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-18283

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made regarding the delivery of the Ayrshire Growth Deal.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to the Ayrshire Growth Deal. Tripartite discussions commenced in April, shortly after the UK Government announced their commitment to the Deal.

Scottish Government officials convened a series of policy engagement workshops in June, bringing in UK Government representatives, which provided detailed feedback to the Ayrshire regional partners on their proposals.

Ayrshire partners are now undertaking a process of refinement and prioritisation of their project proposals and we continue to support them in doing this. We are keen to make progress towards agreeing a Heads of Terms as soon as possible, and I met with the three Council Leaders and Chief Executives at the end of August to discuss their ambitions and offer our continued support.

Question reference: S5O-02319

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 August 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in the last year in establishing a west of Scotland specialist unit for the treatment of endometriosis.

Question reference: S5W-18231

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 August 2018
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the delivery of the two new vessels being built by Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd for operation on the Clyde and Hebrides ferry network.

Question reference: S5W-17773

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 July 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 31 July 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding how the AI Sector Deal will benefit Scotland.

The Scottish Government was only consulted by the UK Government on the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Sector Deal shortly before it was published and a number of relatively small changes were made as a result to reflect Scotland's strengths in AI and data. We continue to press the UK Government for earlier and more meaningful engagement in all sector deals.

Officials and stakeholders met with officials from the recently established UK Office of AI on 5 July 2018 to ensure that Scotland's research and industry strengths in AI were fully recognised and to press the case for greater involvement in the delivery of the Sector Deal and the Industrial Strategy Grand Challenge on AI and Data.

Question reference: S5W-17606

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 July 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 30 July 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether companies bidding for public contracts a legally obliged to provide truthful information in bid submissions and, if so, what legal action a company and its directors should face if they do not.

Question reference: S5W-17608

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 July 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 30 July 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is illegal for a company bidding for a public contract to use the accounts of an unrelated company, without that company's permission, as part of its bid submission.

A company must be excluded from bidding for public contracts if it, or any person that has powers of representation, decision or control in relation to that company has been convicted of one of the offences set out in the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015. A public body may also exclude a company which has been found guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information required for the selection stage of a tendering exercise.

Businesses bidding for public contracts must submit a European Single Procurement Document response as part of the selection process and provide a public body with evidence for the fulfilment of the selection criteria when requested. Where a bidder relies on the capacity of another entity to meet selection criteria, including in respect of financial and economic standing, that entity must also submit a separate European Single Procurement Document response and provide evidence when requested.

Where a company wants to rely upon the capacities of other entities, it must prove to the public body that it will have at its disposal the resources necessary, for example by producing a commitment by those entities to that effect.

Whether there are other legal consequences or implications regarding a bidding process would depend on the specific contract and the facts and circumstances applicable to that case.

Question reference: S5W-17610

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 July 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 30 July 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is illegal for a company bidding for a public contract to give the names of professionals in related industries and academia as referees without their permission as part of its bid submission.

Businesses bidding for public contracts must submit a European Single Procurement Document (ESPD) response as part of the selection process and provide a public body with evidence for the fulfilment of the selection criteria when requested. The ESPD requires bidders to sign a declaration that the information provided is accurate and correct.

Whether there are other legal consequences or implications regarding a bidding process would depend on the specific contract and the facts and circumstances applicable to that case.

Question reference: S5W-17609

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 July 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 30 July 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is illegal for a company bidding for a public contract to use insurance documents from an unrelated company, without that company's permission, as part of its bid submission.

A public body may exclude a company which has been found guilty of serious misrepresentation in supplying the information required for the selection stage of a tendering exercise.

A public body must exclude from a procurement process, any bidder which has been convicted of one of the offences contained in the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.

Whether there are other legal consequences or implications regarding a bidding process would depend on the specific contract and the facts and circumstances applicable to that case.

Question reference: S5W-17607

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 July 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 30 July 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is illegal for a company bidding for a public contract to misrepresent its status and structure by falsely claiming to be a subsidiary of a major overseas corporation.

Under procurement legislation, companies that have been found to have misrepresented information as part of a procurement exercise can be excluded from further procurement exercises in circumstances which are specified in the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.

Whether there are other legal consequences or implications regarding a bidding process would depend on the specific contract and the facts and circumstances applicable to that case.

Question reference: S5W-17573

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 July 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 20 July 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in the NHS Ayrshire and Arran board area were attended to at accident and emergency departments and how many of those waited less than four 4 hours from arrival to admission, discharge or transfer for accident and emergency treatment in each year since 2006-07.

The following table shows the number of attendances at Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments in NHS Ayrshire and Arran and of those, how many spent four hours or less in the department from time of arrival to admission, discharge or transfer since July 2007. This information is published by ISD and can be found here , however for ease of reference the data have been extracted below.

Financial Year Ending	Number Of Attendances	Number in A&E 4 hours or less
31-03-2008*	81,226	79,420
31-03-2009	110,836	108,657
31-03-2010	113,133	111,032
31-03-2011	116,088	112,615
31-03-2012	119,537	114,645
31-03-2013	120,953	110,899
31-03-2014	120,621	111,738
31-03-2015	123,030	112,653
31-03-2016	123,389	113,486
31-03-2017	118,995	110,726
31-03-2018	113,839	106,684
* Data from July 2007.