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-21863

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 13 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Scottish Growth Scheme has allocated £71 million instead of the pledged £500 million over the last three consecutive budgets, and what its response is to concerns that this represents a breach of promise.

The Scottish Growth Scheme is using Scottish Government and European funding to unlock £500m of investment for Scottish SMEs.

Since becoming operational in in June 2017, 99 companies have benefited from £110 million of total investment under the Scheme. On 13 January 2019 I announced a further package of microfinance, debt and equity products under the Growth Scheme, and expect this to unlock further investment for Scottish SMEs.

Question reference: S5W-21851

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Cities Outlook 2019 report, which states that Dundee has the highest unemployment rate of any city in the UK.

I recognise the economic challenges facing Dundee and in particular the effect recent job losses will have on local residents and their families. The Scottish Government is committed to doing everything in its power to help build a more resilient economy in Dundee and across the wider city region.

We have committed up to £150 million to the Tay Cities Region Deal over the next 10-15 years to transform the regional economy by delivering inclusive growth, increasing the region’s productivity and the participation of its workforce. Regional partners estimate that the deal has the potential to secure over 6,000 jobs and lever in over £400 million.

The City Region Deal is just the latest in a series of investments the Scottish Government is making to help drive long term economic growth in Dundee. We are for example investing up to £63.8 million at Dundee Waterfront, including over
‎ £37 million in the V&A Museum. The V&A alone will create over 620 jobs and give an estimated £11.6 million boost each year to the city economy.

Question reference: S5W-21852

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 11 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason NHS Tayside did not meet targets for appropriate care established by the Scottish Stroke Care Audit 2018, with the number of deaths from strokes having only decreased by 26%.

The Scottish Stroke Care Standards, in the Scottish Stroke Care Audit (SSCA) are used to assess the performance of stroke services. The standards are set at a level which aims to be both challenging but achievable by hospitals. It may therefore be the case that some stroke services may not meet all standards. However, setting challenging standards encourages continuous improvements in performance. Figures from Information and Statistics Division (ISD) for unadjusted mortality rates from cerebrovascular disease indicate a fall across Scotland of 30% in the last decade and the figure for NHS Tayside is identical.

Question reference: S5O-02978

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on meeting the targets set out in the Tayside and Central Scotland Transport Partnership Regional Transport Strategy 2015-2036 Refresh.

Question reference: S5W-21850

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 6 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to figures that show that, since 2015-16, Tayside schools lost 395,330 hours of teacher and support staff days as a result of mental health issues, and that teachers in Dundee accrued 3,615 days in stress-related sickness absence in the year to January 2019.

Teacher absences and the causes of these absences are matters for individual local authorities as employers. Each authority is responsible for supporting its employees' health and wellbeing at work and will have locally agreed systems in place for managing this.

The Scottish Government takes the issue of mental health seriously and in March 2017 we published our 10 year Mental Health Strategy for tackling mental health. Our vision, set out in the Mental Health Strategy is of a Scotland where people can get the right help at the right time and to work on achieving parity between mental and physical health.

We have undertaken a range of actions to reduce teacher workload, acting to clarify and simplify the curriculum framework and to remove unnecessary bureaucracy while our work on empowering schools will also create new opportunities for teachers to develop their careers.

Question reference: S5O-02920

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to meet the commitment in the Social Security Charter for the “system...to be efficient and deliver value for money”.

Question reference: S5W-21264

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 5 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comments by the head of policy and external affairs at the Scottish Retail Consortium that "there was little Christmas cheer for retailers, with the worst real-term December sales figures in 20 years" and that "what should concern policymakers...is sluggish retail sales can be a warning light for the wider Scottish economy".

The Scottish Retail Sales Index for Q4 2018 reported that retail sales growth in Scotland picked-up in the final quarter of 2018 to 0.6%. This contrasts with a weaker end to the year for Great Britain as a whole, with sales contracting -0.2%.

Scotland’s economy has continued to grow in 2018 with latest data showing growth of 1.5% on an annual basis, in line with the UK as whole. And looking forward, the Scottish Fiscal Commission forecast the Scottish economy to grow 1.2% in 2019.

However, Brexit is the biggest risk and uncertainty for Scotland’s economy over the coming year, impacting business and consumer confidence and directly and indirectly impacts on the retail sector.

The Scottish Government will continue to engage regularly with the Scottish Retail Consortium and other key stakeholders in the retail sector. Our Economic Action Plan and Budget includes actions such as continuing to deliver our progressive income tax system and delivering the most generous package of business rates reliefs in the UK, which are all designed to support households and businesses, and accelerate growth and prosperity for all.

Question reference: S5W-20977

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 29 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish details of its proposed town centres fund, and what its position is on the Scottish Retail Consortium’s call for business improvement districts and other organisations to be eligible to bid for funding.

The £50m Town Centre Fund will be a ring-fenced capital fund within the local authority capital settlement to enable local authorities to stimulate and support a wide range of investments which encourage town centres to diversify and flourish, creating footfall through local improvements and partnerships. As such, the Scottish Government will work in partnership with COSLA and local authorities to deliver this investment. Officials are working with COSLA to develop proposals on how this fund will be distributed and allocated and details will be announced as soon as possible to support delivery over 2019-20.

Question reference: S5W-20978

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 23 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the Scottish Retail Consortium’s call for local authorities to be able to use a portion of the town centres fund for reducing non-domestic rates.

The new town centre fund is classified as capital expenditure in line with the UK Government’s Consolidated Budgeting Guidance and can therefore only be used to support infrastructure investment and not to fund current expenditure such as the remission of non-domestic rates. The aim of the fund is to stimulate and support a wide range of investments which encourage town centres to diversify and flourish, creating footfall through local improvements and partnerships.

Local authorities have wide ranging powers to reduce the rates paid by any ratepayer in their area, whilst the Scottish Government is maintaining a competitive business rates package which caps the increase in rate poundage below inflation; ensures that 90% of properties in Scotland pay a lower poundage than other parts of the UK; and supports small businesses through the Small Business Bonus Scheme which lifts small businesses out of rates altogether.

Question reference: S5W-20612

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 8 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has (a) raised from non-domestic rates and (b) provided in non-domestic rates relief in each of the last 10 financial years, and how much it forecasts to raise in 2019-20.

The following table presents Non-Domestic Rates Income and the cost of Rates Relief from 2008-09 to 2017-18, based on local authority audited income returns. It also presents the estimated Income and Relief spend for 2018-19 and 2019-20, based on forecasts by the Scottish Fiscal Commission.

	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018- 19*	2019-20*
Non Domestic Rates Income (£m)	1,924	2,010	2,138	2,251	2,347	2,367	2,511	2,579	2,731	2,762	2,827	2,785
Non Domestic Rates Relief (£m)	389	465	501	542	588	590	607	626	591	684	732	750

* Based on Scottish Fiscal Commission December 2018 forecasts. These figures are liable to change until we receive the audited income returns.