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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-08740

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 27 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what progress was made on employability by the implementation and monitoring group responsible for that aspect of the Mental Health Strategy 2012-15.

Question reference: S5W-08743

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 27 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the employment rates for people with mental health problems are in comparison to the general population.

Information sourced from the Annual Population Survey below shows the employment rate: for the working age population overall and for those with mental health problems.

People with mental health problems are defined as those who responded to the survey reporting :

that they had a physical or mental health condition or illness lasting or expecting to last 12 months or more; and,
that their main health problem was either ‘Depression, bad nerves or anxiety’ or ‘Mental illness or suffer from a phobia, panics or other nervous disorders’.

In 2016 the employment rate for people with mental health problems was 39.0%. This compares with 72.9% for the general population.

Source: Annual Population Survey (January 2016 to December 2016)

Question reference: S5W-08746

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 27 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with the third sector to improve the employment rate for people with mental health problems.

We recognise the very specific challenges that some people with barriers to employment, including mental health conditions, can face in obtaining and securing sustained employment.

That is why we worked with the Open Doors Consortium, a partnership of Scotland’s leading Third Sector specialist employment providers, to develop a tailored in-work work support package to support the employment outcomes of those with the greatest barriers.

This support has been delivered nationally by the Open Doors Consortium since July 2015, and can include mentoring, job coaching, training, orientation visits and providing training to the employers' staff. Help towards essential equipment or work clothes can also be provided. The support package can be accessed at any point within the first 52 weeks of employment.

In recognition of the barriers to employment some young people face, including those with mental health conditions, we are also working in partnership with the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) to provide up to 12 or 18 months of supported job training through a range of third sector employers across Scotland as part of the Community Jobs Scotland programme.

Since 2011 we have invested more than £50 million in Community Jobs Scotland, which has now helped more than 7,500 young people aged 16 to 29 access paid job training and the chance to enhance their longer term job prospects through additional training specifically designed to increase employability skills.

Question reference: S5W-08667

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 27 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what SEPA rating for pollution control has been given to the Grangemouth refinery in each of the last five years.

Petroineos Manufacturing Scotland Limited holds the licence that covers the oil refining activities at Grangemouth. SEPA's Compliance Assessment Scheme is designed to demonstrate the level of compliance associated with specific licence conditions and is assessed annually.

The Compliance Assessment Scheme Assessment Reports for regulated sites available at http://apps.sepa.org.uk/compliance/ and the results for the last 5 years are set out in the following table.

Year	Compliance Assessment Scheme	Comments
2016	Poor	Petroineos received a score of Poor for 2016, due primarily to a significant incident in May, with the release to air of approximately 40 tonnes of sulphur. The Operator carried out an investigation and SEPA is satisfied that an appropriate action plan is in place to prevent recurrence. A number of other minor incidents also occurred throughout the year. Despite this the site should receive due credit for minimising flaring and sulphur emissions and continuing to invest in maintaining and upgrading the complex equipment in use there.
2015	Poor	Petroineos's performance was very good in 2015 in terms of maintaining the improvement in sulphur dioxide emissions due to significant reduction from the sulphur recovery plant aided by reduced sulphur flaring due to good reliability. Hydrocarbon flaring was the lowest total ever recorded indicative of good performance to reduce emissions from flaring. Compliance was recorded as poor owing to a prolonged offensive odour from the site affecting a wide area of Grangemouth during December which was considered a significant breach of the odour condition in the permit Compliance was restored and SEPA has continued to monitor the situation.
2014	At Risk	Whilst the refinery had made significant improvements to reduce total sulphur dioxide emissions from the site, SEPA remained concerned with the poor sulphur flaring performance in 2014. In addition to this poor process control associated with an incident on the site resulted in the low performance score for the site. Following discussions with the Operator, SEPA was satisfied that an appropriate action plan had been put in place to prevent recurrence.
2013	Broadly Compliant	SEPA assessed the licence holder as broadly compliant with licence conditions but highlighted several areas for improvement.
2012	Broadly Compliant	SEPA assessed the licence holder as broadly compliant with licence conditions but highlighted several areas for improvement.

Question reference: S5W-08669

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 27 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many statutory notices have been served on the Grangemouth refinery by the Health and Safety Executive in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S5O-00922

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 April 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it will publish a new anti-bullying strategy for schools.

Question reference: S5W-08739

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 25 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what role links workers play in helping people to find employability support in their local community.

Links Workers connect people to non-medical sources of support or resources in the community which are likely to help with the health problems they are experiencing.

Link workers draw on a wide range of services to increase social skills, confidence and employability and help people move forward in their lives. These include services focused on training, volunteering and life skills, in-work support (for people currently employed and experiencing problems), further education and
self-employment.

Question reference: S5W-08355

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 25 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ensure that no members of boards, advisory groups or other bodies for which it has appointment responsibilities is an employee or representative of a company or organisation that has admitted the practice of blacklisting, unless they have subsequently taken adequate "self-cleaning" measures.

Any practice which seeks to suppress or censor the legitimate expression of opinion, or prevents individuals from exercising rights to freedom of association or privacy is unacceptable in a modern democratic society. The Scottish Government condemns any form of blacklisting. Blacklisting is also likely to be unlawful under various provisions of anti-discrimination legislation.

The Scottish public has high expectations of those who serve on the Boards of Public Bodies and the way in which they conduct themselves in undertaking their duties. As a Board member, it is their personal responsibility to ensure that they meet these expectations by ensuring that their conduct is above reproach.

The appointing minister will take steps to confirm that the applicant is a fit and proper person for the position to which they are to be appointed.

Question reference: S5O-00899

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it will next meet representatives of the tourism sector.

Question reference: S5O-00867

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 19 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to promote technologies that help tackle climate change.

As set out in the draft Climate Change Plan, the Scottish Government is committed to working with business leaders and others to co-design policies and proposals which maximise commercial, export and job opportunities. For example, our Scottish Energy Efficiency Programme will support thousands of jobs across Scotland, creating a substantial Scottish market and supply chain for energy efficiency and renewable heat services and technologies and related expertise which is transferable to international markets.