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: S6W-09447

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will take steps to ensure that the A737 Improvements at Beith scheme and future major roads projects that it commissions are progressed in a timely and efficient manner, including through the introduction of general timescales, in order to increase accountability and transparency in the way that Transport Scotland progresses and delivers such projects.

Question reference: S6W-09671

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Dorothy Bain on 5 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further information regarding the Lord Advocate’s reference to the Supreme Court on whether the question for a referendum on Scottish independence relates to reserved matters.

Question reference: S6O-01315

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 30 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made in developing Scotland’s biotechnology sector.

Scotland’s biotechnology sector is developing at a remarkable rate. In fact, last year the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre reported that we were on track to meet the targets in the 2019 National Plan for Industrial Biotechnology ahead of 2025.

As such, the final refresh of the National Plan, launched on 6 June 2022, increased the 2025 targets even further to: over 220 active companies, increasing associated turnover to £1.2 billion and over 4,000 direct employees in Industrial Biotechnology in Scotland.

The sector, and its strength, is also recognised in our National Strategy for Economic Transformation as a current and future key industry for Scotland, that will contribute to us delivering our Net Zero targets by 2045.

Question reference: S6W-08699

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 7 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact will be on Scotland of UK Government plans to cut the number of civil servants by 91,000.

There are around 25,000 Civil Servants who are part of the reserved Public Sector in Scotland [1] . The UK Government has not provided details on how their planned Civil Service reduction will affect their staff working in Scotland.

The UK Government’s plans to reduce Civil Service headcount will not have a direct impact on civil servants who serve the Scottish Government, as the responsibility lies with Scottish Ministers and the Permanent Secretary when it comes to determining our workforce size. We continually engage with our trade unions on matters impacting our workforce, in line with our partnership agreement, and remain committed to making the best and most efficient use of our resources.

The UK Government spending review in November 2021 sets out the multi-year funding envelopes for devolved administrations. The Scottish Government is continuing to plan on this basis. The UK Government reviews its spending plans at each fiscal event and amends UK Government department and devolved administration budgets accordingly.

[1] Source: Public Sector Employment In Scotland Statistics For 4th Quarter 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Question reference: S6O-01205

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its priorities are for the Clyde islands.

Question reference: S6F-01081

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 May 2022

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the report published last Friday, Owning the Future: A framework of regulations for decarbonising owner-occupied homes in Scotland, commissioned by the Existing Homes Alliance.

Question reference: S6W-07596

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 25 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it estimates the financial impact of fuel and energy price increases will be on the public sector in the financial year 2022-23.

A large proportion of Scottish Public Sector organisations benefit from buying their Gas, Electricity and Liquid Fuels through National Framework Agreements.

Scottish Procurement has a purchasing strategy that is overseen by a Risk Management Committee, with members from each of our main public sectors. This strategy enables gas and electricity to be purchased through our frameworks, up to 2½ years in advance of consumption. This purchasing strategy protects the public sector from the volatility of energy markets by purchasing energy over a long period to smooth out the highs and lows of pricing.

The wholesale cost of electricity has been fixed for 2022-2023, and public sector organisations will be paying 8.043 p/kWh, which is an increase from 4.9582 p/kWh in 2021-2022. As an illustration, if we were able to secure a fixed price for electricity today on the wholesale market for 2022-2023 it would be circa 33.9p/kWh, quadruple the price public sector organisations are paying under the Scottish Government agreement.

The wholesale cost of gas has been fixed for 2022-2023, and public sector organisations will be paying 5.2618 p/kWh, which is an increase from 1.5446 p/kWh in 2021-2022. As with electricity, if we were able to secure a fixed price for gas today on the wholesale market for 2022-2023 it would be circa 11 p/kWh, double the price public sector organisations are paying under the Scottish Government agreement.

Compared to 2021-22 framework rates, the projected increases for financial year 2022-2023 will be around 197% for Gas and 27.5% for Electricity (wholesale and pass though costs combined).

Whilst energy prices have increased, the financial impact on the public sector finances will depend on each organisation’s energy consumption.

For Liquid Fuels, while the delivery cost is fixed, the cost of the liquid fuels paid by the customer is based on the Platts Index, and is set on a weekly basis.

We have written to the UK Govt to urge them to tackle energy prices

Question reference: S6W-07214

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many deaths were attributed to hospital acquired infections in each year from 1999-2000 until the most recent year for which figures are available, broken down by NHS board.

Scottish Government does not centrally hold data for all hospital acquired infection deaths by Health Board, due to patient identifiable information.

2000 to 2020 data for registered deaths due to Clostridioides difficile infection and MRSA is available from National Records of Scotland (NRS) can be found here and here .

However, it should be noted that although publically available details also broken down by Health Board, the data does not make the distinction between hospital acquired or community acquired infection.

Question reference: S6W-07683

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Kate Forbes on 25 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide an update on progress regarding green freeports.

Following the statement by the Minister for Business , Trade, Tourism and Enterprise in February, I can confirm that the Green Freeports Prospectus for Scotland has now been published and the programme is open for applications. The Prospectus can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-freeports-in-scotland-bidding-prospectus .

Applicants must detail how they will meet the Green Freeports four key policy objectives: promoting regeneration and high quality job creation, including how fair work will be embedded across the Green Freeport; promoting decarbonisation and a just transition to a net zero economy; establishing global hubs for trade and investment; and fostering an innovative environment.

I look forward to receiving ambitious applications from across Scotland in advance of the 20 June deadline. Applications will be assessed jointly by the Scottish and UK Governments and winning bids will be selected jointly by Scottish and UK ministers with winners announced over the summer.

Question reference: S6W-07229

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many ferry sailings have been scheduled on the Ardrossan-Brodick ferry route in each year since 1999, and how many of these sailings did not take place due to (a) inclement weather, (b) mechanical breakdown and (c) other reasons, including COVID-19.

The number of scheduled sailings on the Ardrossan – Brodick route that did not take place in each year since 2007 is provided in the following table by contract year. Information prior to 1999 is not available and is not held by the operator, Calmac Ferries Limited.

Route Name: Ardrossan - Brodick
Contract Year	Scheduled Sailings	Cancelled Sailings	Cancelled sailings (weather)	Cancelled sailings (technical)	Cancelled sailings (COVID)	Cancelled sailings (OTHER)
CY 2007-08	4,166	171	164	7	0	0
CY 2008-09	4,146	154	133	15	0	6
CY 2009-10	3,991	86	77	4	0	5
CY 2010-11	3,916	106	100	4	0	2
CY 2011-12	3,831	170	157	11	0	2
CY 2012-13	4,672	130	114	16	0	0
CY 2013-14	4,695	204	176	21	0	7
CY 2014-15	4,708	308	227	61	0	20
CY 2015-16	4,748	336	222	110	0	4
CY 2016-17	4,860	252	123	122	0	7
CY 2017-18	4,773	327	109	212	0	6
CY 2018-19	4,928	310	234	30	0	46
CY 2019-20	3,686	494	413	36	0	45
CY 2020-21	4,820	702	324	43	67	268
CY 2021-22*	1,532	364	269	5	90	0

Data up to and including February 2022

To note:

Due to Covid-19 an emergency timetable was in place between March 2020 and 25th October 2020, all disruption against the original timetable was classed as "other" (Covid-19).