Parliamentary questions
Maurice Corry
204 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
10 Jan 2018 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve community policing.
Answer · Annabelle Ewing: The Scottish Government is committed to supporting policing. That commitment is demonstrated in the draft Budget by our continued protection of the police revenue budget, our action to ensure Police Scotland fully benefits from being able to reclaim VAT and o…
19 Dec 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-11031 by Aileen Campbell on 20 September 2017, how the implementation of HPV testing programme will be funded each year.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The implementation of HPV primary testing in the Scottish Cervical Screening Programme is now underway with introduction of the new test expected during 2019-20. Funding to support implementation will be made available through the Cancer Strategy Beating Canc…
19 Dec 2017 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prevent attacks on emergency service workers.
Answer · Annabelle Ewing: It is unacceptable for any emergency worker to be attacked while they work. They do a remarkable job to help our communities, sometimes in challenging and dangerous circumstances. We fully support the police and our courts in dealing robustly with any offen…
13 Dec 2017 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle plastic pollution in Scotland's seas.
5 Dec 2017 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop restorative justice.
20 Nov 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the target ambulance arrival time is, and how many times this was missed in each of the last 12 months, broken down by Scottish Ambulance Service regional operational division.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Ambulance Service has a target to respond to 75% of Immediately Life Threating cases within 8 minutes. The Scottish Ambulance Service commenced a yearlong pilot of a new response model in November 2015 following similar changes in England and Wa…
20 Nov 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it gives to Scottish Mountain Rescue.
Answer · Annabelle Ewing: The Scottish Government (SG) provides annual grant funding to Scottish Mountain Rescue (SMR) of £312,000 and is the only Government in the UK to fund mountain rescue in this way. The funding is distributed by SMR to the 27 voluntary (civilian) teams across Sc…
20 Nov 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government to what extent Scottish Mountain Rescue is included in its resilience and civil contingencies planning.
Answer · Annabelle Ewing: Scottish Mountain Rescue plays an active role in resilience arrangements, in Scotland, from the national, down to a local, level. SMR involvement includes standing representation, by the Vice Chair, on the national Voluntary Sector Resilience Partnership grou…
15 Nov 2017 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that schools can provide adequate mental health support for pupils.
Answer · John Swinney: 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…
31 Oct 2017 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to reduce the reoffending rate among people leaving prison.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Firstly, we are working to reduce the use of short prison sentences, which we know provide little opportunity to rehabilitate people, or reduce the likelihood of their reoffending. Indeed, when short sentences disrupt an individual’s housing, employment, or p…
18 Oct 2017 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm its position on income tax ahead of its Budget.
25 Sep 2017 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle human trafficking.
Answer · Annabelle Ewing: The Scottish Government is fully committed to tackling human trafficking and exploitation and is working in partnership with criminal justice agencies and support organisations to implement the recently published Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy. The Hu…
31 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government who will fund the roll-out of testing for HPV.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The one off implementation cost for HPV testing will be funded by the Scottish Government. The additional revenue costs incurred in the first three years following the introduction of HPV testing will be met by NHS Boards.
31 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government where the additional funding for the implementation of testing for HPV as the primary test in the cervical cancer screening programme will be obtained from.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The implementation of HPV primary testing will be backed by investment from the Cancer Strategy Beating Cancer: Ambition and Action 2016. NHS Boards will fund the additional revenue costs which will be incurred in the first three years of HPV testing.
31 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the cost will be of implementing testing for HPV as the primary test in the cervical cancer screening programme.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The introduction of HPV primary testing will incur one-off set-up costs of £2.7m for IT changes and project management. There will also be increased revenue costs of £5.7m over the first three years of implementation.
25 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what work is being undertaken to lower the mortality rates at the (a) Vale of Leven Hospital and (b) Royal Alexandra Hospital, in light of recent reports that they have mortality rates that are "significantly higher" than the national average.
Answer · Shona Robison: Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) has engaged with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHS GGC) regarding the recent HSMR rates for Vale of Leven Hospital and Royal Alexandra Hospital and will support the Board to make improvements in HSMR rates. HIS has ask…
2 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in the event that NHS boards agree, how much funding it will provide to each board for Veterans First Point.
Answer · Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government made an offer to relevant NHS Boards and Integrated Authorities to fund the local network of Veterans First Point (V1P) services to the end of this year on the basis this will be matched 50/50 by partnerships and where a firm commitmen…
2 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS boards have committed to providing funding for Veterans First Point.
Answer · Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government made an offer to relevant NHS Boards and Integrated Authorities to fund the local network of Veterans First Point (V1P) services to the end of this year on the basis this will be matched 50/50 by partnerships and where a firm commitmen…
17 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many armed forces veterans are in prison.
Answer · Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: Our records indicate that there are currently 228 individuals in our care who have identified themselves as having served in the armed force…
17 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of armed forces veterans in prison become homeless once they have left.
Answer · Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: This information is not held by SPS. However, the latest Scottish Government data shows that of those who left prison and presented as homel…
17 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) which third sector organisations are involved in prisons to specifically help armed forces veterans.
Answer · Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: There are a large number of third sector organisations involved in providing support to those in our care. Individuals who identify as armed…
17 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of armed forces veterans in prison enter employment within 12 months of leaving.
Answer · Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: This information is not held by SPS. However, I can advise that every individual in our care who is identified as an army veteran is offered…
17 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which projects have received support from the Scottish Veterans' Fund in the last 12 months, broken down by amount provided.
Answer · Keith Brown: In financial year 2017-18 at total of 19 projects have received support from the Scottish Veterans Fund. This includes for the first time a dedicated strand of funding provided by Standard Life focussing on employment. Details on the 19 projects that have ben…
17 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many homes in each local authority area have been brought back in to use with support from the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership in each year since 2010.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government does not hold a breakdown of the requested figures by local authority area. The annual figures are shown in the following table: Year Number of homes brought back into use 2011-12 8 2012-13 76 2013-14 278 2014-15 560 2015-16…
17 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what input representatives of the hotel, restaurant and catering sector have had in discussions regarding the design of any bottle deposit return system.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Packaging Recycling Group Scotland (PRGS), which includes representation from these sectors, has been closely involved in all discussions on deposit return. On 30 June 2017, the Scottish Government announced that Zero Waste Scotland has been commissioned …
17 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis Zero Waste Scotland has carried out or plans regarding the impact that a bottle deposit return system could have on trade waste costs for the hotel, restaurant and catering sector.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: On 30 June 2017, the Scottish Government announced that Zero Waste Scotland has been commissioned to investigate deposit return design options and the associated costs and benefits of how a deposit return scheme could operate in Scotland.
17 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will announce the membership of the steering group on bottle deposit return; what criteria it will use to select the members, and whether the group will include representatives of the hotel, restaurant and catering sector.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government will announce details of the steering group shortly.
20 Jun 2017 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to reduce the number of empty residential properties.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: Empty homes can be a blight on communities and are, clearly, a missed opportunity at a time when we desperately need more homes in our communities across Scotland. Since 2010 the Scottish Government has been working with Shelter (Scotland) to bring long term…
7 Jun 2017 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that there is adequate funding for local authorities to ensure that all pupils have access to necessary learning equipment.
1 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its comment in The Veterans Community – Employability, Skills and Learning: Scottish Government response that "Skills Development Scotland…has already undertaken considerable work to forge relationships with key parties and has committed to work with Scottish Government and …
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Skills Development Scotland are currently finalising the plan for the promotion of the Modern Apprenticeship (MA) to early service leavers, veterans and their families. A draft action plan which will take forward Recommendation 11: Modern Apprenticeships fro…