Chamber and committees

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-23554

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 7 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce statutory regulations to ensure that private factors set charges to (a) homeowners and (b) tenants that are fair, equitable and representative of the maintenance work that they carry out.

The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce statutory regulations on the fees set by Property Factors.

All property factors must comply with a code of conduct which sets out minimum standards of practice in the delivery of services to homeowners. This includes a requirement to ensure transparency in financial and charging arrangements and when making repairs and maintenance arrangements.

A homeowner can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) where they have an unresolved complaint under the code or with their property factor duties, including charges that are being made.

A property factor’s arrangement is between two or more sharing owners therefore property factors do not make charges to tenants.

Question reference: S5W-23304

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to raise the quality of childcare and ensure that staff in this sector have the appropriate knowledge and skills to deliver quality learning for pre-school children.

One of the key drivers of high quality ELC is a well-trained, professional and skilled workforce. It is important that we value our workforce and support their commitment to professional development. Our Quality Action Plan published in 2017 sets out a number of actions we are taking to support and improve quality and establish our National Standard – quality criteria that will apply to all providers delivering funded ELC from August 2020.

As part of our workforce development programme we have already delivered the National Induction Resource (Action 3) which was launched on 20 May 2019 and is hosted on the Scottish Social Services Council website.

Our National Directory of Continuous Professional Learning was launched on 20 March 2019 to help the ELC sector identify developmental support available to them once qualified.

We are also developing a package of online continuous professional learning modules which will be available to all ELC workers. The national programme will focus on areas where practice and/or existing opportunities for learning need to be strengthened, as reflected in Education Scotland and Care Inspectorate inspections. It will also seek to address barriers to learning through virtual and distance models, thus encouraging uptake and retention of new and existing staff.

Question reference: S5O-03379

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 June 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the potential impact on Scotland of President Trump's recent comments regarding Brexit, including it being an opportunity to strengthen trade between the United States and the UK.

Question reference: S5W-23596

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 June 2019
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fergus Ewing on 5 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it expects South of Scotland Enterprise to take to further its Fair Work Action Plan commitments.

We expect South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) to be an exemplar of fair work when it is established on 1 April 2020. My first strategic guidance letter will make clear that Scottish Ministers expect fair work to be embedded from the outset. Fair work has been set as an essential competency of the Chair and we will make similar requirements of the Chief Executive and members.

Other measures we expect SOSE to take will include:

Becoming an accredited living wage employer at the earliest opportunity;
Addressing fair work in its action plan on which it will consult;
Working with organisations representing its staff to implement the model of the Scottish Government’s agreement with the civil service trade unions to embed fair work in its operating practices; and
Taking the learning of the initial roll out of the Fair Work First project that Scottish Enterprise is taking forward so that grants offered by the new agency support jobs that are paid at least the living wage and do not have inappropriate zero hours contracts.

Question reference: S5W-23305

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 3 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting new entrants into nursing through student bursaries.

Question reference: S5O-03238

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-22593

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 April 2019
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fergus Ewing on 10 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the potential impact of Brexit, including tariffs, is on Scotland’s dairy sector.

A no deal Brexit is by far the biggest threat to farming and to our successful food and drink sector with a wealth of evidence indicating that Scotland’s farmers and food producers will be worse off under any scenario compared to remaining in the EU and maintaining free trade and freedom of movement. The UK Government’s recent no-deal applied tariff policy, which was made with no prior consultation with Scotland or the other devolved administrations, offers little protection for the dairy sector, as it allows the opening up of the market to cheap imported dairy products by significantly dropping current tariff rates, with the double whammy that any exports to the EU will face much higher rates. Whilst we call for the UK government to remove any possibility of a no deal Brexit, in the meantime I fully agree with many of the leading industry voices in also calling for the UK Government to reconsider their proposed tariffs to remove the potential damage these are likely to cause dairy farmers, processors, creameries and related businesses, putting at risk jobs and livelihoods in Scotland’s rural communities.

Question reference: S5W-22421

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 March 2019
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jeane Freeman on 1 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent report by Healthcare Improvement Scotland regarding the clinical management of breast cancer in NHS Tayside.

The Scottish Government, along with NHS Tayside, will, as a matter of urgency take into account the findings and recommendations of the Heath Improvement Scotland Report – “Clinical Management of Breast Cancer in NHS Tayside”.

In order to progress matters as quickly as possible, the Chief Medical Officer commissioned an expert group last month. This group will be chaired by Professor Aileen Keel (Chair of the Scottish Cancer Taskforce and the Director of the Innovative Healthcare Delivery Programme) and will fully consider all the individual recommendations. That Group is expected to present their findings in June to coincide with expected resolution of the issues highlighted in the HIS Report.

In advance of publication of the Report, the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Pharmaceutical Officer also convened a multidisciplinary clinical Immediate Response Group to deliver an informed consensus risk assessment relating to this variation in clinical practice in NHS Tayside. The findings of that report are now being considered urgently by NHS Tayside in order that they can inform and support patients and families who may have concerns around the treatment of breast cancer in NHS Tayside. The Scottish Government would expect that patients are fully informed and are involved in any decisions taken by their clinicians with regard to their treatment and that patients feel empowered to ask questions about treatment, benefits and risks and any alternatives available.

While we recognise that this report may be concerning for patients and their families who have undergone chemotherapy for breast cancer in NHS Tayside since 2016, it must be stressed that the risk of negative impact is very small. It is also important to note that the variations in treatments detailed in the HIS report are not routinely found elsewhere in Scotland.

Patient safety is always the number one priority in NHS Scotland, and the findings and recommendations of today’s report will now rightly urgently be considered by the Scottish Government and NHS Tayside. The Scottish Government would expect NHS Tayside to act immediately should there require to be a change in their clinical practices.

Question reference: S5O-03087

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it defines trail hunting in relation to its proposals for legislative changes to fox hunting practices.

Question reference: S5F-03221

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 March 2019

To ask the First Minister what progress is being made with the implementation of Frank’s Law.