Parliamentary questions
Colin Smyth
990 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
24 Jan 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it providing to the Independent Living Fund Scotland to encourage nationwide compliance with the Scottish Living Wage.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: As stated in my answer to S5W-06510 on 2 February 2017, Scottish Ministers have asked Independent Living Fund (ILF) Scotland to extend the commitment to enable the Scottish Living Wage, for adult social care workers, to those employed as a result of ILF payme…
24 Jan 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Independent Living Fund Scotland regarding the impact of the Scottish Living Wage agenda on the organisation's (a) operations and (b) budget.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: Scottish Ministers have asked Independent Living Fund (ILF) Scotland to extend the commitment to enable the Scottish Living Wage, for adult social care workers, to those employed as a result of ILF payments of support to disabled people. I recently discussed …
22 Jan 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it is providing to small businesses to ensure that they are able to pay their employees at least the living wage.
Answer · Keith Brown: We are committed to helping all types of businesses to thrive, grow and create employment opportunities. Scotland's Economic Strategy focuses on the two mutually supportive goals of increasing competitiveness and tackling inequality. We are delivering those g…
18 Jan 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to encourage reduced consumption of energy drinks by children.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government is working to foster responsible retailing of energy drinks through voluntary and statutory means. The provision of energy drinks at school is already banned under the School (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Regulations 200…
17 Jan 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how often the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime in Scotland (PAW Scotland) (a) plenary and (b) executive group has met in the last year, and how many meetings are planned for 2017.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The next Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime Scotland Executive Group meeting will be held on 30 March 2017. It is expected that one Plenary Group meeting and one further Executive Group meeting will be held in 2017, but dates are still to be confir…
17 Jan 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to publish information submitted to the Scottish Natural Heritage review of snaring legislation and, if so, when.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government does not hold the information submitted to the Scottish Natural Heritage review of snaring legislation and has no plans to publish it.
17 Jan 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received a report from Scottish Natural Heritage on its review of snaring legislation and whether it plans to publish this.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government has received a report from Scottish Natural Heritage on its review of snaring legislation and intends to lay a copy of the report before the Scottish Parliament as soon as practicable, in accordance with Section 11F(5) of the Wildlife …
11 Jan 2017 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Parent Teacher Council’s comments that parents were "puzzled" and "felt excluded" by its consultation on the review of school governance.
Answer · John Swinney: I am committed to empowering teachers, parents and schools to drive improvement in education and believe that, wherever possible, decisions about children’s learning and school life should be made at school level. We have received almost 1,100 written respon…
14 Dec 2016 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to amend the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002, in light of the review by Lord Bonomy.
23 Nov 2016 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government when ministers last met the president of COSLA to discuss the spending review and the local government settlement.
Answer · Derek Mackay: I last met with the President of COSLA, along with COSLA Group Leaders, on 24 November as part of the on-going series of meetings held to discuss the spending review and details of the forthcoming 2017-18 local government finance settlement.
22 Nov 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to figures in the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, calculated by Cancer Research UK, which show that 11 to 18-year-olds eat and drink three times the recommended amount of added sugar, with sugary drinks being the main source of this.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: There are clear health benefits associated with reducing sugar consumption as part of a healthy diet. While we welcome the creation of a sugary drinks levy, it cannot in isolation address the levels of obesity in the country. We support the work of Public He…
17 Nov 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that changes to health and social care targets and indicators that result from the national review will support the delivery of the draft health and social care standards, which are due to be implemented in Spring 2018.
Answer · Shona Robison: The relationship with the National Health and Care Standards will be considered as part of the national review of health and social care targets and indicators. The Scottish Government will respond to the review once it has considered the initial report, whic…
17 Nov 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) remit and (b) membership is of the national review of health and social care targets and indicators.
Answer · Shona Robison: Further to my answer to question S5W-04508 on 15 November 2016. The final remit has been circulated to the group for agreement by 2 December 2016. The chair has also invited the Coalition of Carers for Scotland to nominate a representative to join the group. …
17 Nov 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how members of the public and other stakeholders can contribute to the national review of health and social care targets and indicators.
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-04508 on 15 November 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, and the search facility can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/288…
17 Nov 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the targets and indicators that are included in the national review of health and social care targets and indicators.
