Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-29051

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 6 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received legal advice as to the competency of the legislative consent memorandum that it submitted on the UK Government's Trade Union Bill.

The Scottish Government have looked at every possibility to oppose and restrict the implementation of the Trade Union Bill in Scotland. This has included engagement with trade unions and other parties to discuss how best to fight the Bill. As part of that process we have of course listened to advice, including legal advice. Other than in exceptional circumstances the content of any legal advice received by the Scottish Government remains confidential.

Question reference: S4W-29052

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 6 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish any legal advice that it received prior to submitting its legislative consent memorandum on the UK Government's Trade Union Bill.

The Scottish Government have looked at every possibility to oppose and restrict the implementation of the Trade Union Bill in Scotland. This has included engagement with trade unions and other parties to discuss how best to fight the Bill. As part of that process we have of course listened to advice, including legal advice. Other than in exceptional circumstances the content of any legal advice received by the Scottish Government remains confidential.

Question reference: S4O-04918

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 December 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what representations the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy has received from the Minister for Children and Young People regarding kinship care funding.

Question reference: S4W-28332

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning's letter dated 6 November 2015 indicating that she wished to change the Official Report for 5 November 2015, what the correct figure is for student support funds at Glasgow Kelvin College.

Question reference: S4O-04802

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 November 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance is available for GP practices that encounter problems regarding staffing levels.

Question reference: S4O-04758

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 November 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what consideration it has given to the implications for its employees of the proposals in the UK Government’s Trade Union Bill.

Question reference: S4O-04750

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to young people in Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn.

Question reference: S4O-04720

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its views are on bus re-regulation.

Question reference: S4W-27591

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 1 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on bus operators being required to take into account the effect on communities of decisions they are considering regarding the operation of routes.

The Scottish Government expects bus operators, as responsible businesses, to take account of the impacts of their operational decisions on users and communities. To facilitate this, we will shortly introduce legislation to amend the process for registering changes to bus services, providing extra time for operators to engage with local transport authorities in order to enable potential problems to be identified in advance and where possible avoided or mitigated.

Question reference: S4W-27592

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 1 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on introducing legislation that would lead to the re-regulation of bus services.

The Scottish Government looks to work in partnership with bus operators and local transport authorities to improve bus services and has no plans for wholesale re-regulation.

We are, however, looking at the range of existing powers available to authorities to influence services, including quality partnerships and quality contract schemes (or franchising), to see whether these can be improved. As an early step, we will shortly introduce legislation amending the process for registering changes to bus services in order to enable better engagement between operators and authorities to identify and mitigate adverse affects on users.

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