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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-04059

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 3 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether people on lower incomes, who live in properties in council tax bands E to H, will be able to apply for support from the Council Tax Reduction Scheme prior to the implementation of its proposed council tax reforms.

The extension of the council tax reduction scheme for households on low income living in band E to H properties will come into force on 1 April 2017. Individual local authorities administer the council tax reduction scheme, so it is a matter for each Council to decide whether to accept applications before then, although the reduction in liability can only be granted from that date. I would encourage people on lower incomes to apply for Council Tax Reduction.

Question reference: S5W-03922

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 3 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the £50 million that has been made available to the Housing Infrastructure Fund for 2016-17 is reliant on the local authority strategic housing investment plans for 2017-18 to 2021-22 that are due for submission by 30 November 2016.

Question reference: S5W-03925

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 3 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government which non-public sector organisations have made applications to the Housing Infrastructure Fund.

Question reference: S5W-03927

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 3 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many enquiries it has received from developers about the Housing Infrastructure Fund.

Question reference: S5O-00327

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to tackle any age discrimination against 17-and-18-year-olds.

Question reference: S5W-03940

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether its £2 million Community Choices Fund will be an annual fund.

Question reference: S5W-03938

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether its £2 million Community Choices Fund is equal to 1% of local council budgets.

The £2 million Community Choices Fund is not equal to 1% of local council budgets. The fund was launched in June 2016 to support Community Choices (otherwise known as participatory budgeting) in 2016-17 and £1.5 million was open to applications from public authorities, community organisation and community councils. The fund will also support a capacity building programme in Scotland to assist community organisations and public authorities to engage with and deliver Community Choices. More information about community choices can be found on the PB Scotland website www.PBScotland.scot

Question reference: S5W-03941

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that properties used exclusively for short-term letting via platforms, such as AirBnB, should be treated as residential properties or as businesses.

Question reference: S5W-03942

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the use of (a) planning policy, (b) housing legislation or (c) other measures to regulate short-term letting, such as (i) so-called party flats and (ii) via platforms such as AirBnB.

Legislation exists to deal with antisocial noise and behaviour in short-term lets and the local authority may deal with these matters using existing powers contained within Part 7 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004.

In March 2011, the Scottish Government introduced further legislation to help local authorities tackle nuisance behaviour caused by occupants of short-term lets. The Antisocial Behaviour Notices (Houses Used for Holiday Purposes) (Scotland) Order 2011, enables local authorities to serve a notice on a landlord of a property where there has been antisocial behaviour by a person using a property for holiday purposes, or visitors while it is being used. Such a notice can be served on the landlord and any known person who acts for the landlord. This means that action can be taken even if the occupant is only resident for a short period of time.

In relation to the planning system, planning permission would be required for material changes in the use of flats and houses, though a limited amount of bed and breakfast activity in houses is excluded from planning control. It would be for planning authorities to consider what policies are needed locally for dealing with planning applications in this regard.

Question reference: S5W-03666

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that the legal process does not discourage rape victims from reporting the crime.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that rape victims are able to access justice through our legal system. It is the case that crimes such as rape and domestic abuse are under-reported when compared to other types of crime and that an efficient, victim-centred legal process has a significant role to play in encouraging more victims to come forward.

The Scottish Government has significantly reformed the criminal law to modernise the law on rape and sexual assault including providing a wider definition of rape and a statutory definition of consent defined as “free agreement” through the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009. Next year, the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016 will, once in force, require judges to give specific directions to juries in sexual offence cases concerning circumstances where there is a delay by the alleged victim in reporting the offence, and where the alleged victim does not physically resist their attacker or the alleged perpetrator does not use physical force to overcome their victim.

In recognition of the vital role that support services play in helping victims to come forward and engage with the legal process, the Scottish Government has invested record levels of funding in the violence against women and girls agenda including providing an additional £1.85m (2015-18) to Rape Crisis Scotland to enhance the capacity of RCS’ advocacy support project and £69,000 (2016-17) to deliver the Support to Report scheme, which offers 24 hour on-call advocacy support to women and men reporting rape in Glasgow, East Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire.