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-25970

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff are employed by Scottish Canals, broken down by salary banding.

Question reference: S5W-25969

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether Scottish Canals has a risk register for residential properties in its portfolio that require substantial upgrading or repair.

Question reference: S5W-25965

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many residential properties are owned by Scottish Canals, and where they are located.

Question reference: S5W-25968

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether any residential properties owned by Scottish Canals and leased out to tenants are considered to be below tolerable standard.

Question reference: S5W-25966

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether residential properties owned by Scottish Canals meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard and, if not, for what reason.

Question reference: S5W-25967

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many residential properties owned by Scottish Canals have been sold in each year since its inception, broken down by (a) location and (b) income received.

Question reference: S5W-25963

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) capital and (b) revenue budget for housing maintenance and repair has been for Scottish Canals in each year since its inception.

Question reference: S5W-25964

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many residential properties were owned by British Waterways in Scotland in each of the last five years of its operation, and where they were located.

Question reference: S5W-26078

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 15 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25552 by Derek Mackay on 8 October 2019, how this approach represents additionality over the current arrangements, and what its position regarding whether this could have been achieved by using the Scottish Investment Bank.

Question reference: S5W-26077

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 15 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25551 by Derek Mackay on 8 October 2019, in light of the cabinet secretary's comments regarding the experience, efficacy and impact of the existing financial transaction funding arrangements, for what reason the Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB) is being established, and what consideration it gave to (a) using the existing Scottish Investment Bank and (b) carrying a specific review of the current arrangements before making the decision to establish the SNIB.

I wrote to the Convener of the Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee [recently]. Included below is text from that letter.

The Council of Economic Advisors (discussed at the Committee’s January 2017 meeting), drawing on work by the New Economics Foundation and Common Weal, firmly established the value of creating a mission based development bank specifically aligned to Scottish Government policy. The Implementation Plan for the Bank addressed a range of considerations, including the provision of existing arrangements, and identifying specific priorities around provision of patient capital; scale up finance (£2m-£10m approx.); the availability of SME finance; and delivery of crucial transformative, mission-oriented project finance.

Detailed work documented in the Implementation Plan supporting analysis determined that the most effective way to maximise the Bank’s impact across early stage equity, growth capital and mission-based finance was to create a new institution with the scale and capacity to deliver this significant remit, whilst building on the positive foundations laid by SIB in the early stage risk capital market, and on other public investment activities.

This approach will consolidate existing activity within the Scottish National Investment Bank and simplify access to support, advice and finance, whilst continuing to build on skills and experience already successfully developed in Scotland.

As the Implementation Plan set out this: “will also ensure the efficiency of public sector activity in this area through enabling the Bank to best direct its capital across the existing financing activity and new activities, utilising existing channels to market and investor relationships”. This wider focus is crucial to the Bank’s mission-oriented approach to tackling societal challenges. It has been announced that responding to the Climate Emergency will be the and the Bank’s primary mission to support Scotland’s transition to net zero by 2045.

The scale of the activity that is envisaged to be carried out by the Bank will be supported by seeking a dispensation from HM Treasury so that the Bank can have flexibility to manage, retain and carry-forward cash balances over financial year-ends. Furthermore, in time the Scottish National Investment Bank could seek to attain self-financing public financial corporation status. This would enable it to raise finance externally without impacting on Scottish Government budgets, and thereby increase the amount of funds available for investment in the economy. This option is not available under current public investment activities delivered by the Scottish Government or its agencies.

Grade	Minimum	Maximum	Total Staff in Post
Red	17,458	17,458	86.8
Orange	17,459	22,722	96.0
Yellow	19,732	27,857	34.0
Green	25,024	35,328	34.0
Blue	32,441	45,799	18.0
Indigo	42,282	59,692	12.0
Violet	52,799	75,540	This figure is merged with Indigo for disclosure control purposes
Pink	68,103	96,145	3.0