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-16587

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 29 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns of EU citizens that they will lose their right to vote in local government and Scottish Parliament elections and referenda following Brexit.

Scottish Ministers have been clear that the rights of EU citizens to vote in elections in Scotland should be protected after Brexit. It is right that people who make their lives here and contribute to society should have the right to vote, wherever they are from.

The Scottish Government has recently consulted on extending the opportunity to vote in Scotland to all those who are legally resident here, whatever their place of birth.

Question reference: S5O-02160

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the environmental impact is of using wholly-recycled retread lorry tyres compared with new ones.

Question reference: S5W-16502

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 21 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how much will be invested in the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme in North Ayrshire, from its inception to completion, by each partner in each year up to 2021.

The management of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme is done at contract level so we do not break down programme expenditure by individual local authority area or assign it across the various funding partners. The funding is split across both contracts as per the following table, with North Ayrshire falling within both.

Funder	RoS (m)	H&I (m)	TOTAL (m)
BDUK	50	50.8	100.8
Scottish Public Sector	89.3	75.6	164.9
European Union (ERDF)	12	-	12
BT Capital	53.7	6.4	60.1
BT Operational Costs	53	13	66
Total	258	145.8	403.8

All local authorities in Scotland have contributed approximately £40 million in total to the DSSB programme. In addition, 14 local authorities contributed approximately £51 million in additional funding in order to meet their local needs, with North Ayrshire contributing £1.1 million for their own local priorities.

Question reference: S5W-16537

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 17 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided in each year since 1999 to support the building of council (a) houses and (b) flats in North Ayrshire, broken down by the number of units that this has helped build.

The Scottish Government Council House Build Programme was introduced in April 2009, the aim being to incentivise local authorities to build new homes. This was the first such central government support to councils in a generation.

The following table shows the funding provided to North Ayrshire through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) for council house building, together with the number of completed council homes since 2009-10.

Please note that expenditure cannot be directly correlated to the number of completions in a particular year as expenditure can span more than one financial year.

We are not able to break down the number of completed homes by (a) houses and (b) flats as our information is not held in this way:

Financial Year	Funding provided through the AHSP £m	Number of completed council homes
2009-10	0	0
2010-11	0.575	23
2011-12	1.070	40
2012-13	0.929	0
2013-14	1.827	12
2014-15	3.756	121
2015-16	1.613	24
2016-17	6.255	24
Total	16.025	244

Expenditure and units in respect of 2017-18 have not been published as yet.

Question reference: S5W-16538

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 17 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it (a) is providing in 2018-19 and (b) plans to provide in each of the next five years to support the building of council (i) houses and (ii) flats in North Ayrshire, broken down by the number of units that it expects this to help build.

The Scottish Government has Resource Planning Assumptions (RPAs) for councils across Scotland for the three years to March 2021 providing councils with the certainty they need to allow them to put future plans in place to meet the housing priorities in their areas. The following table provides details of this allocation for North Ayrshire which will help fund a range of affordable housing including council house building:

North Ayrshire RPA	£m
2018-19	14.165
2019-20	15.003
2020-21	16.007

North Ayrshire Council uses these planning assumptions to develop its strategic priorities as set out in their Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP). It is therefore a matter for the council to determine through their own strategic processes the number and mix of house types in future years.

North Ayrshire Council’s published SHIP for 2018-2023 estimates that it will deliver 872 council homes in the period up to 2023 as illustrated in the following table. The SHIP does not detail the breakdown of flats and houses.

North Ayrshire Council	Planned Council House Unit Completions
2018-19	158
2019-20	106
2020-21	437
2021-22	165
2022-23	6
Total	872

Question reference: S5W-16469

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many hospital acquired infections of (a) MRSA and (b) C. difficile there were in Ayrshire in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) the last year for which figures are available, also broken down by the number of deaths that resulted from these infections.

Health Protection Scotland has reported data on both healthcare associated infections and community associated infections since June 2017. Data for clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and Staphylococcus aureusbacteraemia (SAB) are part of a suite of measures published on a quarterly basis. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-susceptibleStaphylococcus aureus (MSSA) are not reported on individually, but are part of the overall SAB data.

