Questions and answers

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 ��˿�� 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-21648

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 13 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it offers to schools to increase cultural participation among children and young people.

The Scottish Government supports cultural participation among children and young people in many different ways.

Our long-standing investment of £118 million since 2007 in the Youth Music Initiative has made a huge impact, helping young people in all 32 local authorities access music making opportunities and helping ensure every pupil is offered a year's free music tuition by the end of primary school. In 2016-17 it provided music-making opportunities for over 244,000 young people in and out of school.

We are providing £2.5 million to Sistema Scotland, as part of a four-year funding package, helping engage over 2,500 young people every week in schools in Stirling, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee.

We are also investing £22.5 million in our National Performing Companies this year whose performances and educational outreach programmes continue to be of the highest quality and retain a wide national reach across our communities. For instance, Theatre in Schools Scotland, produced by Imaginate and the National Theatre of Scotland, continues to bring world-class theatre and dance for children and young people to Scotland’s schools and nurseries in 2019.

The Scottish Government has also supported the Edinburgh Festivals with over £21m since 2008 through the EXPO fund, and last year opened the fund to Celtic Connections and Glasgow International in Glasgow. In addition between 2018 and 2023 we are investing an additional £5 million via the Platform for Excellence Programme – both will provide young people with opportunities to both attend and participate in cultural events, as well as to engage with culture in their schools.

Creative Scotland also work with a range of partners to ensure young people have the opportunity to participate in culture.

Question reference: S5W-21470

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 6 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider changing legislation to ensure that smoking will become prohibited around children’s playgrounds, outdoor sports facilities and play parks.

Question reference: S5W-21647

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase cultural participation among children and young people.

Through the Youth Music Initiative, Cashback for Creativity programme and funding for Sistema Scotland we are enabling young people all over Scotland to take part in culture. The Cultural Youth Experience Fund will also help more young people to engage with culture.

Creative Scotland continue to work with a range of partners to ensure young people have the opportunity to engage in cultural activity. The National Collections and National Performing Companies also undertake significant education programmes which support cultural engagement in schools, this includes free entry for school groups to National Museums sites and free guided tours for school groups at the National Galleries of Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-21471

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 6 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with children’s health charities and other organisations regarding the effects of passive smoking around children’s playgrounds, outdoor sports facilities and play parks.

Question reference: S5W-21766

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 5 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what strategy it has for the National Archives of Scotland.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) is the non-ministerial office of the Scottish Government which is the nation's record keeper and official source of demographic statistics. As the official national archive, NRS are guardians of over 800 years of irreplaceable national documents, conserving and managing more than 80 kilometres of records, spanning the 12th to the 21st centuries and touching on virtually every aspect of Scottish life. Key delivery priorities for 2018-19 included:

Continuing to deliver high quality public services to our customers to ensure access to this public archive
Investing in our archive functions to ensure they are fit for the 21st century
Investing in digital through the delivery of our digital preservation priorities
Engaging in a collaborative project to take forward long term storage options
Continuing to engage with and support the archive sector across Scotland

NRS is currently working on a forward business strategy for the organisation and will be engaging stakeholders, customers, and staff in its development in the coming months.

Question reference: S5F-03124

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 March 2019

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to help people who have bipolar disorder.

Question reference: S5W-21649

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to create the role of Cultural Ambassador for Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-21443

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 February 2019
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how the submissions that have been made to its National Discussion on Transient Visitor (Tourist) Taxes in Scotland will inform its plan to legislate for a transient visitor levy.

Our national discussion on the tourism tax ran from 23 November to 25 January. We undertook to publish anonymised readouts of the roundtable discussion sessions and the written evidence received, where correspondents have given us permission to do so.

The national discussion drew out important issues and concerns which will need to be considered through the upcoming formal consultation. That formal consultation will be taken forward in 2019, in a manner consistent with the Scottish Government’s approach to tax policy formulation and normal consultation for a bill.

Question reference: S5W-21469

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 21 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to conducting an assessment of the impact of passive smoking around children’s playgrounds, outdoor sports facilities and play parks.

Scotland has already led the way on assessments into the potential impact of passive smoking around children’s playgrounds, outdoor sports facilities and play parks. Evidence shows that the risks from second hand smoke are low but the visibility of smoking is likely to influence children’s behaviour and lead to harm in the longer term.

The Scottish Health Survey reports that exposure to second hand smoke among children and young people continues to decline as smoking around young people becomes less socially acceptable.

Question reference: S5W-21320

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 18 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the retrofitting of changing places toilets in public buildings.

Disabled people continue to experience inequality and so cannot enjoy their rights on an equal basis to others. Creating a fairer and more equal society is a priority for this government.

This is why the Scottish Government is consulting on proposals for the introduction of a requirement for changing places toilets in certain types of larger new buildings, with the intent of introducing any requirements in late 2019.

The Scottish Government strongly encourages owners of existing public buildings to consider what could be done to support access to their buildings for all users - particularly regarding installing changing places toilets.

To increase the number of CPTs, officials continue to work very closely with PAMIS ( Promoting A More Inclusive Society ) and key stakeholders focussing on areas in Scotland where there are no CPTs or limited numbers. Information and locations can be found at: