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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-21018

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 25 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has with groups that advocate on behalf of grandparents who seek the right to access their grandchildren following family breakdown.

We have recently consulted on the review of Part 1 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. The consultation sought views on whether there should be a presumption in law that grandchildren benefit from contact with their grandparents. We are now considering next steps.

We held a number of meetings with a range of stakeholders across the country during the consultation period, including with Grandparents Apart UK and Families need Fathers Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-21058

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 25 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish its family justice modernisation strategy.

The Programme for Government for 2018-19 announced that there will be a Family Law Bill introduced during this parliamentary session. We will publish the Family Justice Modernisation Strategy when the Family Law Bill is introduced. The Family Justice Modernisation Strategy will set out work that is ongoing by Scottish Government and others; work that can be done via secondary legislation or by improved guidance; areas covered by the Bill; and areas that are for longer term work.

Question reference: S5W-21016

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 25 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on revising (a) section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and (b) the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 to allow greater rights for grandparents to have access to their grandchildren.

We have recently consulted on the review of Part 1 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. Amongst other things, the consultation sought views on whether there should be a presumption in law that grandchildren benefit from contact with their grandparents. We are now considering next steps.

The Programme for Government for 2018-19 announced that there will be a Family Law Bill introduced during this parliamentary session.

Question reference: S5W-21017

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 25 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the viability of changing legislation to allow grandparents greater rights regarding the custody of their grandchildren following family breakdown.

Question reference: S5W-21015

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 25 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the Charter of Grandchildren to reflect the changes in the role that grandparents play in the lives of their grandchildren.

Question reference: S5W-20882

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many police-recorded common assaults on emergency workers there have been in the Scottish Borders in each of the last five years; broken down by type of emergency worker, and how many led to subsequent (a) arrests, (b) prosecutions and (c) convictions.

The number of common assaults on emergency workers in Scottish Borders recorded by Police in Scotland, 2013-14 to 2017-18

Crime	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18
Common Assault of an Emergency Worker	61	68	76	75	61

Source: Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2017-18.

(a) Scottish Government does not hold this information. Police Scotland have confirmed they do not currently collect data in respect of 'arrests'.

(b) Number of people proceeded for common assaults on emergency workers ¹ in Scottish Borders, 2012-13 to 2016-17.

	2012- 13	2013- 14	2014- 15	2015- 16	2016- 17
Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 Section 1(1)	2	2	3	4	-
Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 Section 2(1)	1	-	-	-	-
Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 Section 3(1)	-	-	-	1	-
Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 Section 5(1)	4	1	-	4	2
Police (Scotland) Act 1967 Section 41(1)(A)	25	11	4	1	-
Police And Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 Section 90(1)(A)	-	6	12	16	15
Police And Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 Section 90(1)(A)&(2)(A)	-	3	-	-	-
Police And Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 Section 90(2)(A)	-	17	18	28	16
Police And Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 Section 90(2)(B)	-	-	1	-	-
Police And Fire Reform Scotland) Act 2012 Section 90(1)(A)& (2)(A)	-	-	-	-	1
All

1 - where main crime

Source: Criminal Proceedings database

	2012- 13	2013- 14	2014- 15	2015- 16	2016- 17
Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 Section 1(1)	1	2	3	4	-
Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 Section 2(1)	1	-	-	-	-
Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 Section 3(1)	-	-	-	1	-
Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 Section 5(1)	4	1	-	4	2
Police (Scotland) Act 1967 Section 41(1)(A)	22	9	3	1	-
Police And Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 Section 90(1)(A)	-	6	11	16	14
Police And Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 Section 90(1)(A)& (2)(A)	-	1	-	-	-
Police And Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 Section 90(2)(A)	-	17	17	28	15
Police And Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 Section 90(2)(B)	-	-	1	-	-
Police And Fire Reform Scotland) Act 2012 Section 90(1)(A)& (2)(A)	-	-	-	-	1
All	28	36	35	54	32

1 - where main crime

Source: Criminal Proceedings database

Please note: The Scottish Government does not hold this information by type of emergency worker.

Figures provided above do not include all proceedings/convictions for assaults on emergency workers. More serious assaults may result in other charges, such as serious assault or attempted murder. These cannot be identified separately in the available statistics and so are not included.

Data for financial year 2017-18 will be available on 29-01-2018.

Question reference: S5W-20881

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided to the agritourism sector in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S5W-20883

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated to each local authority area by the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund in each of the last 10 years, also broken down by the projects supported.

The Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund, administered by VisitScotland, has to date had one funding round and supported three pilot projects.

Information on the pilot projects, funded in 2017-18, is as follows:

Pilot Project	Local Authority	Amount - £
Fairy Pools, Skye - toilet and associated facilities	The Highland Council	300,000
Neist Point, Skye - parking	The Highland Council	100,000
Stones of Stenness - parking	Orkney Islands Council	80,000

Details of the awards made under the first round of the fund announced in October 2018 are available at https://www.visitscotland.org/supporting-your-business/funding/rural-tourism-infrastructure-fund .

Question reference: S5W-20767

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many trains have been (a) cancelled and (b) delayed on the Borders Railway in each month since September 2015.

Transport Scotland does not routinely receive performance information down to this level of detail because the franchise does not obligate ScotRail to provide it. The performance of Borders Line services is reported within the East Suburban service group.

Specific up-to-date information about ScotRail performance, including the East Suburban service group, can be found here: https://www.scotrail.co.uk/sites/default/files/assets/download_ct/web_upload_p9_002.pdf .

Question reference: S5W-20865

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that recent film studio applications are located in close proximity to each other in the central belt.

The Scottish Government backs the expansion of the screen industry and welcomes the recent private and public sector proposals for studio infrastructure that should help increase the range of available facilities in Scotland and enable our screen sector to achieve its full potential.

The new dedicated screen unit within Creative Scotland, Screen Scotland, leads on the expansion and delivery of improved infrastructure provision for the screen sector. I have therefore asked Screen Scotland to contact you directly in response to your question.

Screen Scotland currently markets 136,000 sq ft of full-time converted stage space and 335,000 sq ft of build space and will continue to promote all existing studio facilities across Scotland to capitalise on the current unprecedented interest from UK and international producers in filming here.