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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: S5W-22043

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 26 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government on what dates since March 2017 it has written to the DWP regarding (a) universal credit and (b) other benefits, and whether it has received responses.

The Scottish Government wrote to DWP 43 times between March 2017 and December 2018. On 23 occasions correspondence was regarding Universal Credit, and the other 20 occasions were regarding other benefits. During this same period, we received 32 replies from DWP. The following tables gives an overview of the correspondence.

UC correspondence				Other benefits correspondence
Date	Author	Response Received?	Date	Date	Author	Response Received?	Date
21-03-2017	SG	No	n-a	06-03-2017	SG	Yes	29-03-17
30-03-2017	SG	Yes	11-04-2017	06-04-2017	SG	Yes	19-04-2017
01-04-2017	SG	Yes	11-04-2017	12-04-2017	SG	No	n-a
01-04-2017	SG	No	n-a	22-06-2017	SG	Yes	16-07-2017
03-05-2017	SG	No	n-a	28-06-2017	SG	n-a	n-a
26-06-2017	SG	Yes	28-06-2017	14-08-2017	SG	Yes	25-08-2017
07-08-2017	SG	Yes	n-a	11-10-2017	SG	Yes	24-10-2017
28-09-2017	SG	Yes	11-10-2017	07-02-2018	SG	Yes	20-02-2018
02-10-2017	SG	Yes	11-10-2017	21-03-2018	SG	Yes	04-06-18
05-12-2017	SG	Yes	20-12-2017	29-03-2018	SG	Yes	16-04-18
07-12-17	SG	Yes	13-12-2017	16-05-2018	SG	Yes	04-06-18
30-01-28	SG	Yes	21-02-18	17-05-2018	SG	No	n-a
05-02-2018	SG	Yes	17-02-2018	11-06-2018	SG	Yes	09-07-18
19-03-2018	SG	Yes	19-05-2018	21-06-2018	SG	No	n-a
19-03-2018	SG	Yes	19-05-2018	06-07-2018	SG	Yes	10-07-2018 & 11-07-2018
30-05-2018	SG	Yes	11-06-2018	03-09-2018	SG	Yes	25-10-18
05-06-2018	SG	No	n-a	20-09-2018	SG	Yes	25-10-18
15-06-2018	SG	No	n-a	26-09-2018	SG	No	n-a
20-06-2018	SG	No	n-a	17-10-2018	SG	Yes	20-12-18
07-11-2018	SG	Yes	22-11-18	20-11-2018	SG	Yes	20-12-18
20-08-2018	SG	Yes	25-10-18
20-11-2018	SG	Yes	20-12-18
12-12-2018	SG	Yes	20-12-18

Question reference: S5W-22042

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has experienced delays in receiving information from the DWP to enable it to pay carers supplement.

Question reference: S5W-22041

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government on what dates since June 2016 the Joint Ministerial Working Group on Welfare has met; who attended, and when it will next meet.

Question reference: S5W-22052

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government which scheduled meetings of the Joint Ministerial Working Group on Welfare since June 2016 have been (a) re-arranged and (b) postponed following a request by (i) it and (ii) the DWP.

Since June 2016 there have been 7 meetings of the Joint Ministerial Working Group on Welfare (JMWGW). The dates, and minutes, of these can be found at https://www.gov.scot/groups/joint-ministerial-group-welfare/ .

The intention was that the JMWGW would meet quarterly but that did not always happen. In June 2018, following a request from Scottish Ministers, dates for the next four meetings were set with the aim of ensuring that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) prioritised, and matched, the Scottish Government’s pace for delivering the devolved welfare powers to Scotland.

Dates of 10 September 2018, 13 December 2018 and 18 March 2019 were subsequently agreed. UK Ministers requested that the 13 December meeting be rescheduled, but a mutually suitable alternative date could not be found, and it was subsequently cancelled.

The next meeting was originally planned for the 18 March 2019; this has been rearranged at DWP’s request on a number of occasions, and the meeting is now expected to take place on 1 April 2019.

Question reference: S5O-03022

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported decline in the proportion of young people in the Western Isles who speak Gaelic.

The Member has supplied the following translation:

A dh’fhaighneachd de Riaghaltas na h-Alba na tha e a’ dèanamh gus cruth-atharrachadh a thoirt air a chrìonadh a chaidh aithris anns a’ chuid den òigridh aig a bheil a’ Ghàidhlig anns na h-Eileanan an Iar.

Question reference: S5W-21938

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the island's increased tourism and a need to accommodate more travellers, what assessment it has made of the need to redevelop Barra Airport.

Question reference: S5W-21817

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 11 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the status of endoscopy and colonoscopy services at NHS Western Isles.

The new decontamination equipment has been installed and tested in NHS Western Isles and endoscopy services, including colonoscopy, will resume in Stornoway from March. The equipment which allows the sterile transfer of instruments between the Decontamination unit in Stornoway and other hospitals still requires testing and validation and this will be completed to allow full restoration of services from April.

Question reference: S5O-02986

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports people in island and remote areas in accessing legal assistance.

Question reference: S5W-21735

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 5 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what opportunities it considers augmented reality technology may bring in allowing visitors a better understanding of the archaeological heritage of Western Isles.

Digital technology can greatly enhance everybody’s experience of, and understanding of, Scotland’s rich heritage including that of the Western Isles.

Scotland is recognised as a global leader in digital innovation in the heritage sector. Indeed, Scotland’s contribution to this field was the focus of an international 2-day conference on the subject which was hosted by Historic Environment Scotland in October 2018. The event looked at developments in areas such as 3D modelling, augmented reality, virtual reality and animation.

New online platforms and developments in digital technologies are enabling people to inspect historic sites and artefacts from anywhere in the world, while a combination of digital documentation and animation allows for accurate recreation of historic environments which can be explored through gaming. Virtual reality can further bring such environments to life, creating immersive and illuminating experiences that transport the user into the past.

New technologies are being developed and applied in the Western Isles. For example, a partnership project between Urras nan Tursachan and St Andrew’s University is using cutting edge geophysics and digital technology to bring to life a monumental landscape that has been lost for 5000 years. I commend all who are involved in this project. Through such technical innovations visitors to the Western Isles will be able to experience its rich heritage in new and exciting ways.

Question reference: S5W-21583

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 19 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out through the Best Start Grant scheme, broken down by local authority area.

The latest figures on payments to 31 January are available in the following news release: https://news.gov.scot/news/best-start-grant-pays-out-gbp-2-7m . A breakdown by local authority is not yet available. Official statistics, covering the first months of applications for the Best Start Grant, will be published in April 2019. More detailed analysis will be published in a quarterly publication series starting from August 2019.