Chamber and committees

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: S4O-04588

Asked by: James Dornan, MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 September 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on discussions it has had regarding the reported decline in the bee population.

Question reference: S4O-04524

Asked by: James Dornan, MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 August 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its strategy for supporting access to work for disabled people.

Question reference: S4W-26599

Asked by: James Dornan, MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 27 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of integrated travel ticketing.

Transport Scotland’s smart and integrated ticketing strategy was launched in 2012 and its long term vision statement is ‘That all journeys on Scotland’s bus, rail, ferry, subway and tram networks can be accessed using some form of smart ticketing or payment.’

One project, the Scottish fulfilment service will complement the vision for smart ticketing by establishing a new entity providing transport information, ticketing and account based services to passengers, and management information and resettlement services to operators. This project also contributes positively to all five of the Scottish Government objectives - wealthier and fairer, smarter, healthier, safer and stronger and greener.

We have also set out smart ticketing targets in the new ScotRail franchise which commenced on 1 April 2015. These include clear contractual targets for delivery of smart ticketing on Scotland's rail network. Abellio ScotRail has committed to achieving 60% uptake for the majority of ticket types and a 65% uptake for all ticket types, by 2019 and 2021 respectively.

Smart ticketing will also feature in the new Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract tenders (October 2016) and the Northern Isles Ferry Services contract tenders (April 2018) and will be passenger focussed.

There is also strong engagement with the bus industry and Transport Scotland is both supporting large operators like First and Stagecoach in delivering their commercial objectives and directly assisting smaller bus operators in developing and delivering smart and integrated ticketing.

Finally, we are ensuring that the infrastructure platform necessary to deliver smart ticketing is fit for purpose, and are investing wherever necessary in this aspect of delivery, particularly on buses where 40% of journeys are already smart by virtue of the government's concessionary travel scheme.

All of the above aims to further enhance the quality of service being delivered to passengers throughout Scotland, and we expect to see progressively more smart ticketing being delivered in the months ahead.

Question reference: S4O-04514

Asked by: James Dornan, MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the council tax reduction scheme has had in helping people in Glasgow on low incomes.

Question reference: S4O-04480

Asked by: James Dornan, MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 June 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the number of people who are homeless in Glasgow.

Question reference: S4W-25923

Asked by: James Dornan, MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2015
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 4 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is the First Minister’s intention to publish a new edition of the Scottish Ministerial Code.

An updated edition of the Scottish Ministerial Code will be published today (4 June 2015). The code, which was last revised in December 2011, provides a code of conduct and guidance on procedures for members of the Scottish Government and Junior Scottish Ministers. A copy of the 2015 edition of the Scottish Ministerial Code may be found on the Scottish Government’s website at:

www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/06/2562

Question reference: S4O-04263

Asked by: James Dornan, MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 April 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to the Patient Opinion service.

The Scottish Government has supported the roll-out of the independent website Patient Opinion across Scotland since 2013. This is part of our commitment to developing a culture of openness and transparency within NHS Scotland that welcomes feedback and uses it to drive improvement.

We have recently awarded Patient Opinion a new contract, which provides for every territorial board in Scotland, and relevant special boards, to be fully registered with the site for up to three years from 1 April 2015. A comprehensive package of support is available to boards to engage effectively with Patient Opinion, with the costs met in full by the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S4W-24907

Asked by: James Dornan, MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional whole-time equivalent staff are employed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde compared with 2007 and what impact this has had on patient care.

The following table shows that as at December 2014 there are 34,082.2 whole-time equivalent (WTE) staff working in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. This is 919.8 WTE more than September 2006.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has seen an 83% fall in cases of clostridium difficile infection in those over 65 since 2007 (472 from January to March 2007 to 79 from July to September 2014), and a 94% fall in cases of MRSA since 2007 (68 from January to March 2007 to 4 from July to September 2014).

WTE of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde staff

	September 2006²	December 2014	Difference September 2006 to December 2014
Overall staff	33,162.4	34,082.2	919.8
Total consultants¹	1,131.3	1,411.3	279.9
Emergency medicine consultants¹	26.0	68.3	42.3
Nursing and midwifery	15,277.1	15,232.4	-44.7

Source: Scottish Workforce Information Standard System

Notes:

1. Consultant figures include medical and clinical directors and directors of public health.

2. To allow a comparable trend with post 2007 information, adjustments have been made.

Question reference: S4O-04194

Asked by: James Dornan, MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 March 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Post-Budget Briefing by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which finds that the poorest have seen the biggest proportionate losses as a result of the UK Government’s tax and benefit changes.

Question reference: S4O-04142

Asked by: James Dornan, MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how the UK Government’s immigration policy impacts on Scottish universities.

The immigration measures brought in by successive UK governments undermine the efforts of Scottish universities to compete in a global marketplace and attract the brightest and best international student talent.

They impact on the international competitiveness of Scottish education, create additional burdens for institutions and students and are being negatively perceived overseas, deterring prospective students from applying to study in the UK.

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