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: S4F-01398

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 May 2013

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the claims in the Treasury analysis paper regarding an independent Scotland's ability to provide protection for savers and pensioners.

Question reference: S4O-02142

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria are used when selecting set Scottish texts for the new national qualifications for English.

Question reference: S4O-02129

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what improvements have been made to dental services in NHS Ayrshire and Arran since May 2007.

Question reference: S4W-14615

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2013
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by John Swinney on 2 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it will (a) allocate the financial transactions' Barnett consequentials that it has been allocated and (b) manage the £54.8 million reduction in its 2013-14 resource DEL budget arising from the 2013 UK Budget.

The UK Budget 2013 and the UK Government’s Help to Buy initiative have generated financial transactions consequentials for Scotland of £109 million in 2013-14 and £157.5 million in 2014-15. There are also financial transactions consequentials of £24.3 million available in 2014-15 as a result of the UK Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012. All of these financial transactions consequentials are only available to the Scottish Government to support loans and equity investment, with a requirement to repay funding to the Exchequer in future years. This is not normal capital expenditure which can be allocated to directly support the social housing sector.

I can confirm to Parliament that the Scottish Government will allocate all of these financial transactions consequentials, amounting to £290.8 million over two years, to measures that will provide substantial further support to the housing sector. As part of this approach, I can confirm that the Scottish Government will allocate significant additional funding to support shared equity schemes in Scotland.

The Scottish Government will work with stakeholders to determine arrangements for the operation of these schemes, ahead of a further announcement in the course of May.

In addition, I confirm to Parliament that funding for the sector will be further boosted by the allocation of an additional £20 million capital grant funding for the affordable housing supply programme in 2014-15. This will be funded through available Capital DEL consequentials, generated by the Autumn Statement 2012 but not yet allocated by the Scottish Government.

Finally, I confirm to Parliament that the Scottish Government will minimise the impact of the £54.8 million reduction in its 2013-14 Resource DEL budget on frontline public services and public sector employment in Scotland, by adopting the following approach.

Under existing spending plans for 2013-14, £12 million of loans finance that is being made available through the Warm Homes Fund and open market shared equity scheme is being supported through the Scottish Government’s Capital DEL budget. The allocation of financial transaction consequentials to these schemes will enable the Government to reduce the level of planned switch between Resource and Capital budgets in the Housing portfolio by £12 million.

I will utilise £10 million of Barnett consequentials received in the UK Autumn Statement 2012. I had intended utilising this sum to boost college funds but I have been able to provide for this through an allocation to the Scottish Funding Council of emerging 2012-13 underspend to the college sector in academic year 2013-14.

I can also confirm to Parliament that, as a result of the reform of police and fire services, the Scottish Government will gain access in 2013-14 to a share of accumulated police reserves estimated to amount to between £20 and £30 million, which will accrue to the Scottish Government Resource DEL Budget.

Between them, these three steps will almost fully offset the cut that has been made in the Scottish Government Resource DEL budget in 2013-14, without detriment to existing programmes and spending plans.

Adjustments to budgets will be given effect in the normal way through in-year budget revisions.

I also confirm that local government has not been required to make any contribution to the reduction in the budget that we have faced.

Question reference: S4O-02069

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the statement in the Electoral Commission advice on spending limits for the referendum on independence for Scotland that “It is clearly important that the campaign rules should not encourage perceptions of unfairness that could damage voters’ trust in the referendum process or result.”

Question reference: S4W-13981

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 23 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what systems are in place to monitor the private health sector to ensure that operations in private hospitals are carried out (a) safely and (b) to a high standard.

The Healthcare Environment Inspectorate is currently undertaking a series of inspections of private healthcare providers and this includes private hospitals who undertake surgical procedures. Independent Healthcare providers are inspected against a number of quality themes and this includes the quality of care and support and how the service provider meets the needs of the individual in its care.

Question reference: S4W-14379

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 April 2013
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by John Swinney on 23 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what payments it has made to HM Revenue and Customs in relation to implementing the financial provisions of the Scotland Act 2012.

Question reference: S4T-00296

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 March 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to assist people without power in Arran, Kintyre and elsewhere following the recent severe weather.

Question reference: S4W-13307

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 20 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the possibility of Scotland’s European Structural Funds budget being reduced as a result of a new allocation formula.

The Scottish Government is particularly concerned with recent reports that Structural Funds allocations for Scotland may drop significantly more than in other parts of the UK.

We had anticipated that Structural Fund budgets would decline for Scotland, and stakeholders had reached similar assessments. However recent calculations by UK Government officials following the EU Budget negotiations suggest that Scotland faces a disproportionate drop.

These funds support jobs, growth and economic investment and the Scottish Government is pursuing a fairer allocation of Structural Funds with the UK Government and the Welsh and Northern Ireland administrations.

Question reference: S4W-13610

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how an independent Scotland’s per capita GDP would compare with that of other countries.

Estimates of Scotland's International Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per Capita ranking in 2011 were published on 11 March 2013 and are available at;

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Economy/Publications/GDP-Per-Capita

When an illustrative geographic share of North Sea (extra region) output is included in Scottish GDP, it is estimated that Scotland would be ranked 8th against the 34 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries, with regards to GDP per capita in 2011.