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-13311

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Minister for Transport and the Islands on 7 December 2017 (Official Report, c. 46), whether Coatbridge will be among the towns to be become low-emission zones by 2023 and, if so, (a) what support will be made available to residents, (b) how many diesel vehicles in the town will be affected and (c) what the estimated reduction in pollution levels in the town will be.

Question reference: S5W-13057

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 7 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of premises in each local authority area had been connected to fibre broadband through commercial deployment by 2012.

We do not hold information on the percentage of premises, in each local authority area that had been connected to fibre broadband through commercial deployment by 2012.

In 2012, as part of the Open Market Review (OMR) for the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband Programme, we gathered commercial data that showed the predicted percentage of premises connected to fibre broadband through commercial deployment without our intervention, over a three year period.

Local Authority	Assumed percentage of premises connected to fibre broadband through commercial deployment as predicted at 2012
Aberdeen, City	72.4%
Aberdeenshire	25.1%
Angus	69.7%
Argyll & Bute	28.1%
City of Edinburgh	89.1%
Clackmannanshire	71.1%
Dumfries & Galloway	26.0%
Dundee, City	95.0%
East Ayrshire	61.1%
East Dunbartonshire	76.2%
East Lothian	66.7%
East Renfrewshire	81.5%
Falkirk	88.0%
Fife	69.2%
Glasgow, City	75.5%
Highland	25.3%
Inverclyde	79.7%
Midlothian	78.5%
Moray	28.0%
North Ayrshire	65.3%
North Lanarkshire	84.2%
Orkney	0.0%
Perth & Kinross	41.2%
Renfrewshire	76.1%
Scottish Borders	39.3%
Shetland	0.0%
South Ayrshire	68.5%
South Lanarkshire	81.5%
Stirling	59.0%
West Dunbartonshire	91.5%
West Lothian	72.9%
Western Isles	0.0%

Question reference: S5W-13069

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 7 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of premises in each local authority area has been connected to fibre broadband by the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) Plus commercial deployment, also broken down by the percentage of these that is receiving speeds of more than 24Mbps.

Aberdeen, City

95.8%

95.0%

Aberdeenshire

81.8%

77.4%

Angus

87.9%

86.4%

Argyll & Bute

74.8%

71.1%

City of Edinburgh

95.2%

95.1%

Clackmannanshire

97.2%

96.7%

Dumfries & Galloway

82.5%

78.7%

Dundee, City

98.2%

98.0%

East Ayrshire

94.4%

93.3%

East Dunbartonshire

93.4%

92.8%

East Lothian

91.8%

89.8%

East Renfrewshire

93.6%

92.8%

Falkirk

96.4%

95.8%

Fife

96.4%

95.2%

Glasgow, City

94.9%

94.7%

Highland

78.3%

72.5%

Inverclyde

96.2%

95.8%

Midlothian

94.1%

93.6%

Moray

89.6%

85.2%

North Ayrshire

94.1%

92.8%

North Lanarkshire

97.1%

96.6%

Orkney

64.7%

58.4%

Perth & Kinross

82.4%

79.1%

Renfrewshire

92.7%

92.1%

Scottish Borders

80.1%

77.5%

Shetland

65.8%

58.4%

South Ayrshire

92.7%

91.2%

South Lanarkshire

95.0%

94.1%

Stirling

89.7%

87.1%

West Dunbartonshire

97.9%

West Lothian

94.2%

93.5%

Western Isles

63.8%

53.6%

Question reference: S5O-01595

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 December 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports local authorities in attracting businesses and jobs to town centres.

Question reference: S5F-01773

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 November 2017

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will provide an update on its plans to deliver access to superfast broadband to 100% of premises by 2021.

Question reference: S5W-11631

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 12 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what representations it will make to the UK Government regarding the future of agricultural support in light of the reported comment by the president of NFU Scotland that changes to the existing model of rural support could result in an annual loss of £250 million to the sector.

I continue to press the UK government for confirmation and clarification regarding funding guarantees post Brexit. In my letter of 6 October 2017 to Mr Gove, the latest in an ongoing correspondence on this matter, I asked for written confirmation of these funding guarantees, both in terms of what they cover and their financial parameters, which were discussed at a ministerial meeting of the devolved administrations on the 25 September 2017.

Question reference: S5W-11111

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 13 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the guidance that it has produced for local authorities regarding support for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

Question reference: S5O-01236

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 September 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that fibre broadband is installed in new housing developments.

Question reference: S5W-11039

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 September 2017
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by John Swinney on 4 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when its consultation on financial redress for in-care survivors will be launched.

The launch of the consultation exploring options for a potential financial compensation/redress scheme for victim/survivors of abuse in care takes place on 4 September 2017. The consultation will run for a period of 12 weeks. It has been prepared by the Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland (CELCIS) in partnership with the Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) InterAction Action Plan Review Group, which includes survivor representatives. I would encourage everyone with an interest in this issue to submit their views to the consultation.

After the consultation has closed, CELCIS and the SHRC InterAction Action Plan Review Group will review the findings, along with views of other interested parties, and evidence and key lessons from other countries. The partnership then intends to produce an options paper with recommendations for the Scottish Government to consider.

Question reference: S5W-10530

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 July 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 16 August 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the action it is taking to reduce nuisance phone calls.