Joan McAlpine

4 Feb 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to providing financial incentives to developers to enable the accelerated construction of new homes to certified Passivhaus standard.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that, from 2024, new homes constructed must use renewable or low carbon heat. We are working with the construction sector to develop regulations to achieve this, and will consult upon our approach. In developin…

4 Feb 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what contribution the construction of new homes to certified Passivhaus standard could make to tackling the negative impacts of climate change.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The construction of new housing that has low energy use will reduce the associated carbon emissions and assist in mitigating against the impacts of climate change. A certified Passivhaus may be considered one example of such a low energy building. In respons…

14 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-03951 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 8 January 2020 (Official Report, c.18), what evidence it holds from other jurisdictions on the impact that applying a custodial sentence for a false declaration has on misuse of the system.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Countries such as the Republic of Ireland have penalties for providing false information in relation to applications for gender recognition. The Scottish Government is not aware of the gender recognition system in Ireland, where it is a criminal offence for a…

14 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will define the circumstances in which someone fraudulently claims to be transgender, should the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill be passed, not including issues concerning official documentation.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: There is provision in section 9 of the draft Bill that an application can be made to the sheriff court to revoke a gender recognition certificate on the ground that the application for the certificate was fraudulent. There is already provision in section 8 of…

14 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will identify the specific research findings within the article in the Journal of LGBT Youth of July 2017, "The restroom and locker room wars: Where to pee or not to pee",which is cited on page 174 of its consultation paper on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: That is not the general approach in Impact Assessments. Instead, the approach is to outline the information and the sources. Paragraphs 10 and 11 of the section on sex in the draft Equality Impact Assessment refer to this research to specifically associate th…

14 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-03951 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 8 January 2020 (Official Report, col.18), for what reason the reference the Cabinet Secretary made to research by the University of Bristol was not cited directly in its consultation paper on the Gender Recognitio…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: That is not the general approach in Impact Assessments. Instead, the approach is to outline the information and the sources. Paragraphs 10 and 11 of the section on sex in the draft Equality Impact Assessment refer to the research by Dr Dunne, to specifically …

14 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment ministers have made of the relevance of the report, Female Only Provision: A Women and Girls in Scotland Report, which was published on 3 June 2019, to the statements at paragraphs 10 and 11 on page 174 of its consultation paper on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland)…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: This report covers a wide range of areas. It includes a section on prisons and the Scottish Prison Service carries out risk assessments when deciding on where prisoners should be housed. The Report also discusses the exceptions in the Equality Act 2010 which …

14 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether ministers are aware of the convictions of Katie Dolatowski and Karen White in 2018, and, if so, what assessment it has made of their relevance to the statements at paragraphs 10 and 11 on page 174 of its consultation paper on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: It would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment on individual cases. In relation to prisons, the Scottish Prison Service carry out risk assessments when deciding where a prisoner should be housed. These risk assessments take account of risk…

14 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has commissioned any empirical research or literature review of evidence relevant to the statements at paragraphs 10 and 11 on page 174 of its consultation paper on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government carried out a library search and a literature review. Requests under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 relate to these areas and we will publish the answers to these requests shortly.  

14 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-03951 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 8 January 2020 (Official Report, c.18), to which reference in the research paper by the University of Bristol, (Trans)forming Single-Gender Services and Communal Accommodations, the Cabinet Secretary was referring…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The research is at https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/files/139271435/Bristol_Pure_Version_PD.pdf The section headed "misconduct" discusses risks and the author notes that no evidence has been identified to suggest that trans individuals as a group pos…

14 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-03951 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 8 January 2020 (Official Report, c.19) what the “strict penalties” are for anyone who abuses the use of gender recognition gained should the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill be passed.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Section 14 of the draft Bill makes provision on offences. This provides that it is an offence for a person to knowingly make a false statutory declaration in relation to the gender recognition legislation or to include any other false information in an applic…

14 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of the sources it consulted before reaching the conclusions at paragraphs 10 and 11 on page 174 of its consultation paper on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government is currently dealing with requests in this area under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and will publish the answers to these requests shortly.  

14 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason no evidence is cited in support of the statements at paragraphs 10 and 11 on page 174 of its consultation paper on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from the nations listed in Annexe E of the paper that have introduced systems of self-declaration.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The review of current evidence we carried out when preparing the draft Equality Impact Assessment did not find any relevant research from these jurisdictions in relation to these statements. We welcome comments any information consultees have on any relevant …

8 Jan 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the performance of the rail services in the South Scotland region that are regulated by the Department for Transport.

18 Dec 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many gender recognition certificates it expects to be issued under its proposed system of self-declaration, and how this compares with the current system.

4 Dec 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis has been done of the impact that ending freedom of movement for EU citizens after Brexit will have on the NHS.

3 Dec 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what help is available for people requiring surgery to treat lipoedema.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: I refer the member to the answers to questions S5W-23820 on 17 July 2019 and S5W-25429 on 30 September 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.pa…

20 Nov 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to tackle loneliness and isolation among older people in the South Scotland region.

23 Oct 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it supports the Equality Act 2010’s single-sex exemptions that allow for women-only spaces and services based on biological sex when this is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

25 Sep 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what is being done to protect the forestry industry from the threat of tree diseases and pests, such as oak processionary moths and bark beetles.

4 Sep 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact on the egg production sector of a no-deal Brexit.

5 Jun 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with the Strategic Transport Projects Review.

29 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of this route being available to women from the west of the country, what specialist services are available to women from the east of Scotland who have spontaneous coronary artery dissection but are unable to access specialist services at the Leicester Cardiovascular Biomedical…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Leicester Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Centre is a research facility based at Leicester Glenfield hospital. The Unit conducts a research programme investigating the causes, genetics and treatment of spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD). Ref…

28 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many children from each NHS board area were referred to the Gender Identity Development Service of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust between (a) 2006-07 and 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13 and 2017-18, and what information it has for 2018-19.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: NHS National Services Scotland does not hold this data. We would not routinely expect young people to be referred to Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust as there is an NHS Gender Service available at Sandyford Young People's Gender Clinic in Glasgow.

15 May 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government when ministers last met the UK Secretary of State for International Trade and what was discussed.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The then Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work met the UK Secretary of State for International Trade on 2 November 2017. They discussed the UK Trade Bill and the involvement of the Scottish Government in developing future UK trade arrangements. …

14 May 2019 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it can provide regarding the Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veteran’s recent visit to North America.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Minister travelled to New York for engagements between 4 to 7 April 2019. The programme focussed on engagement with New York diaspora groups for Scotland Week, as well as promotion of Scottish culture, trade & investment, tourism, higher education and foo…

8 May 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to implement the learning disability strategy, the Keys to Life.

1 May 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the most recent official statistics on Scotland's economic growth.

18 Mar 2019 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it has given to create jobs at the former Pinneys plant in Annan.

6 Mar 2019 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government what further information it can provide regarding the First Minister’s recent visit to North America.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The First Minister travelled to the US and Canada from 3 to 8 February. The programme focussed on key areas including trade and investment as well as promotion of key Scottish Government policies including climate change/ green energy, human rights, gender eq…