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-26894

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 21 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what overseas engagements were carried out by the First Minister in the calendar year 2019, and what direct impact each visit has had for business in Scotland, broken down by the (a) number of jobs created or secured and (b) level of investment attracted.

The First Minister conducted the following international visits in the calendar year 2019 to further a range of Scottish Government objectives.

US and Canada (3-8 February)
France (18-19 February 2019)
Ireland (26-27 May 2019)
France (5-6 June 2019)
France (9 June 2019)
Germany (17-18 September 2019)
Ireland (14-15 November 2019)

The focus of these visits ranged from business related engagement, promotion Scotland’s interests internationally, supporting the Scottish Government’s overseas network, conferences and commemoration events.

Reports can be found at:

Government Initiated Questions:

US/Canada - S5W-21951 on 7 March 2019 and France - S5W-21724 on 20 February 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Press Releases:

https://www.gov.scot/news/

https://firstminister.gov.scot/

It is not possible to assess the direct business impact of each of these visits. However First Minister visits overseas allow the Scottish Government to build relationships that attract investment into Scotland and help Scottish businesses pursue international growth opportunities which in turn contribute to Scotland’s international success and economic growth. First Minister’s visits in 2019 focused on promoting trade and investment across the public and private sector providing reassurance to businesses that Scotland remains open for international business.

Question reference: S5W-26903

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 20 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) cabinet secretaries, (b) ministers and (c) officials accompanied the First Minister on overseas engagements in the calendar year 2019, and what the total cost was, broken down by (i) travel, (ii) hotel and (iii) other expenses.

Question reference: S5W-26895

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 20 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost was of the overseas engagements that the First Minister carried out in the calendar year 2019, broken down by her (a) travel, (b) hotel and (c) other expenses.

Question reference: S5W-27007

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-26829

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many (a) accidents and (b) fatalities there have been on the A84 between Stirling and Doune in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S5W-26827

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 16 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with banks regarding the cost of operating ATMs at their branches.

While I have regular meetings with banks, I have raised the particular issue of the costs associated with operating ATMs with the Payment Systems Regulator, Link and the Economic Secretary to the Treasury emphasising the importance of free access to cash for all.

Although the UK Government retains legislative and regulatory responsibility for banking and financial services, the Scottish Government stands ready to work constructively with banks, regulators and the UK Government to ensure that the ability to freely and easily access cash is maintained. I have repeatedly urged the UK Government to appoint a regulator with sole responsibility for cash infrastructure and intend to do so once again.

Question reference: S5W-26825

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 16 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many commercial properties in each local authority area are subject to the large business supplement in 2019-20, broken down by business sector, and how much revenue it expects will be generated.

Question reference: S5O-04042

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to figures recording that 4.1% of participants in the Fair Start Scotland scheme were still in work after 26 weeks.

Question reference: S5W-26830

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 15 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of (a) adults and (b) children in the NHS Forth Valley area have access to an NHS dentist.

As of September 2018, 91.8 per cent of children and 93.9 per cent of adults in the NHS Forth Valley area were registered with a NHS dentist.

These figures show the percentage of people who have actually registered for NHS dental services. All patients who choose to see a NHS dentist should be able to do so. As of September 2018, 94.2% of the population in Scotland were registered with a NHS dentist, a record figure.

Registration statistics in Scotland are published by ISD and information relating to the percentage of the population registered with an NHS dentist by NHS Board and age group are found at the attached link: https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Dental-Care/Publications/data-tables2017.asp?id=2336#2336 .

Question reference: S5W-26677

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 20 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the investment that it has made in the business, what discussions it has had with Burntisland Fabrications Ltd (BiFab) regarding the reason that the firm's complete 2017-18 accounts are reportedly overdue for submission to Companies House, and by what date these will be submitted.

Year	Fatal	Serious	Slight	TOTAL
2014	1	2	9	12
2015	0	0	10	10
2016	0	2	7	9
2017	0	2	4	6
2018	0	2	3	5
2019 (up to 12 June)	0	1	6	7
TOTAL	1	9	39	49