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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 8823 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S5W-05000

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the withdrawal of Scottish Enterprise from its satellite office in Paisley; whether it was consulted in advance about this decision, and whether Scottish Enterprise plans other office closures.

SE has a specific remit to support economic growth across Scotland and part of that requires that they periodically review their property portfolio to ensure that this continues support their operations.

While the current SE office will close in 2017 that does not mean that SE’s presence in Paisley will end. SE is consulting with staff and is investigating the full range of options available to it to maintain presence in Paisley. Arrangements will be put in place before its current Paisley office closes ensuring continuity of delivery of services without effect or detriment.

Question reference: S5W-05152

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 8 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the annual outturn has been for its Opportunities for All initiative, and how many people have received support from it each year.

Question reference: S5W-04848

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 7 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) companies in Scotland are signatories to the Prompt Payment Code (PPC) and (b) signatories there have been in each year since the PPC was introduced.

The Prompt Payment Code is administered by the Chartered Institute of Credit Management on behalf of the UK Government. The voluntary Code covers businesses throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK. The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested, but Code signatories and details of the Code standards can be found here: http://www.promptpaymentcode.org.uk/

The Scottish Parliament approved a legislative consent motion earlier this year
(9 February 2016) to extend the provisions of the UK-wide Small Business Commissioner to businesses in Scotland. The Commissioner will aim to offer small businesses access to a simpler and more cost-effective route to redress the challenges of contractual late payment. We continue to work with the UK government to develop the Small Business Commissioner’s function and ensure it meets the needs of businesses in Scotland.

In addition, the Scottish Government encourages individual companies to change their approach and practices – through, for example, the Scottish Business Pledge which remains focused on boosting business success, growth and productivity and is an important part of the Scottish Government’s approach to working with business to make Scotland a more productive and fairer country.

Question reference: S5W-04853

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 6 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the number of businesses that have been bankrupted as a result of the late payment of invoices in each year since 2011.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The Accountant in Bankruptcy has a statutory function to maintain a Register of Insolvencies that contains particulars of those subject to personal insolvency proceedings and business associations subject to receivership and winding up procedures in Scotland. Information concerning the particular reason for a business insolvency is not collected or recorded. Corporate insolvency procedures in relation to Administration and Company Voluntary Arrangement are reserved to UK Government and information regarding Scottish companies subject to these procedures is recorded on Companies House web-site. While I recognise the value in having greater insight into the reasons underlying and insolvency, and sympathise with the member's interests in driving out bad practice, it is unfortunately not currently possible to extract the reasons for insolvency from the information available on the Companies House web-site to inform our understanding of the impact of late payments.

Question reference: S5W-04855

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 6 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of late payments of bills on businesses.

The Scottish Government is aware of a range of survey evidence on the issue of late payment. For example, the Small Business Survey Scotland (SBS) 2015 did not quantify the impact of late payment in financial terms, but found that late payment seemed to be less of an issue for medium-sized businesses (47 per cent reported ‘no problem’), while micro businesses seemed to experience the greatest problems (although 33 per cent reported ‘no problem’). The survey also found that late payment was in the median of top ten obstacles to business success.

The Scottish Government takes the issue of late payment very seriously. It is being actively tackled through legislation, policy and practice. The current legislation aims to create an environment where paying on time is the norm in the business community. Paying (undisputed) invoices on time not only benefits all suppliers, but is ethical and fair.

Question reference: S5F-00608

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2016

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the recent growth forecast by the EY Scottish ITEM Club.

Question reference: S5W-04849

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 5 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of suppliers to each (a) of its directorates, (b) of its agencies and (c) non-departmental public body is a signatory to the Prompt Payment Code.

The Scottish Government does not hold centrally records of suppliers who are signatories to the prompt payment code for its Directorates, Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies. It is a standard condition of Scottish Government contracts that suppliers are paid within 30 days. Where relevant, it is also a standard condition that any sub-contract must contain a clause which requires payment of invoices to sub contractors within 30 days.

Question reference: S5W-04854

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 5 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of late payments in publicly-funded subcontract chains and the impact of these.

The Scottish Government does not hold details of every contract awarded by every public body in Scotland. We have taken steps, however, to reduce the impact of late payment in public contracts. In 2009, we introduced a standard clause into our contracts which requires valid invoices to be paid within 30 days of receipt at all stages of both the prime contract and sub-contract chain. We encourage other public bodies to adopt a similar clause.

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 requires contracting authorities to set out how they intend to ensure that payments down the sub-contract chain are made within 30 days of a valid invoice being presented.

We published guidance on the use of Project Bank Accounts (PBAs) in construction contracts in September 2016. PBAs ensure that payments for supply chain firms in both tiers immediately below the main contractor are made promptly and protected from upstream insolvency. Scottish Government bodies must include a PBA in tenders with an estimated value of at least £4.1m for building projects, or £10m for civil engineering projects. We encourage other public bodies to also use PBAs.

Question reference: S5O-00435

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it will set a new target to eradicate fuel poverty.

Question reference: S5W-04856

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to answer to question S5W-03759 by Paul Wheelhouse on 31 October 2016, whether it will publish the 44 performance measures for Scottish Enterprise.