Answer · Shona Robison: The national review of targets and indicators for health and social care includes the 20 Local Delivery Plan Standards for the NHS in Scotland which can be found at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Health/Quality-Improvment-Performance/NHS-Performance-Targets and …
17 Nov 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what agreement has been reached with the chair of the national review of health and social care targets and indicators regarding a timetable and outputs.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has asked the chair of the national review of health and social care targets and indicators to provide initial recommendations to Ministers by the end of March 2017.
16 Nov 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-04538 by Michael Matheson on 16 November 2016, whether any other minister has made representations to (a) Police Scotland and (b) the Scottish Police Authority regarding police charging for events.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Fergus Ewing, then Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism met with Police Scotland on 21 May 2015 to discuss issues in relation to the policing of events. The meeting was also attended by representatives of VisitScotland.
16 Nov 2016 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the total value is of the Attainment Scotland Fund and what proportion of this has been allocated to schools in Dumfries and Galloway.
Answer · John Swinney: We will allocate £750m through the Scottish Attainment Challenge over the course of this Parliament. This year, Dumfries and Galloway has been allocated up to £267,786 - £151,253 through the Attainment Challenge Innovation Fund and £116,533 for the two school…
9 Nov 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the actions of Laing O’Rourke, which is contracted to build the new acute hospital in Dumfries and Galloway, in light of claims by the construction union, UCATT, that it has been refused access to the site, and what its position is on how such actions support fair…
Answer · Keith Brown: We have continually shown our commitment to promoting positive relationships with Trade Unions as they provide a voice and a source of empowerment to those that might otherwise go unheard. There is clear evidence that unionised workplaces have more engaged s…
6 Nov 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce a minimum level of school clothing grant and whether parents will be involved in the process of developing this.
Answer · John Swinney: The Education (Scotland) Act introduced a provision to allow Scottish Ministers to make regulations to require local authorities to pay a minimum amount of school clothing grants to families or young people. The detail of the amount of grant and the eligibili…
6 Nov 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent representations it has made to (a) Police Scotland and (b) the Scottish Police Authority regarding police charging for events.
Answer · Michael Matheson: I have made no representations to Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority regarding police charging for events. Police Scotland follows the standard approach to setting charges for public services as set out in the Scottish Government's Scottish Pu…
19 Oct 2016 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting town centre regeneration in South Scotland.
11 Oct 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking regarding the reported concerns about rising charges being imposed for policing music festivals in Dumfries and Galloway.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Police Scotland follows the standard approach to setting charges for public services as set out in the Scottish Government's Scottish Public Finance Manual - which is based on full cost recovery. The policing of events are dealt with on a case by case basis…
14 Sep 2016 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much paying at least the living wage to social care workers from October 2016 will cost health and social care partnerships.
7 Sep 2016 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the Enterprise and Skills Review will deliver its commitment to regional cohesion.
Answer · Keith Brown: As already highlighted in response to Mr Lockhart’s question earlier, the Enterprise and Skills Review has benefitted from high levels of stakeholder interest and engagement during the summer. Over 320 responses from individuals, representative organisations …
18 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to (a) farmers, (b) crofters and (c) other businesses affected by delays in making common agricultural policy payments.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Government officials held extensive discussions with industry and the banking sector, to design a support scheme to help ease cash flow for those farmers and crofters who had not received a first instalment payment. The Scottish Government backed loan scheme…
18 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated each month from the Scottish Attainment Fund, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · John Swinney: Funding from the Attainment Scotland Fund is allocated by specific grant to local authorities on an annual basis, and paid quarterly on receipt of appropriate grant claims. To date, the amounts allocated per authority over the past two financial years is set …
12 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to create new national parks and whether it has considered establishing a national park in Galloway.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: We have no plans to designate new national parks in Scotland. We believe that it is essential to focus support on our two existing national parks to ensure that they continue their valuable contribution to tourism and sustainable rural economic development.
12 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the cost per (a) local authority and (b) integration joint board of paying the living wage to care workers.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: We have made national estimates on the cost of increasing wages to the Living Wage level. This analysis has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib number 57809). Health and Social Care Partnerships will work closely with providers to assess the…
12 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what new roads schemes are planned for the (a) A7, (b) A75, (c) A76, (d) A77 and (e) A701 trunk road within the boundaries of Dumfries and Galloway.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Over the past eight years, we have invested over £65 million in a variety of projects to improve safety and journey times on the trunk road network in the Dumfries and Galloway area. We will further assess recommendations for strategic transport infrastructur…