Parliamentary questions

Jim Eadie

179 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

7 Mar 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with head teachers and other stakeholders on closing the education attainment gap.

4 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it provides input into Police Scotland's annual identification of key performance indicators.

Answer · Michael Matheson: This is a matter for Police Scotland.

4 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether housebreaking is included as a key performance indicator in Police Scotland's statistics.

Answer · Michael Matheson: This is a matter for Police Scotland.

4 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers housebreaking to be a victimless crime.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government recognises the serious impact housebreaking has on its victims. The Scottish Government is committed to protecting and supporting frontline services and local community policing across the whole of Scotland - supported by this Governm…

4 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how Police Scotland is tackling housebreaking in the City of Edinburgh local authority area.

Answer · Michael Matheson: This is an operational matter for Police Scotland. However, I understand that Police Scotland continues to treat housebreaking as a priority.

2 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many households have been placed in (a) temporary and (b) B&B accommodation in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The HL2 dataset gives the snapshot number of households in temporary accommodation at the end of each quarter. Information on the number of households, broken down by local authority and type of temporary accommodation, on the last day of each quarter is ava…

2 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it is taking to ensure that (a) households containing children and (b) pregnant women are not placed in temporary B&B accommodation.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Minister for Housing and Welfare wrote to all local authorities in September 2015, about the issue of households containing children and pregnant women being placed in B&B accommodation. The letter highlighted that the use of B&B accommodation for these …

2 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to households looking for permanent accommodation.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: Scotland has strong housing rights for homeless households with all those assessed as being unintentionally homeless by local authorities entitled to settled accommodation. The Scottish Government is increasing affordable housing supply to expand settled acc…

2 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support (a) households with children and (b) pregnant women in temporary accommodation.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government has put in place a number of measures to ensure that the experience of temporary accommodation is as positive as possible for children and pregnant women before they move to settled accommodation. This includes a strengthening of the …

2 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to help minimise the use of temporary B&B accommodation in the City of Edinburgh local authority area.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Minister for Housing and Welfare wrote to City of Edinburgh Council about the use of B&B accommodation for households with children and pregnant women in September 2015. This correspondence made clear that such accommodation should only be used in except…

2 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to help improve existing B&B temporary accommodation in the City of Edinburgh local authority area.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The provision and use of B&B accommodation to provide temporary accommodation in meeting its legislative duties on homelessness is a matter for City of Edinburgh Council. The Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Order was strengthened by th…

2 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many and what percentage of households in temporary accommodation have resided in B&B accommodation in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

2 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it can provide to asylum seekers in Scotland to ensure that they can access the justice system, in light of reported concerns about the potential impact of the proposals in the Immigration Bill 2015-16.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: As outlined in the answer to S4W-30268 on 15 March 2016 from the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners' Rights, Scottish Ministers have expressed our concern to the UK Government about the impact on asylum seekers of proposals conta…

2 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it can provide to asylum seekers in Scotland with children who have been unsuccessful in their application for residence and who are facing destitution, in light of reported concerns about the potential impact of the proposals in the Immigration Bill 2015-16.

Answer · Alex Neil: Immigration legislation prevents the Scottish Government from offering support to asylum seekers with children, whose applications have been refused, and who have no recourse to public funds.

2 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made representations to (a) the UK Government, (b) non-governmental organisations and (c) children's charities regarding the impact of the proposals in the Immigration Bill 2015-16 on the welfare and status of asylum seekers and refugees in Scotland.

Answer · Alex Neil: I have written to the Immigration Minister four times (on 13 August, 10 September, 8 December and 16 December 2015) to express the Scottish Government’s concerns about the impact on asylum seekers of proposals contained in the Immigration Bill relating to asy…

2 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it takes to ensure that Police Scotland does not assist in processes that might result in asylum seekers being deported to unsafe conditions that are in violation of the Geneva Convention.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The removal of asylum seekers is a matter for the Home Office. This is not a police function. Home Office Immigration Enforcement (HOIE) officers may ask for Police Scotland’s assistance as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of asylum seekers, HOIE…

2 Mar 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Creative Scotland and what matters were discussed.

1 Feb 2016 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what recent discussions the Scottish Government has had with the UK Government regarding the fiscal framework.

19 Jan 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it (a) has taken and (b) further plans to ensure that all teachers are trained to (i) support LGBT pupils and (ii) address LGBT issues in the curriculum.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government is clear that there is no place in Scotland for prejudice or discrimination, and that everyone deserves to be treated fairly regardless of age, disability, gender, gender identity, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or sexual orie…

19 Jan 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that all teachers are trained to tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) Act (Scotland) 2007 places a number of duties on local education authorities including ensuring that schools are health promoting. This includes promoting physical, social, mental and emotional wellbeing by support…

19 Jan 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what evaluation it has carried out of the use of anti-bullying guidance in schools, in particular with regard to homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

Answer · Angela Constance: We have established and wholly fund respectme, the national anti-bullying service, who work with local authorities and schools to build confidence and capacity to address all types of bullying including homophobic, biphobic and transphobic, effectively, align…

19 Jan 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to develop a national strategy on tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government launched A National Approach to Anti-bullying for Scotland’s Children and Young People in 2010. The approach forms part of our wider attempts to improve the health and wellbeing of our children and young people. The approach sets out a…

18 Jan 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

15 Jan 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much each local authority holds in reserves.

Answer · John Swinney: The following tables show the amount of revenue and capital reserves held by each local authority as at 31 March 2014. Reserves at 31 March 2014 by Local Authority £ thousands Revenue Reserves General Fund Housing Revenue Account Renewal and Rep…

7 Dec 2015 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to deal with delayed discharge in Edinburgh.

7 Dec 2015 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what recent discussions the Scottish Government has had with the UK Government regarding the fiscal framework.

23 Nov 2015 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with local authorities regarding the implementation of the Attainment Scotland Fund.

Answer · Angela Constance: The government holds regular discussions with local authorities on the implementation of the Attainment Scotland Fund. ADES and COSLA are both represented on the Scottish Attainment Challenge Advisory Group, which meets quarterly to provide advice to support …

16 Nov 2015 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with universities regarding the Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Bill.

16 Nov 2015 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to promote early HIV testing.

10 Nov 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent by the CashBack for Communities programme in each year, also broken down by project.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Since 2008 over £58 million has been spent on a wide range of sporting, cultural, youth work and community opportunities across Scotland. Information on the spend by project under phases one and two as well as those under the current phase three can be found …