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: S4W-16486

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many small and medium-sized enterprise start-ups there have been in the Falkirk Council area in the last three years; what the survival rate has been, and how many of these start-ups have engaged with Business Gateway.

The information requested is not held centrally, however, data on the number of new VAT/PAYE registrations are released annually by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). These figures are used to monitor the number of business start-ups (births) and survival. Please note that these figures do not account for all business activity as only businesses with an annual turnover above the VAT threshold (currently £79,000) or employing via PAYE are required to register.

Table 1 shows the number of registered business births, for the last four years, and the latest 1-year/3-year survival rates for the Falkirk local authority area. The data is taken from the ONS Business Demography 2011 publication, which contains the most up to date data available.

Table 1: Registered Business Births (2008 to 2011) and Survival Rates:

Local Authority Area

Business Births (VAT/PAYE registrations)

Latest Business Survival Rates

2008

2009

2010

2011

1 year survival rate (businesses born in 2010)

3 year survival rate

(businesses born in 2008)

Falkirk

400

345

395

420

86.1%

61.3%

Source: Business Demography 2011, Office for National Statistics

Question reference: S4W-16464

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 July 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when it will make an announcement on whether the Babcock Marine Rosyth Limited application for the proposed Rosyth international container terminal has obtained approval.

I indicated my intention to make The Rosyth International Container Terminal (Harbour Revision) Order in a letter to the applicant on 18 June 2013. The draft Order was laid before Parliament on 20 June 2013. The order cannot be made unless Parliament approves the draft and this is not expected to be considered until after the summer recess. No announcement will be made until after Parliament’s decision.

Question reference: S4W-16204

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 24 July 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the decision by the Marine Stewardship Council to suspend certification of the Faroese Atlanto-Scandian herring fishery from 21 June 2013.

The Faroe Islands’ declaration of an excessively large unilateral quota for Atlanto-Scandian herring is both irresponsible and unsustainable. Setting a large quota outside of the management plan in a situation where the stock is decreasing is not in line with the Marine Stewardship Council standard for well-managed and sustainable fishing. We fully support the decision to suspend the certification, and feel it is justified in light of the Faroe Islands action. The stock has decreased in recent years, and this requires all coastal states to take their responsibility to work together, rather than setting unsustainable quotas.

Question reference: S4W-15817

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 June 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 11 July 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made regarding the tax incremental financing project in the Falkirk area and when it expects to sign a legal agreement with the local authority.

Question reference: S4W-15594

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 25 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to assist non-resident parents who are tenants of a local authority and in receipt of housing benefit and are considered to have an extra bedroom as their child does not stay with them permanently.

Scottish social landlords, including local authorities, may exercise discretion to allocate an additional bedroom or bedrooms in this situation, helping to meet the needs of children and their families. However, the UK Government’s under-occupancy measure for working age tenants in receipt of housing benefit may result in a loss of housing benefit for those households. The Scottish Government has consistently opposed this measure.

Question reference: S4W-15481

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 June 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 19 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards have implemented the guidelines on the provision and repair of orthotic footwear, HDL(2000)23, as amended in 2002.

NHS boards were expected to update their patient pathways and design of services to ensure greater person centeredness and consistency in orthotics services following the publication of the orthotics guidelines in 2000 and as amended in 2002. There is no evidence centrally to suggest that NHS boards have not implemented these guidelines, although advice indicates that one NHS board continued to provide services additional to those set out. This is now being addressed locally as appropriate.

Question reference: S4O-02279

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when it last attended a meeting of the Nordic Council.

Question reference: S4W-15471

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 June 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 12 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many local government pension funds have a cash management policy in place.

Question reference: S4W-15470

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 June 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 12 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors local government pension fund cash management arrangements.

The Scottish Ministers do not monitor the fund cash management arrangements for the Local Government Pension Scheme. Under the terms of The Local Government Pension Scheme (Management and Investment of Funds) (Scotland) Regulations 2010 that is a matter for the fund administering authorities. In particular Regulation 11(3) requires that “the local authority must invest, in accordance with its investment policy, any fund money that is not needed immediately to make payments from the fund”.

The Regulations also include the requirement for an investment policy, including the publication of a written statement of the principles governing its decisions about the investment of fund money. The authority must invest, in accordance with its investment policy, any fund money that is not needed immediately to make payments from the fund. The authority is required to obtain proper advice at reasonable intervals about its investments and must consider that advice.

Local authorities are independent corporate bodies with their own powers and responsibilities and are entirely separate from the Scottish Government. As long as they act lawfully, it is up to each local authority how it manages its day-to-day business and decision making processes.

Question reference: S4W-15437

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 11 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many decrofting applications are currently suspended by the Crofting Commission, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

There are 44 decrofting applications held in abeyance by the Crofting Commission and these are broken down by parliamentary constituency in the following table:

Parliamentary Constituency	Number of Owner-Occupier Crofter Applications to Decroft held in Abeyance
Na h-Eileanan an Iar	1
Argyll and Bute	2
Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch	16
Caithness, Sutherland and Ross	14
Shetland Islands	10
Orkney Islands	1
Inverness and Nairn	0
Moray	0
Total	44

I indicated to the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee, during Stage 1 of the Crofting (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill on 22 May 2013, that there were 50 decrofting applications held in abeyance.

However, as I indicated on 6 June 2013 during that Bill’s Stage 1 Debate, the Crofting Commission has undertaken further processing of those applications and it has been established that 6 of those 50 applicants do not meet the definition of “owner-occupier crofter” as set out in the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993, as amended by the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 2010.

The Crofting Commission is holding these 44 applications in anticipation of the new legislation coming into force. This is subject, of course, to Parliamentary approval and the Bill receiving Royal Assent.