Data published from 2006-2007 includes summary data for CDI and SAB by NHS Board and does not show if these were healthcare or community associated infections. More information is available from Health Protection Scotland on request. The most recent quarterly report, published in April 2018, can be found on the Health Protection Scotland website through the following link: http://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/haiic/sshaip/publications.aspx .

Mortality resulting from MRSA and CDI is not reported routinely by Health Protection Scotland or individual NHS Boards.

Question reference: S5W-16503

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 15 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-02041 by John Swinney on 2 May 2018, what its position is on whether Scotland’s contribution to intellectual thought has been fully recognised, and whether it will ensure that Arthur Herman’s How the Scots Invented the Modern World is added to the school curriculum.

Scotland’s contribution to intellectual thought, in areas such as economics, geology, science, engineering, philosophy and literature - is well recognised here and throughout the world. The Curriculum for Excellence provides opportunities for young people in Scotland to learn about Scotland’s varied contribution and Scotland’s place in the world, across all curricular themes. Scottish history is also part of Curriculum for Excellence from the early stages of primary school right into the senior phase. The Scottish Government does not prescribe which texts should be covered in schools for certain subjects. The current advice provides teachers with a broad framework which allows them to deliver learning and teaching in the best interest of individual learners. Teachers can, of course, include any texts that they feel will provide appropriate learning and there are many books available, including Arthur Heman’s, which discuss Scotland’s impressive contribution.

Question reference: S5O-02085

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 10 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has undertaken a cost-benefit analysis regarding the provision of a year-round, two-ferry service between Ardrossan and Brodick.

The Scottish Government conducted high-level cost-benefit analysis of various options for the Ardrossan – Brodick ferry service, as we did for all routes, a number of years ago while developing the Ferries Plan 2013-22.

The final Ferries Plan stated that the delivery of a new vessel will provide the opportunity for a 2-vessel year-round service, with the prospect for an augmented Ardrossan – Brodick service and Campbeltown service in the winter.

The Ferries Plan noted that the correct level of frequency would require to be established. Transport Scotland and CalMac have begun initial high-level exploration of potential future service levels. Further analysis of demand, costs and benefits will be required prior any decisions.

Question reference: S5O-02041

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 2 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how the education system is informed by the Scottish Enlightenment.

The concept of a broad, general education, committed to excellence and equity and founded on a core set of values are key features of Scotland’s education system today that were informed by the Scottish Enlightenment. The values of wisdom, justice, compassion and integrity, upon which the Curriculum for Excellence is based, aim to encourage all children and young people to approach their education with an open and inquiring mind, and - in keeping with the spirit of the Enlightenment - with a view to their wider contribution to society.

Question reference: S5W-15893

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 1 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses in each local authority area will be exempt from business rates in 2018-19.

The following table shows the number of properties on the valuation roll for the most recent year that data is held (2015-16) that paid no business rates, for example because they were in in receipt of 100% rates relief.

This figure excludes premises that may have qualified for new 100% reliefs introduced since this time, including Day Nursery Relief and the Business Growth Accelerator.

Number of properties on the valuation roll (at October 2016) that were exempt from paying business rates

Local Authority	Number of properties	Local Authority	Number of properties
Aberdeen City	2,684	Highland	11,202
Aberdeenshire	7,404	Inverclyde	1,226
Angus	3,046	Midlothian	1,373
Argyll & Bute	5,439	Moray	2,857
Clackmannanshire	848	North Ayrshire	2,917
Dumfries & Galloway	6,031	North Lanarkshire	4,432
Dundee City	2,826	Orkney Islands	1,553
East Ayrshire	2,143	Perth & Kinross	4,970
East Dunbartonshire	1,093	Renfrewshire	3,038
East Lothian	2,018	Scottish Borders	4,787
East Renfrewshire	885	Shetland Islands	1,292
Edinburgh, City of	8,291	South Ayrshire	2,576
Eilean Siar	1,693	South Lanarkshire	4,287
Falkirk	2,426	Stirling	2,868
Fife	7,078	West Dunbartonshire	1,277
Glasgow City	12,388	West Lothian	2,572
		Total	119,520

Note – Estimates include over 7,000 properties on the roll that did not pay rates because their rateable value was £0 at the time.

Other properties qualify through 100% relief schemes. Data is the most recent available.