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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: S5W-15503

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 17 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prevent Citizens Advice centres from closing.

The Scottish Government recognises the excellent work that Citizens Advice Bureaux do in helping some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. The Scottish Government includes funding to support the most vulnerable people as part of the block grant which we provide to all local authorities as part of the annual local government finance settlement. This provides flexibility to local authorities and it is for each of them to allocate their resources in the way that best meets local needs. Each Bureau is responsible for putting together its own package of funding, including any core funding from the local authority and project funding from other sources. I commend Bureaux for their use of a variety of approaches to identify funding streams, and I encourage Bureaux to continue to work closely with potential funders and Citizens Advice Scotland to develop sustainable plans for the future.

Question reference: S5W-15507

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support the cruise ship industry in the West Scotland region.

The Scottish Government is highly supportive of the cruise industry and its continued growth. Cruise Scotland figures for the 2018 season show an estimated 815 vessel calls at member ports delivering an expected 821,000 passengers right across Scotland. Our public bodies, including VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise, are working with the industry to help sustainable growth in the industry. This includes increased support for cruise tourism in consumer facing communications from VisitScotland plus closer working with Cruise Scotland at a corporate level.

The Scottish Government has also been working with the cruise industry at the strategic, global level. This is in order to highlight the industry success to date and continued potential sustainable growth in order to encourage further private investment, matching the continued Scottish Government spending on marine infrastructure.

In addition the Scottish Government has run three highly successful Cruise seminars bringing Scottish cruise industry representatives, global operators and relevant Scottish policy makers together.

As part of the Glasgow City Region City Deal, Inverclyde Council and Peel Ports are building an expansion of the quayside and delivering a new visitor centre to further expand cruise ship capacity and facilities at Greenock .

Question reference: S5W-15490

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many Smartcards are used each day on trains, and how much passengers spend using these.

Question reference: S5W-15721

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 17 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it has put in place to help local authorities that face potential reductions to housing support funding.

Housing support services are commissioned by Health and Social Care Partnerships as they are best placed to determine local needs and priorities and make best use of resources.

We are supporting Integration Authorities to improve outcomes across health and social care. In particular we are providing support for the effective commissioning of new and better models of care.

In 2018-19 an additional £66 million is included in the Local Government settlement allocations to support additional spending by local government on social care.

In recent years the delivery of housing support services have been undergoing changes to the traditional models. For example the increased use of technology enabled care. However, although the service models may change, the level of support should not be diminished.

Question reference: S5W-15505

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 12 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the number of special constables has reportedly decreased over the last five years.

Question reference: S5W-15441

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 10 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many people use ride-sharing apps to travel to and from medical appointments.

Question reference: S5W-15454

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 10 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what cost-benefit analysis it has undertaken regarding subsidies for all travel to and from hospitals.

Question reference: S5W-15440

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 10 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost was of patient taxis for non-emergency medical transport in 2017.

The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government. Individual Boards are responsible for paying for or reimbursing the cost of patient travel, in accordance with their own patients’ travelling expenses scheme and within their overall baseline budgets, which are increasing by 3.7% in 2018-19 for frontline Boards.

Boards are required to make best use of resources, including setting policies on the most appropriate and cost effective means of patient transport whilst ensuring that patient care and safety is at the centre of all decisions made.

Question reference: S5W-15446

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 10 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many people it estimates face transportation barriers when accessing healthcare.

The Scottish Government has ensured that there are a range of options available to patients requiring either clinical or financial travel assistance.

This includes the Patient Transport Service provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service for those requiring clinical assistance and, for those requiring financial assistance, the Patient Travelling Expenses Scheme and the specific Highlands and Islands Travel Scheme. In addition, all Health Boards have the discretion to reimburse patient traveling expenses where it is viewed to be an extension of treatment costs and deemed to be clinically necessary.

There are also a number of community based initiatives to provide hospital transport to patients and some Health and Social Care Partnerships link with voluntary organisations or community groups to provide transport.

Question reference: S5W-15445

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 10 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted a cost-benefit analysis of any expenditure on providing non-emergency medical transportation and, if so, what the results were.