Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-19980 on 29 November 2018. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government is committed to tackling the gender gap in enterprise through supporting the Scottish Framework and Action Plan for Women in Enterprise. As part of this, we have committed nearly £400,000 this year on projects to support and encourage greater levels of female entrepreneurship. For example, the Business Women Scotland Live Events programme and the Ambassador programme led by Women's Enterprise Scotland.

Since the Women in Enterprise Action Framework was launched in 2014 the proportion of women who are actively starting a business has risen significantly and the early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) rate has caught up with the UK average. The gender gap in people starting businesses has also reduced in Scotland – whereas in the rest of the UK it has increased. In Scotland the enterprise gender gap is now on par with other leading entrepreneurial nations like the US & Canada. We continue to work with partners through the Women in Enterprise Action Group to maintain and accelerate progress.

The Scottish Government is committed to helping more women-owned businesses to grow. As part of our support for the Scottish Framework and Action Plan for Women in Enterprise, we have committed nearly £400,000 this year on projects to support and encourage greater levels of female entrepreneurship. This includes continued support for Investing Women, which plays a key role in enabling women-led businesses to access high levels of finance. In their first two-and-a-half years’ of activity, Investing Women has backed 10 companies with £900K invested from their women angel members, and seen a total value of investments of over £10M. Through the Women in Enterprise Action Group we will continue to work closely with public and private partners to help more female owned or led businesses to succeed. More broadly we are delivering upon the outcomes of the Enterprise and Skills Review. This will ensure that the public enterprise support network in Scotland is responsive to the real needs of Scotland’s business base.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-19980 on 29 November 2018. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government uses information from the ONS Annual Population Survey (e.g. on self-employment) and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Small Business Survey, to monitor change in business ownership/leadership by gender. We have funded boosts, to the sample sizes for both these surveys, to improve the robustness of the results for Scotland.

We are committed to bringing forward proposals during the course of this Parliament to introduce a Compulsory Sales Order mechanism to help tackle the blight of abandoned buildings and small plots of land in our towns and communities.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days.

The Lord Advocate is responsible for the investigation of all sudden, suspicious and unexplained deaths which occur in Scotland. Where a death requires investigation, this is undertaken by COPFS on behalf of the Lord Advocate.

The Crown provides advice, support and direction to investigators from Police Scotland, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Local Authorities and other regulatory agencies throughout the course of an investigation.

The investigations led by COPFS into this incident are continuing under the direction of a Senior Advocate Depute. Incidents of this nature mean that detailed and lengthy investigations are required, often involving complex technical issues which require expert opinion.

A decision as to whether there should be a prosecution can be made only when the investigations are complete and final reports have been submitted by Police Scotland and others to the Crown. That stage has not yet been reached.

Officials continue to keep the families of the deceased updated in accordance with the Family Liaison Charter which the Lord Advocate laid before the Scottish Parliament in September 2016.