Parliamentary questions
Michelle Ballantyne
639 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
1 Aug 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps have been made to form links between Social Security Scotland and local domestic abuse services in order to enhance cooperation.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Links have been made with organisations representing both national and local domestic abuse services to help in the development of the new social security system in Scotland. This includes representation on the Best Start Reference Group and holding meetings …
31 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the creation of a national park in the Scottish Borders.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: We will continue our work to protect and enhance the natural beauty of the Scottish Borders, while promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth. The region is already home to a number of designated areas, including a National Nature Reserve, several Si…
31 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to preserve fish stocks in the River Tweed.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Under the terms of The Scotland Act 1998 (River Tweed) Order 2006 the River Tweed Commission is empowered, amongst other things, to protect and improve salmon and freshwater fisheries in the Tweed district, and to preserve and increase salmon and freshwater f…
31 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to promote tourism in East Lothian.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government provides on-going financial support for the National Museum of Flight, which is part of National Museums Scotland, in East Fortune. As with all areas of Scotland, the fantastic assets of East Lothian - described as "Scotland's Golf Coa…
30 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what provisions, such as wheelchair ramps and dedicated parking spaces, have been made for disabled employees at the (a) Dundee headquarters and (b) Glasgow office of Social Security Scotland.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Ministers have acquired accommodation to meet the interim property requirements for the Dundee headquarters and the Glasgow administrative office for Social Security Scotland. These arrangements involve the Agency being co-located in local author…
30 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the suggestion by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman in its Annual Report on the Scottish Welfare Fund Independent Review Service 2017-2018, what action it is taking to remove any inconsistency or unfairness from the guidance on the service.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We are committed to ensuring there is fairness, and consistency in the decision making by local authorities, and we do this by publishing on an annual basis, statutory Scottish Welfare Fund guidance which local authorities have a legal duty to have regard to.…
30 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions there have been in (a) Scotland and (b) the Scottish Borders for possession of (i) drugs, (ii) illegal firearms and (A) violent and (B) sexual assault in each of the last five years.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The available information is provided in the following tables, which have been produced from the Scottish Government’s criminal proceedings database . Persons proceeded against in Scottish courts for selected crimes¹, 2012-13 to ? 2016-17 2012-13 2013-14 …
30 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many drug-related (a) arrests and (b) deaths there have been in the Scottish Borders in each of the last five years.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: (a) The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of arrests made by the police. National Statistics are produced on the number of drug crimes recorded by the police (mostly possession of drugs or production/supply of drugs) in the annual p…
30 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many arrests involving firearms there have been in (a) Scotland and (b) the Scottish Borders in each of the last five years.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Official Statistics are produced on the number of crimes and offences recorded by the police that involved the use of a firearm. This doesn’t include cases where the offence solely related to the ownership of the weapon (i.e. the weapon hasn’t been used to co…
30 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to alleviate increased pressures on local services in light of the (a) 26% increase in housing in East Lothian and (b) 36% increase in housing in Midlothian.
Answer · Kate Forbes: Each local authority receives its fair share of the total funding provided by the Scottish Government. The needs based distribution methodology is kept under constant review and is agreed with COSLA on behalf of local authorities each year and although it tak…
30 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much will be paid in emergency loans to each NHS board in 2018-19.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government reports on the financial position for all NHS bodies on a monthly basis. The report is available on the Scottish Government’s website and reflects each NHS Board’s year-to-date position and the forecast outturn, along with an indicativ…
24 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government on what date the first payments of Carer's Allowance Support will be made.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: I refer the member to the answer to question S5O-02169 on 31 May 2018. The answer to the oral parliamentary question is available on the parliaments website, the Official Report can be viewed at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r…
24 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress Social Security Scotland has made with creating a presence in every local authority area.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Progress is being made in a number of areas, including in the completion of the first stage of recruitment for local delivery staff. These staff will work to identify and put in place arrangements to best deliver the face-to-face services in each local author…
24 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made filling the initial batch of 80 operational staff vacancies at Social Security Scotland.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: 93 (80 Full Time Equivalent) candidates have been offered Client Advisor Positions thus far.
