Questions and answers

Question reference: S5O-03948

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 19 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in the Scottish Growth Scheme.

The Scottish Government is committed to unlocking private sector investment for businesses through a variety of mechanisms. The Scottish Growth Scheme uses public sector investment to lever the private sector and aims to unlock up to £500 million of investment for Scottish small and medium-sized enterprises.

To 30 November 2019, some £166.7 million had been invested under the Scottish Growth Scheme, which has directly supported 290 businesses. That has been enabled through investments totalling £26.4 million from Scottish Enterprise and £5 million from the Scottish Government.

The current uncertainty in the economy has likely had an impact on demand for funding, with recent research indicating that firms are putting off investment as they await the outcome of Brexit.

Question reference: S5W-26496

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 17 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government which (a) communities and (b) organisations will receive support from round five of the Coastal Communities Fund.

On 29 September 2019 I announced new funding arrangements for coastal community benefit in Scotland. Coastal local authorities were each allocated a share of the net revenue generated from the Scottish Crown Estate marine assets out to 12 nautical miles in order to deliver coastal community benefit.

The new arrangements have provided a significantly higher level of funding for Scottish coastal communities than the average annual funding available under the Coastal Communities Fund in Scotland. This funding will replace the Coastal Communities Fund in Scotland and, as explained in my announcement of 29 September, there are therefore no plans to run a future round of the Coastal Communities Fund in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-26499

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) delays and (b) cancellations there have been on the Borders Railway since 1 September 2019.

Of the total number of trains booked to operate on the Borders Line from 1 September to 23 November 2019, 14.4% were delayed* and 3.5% were cancelled.

During the period from 1 September to 23 November 2019, 22.5 % of those trains delays or cancelled were as a result of a network issue.

*Delated trains are services which arrive later than the Public Performance Measure (PPM) of 4 minutes and 59 seconds.

Question reference: S5W-26498

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 17 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to promote the support that is available to local authorities from round five of the Coastal Communities Fund, and how much it will spend on this.

On 29 September 2019 I announced new funding arrangements for coastal community benefit in Scotland. Coastal local authorities were each allocated a share of the net revenue generated from the Scottish Crown Estate marine assets out to 12 nautical miles in order to deliver coastal community benefit.

The new arrangements have provided a significantly higher level of funding for Scottish coastal communities than the average annual funding available under the Coastal Communities Fund in Scotland. This funding will replace the Coastal Communities Fund in Scotland and, as explained in my announcement of 29 September, there are therefore no plans to run a future round of the Coastal Communities Fund in Scotland.

Question reference: S5F-03811

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 December 2019

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to help pupils with additional support needs.

Question reference: S5W-26500

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve performance on the Borders Railway, and what its response is to reports that, between mid-October and mid-November 2019, 45.5% of services arrived in Tweedbank as scheduled and 83% were within five minutes of that time.

Performance is continuing to improve on the Borders railway. Within the period between mid-October and mid-November, performance has declined across the rail network as this time of year can be particularly challenging because of Autumn weather with leaves on the line causing rail adhesion. A significant number of the ScotRail performance related failures across the Scottish rail network have been attributed to Network Rail’s infrastructure issues. My officials continue to engage with Network Rail on these matters and this Government continues to press for the control of Network Rail in Scotland to pass across to the Scottish Ministers in full.

Please be assured officials at Transport Scotland continue to closely monitor ScotRail in addressing performance issues.

Question reference: S5W-26501

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 5 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that almost 67% of participants in the first year of the Fair Start Scotland programme were unable to sustain employment.

The figure referred to was published in the “Fair Start Scotland Evaluation Report 2: Overview of year 1 ” publication in November 2019. It states that 67% of 1,005 phone survey respondents were not in work at the time of survey (June 2019). The aim of the survey was to explore participants’ experiences of FSS support, both pre-employment and while in-work. The service is designed to support people with complex needs, and many factors influence both the path and pace of individual participant journeys. Everyone on FSS is entitled to at least 12 months pre-employment support. Survey respondents started on service between March and December 2018, therefore the majority would not have had sufficient time to complete the support available to them and would not be expected to have moved into or sustained a job by June 2019.

The most complete reflection of FSS outcomes (13, 26, and 52) for Year 1 is provided by the “Scotland’s Devolved Employability Services Statistics" series, and a full picture of sustained employment will not be available until the May 2021 publication, at the point when everyone in Year 1 has had time to sustain a job for 52 weeks.

Question reference: S5O-03910

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reports of increased levels of fatty acid methyl ester in diesel causing problems with farm machinery.

Question reference: S5W-26497

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 4 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government which projects in East Lothian have received support from the Coastal Communities Fund in each year since 2016.

Question reference: S5W-26504

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 4 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on each marketing campaign to promote the Coastal Communities Fund in each year since 2016.

Chamber and committees