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-24068

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 28 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 11 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the proposed management buy-out at the Stoneywood paper mill in Aberdeen.

When Arjo Wiggins entered administration, following meetings on site, I established a Common Purpose Group, led by Scottish Enterprise, involving stakeholders in Aberdeen (Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Council, local Chambers, Opportunity North East, local management and UNITE) to work collectively towards a positive outcome for the mill.

In June, Scottish Enterprise approved draft Heads of Terms outlining potential financial support for the Management Buy-Out (MBO) team, subject to commercial agreement being reached by the administrator, MBO team and lenders.

I have spoken regularly with management, the administrator, and UNITE the union.

The Scottish Government, through Scottish Enterprise, continues to work intensively with all involved to explore all options to secure the best possible outcome for this business and its employees.

Question reference: S5W-23602

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23336 by Michael Matheson on 4 June 2019, whether it will publish the data collected by traffic counters on the former A90 and the AWPR on which its initial information on traffic flow and journey time analysis have been based.

There are currently no plans to publish the traffic count data as this is only initial information collected since the opening of the AWPR/B-T project. As explained in my previous answer, Transport Scotland will be undertaking an evaluation of the project, in line with Scottish Trunk Road Infrastructure Project Evaluation (STRIPE) Guidance which will be published in due course. The evaluation will be carried out to assess the impact of the scheme by comparing conditions one year and then three years after opening with forecasts made during scheme design and development. As a project of this size and scale, an additional evaluation will be undertaken five years after opening and the findings of the STRIPE will be published.

Question reference: S5W-23665

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 13 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided toward research on (a) strokes, (b) heart disease, (c) cancer, (d) hearing loss and (e) sight loss in each year since 2014.

The Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office (CSO) provides funding to support health research in Scotland. The level of CSO funding that can be directly attributed to support research on a) stroke, b) heart disease, c) cancer, d) hearing loss and e) sight loss in each year from 2014 to 2018 is given in the following table.

The figures (rounded to the nearest thousand) combine: the funding committed to research projects and fellowships in these areas awarded in the given year; commitments to co-funded initiatives with medical research charities; annual allocations to the clinical research networks for stroke, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and ophthalmology; and annual contributions to the Institute of Hearing Research. 2019 data are not available.

	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
a) Stroke	£1,443,000	£2,340,000	£811,000	£1,455,000	£1,215,000
b) Heart disease	£881,000	£447,000	£341,000	£372,000	£1,088,000
c) Cancer	£2,272,000	£2,678,000	£3,216,000	£2,271,000	£818,000
d) Hearing loss	£504,000	£353,000	£356,000	£343,000	£392,000
e) Sight Loss	£12,000	£12,000	£180,000	£14,000	£14,000

Question reference: S5O-03411

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to ensure that Scottish students can access medical school places at Scottish universities.

Question reference: S5W-23560

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 7 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23332 by Fiona Hyslop on 30 May 2019, in what specific ways the Planning (Scotland) Bill will support the operation of live music venues.

Amendments were agreed at stage 2 of the Planning Bill, which sought to implement the Agent of Change principle in legislation. Further amendments may be considered at stage 3.

The Scottish Government has already committed to embed the Agent of Change principle in National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), in recognition of the significant cultural and economic contribution of Scotland’s music industry. The Planning Bill will incorporate Scottish Planning Policy into the National Planning Framework and strengthen its status as part of the development plan following a Parliamentary approval procedure.

Work on NPF4 will commence quickly following the conclusion of the Planning Bill.

Question reference: S5W-23413

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 4 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how the figures setting employment by local authority at web-table 2.3 of its paper, Regional Employment Patterns in Scotland: Statistics from the Annual Population Survey 2018, were collated, and what its position is on their accuracy.

The information published in Table 2.3 of the publication 'Regional Employment Patterns in Scotland: Statistics from the Annual Population Survey 2018' is sourced from the model based unemployment published by the Office for National Statistics.

This data can be sourced from nomis at the link below:

https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/query/construct/summary.asp?
mode=construct&version=0&dataset=127

And also from the ONS web site and tables shown below

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/
unemployment/datasets/modelledunemploymentforlocalandunitaryauthoritiesm01

‘M01 Regional labour market: Modelled unemployment for local and unitary authorities’

These statistics are the official measure of unemployment for local authority areas in the UK. A methodology paper was published at the time of their development which can be located at

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/method-quality
/specific/labour-market/subnational-labour/model-based-
estimates-of-ilo-unemployment-for-lad-uas-in-great-britain---guide-for-users.pdf

As these estimates are sourced from a sample survey there is some associated error. This is published alongside estimates in the original sources above. Scottish Government has regular meetings with ONS and continues to consider and evaluate the quality of statistics produced particularly for Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-23336

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the reported comments of the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity in Aberdeen on 20 May 2019, what assessment it has made of traffic volumes (a) on the former A90 in Aberdeen and (b) in Aberdeen city centre since the opening of the AWPR.

Initial information on traffic flow and journey time analysis since the opening of the AWPR/B-T project has been derived from data from traffic counters on the former A90, now known as the A92, and the AWPR.

Transport Scotland will be undertaking an evaluation of the project, in line with Scottish Trunk Road Infrastructure Project Evaluation (STRIPE) Guidance. The evaluation will be carried out to assess the impact of the scheme by comparing conditions one year and then three years after opening with forecasts made during scheme design and development. As a project of this size and scale, an additional evaluation will be undertaken five years after opening and the reports will be published in due course.

Question reference: S5W-23337

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the reported comments of the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity in Aberdeen on 20 May 2019, what assessment has been made of travel times between Stonehaven and Dyce during the (a) morning and (b) evening peak travel period (i) before and (ii) after the opening of the AWPR.

Question reference: S5W-23338

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the reported comments of the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity in Aberdeen on 20 May 2019, what assessment it has made of the number of drivers who have chosen to divert from Aberdeen city centre to the AWPR since the route was opened.

Question reference: S5W-23333

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 30 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) Creative Scotland and (b) representatives of the music industry regarding the (i) financial and (ii) other support that can be provided to support grassroots live music.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that there is a thriving music industry in Scotland, including grassroots music venues and their activities which support talent.

We have regular contact with Creative Scotland and representatives of the music industry, including the Music Venue Trust as part of our on-going work to ensure that we understand the challenges and opportunities that the industry in Scotland face.

We held meetings with venues to discuss policy initiatives such as the Agent of Change principle in the Planning Bill which is currently proceeding through the Scottish Parliament. We have also met with the Music Venue Trust to discuss its work, including progress with its Pipeline Investment Fund, and will be meeting the Trust in the next month.