24 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many staff Social Security Scotland has employed to date.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Staff who will join Social Security Scotland are currently employed within the Scottish Government’s Social Security Directorate. As of 31 July 2018 there are 87 staff who will transfer to Social Security Scotland.
24 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many modern apprenticeship places (a) are vacant and (b) have been filled at Social Security Scotland, and whether it plans to increase the number of places.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Staff, including modern apprentices, who will join Social Security Scotland are currently employed within the Scottish Government’s Social Security Directorate. Of those staff that will transfer to the Agency, as of 31 July 2018, (a) there are no current mod…
24 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made preparing the Glasgow base of Social Security Scotland, and when this will be open to the public.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Accommodation within Glasgow City Council’s building at 220 High Street, Glasgow was secured in June 2018 as the interim site for Social Security Scotland in Glasgow. Staff who will transfer into the Agency moved into the site in July. Later this summer Soci…
24 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether an option to submit a Freedom of Information request will be included on the Social Security Scotland website and, if so, when.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: As an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government, Social Security Scotland will implement the existing processes established by Scottish Ministers on Freedom of Information requests. The agency website, once established, will contain details on how to submit…
24 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many non-executive members of Social Security Scotland's Executive Advisory Body have been appointed.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The process to appoint four new non-executive members to Social Security Scotland's Executive Advisory Body is currently ongoing, and is expected to conclude early September this year. As a new high profile agency, we have adopted the formal process of for Mi…
18 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether a radio therapy unit is to be installed at the Borders General Hospital and, if so, when, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: There are no plans to install a radiotherapy unit at Borders General Hospital at this time. Planning and treatment for radiotherapy for patients in the Borders area is carried out on a regional basis at the Edinburgh Cancer Centre.
17 Jul 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether high frequency ultrasound treatment for prostate cancer will be introduced in Scotland and, if so, when, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: HIFU is a less invasive treatment and results in shorter recovery times for patients, compared with surgery or radiotherapy. Clinical trials are under way to assess the side-effects of this treatment. At present HIFU is only available as part of clinical tria…
26 Jun 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what role the private sector has in Social Security Scotland.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: As Social Security Scotland has yet to be established, the private sector has no current role in the agency's operations. The Social Security Agency Implementation Division is part of the Scottish Government's Social Security Directorate. All contracts for g…
26 Jun 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what role the private sector has had in the creation of Social Security Scotland.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government has awarded contracts to the private sector through the social security programme to support the creation of Social Security Scotland, including the first phase of the new social security IT system and property expertise to support the…
18 Jun 2018 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the recent report by ISD Scotland, which suggests that antidepressants are detected in nearly half of post-mortems involving accidental drug deaths.
12 Jun 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the reporting of P1 assessments will take into account the proportion of children with additional support needs within a (a) class and (b) school.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish National Standardised Assessments are designed to be accessible to all children and young people. Additional support mechanisms available for any other aspect of learning can be used when undertaking an assessment. The reporting functionality wit…
12 Jun 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much the Scottish National Standardised Assessments IT system has cost to introduce in schools, broken down by (a) initial and (b) annual running cost.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish National Standardised Assessments IT system was delivered on time and remains within budget. Costs have been broken down by (a) initial and (b) annual running costs: SNSA main contract Notes applicable SNSA initial costs Main suppliers deve…
12 Jun 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many parents have asked for their children to be withdrawn from the P1 standardised assessments.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish National Standardised Assessments are part of everyday learning and teaching. They provide teachers with diagnostic information on children’s progress in aspects of literacy and numeracy. The Scottish Government has received fewer than 10 request…
11 Jun 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what financial support schemes are available to fund economic projects in coastal communities.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government is providing £6.5m funding to 8 Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs) through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund to deliver economic projects within coastal communities. The Coastal Communities Fund is currently available to suc…
7 Jun 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to publicise the Best Start Grant, and what progress it is making with (a) automating the claim progress for and (b) improving the take-up rate of the grant.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: A plan to publicise the Best Start Grant (BSG) is in development. This will include communications and marketing activity to launch the new benefit, which will be aligned with ongoing work with stakeholders to ensure that there is an awareness of the new enti…
6 Jun 2018 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its plan is for the elimination of hepatitis C.