Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-19331

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list the data-sharing requirements that it lodged with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on 14 September 2018, and what timescale it has set to implement a data-sharing agreement between the DWP and the Scottish Fiscal Commission to allow the commission to produce the fiscal forecasts required for all devolved benefits.

There is a Memorandum of Understanding between the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions, which covers joint working arrangements for the implementation of devolved provisions in the Scotland Act 2016 relating to Social Security and Employment Support Services in Scotland. This was published in October 2016, and sets out the data-sharing protocols between both parties. The Scottish Government continues to support the Scottish Fiscal Commission, acting as facilitator between it and the Department for Work and Pensions in regards to their data-sharing needs.

However, as the Scottish Fiscal Commission is an independent body, it is not appropriate for Scottish Ministers to comment on behalf of the Scottish Fiscal Commission with regard to their data-sharing requirements.

Question reference: S5W-18936

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 2 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to include the Grace Kelly Ladybird Trust's childhood cancer signs and symptoms awareness card as part of the Personal Child Health Record.

Question reference: S5O-02347

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 12 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to pay out in full all claims for CAP Pillar 2 support for 2017-18.

Question reference: S5O-02208

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what support it gives to school leavers regarding the transition to further education, training and work.

Question reference: S5W-16882

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 5 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what regulations are in place that relate to requirements for changing places lavatories.

There is currently no regulatory requirement for the provision of Changing Places Toilets (CPTs) in new buildings.

I have, however, met with PAMIS (Promoting a More Inclusive Society) and I intend to introduce CPTs into certain types of new large buildings through the Scottish building regulations.

Building types being considered are:

Large enclosed shopping centres greater than 30,000sq.m;

Hospitals;

Leisure centres – particularly swimming pools;

Large stadia and arenas; and

Schools – creating a space for future proofing purposes.

Development of this policy will take around 2 to 2.5 years.

Question reference: S5O-02164

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce plastic pollution in the Firth of Forth.

Question reference: S5W-16543

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 22 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding is directed to men’s groups that are working on domestic abuse issues, and which groups these are.

The Scottish Government recognises that domestic abuse is an abuse of human rights, and is committed to preventing and eradicating it in Scotland. All survivors of domestic abuse deserve access to support.

In terms of funding for supporting survivors, we provide nearly £85,000 ‎(over 2017-2020) to run the Respect Helpline, which signposts male survivors of domestic abuse to support services, over £3 million to ASSIST (over 2017-2020) to provide advocacy support to male survivors of domestic abuse in the Lothians, and £360,000 (2017-18) to the Scottish Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline to support victims and survivors.

We also provide £180,000 (over 2017-2020) to White Ribbon Scotland to encourage men to challenge gender based violence in all its forms.

In terms of work with perpetrators, we have provided over £2 million (2017-18) to support the innovative Caledonian System. This allocation includes £1.3 million for local authorities to deliver the men’s programme, the remainder supporting the women and children’s service. We recently announced a further £2.8 million to support the Caledonian System’s expansion into additional local authorities. We also provide nearly £250,000 (over 2017-2020) to Respekt, a domestic abuse project in Edinburgh.

Question reference: S5O-02142

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the accessibility and increase the availability of properties of all tenure types that are suitable for disabled people.

Question reference: S5W-16396

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many times in each of the last 12 months ScotRail services between Edinburgh and Musselburgh have been (a) delayed, (b) cancelled and (c) terminated before reaching (i) Edinburgh or (ii) Musselburgh.

Our franchise agreement does not obligate the franchisee to provide the information in the format requested by the member.

ScotRail provides my officials at Transport Scotland with statistical information on the public performance measurement (PPM), which is used in the railway system in Great Britain to provide a consistent and comparable assessment of performance. The PPM measure counts all trains planned to run, which run and arrive within five minutes of their scheduled arrival time. Trains which are cancelled, either in full or in part, or which do not stop at stations at which they are meant to stop, are counted against this measure.

Performance information for ScotRail is available on-line, at the ORR Data Portal (Table 3.18). An on-line link to this table can be found here:

http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/5b6fbf8a-7fab-469e-9855-6c6cb4ff67dc

It includes ScotRail’s PPM information by operating sector and overall, on both a by-period and a moving-annual-average basis.

Also, ScotRail publishes quite detailed information for each four week period on by-station and by-sector PPM. This information is published at stations, and is also available on-line, at this URL: https://www.scotrail.co.uk/performance-and-reliability

Question reference: S5O-02009

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 April 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Creative Scotland regarding the appointment of the head of the new Screen Unit.

Tell us your views

Seòmar agus comataidhean