Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-05982

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 17 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish its response to the consultation on the extension of wildlife crime investigative powers for inspectors in the Scottish SPCA.

Question reference: S5W-05983

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 17 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-04342 by Roseanna Cunningham on 8 November 2016, by what date it will publish the findings of the review by Scottish Natural Heritage.

Question reference: S5T-00323

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support local authority action to reduce air pollution.

Question reference: S5W-06054

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5O-00556

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it will announce a decision regarding tuition fee support for EU students applying for courses for 2018-19.

Question reference: S5W-06033

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-05485

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that the implementation of the living wage for private sector care workers delivering services for local authorities can be sustained beyond 2017-18.

As part of the 2017-18 draft budget, we have shown our commitment to the social care sector by announcing a further £100 million to be made available to Integration Authorities to support sustainability in the sector and continued delivery of the Living Wage to adult care workers. Within this settlement we have included a number of assumptions such as employer costs and assumed no provider contribution in 2017-18, this will support partnerships and private and voluntary sector providers to be able to implement this commitment sustainably. This was based on a one year Spending Review. Further support for delivering the Living Wage will be discussed as part of next years budget.

Question reference: S5W-05486

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 20 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it will next meet the leaders of Stirling and Clackmannanshire councils to discuss the City Deal bid.

Question reference: S5W-04845

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many reports of the suspected mislabelling of beef products have been made to the Scottish Food Crimes and Incidents Unit, and how many have led to official investigations.

The Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit is the investigations and intelligence gathering arm of Food Standards Scotland (FSS). The Unit has a dedicated intelligence office which analyses, develops and deals with information received from members of the public, food business operators and industry whistle-blowers. In order to maintain trust in the integrity of the intelligence gathering function, FSS does not publish a breakdown or detail of reports received.

Question reference: S5W-04843

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many reports have been made to the Food Standards Scotland Scottish Food Crime Hotline, also broken down by how many referred to the suspected mislabelling of beef products.

The Scottish Food Crime Hotline, launched by Food Standards Scotland in partnership with Crimestoppers, is a free telephone number where members of the public or those working within the food and drink sector can contact Food Standards Scotland’s Scottish Food Crime and Incident Unit (SFCIU) anonymously if they have any information or suspicions about potential food-related crime. Information can also be submitted using a non-traceable online form. Food Standards Scotland and the SFCIU also receive information from a range of other sources.

The Scottish Food Crime Hotline is intended give members of the public and industry a trusted point of contact to report any concerns or suspicions of food crime in complete anonymity. Callers have an expectation that everything possible will be done to protect their identity, and releasing figures and details of reports could potentially compromise that protection. Therefore, in order to maintain trust in the confidentiality of the system, Food Standards Scotland does not publish a breakdown or detail of reports received from specific sources.

Since April 2016 to-date there have been 119 intelligence logs recorded on the SFCIU intelligence system from all sources.

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