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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

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Question reference: S5W-21583

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 19 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out through the Best Start Grant scheme, broken down by local authority area.

The latest figures on payments to 31 January are available in the following news release: https://news.gov.scot/news/best-start-grant-pays-out-gbp-2-7m . A breakdown by local authority is not yet available. Official statistics, covering the first months of applications for the Best Start Grant, will be published in April 2019. More detailed analysis will be published in a quarterly publication series starting from August 2019.

Question reference: S5O-02887

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 February 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on plans to replace St Brendan's Hospital on Barra.

Question reference: S5O-02795

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 January 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff employed by Caledonian MacBrayne are resident in the Western Isles.

Question reference: S5W-20790

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 16 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on on increasing the number of employment opportunities in transportation located in island communities.

Government agencies are currently major employers in the Western Isles.

HIAL looks to support employment within its local communities wherever possible.

Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) employ 118 people in the Western Isles and will continue to be a major employer in the area.

As part of the Air Traffic Management Strategy (ATMS) programme, HIAL are exploring options to allow Air Traffic Control (ATC) staff to retain their base on the islands and commute to the ATC Surveillance Centre, Inverness. This includes examining shift patterns to accommodate such remote working.

HIAL is keen to work with local stakeholders to promote vacancies in the area.

CalMac Ferries Ltd is also a major employer in island and coastal communities, currently employing 156 seagoing staff and 54 port staff who reside in the Western Isles Council area. CalMac work proactively with schools, at careers fairs and through their industry leading apprenticeship and cadet programmes to encourage local island based applicants for CalMac jobs, and to develop long-term careers.

In addition, to public sector employment in the transportation sector, there are many opportunities in the commercial logistics sector on island communities.

Question reference: S5W-20789

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 16 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government when island local authorities will be in a position to request island community impact assessments.

Consultation for the development of Island Community Impact Assessments (ICIAs) will take place from 18 March to 27 May 2019, in tandem with work on the National Islands Plan.

The National Islands Plan needs to be laid before Parliament on 4 October 2019 and ideally, the island community impact assessments will follow the same timeframe.

In the meantime, although there is no duty to do an impact assessment, all Ministerial colleagues have been advised of the provisions of the Islands Act and we have been advising our agencies and partners to operate in the spirit of the Act and to consider island issues in their work bearing in mind that the Act would allow for ICIAs, to potentially be applied retrospectively, where appropriate.

Question reference: S5O-02714

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 December 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the in-work conditionality aspect of universal credit.

Question reference: S5T-01362

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 November 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Prime Minister’s reported position that the proposed Brexit deal ensures that the UK will be an independent coastal state with full control over its waters.

Question reference: S5O-02625

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 November 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government to what extent the UK Government has consulted with it regarding the draft agreement on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU.

Question reference: S5W-19781

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 14 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications for crisis grants in the last 12 months were due to delays in benefits payments.

Question reference: S5W-19782

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 14 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many crisis grant (a) applications and (b) awards there have been in the last quarter, broken down by local authority; what the average grant was, and how many applications were due to delays in benefits payments.

Crisis grant statistics for the latest quarter, broken down by local authority, are available in "Scottish Welfare Fund statistics: update to 30 June 2018", published at https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Social-Welfare/swf.

Figures for applications are presented in Table 3, awards and average award value in Table 15, and reasons for applications including 'Other - delay in payment of benefits' in Table 7.

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