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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.

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Question reference: S5O-02131

Asked by: George Adam, MSP for Paisley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recent developments regarding the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, what its position is on the views expressed during the independence referendum that a "yes" vote would mean Scotland would be taken out of the EU and a "no" vote would see it granted new powers as an equal part of the UK.

Question reference: S5W-16241

Asked by: George Adam, MSP for Paisley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 April 2018
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 30 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Congress on Disability, Employment and the Workplace, whether ministers will announce any new actions aimed at reducing the Disability Employment Gap.

Throughout the day, the First Minister, the Minister for Social Security and I will be at the Scottish Government’s Congress on Disability, Employment and the Workplace, where we will be talking to disabled people, their organisations, and employers across the private, public and third sector, to ensure that we are taking the collective action necessary to ensure we deliver a step change in the number of disabled people in work.

As part of our commitment to at least halve the Disability Employment Gap, the First Minister will set out three elements of an all-government, all-Scotland approach:

Firstly, the launch of a formal consultation on increasing disabled employment in the public sector, including options for setting targets for public sector bodies.

Secondly, the announcement of our intention to publish a Disability Employment Gap Action Plan in the Autumn of 2018. This plan will set out how we will meet our commitment to at least halve the Disability Employment Gap, working closely with civil society, employers, disabled peoples organisations, trade unions, and the wider public sector as well as disabled people themselves.

Thirdly, that the Scottish Government will invest £1 million to provide additional support and advice to help meet our ambitions to increase the disability employment rate.

Question reference: S5W-15016

Asked by: George Adam, MSP for Paisley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 March 2018
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Executive Review of the Scottish Police Authority.

I am pleased to announce the report of the Executive Review is now available on the Scottish Government website at http://www.gov.scot/Publications/Recent .

I commissioned the Review in June 2017, to consider how the Executive of the Scottish Police Authority could most effectively support the Board to deliver its statutory functions. It was conducted by Malcolm Burr, Chief Executive of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, and Nicola Marchant, the former Deputy Chair of the SPA. The report makes 17 recommendations and it will now be for the Chair and Interim Chief Officer of the SPA to consider how best to take these forward.

Question reference: S5W-14935

Asked by: George Adam, MSP for Paisley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2018
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 28 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when the independent review of Legal Aid will present its findings.

Question reference: S5W-13533

Asked by: George Adam, MSP for Paisley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 10 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many baby boxes have been delivered by each NHS board.

The following table details the number of Baby Boxes delivered, by Health Board between 19 June and 31 December 2017.

Health Board	Boxes Delivered
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	1350
NHS Borders	428
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	524
NHS Fife	1380
NHS Forth Valley	1132
NHS Grampian	2493
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	5621
NHS Highland	1028
NHS Lanarkshire	2378
NHS Lothian	3834
NHS Orkney	88
NHS Shetland	74
NHS Tayside	1587
NHS Western Isles	84

Question reference: S5W-13280

Asked by: George Adam, MSP for Paisley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 20 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle social inequality.

The Scottish Government is taking a wide range of action to tackle social inequality, as outlined in our Fairer Scotland Action Plan. The first action in the Plan was the introduction of the Socio-Economic Duty. The new duty asks key public bodies to consider carefully the impacts on tackling poverty and reducing inequality whenever they are taking strategic decisions.

A Commencement Order has now been signed, which will bring the duty into force from April 2018. At this point, Scotland will become the only part of the UK to have made this key change, ensuring that social inequality is front and centre of public decision making in Scotland.

Question reference: S5O-01505

Asked by: George Adam, MSP for Paisley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact on the higher education sector could be of leaving the EU.

This Government shares the concerns of Scotland’s Higher Education sector regarding leaving the EU. It will become more difficult through the loss of freedom of movement to attract and retain EU staff and students. We will lose access to significant research funding and collaboration, such as Horizon 2020, as well as participation in a wide range of EU programmes, including Erasmus+.

Scotland has long been an attractive destination for international students from within and beyond the EU, but UK student visa policies, and the threat of Brexit is sending a negative message to students considering Scotland for their studies.

It is therefore important that we continue to reiterate our view - to anyone thinking of coming to Scotland to study or indeed, to work in our HE institutions – you are welcome here.

Question reference: S5F-01670

Asked by: George Adam, MSP for Paisley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 November 2017

To ask the First Minister how many households have received support from the Scottish Welfare Fund.

Question reference: S5O-01386

Asked by: George Adam, MSP for Paisley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage economic growth.

Question reference: S5O-01296

Asked by: George Adam, MSP for Paisley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it is investing in supporting young people in Paisley.