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-16917

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 26 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on any challenges affecting the sale of the Texas Instruments facility in Greenock as a going concern.

Question reference: S5W-16918

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 26 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what options are available to (a) it and (b) its agencies to assist in developing the Texas Instruments facility site in Greenock in the event that the current owners stop production.

Question reference: S5W-16919

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 26 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what commitments the owners of the Texas Instruments facility in Greenock have provided for (a) the care and maintenance of and (b) future redevelopment opportunities for the site.

Question reference: S5W-16915

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 26 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the owners of the Texas Instruments facility in Greenock regarding (a) its future and (b) it being sold as a going concern to another company.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to working with Texas Instruments, Inverclyde Council and other partners to ensure a viable future for the facility in Greenock which is currently scheduled to close in June 2019. The plant has over 300 employees and together make an important contribution to the Inverclyde and Scottish economy and we are doing all we can to help secure a viable buyer for the facility.

Scottish Government Ministers and officials, along with agencies such as Scottish Development International (SDI) and Skills Development Scotland (SDS), have played an active role in the Texas Instruments Taskforce since it was established by Inverclyde Council in 2016. The Scottish Government and SDI have been working with Texas Instruments and the Council to help secure a buyer for the facility and SDS have been providing advice and support to employees.

I met with the Leader and Chief Executive of Inverclyde Council on 1 February 2018 to discuss the situation and the broader Inverclyde economy and on 21 February 2018 the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work and the Council Leader met with Kevin Ritchie, Senior Vice President of Texas Instruments, to emphasise our shared commitment to supporting the sale of the plant and helping to secure a potential buyer. We have followed up on this through correspondence with the Chief Executive of Texas Instruments, Richard Templeton, and, through SDI, have worked and continue to work with potential buyers to help secure a viable future for the facility. These discussions are commercially confidential but SDI stands ready to provide appropriate support to credible potential buyers to help secure a commercial solution both for them and Texas Instruments.

We are doing all we can to secure a viable future for the facility. Should production cease we will work with Texas Instruments, Inverclyde Council and other partners to explore all options for the future of the site and wider action to support the Inverclyde economy.

Question reference: S5W-17188

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to tackle violence among young men.

Violence is totally unacceptable. Despite the small increase this year, violent crimes have fallen 49% since 2006-07, to one of the lowest levels seen since 1974.

But, we want to see further reductions to this unacceptable behaviour and are taking forward further actions. Alongside tough enforcement, our approach to violent crime is very firmly focused on prevention. We have already invested more than £14 million in violence prevention since 2006-07, including support for the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit and Medics Against Violence, who work to develop and deliver various violence prevention initiatives including the accelerated delivery of the Mentors in Violence Prevention programme which is now being delivered to young people in schools across Scotland.

We also continue to invest in our No Knives Better Lives youth engagement programme. This is now being delivered in 24 local authorities and is on track to be delivered in all 32 local authority areas this year.

Question reference: S5O-02275

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 June 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many affordable homes it plans to build in Inverclyde with local housing associations by 2021.

Question reference: S5W-17084

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what research it has produced or commissioned on the impact of introducing free eye examinations.

Ten years on from the introduction of free NHS funded eye examinations in Scotland in 2006, the Scottish Government commissioned a review of community eyecare services provision in Scotland. The Community Eyecare Services Review report was published in April 2017 and can be found here: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0051/00516810.pdf . The Scottish Government is working with stakeholders to deliver the recommendations set out in the report.

Question reference: S5W-17082

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) adults and (b) children have had a free eye test in each year since 2006-07, broken down by (i) local authority and (ii) parliamentary constituency.

The total number of free NHS funded eye examinations for children and adults carried out in Scotland in each financial year from 2006-07 is outlined in the following table. It is not possible to provide a breakdown by local authority and parliamentary constituency, as this data is not currently readily available.

Financial Year	Children (under 16)	Adults (16 and over)
2006-07	193,992	1,349,979
2007-08	209,006	1,412,053
2008-09	221,541	1,497,187
2009-10	227,853	1,537,552
2010-11	227,188	1,570,079
2011-12	241,578	1,665,715
2012-13	242,512	1,684,100
2013-14	254,933	1,774,916
2014-15	254,904	1,783,708
2015-16	262,196	1,846,388
2016-17	282,488	1,914,198
2017-18	288,258	1,923,926

Source: NHS National Services Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-17083

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost has been of providing free eye examinations in each year since 2006-07.

The total cost of providing free universal NHS funded eye examinations in Scotland in each financial year since 2006-07 is outlined in the following table.

Year	Total cost (£)
2006-07	39,154,925
2007-08	56,321,750
2008-09	61,536,690
2009-10	66,146,846
2010-11	66,427,193
2011-12	70,894,195
2012-13	71,190,882
2013-14	73,712,048
2014-15	74,106,411
2015-16	76,620,197
2016-17	78,945,594
2017-18	81,660,052

Source: NHS National Services Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-17058

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many secondary school pupils in each of the last three years have (a) started and (b) completed a week-long work placement in each local authority.