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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5W-22362

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 18 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Ofgem regarding the timing of the regulator's targeted charging review on investment in renewables, energy efficiency, innovation and onsite generation for businesses.

My officials and I engage regularly with Ofgem to discuss a range of matters, including the effect of its Targeted Charging Review and other regulatory processes and consultations on consumers and investors.

We recognise the uncertainty that the Targeted Charging Review is currently creating, particularly when set alongside other Ofgem reviews, such as its review of forward looking charges.

We shall continue to engage with Ofgem at official and ministerial level on these matters, and will respond to any concerns raised with us by Scotland’s consumers or, indeed, other stakeholders in Scotland.

Question reference: S5O-03123

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-22406

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its timeframe is for the introduction of land value capture.

Question reference: S5W-22640

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5F-03239

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 01 April 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 April 2019

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that many pregnant women and homeless children are being housed by local authorities in substandard temporary accommodation.

Question reference: S5W-22303

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many rent appeals the First-Tier Tribunal has dealt with in each year since 2015, also broken down by how many were upheld.

Question reference: S5O-03093

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to consult on the outstanding special marine protected areas.

Question reference: S5W-21639

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the availability and affordability of shared housing for people for who are entitled only to the shared accommodation rate of local housing allowance.

Chapter 3.1 of the paper Housing and Social Security: follow-up paper on Welfare Reform, contains an analysis of the impact of the UK Government’s freeze to local housing allowance (LHA) rates, and is available on the Scottish Government’s website at the following location: https://www.gov.scot/publications/annual-report-welfare-reform-follow-up-paper-housing-social-security/pages/4/ .

It contains tables which set out the portion of the actual rental market in each area that each LHA rate (including the shared accommodation rate) can access and the difference in cash terms (per week) between the LHA rate and a property at the thirtieth percentile of the rate.

Question reference: S5W-21807

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 11 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that everyone referred for cataract surgery is managed to final and appropriate diagnosis.

The Scottish Government National Eyecare Workstream is working closely with Health Boards across Scotland to ensure that patients referred for cataract surgery get the appropriate treatment they need.

Processes are in place to ensure that only those patients for whom surgery is appropriate and who are willing to be considered for surgery, are referred for such treatment. Existing patient information leaflets are being updated to ensure that comprehensive information is available so that patients can make informed decisions about surgery. Additional consultations with an optometrist in primary care are also available to allow patient to discuss further and reflect on whether they wish to be referred for cataract surgery.

All patients referred for surgery are triaged and, if appropriate, are pre-assessed by the multi-disciplinary team in hospital eye services and once patients have undergone diagnostic tests, the decision to proceed to surgery is undertaken in collaboration with the ophthalmologist.

Ensuring that only those patients who need and are willing to undergo cataract surgery are referred for such procedures prevents avoidable referrals and patients travelling unnecessary to hospital.

Question reference: S5W-21806

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 6 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time is from positive diagnosis of cataract to corrective surgical intervention.

This information on specific procedures are not held centrally.

The following tables provide the median for speciality ophthalmology waiting times for the quarters ending September and December 2018 (inpatient and day case from referral date) and new inpatients. This data also includes cataract operations.

Table 1: Inpatient and Day Case median wait time (days) from referral date for the specialty Ophthalmology

			Quarter End Date
NHS Health Board	Specialty	Indicator	30 Sep 2018	31 Dec 2018
NHSScotland*	Ophthalmology	Median wait (days)	70	74

Source: ISD waiting times warehouse

* excluding NHS Ayrshire & Arran due to data quality issues

Table 2: New outpatient median wait time (days) from referral date for the specialty Ophthalmology

			Quarter End Date
NHS Health Board	Specialty	Indicator	30 Sep 2018	31 Dec 2018
NHSScotland**	Ophthalmology	Median wait (days)	46	42

Source: ISD waiting times warehouse

** excluding NHS Ayrshire & Arran and NHS Tayside due to data quality