced for a range of organisations …

3 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to encourage the asset management industry to eradicate gender inequality.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-16407 on 16 May 2018. 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…

3 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that there is hidden gender pay in companies that operate (a) partnership models or (b) bonus schemes.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: I refer the member to the answer to question SW5-16409 on 16 May 2018. 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…

3 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met (a) Baillie Gifford, (b) Aviva Investors, (c) Standard Life, (d) Aberdeen Asset Management and (e) Kaimes Capital, and whether it discussed the gender pay gap.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Ministers and Scottish Government Officials regularly meet with companies across the financial services sector including some of those listed. All ministerial engagements are published proactively at https://beta.gov.scot/search/?q=ministerial+engagements .…