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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-04258

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for more investment in safety improvements for the A90, and whether these will include additional funding to improve the effectiveness of the average speed cameras.

Question reference: S5O-04209

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it helps older people maintain their independence.

Question reference: S5O-04135

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Police Scotland regarding surveillance of drug supply routes.

Question reference: S5F-03904

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 January 2020

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that Scottish Prison Service officers average three weeks’ sickness leave per year.

Question reference: S5O-04071

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect vulnerable older people.

Question reference: S5T-01957

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Chief Constable’s recent remarks to the Scottish Police Authority regarding the Police Scotland budget.

Question reference: S5W-26837

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners identified as falling within the Scottish Prison Service Gender Identity and Gender Reassignment Policy have never requested accommodation according to self-declared identity in a (a) men’s or (b) women’s prison.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS is currently unable to provide information on transgender people who are no longer in our care.

However, I can advise that on Wednesday 8 January 2020 there were 14 people in Scottish prisons who were identified on the Prisoner Records System as having engaged, at some stage, in the gender reassignment process. This number includes 3 people who had previously began the gender reassignment process but who now identify with the gender they were assigned at birth.

Of those currently in SPS care, 3 transwomen have never requested to be accommodated according to their identified gender.

Decisions on the most appropriate location to accommodate transgender people in our care are made on an individualised basis after careful consideration of all relevant factors, including risk.

Question reference: S5W-26836

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners identified as falling within the Scottish Prison Service Gender Identity and Gender Reassignment Policy have requested accommodation according to self-declared identity in a (a) men’s or (b) women’s prison, also broken down by how many requests were approved.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS is currently unable to provide information on transgender people who are no longer in our care.

However, I can advise that on Wednesday 8 January 2020 there were 14 people in Scottish prisons who were identified on the Prisoner Records System as having, at some stage, engaged in the gender reassignment process. This number includes 3 people who had previously began the gender reassignment process but who now identify with the gender they were assigned at birth.

Of those currently in SPS care, 7 transwomen have previously requested to be accommodated in the women’s estate; 4 of these requests are currently being facilitated. One transman, currently residing in the women’s estate, has previously requested to be accommodated in the men’s estate.

Decisions as to the most appropriate location to accommodate transgender people are made on an individualised basis after careful consideration of all relevant factors, including risk and the individual’s preference.

Question reference: S5W-26838

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many times prisoners who have been accommodated according to their self-declared identity under the Scottish Prison Service Gender Identity and Gender Reassignment Policy have been moved from a (a) women’s to a men’s and (b) men’s to a women’s prison, also broken down by how many of these moves were at a prisoner’s request.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS is currently unable to provide information on transgender people who are no longer in our care.

However, I can advise that on Wednesday 8 January 2020 there were 14 people in Scottish prisons identifiable on the Prisoner Records System as having, at some stage, engaged in the gender reassignment process. This number includes 3 people who had previously began the gender reassignment process but who now identify as the gender they were assigned at birth.

Following a careful consideration of risk, 2 transwomen currently in SPS care have been moved from the women’s estate to the men’s. On both occasions these relocations were aligned to the expressed desire of the individual’s concerned. One transman has been moved from the men’s estate to the women’s. However, this relocation was not aligned with their expressed desire.

Question reference: S5W-26839

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how possessing a gender recognition certificate impacts on a prisoner’s legal entitlement to be accommodated in the prison estate in a manner that is consistent with their acquired gender.

I have asked, Teresa Medhurst Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. Her response is as follows:

A transgender person in the care of SPS who possess a gender recognition certificate will normally be managed and held in an establishment that reflects their gender reassignment status. However, where it has been identified that such persons may represent a risk to the safety of those of their reassigned gender or they themselves may be at risk, SPS can take the decision to hold that person in an establishment that reflects their birth gender. The Equality Act 2010 allows trans people to be excluded, in certain restricted circumstances, from single-sex services, where that is proportionate and justifiable, and this could include the exclusion of a trans person who has a gender recognition certificate. For example, a help group for female victims of sexual offences may seek to exclude those who are born male, even where they identify as female, in order to provide the participants with the necessary reassurance to participate freely.