Gillian Martin

21 Nov 2018 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how courts take domestic abuse into account in child contact cases.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Section 11(7A) to (7E) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 makes provision in this area. These subsections provide that the court must have regard to the need to protect from abuse when considering cases such as contact and residence. We have recently consul…

7 Nov 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what issues it expects to be given priority at the UN Climate Change Conference in December.

31 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) advice and (b) support it gives to freshwater fisheries management bodies regarding the removal of historic manmade features that can act as obstacles to the movement of migratory fish.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government advises fisheries management bodies to contact the Scottish Environment Protection Agency regarding any historic manmade features that may be acting as obstacles to the movement of migratory fish. The Water Environment (Controlled Act…

31 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) advice and (b) support it gives to freshwater fishery management bodies regarding riparian tree planting.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government provides a range of guidance and tools to fisheries managers on the issue of tree planting to manage river temperature. These can be found on Marine Scotland's Scotland River Temperature Monitoring Network webpages at https://www2.gov.…

31 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) advice and (b) support it gives to district fishery boards and trusts to encourage them to install large wooden debris installations in river systems to help improve nutrient concentration and create a varied habitat for fish and aquatic invertebrates.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 require any engineering activity in rivers or lochs to be authorised by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). Large woody structures may have a part to play in nutrient man…

22 Oct 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring that the housing built as part of its affordable and social house building programme contributes to a low carbon future.

15 Oct 2018 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking to make misogyny a crime.

3 Oct 2018 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to bring forward a Female Genital Mutilation Bill.

Answer · Christina McKelvie: Work is underway to develop legislation, for introduction during the Parliamentary year. The Scottish Government has today published a consultation paper on strengthening protections around Female Genital Mutilation, which seeks views from stakeholders on wha…

25 Sep 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that school pupils have a high standard of literacy.

18 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) financial and (b) other support (i) it and (ii) Scottish Enterprise has provided to the film and video sector in each year since 2008.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: (a)(i), I refer the member to the answer to S5W-15226 on 27 March 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…

18 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many registered film and video enterprises there have been in Scotland in each year since 2008, also broken down by how many people they employed.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Statistics on the number of registered enterprises in the creative industries and the total number of employees for the sector are available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Business/Publications/GrowthSectors/Database . The data is b…

17 Sep 2018 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider rail infrastructure investment in the areas of Aberdeenshire where rail is not currently a public transport option.

Answer · Michael Matheson: We have committed to a new station in Aberdeenshire at Kintore, offering rail services to a community not currently served. This is part of a phased programme of works on the Aberdeen to Inverness Rail Corridor. I recognise the important role that Scotland's…

12 Sep 2018 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what work it has undertaken to support Public Health England in contacting women who had missed their final invitation from the breast screening programme in England.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: In response to the breast screening incident in England, the Scottish Government established a Clinical Taskforce which worked closely with Public Health England (PHE) to ensure that all women affected by the incident, and who are now resident in Scotland, ha…

12 Sep 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that rape victims are given support throughout the investigation process and after the sentencing of their attacker.

4 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the delivery of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Sections of the project have been opened as they become available and some sections are already open to traffic, for example Craibstone and Dyce junctions at Aberdeen Airport and the 7km section of dual carriageway between Blackdog and Parkhill (Goval). More …

3 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the number of vehicles that have used the upgraded A96 at Inveramsay since improvements were made to remove the bottleneck under the railway bridge, and what assessment it has made of the (a) impact on journey times and (b) economic impact of the upgrade.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The data requested are not yet available. However, Transport Scotland has commenced work on an evaluation of the A96 Inveramsay Bridge Improvement project. In addition to considering the effects on traffic and journey times, this report will also evaluate the…

20 Jun 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it defines “free access” to period products in schools, colleges and universities.

18 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has undertaken with (a) management at Total and (b) the Unite union regarding the prospect of industrial action over pay and working hours on the Alwyn, Elgin and Dunbar offshore platforms.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government are aware of the situation on the Alwyn, Elgin and Dunbar offshore platforms. There has been, to date no ministerial discussions with management at total regarding it's negotiations with Unite. We would encourage continued dialogue bet…

11 Jun 2018 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to close the gender pay gap.

11 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the childcare sector.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government is working with partners to take forward a comprehensive programme of action to support the childcare sector and to deliver our ambitious commitment to almost double funded early learning and childcare entitlement to 1140 hours by Augu…

4 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the devolution of oil and gas revenues.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Oil and gas production has generated around £330 billion in tax revenues for the UK exchequer over the last six decades, and the Office for Budget Responsibility estimate that the North Sea will generate further revenues of ?£5.5 billion over the period 2017-…

31 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is tackling bullying in schools.

Answer · John Swinney: Bullying of any kind is entirely unacceptable and must be addressed swiftly and effectively whenever it arises in schools. To support schools and local authorities in November 2017 the Scottish Government published ‘ Respect for All – The National Approach t…

31 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its investment in attainment in education.

Answer · John Swinney: We are investing £750m through the Attainment Scotland Fund over the course of this Parliament to tackle the poverty related attainment gap. This year alone we will invest £179m – up £9m from last year – including over £120m in Pupil Equity Funding and £50m f…

30 May 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the Divisional Commander for the North East Division of Police Scotland.

8 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to calls for women to be categorised as an economic growth sector.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the success of female-led enterprises, which cut across many sectors and have a diversity of needs. Work to address these needs is currently being taken forward through the Women in Enterprise Action Group, w…

8 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that the Scottish National Investment Bank will promote equality of access to funding with regard to gender.

Answer · Keith Brown: Currently different groups face different constraints with regards to access to finance. We know that the ability to access finance has been highlighted by a quarter of women business owners as a key challenge to them starting their own business, and evidence…

8 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in order to help tackle stigma, whether it will issue guidelines to schools, colleges and universities regarding providing access to free sanitary products in a discreet manner.

Answer · Angela Constance: In partnership with key stakeholders including COSLA, Universities Scotland, Colleges Scotland and the National Union of Students, we have developed a set of guiding principles to underpin delivery of our commitment to provide access to free sanitary product…

8 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that, in order to signpost vulnerable people to assistance, suicide prevention organisations are charged premium advertising rates by search engines.

Answer · Maureen Watt: Decisions taken by private businesses to charge organisations for advertising are a matter for them and their customers rather than being something within Scottish Government control. Whilst not a search engine, Mygov does provide links to support for mental…

8 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the findings of the period poverty pilot that took place in Aberdeen.

Answer · Angela Constance: Our pilot in Aberdeen has allowed us to gain insight into the issue of lack of access to sanitary products and test different approaches to providing free sanitary products to those who need them most. This project has helped over 1,000 people in Aberdeen and…

30 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it can give in relation to biosecurity concerns that the tree stock for compensatory planting along the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) is sourced and grown in the UK.

Answer · Keith Brown: All trees used in landscaping on the AWPR project are sourced and grown in the UK, with the exception of Larch and Norway Spruce. The two non-native species are commonly found in the area and are fast growing species, used to provide visual screening, these s…