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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: S5O-00564

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 18 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis its education directorate has carried out regarding the number of school leavers who do not go on to further education or reach positive destinations.

A record low of eight per cent of young people leaving school in 2014-5 in Scotland were not in a positive follow up destination in March 2016. The majority of this group comprised young people that were unemployed and seeking employment or training (5.7 per cent of 2014-15 school leavers). The remainder were either unemployed and not seeking employment or training, or their destination was unknown. The latest figure is a considerable improvement over the position in 2009-10, when 14.8 per cent of school leavers were not in positive follow-up destinations.

Question reference: S5O-00481

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2016
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding Scotland's role in supporting refugees entering the UK.

Question reference: S5O-00454

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider making Scottish history a priority subject on the school curriculum.

Question reference: S5T-00181

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported Police Scotland estate review and how it will ensure the outcome has no adverse impact on service delivery.

Question reference: S5O-00279

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what reassurances it can give people from elsewhere in the EU who are working in Scotland regarding protecting their jobs following the UK's decision to leave the EU.

The Scottish Government has made very clear that we greatly value the positive contribution that our fellow EU citizens bring to the Scottish economy and society, and that they remain welcome here. The Scottish Government is deeply concerned about the UK Government’s negative rhetoric on migration and the lack of guarantees given to other EU citizens that they will be allowed to continue to live and work here at the point the UK leaves the EU.

Scottish Ministers will not cease pressing the UK Government to deliver an immigration system that meets Scotland’s needs, protects the existing rights of all workers in the UK and does not undermine the crucial role that workers from the rest of the EU play in the Scottish economy. It is imperative that the Scottish Government is consulted at an early stage on any changes to freedom of movement rules following the EU Referendum and we will fight hard to ensure that Scottish interests and those of foreign workers and their families are protected”

Question reference: S5O-00202

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2016
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many local authorities have outstanding equal pay claims.

Question reference: S5W-01842

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how the NHS will use nivolumab in the treatment of skin cancer.

On 8 August 2016 the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) approved nivolumab as a single treatment for advanced (unresectable or metastatic) melanoma for restricted use within NHS Scotland. Details of that decision are available at: www.scottishmedicines.org.uk/SMC_Advice/Advice/1120_16_nivolumab_Opdivo/nivolumab_Opdivo_Resubmission

Where SMC recommend medicines for restricted use there is an expectation that health boards will make the medicine or an equivalent available to patients within those restricted conditions. Decisions on whether to prescribe the medicine is a matter for the clinical judgement of the patient’s doctor, in consultation with the patient, informed by advice and guidance about the drug.

Question reference: S5W-00822

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 4 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-00024 by Paul Wheelhouse on 9 June 2016, whether the concerns of residents of the village of Torrance in relation to its possible role as a depot for fracking operations will be considered as part of the consultation on fracking.

The Scottish Government is committed to involving communities and other stakeholders in key decisions affecting Scotland and the future wellbeing of our communities and natural environment.

Our consultation, which will take place following publication of the research we have commissioned, will provide an opportunity to engage with and listen to the widest range of views on this important matter, including those of concerned communities.

Our comprehensive programme of evidence-gathering will ensure that communities and other stakeholders have access to a wide body of evidence when forming their views.

Question reference: S5W-00302

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 14 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses have been accredited each year as living wage employers, broken down by local authority area.

The Scottish living wage accreditation initiative provided the following table detailing the relevant breakdown by local authority area as at 7 June 2016.

Local Authority	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	Total
Aberdeen City	0	1	1	3	5	4	14
Aberdeenshire	0	0	0	1	7	1	9
Angus	0	0	0	0	5	0	5
Argyll and Bute	0	0	0		8	4	12
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Clackmannanshire	0	0	0	0	2	2	4
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0	0	3	9	3	15
Dundee	0	0	0	1	6	3	12
East Ayrshire	0	0	0	1	1	1	3
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	0	4	0	4
Edinburgh	0	3	4	24	70	23	124
East Lothian	0	0	0	1	2	0	3
East Renfrewshire	0	0	1	1		1	3
Falkirk	0	0	0	1		1	2
Fife		1	2	2	17	2	24
Glasgow	0	2	9	25	69	24	127
Highland		1	0	3	15	8	27
Inverclyde	0	0	3	1	4	2	10
Midlothian	0	0	0	3	10	4	17
Moray	0	0	0	0	2	0	2
North Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	3	3	6
North Lanarkshire	0	0	0	0	11	3	14
Orkney	0	0	0	0	2	2	4
Perth and Kinross	0	0	0	2	10	8	20
Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	11	5	16
Scottish Borders	0	0	0	0	6	1	6
Shetland Islands	0	0	0	0	3	0	3
South Ayrshire	0	0	0	1	4	3	8
South Lanarkshire	0	0	1	5	17	1	24
Stirling	0	0	0	0	9	6	15
West Dunbartonshire	0	0	1		3	3	7
West Lothian	0	0		3	10	1	14
Total	0	7	22	81	325	119	554

Note: This total includes MSPs

Question reference: S5O-00024

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 9 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its moratorium on fracking.

The Scottish Government has put in place a moratorium to ensure that no unconventional oil and gas exploration can take place in Scotland while unanswered questions remain. As I made clear in response to the debate on 1 June, we have commissioned a comprehensive programme of research which is already underway, and which will report later this year, to investigate the potential health, environmental and economic impacts of this industry. This research, once published, will be followed by a full public consultation so that any decision in respect of unconventional oil and gas activities is based on both the evidence presented to Ministers and the views of the public and stakeholders.