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-22821

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 7 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities have offered an energy efficiency discount in each year since 2016.

Question reference: S5W-22819

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 7 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the statement in the Fraser of Allander Institute blog, Budget 2019-20: what next?, that “Local government was...a key tension within the budget. In the context of budget negotiations, such discussions tend to centre upon the level of funding provided to councils and whether or not the settlement is fair.”

The Scottish Government routinely engages with political parties across the Scottish Parliament as part of the Scottish Budget agreement process.

The 2019-20 Scottish Budget protects and invests in Scotland's public services, offering stability in the face of the chaos and confusion of the UK imposed Brexit.

Local Government funding represents a significant proportion of the Scottish Budget. In 2019-20, Scottish Ministers are providing councils with a real terms funding increase of £310 million or 2.9 per cent. The real terms increase in funding alongside the package of local tax reform measures, that will provide the most significant empowerment of local authorities since devolution, are evidence that the Scottish Government will continue to treat local government fairly.

Question reference: S5O-03173

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what policies have been put in place to tackle the reported rise in relative poverty in Scotland’s communities.

Question reference: S5W-22336

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 5 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21851 by Michael Matheson on 13 March 2019, which outlines several long-term economic growth investments, what action it is taking to affect short-term economic growth in Dundee.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with local and regional partners to build a more resilient economy in Dundee.

This necessarily involves a range of shorter and longer term interventions. For example, the 30 year vision agreed in 1999 is transforming Dundee Waterfront, attracting over £800 million of public and private investment and creating over 2600 jobs to date. We have also moved quickly to respond to more immediate economic challenges. Most recently, 250 individuals attended a PACE event for affected employees within a week of McGills and Co entering administration, and the Michelin-Scotland Alliance is bringing together local, regional, and national stakeholders to achieve the best possible outcome for the Michelin site and its workers.

These measures sit alongside the ongoing, proactive work of our agencies to support and enable local firms to realise their growth ambitions. In the last financial year for example Scottish Enterprise helped over 60 Dundee-based companies to internationalise, delivered over 40 Innovation Support Grants, and attracted four new inward investors to the city, creating over 250 new jobs.

Question reference: S5W-22337

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21852 by Jeane Freeman on 11 March 2019, in light of NHS boards missing care standards and its statement that “the standards are set at a level which aims to be both challenging but achievable by hospitals”, what further action it will take to support hospitals to achieve these standards of care for patients.

Our Scottish Stroke Improvement Team supports Managed Clinical Networks (MCNs) to evaluate Boards and improve performance. This support includes visiting all Boards at least once a year to review stroke care, to assess performance, to highlight best practice and to formulate an improvement plan for areas of concern where necessary.

Our Stroke Improvement Plan (2014) sets out a comprehensive programme for further reducing the number of deaths from stroke and improving stroke treatment and care across the whole patient pathway. It focuses on providing the best possible care in the acute setting, as well as helping people’s longer-term recovery in their own communities. In making these improvements, we will continue to work closely with our stakeholders, including health boards, third sector organisations and patients.

Question reference: S5W-22338

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 2 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20977 by Derek Mackay on 29 January 2019, what its response is to the Scottish Retail Consortium's call for business improvement districts and other organisations to be eligible to bid for funding from the £50 million Town Centre Fund.

Question reference: S5O-03098

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with fishermen in Angus regarding the impact of offshore wind developments on the fishing industry.

Question reference: S5W-22194

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to its official statistics, which have recorded that, since 2010, Dundee has retained 97% fewer learning support and additional support needs staff compared with the overall national figure.

All children and young people should get the support they need to reach their full potential. While all teachers work with pupils with additional support needs, there has been an overall increase in specialist staff.

The Additional Support for Learning Act places duties on education authorities to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. This includes ensuring that appropriate staffing and resources are in place.

The Scottish Government is unable to reconcile the statistic quoted in the question with national statistical information.

Question reference: S5W-22193

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to its official statistics, which have recorded that the recruitment of learning support and additional support needs staff nationally has fallen from 4,703 to 4,119 since 2010.

All children and young people should get the support they need to reach their full potential. All teachers provide support to pupils with additional support needs, not just 'support for learning' teachers. Teacher levels are the highest in a decade, and the number of primary teachers is the highest since 1980.

The statistics released on 12 March show that the number of non-teaching staff in schools who have a role in supporting pupils with additional support needs, including pupil support assistants, home-school link workers, behaviour support staff, educational psychologists and school nurses, has risen by 12% since 2012. In 2018 there were 17,412 staff, including teaching staff, with a role which supported pupils with additional support needs across Scotland, an increase of 6.1% on 2017.

Education authorities are responsible for identifying and meeting the additional support needs of their pupils. This includes the employment and provision of appropriate resources, including teaching and support staff, to meet children's needs.

Question reference: S5O-03040

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 21 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the National Audit Office's recent report, Investigation into devolved funding.

I welcome the National Audit Office’s report.

It acknowledges that additional funding for Northern Ireland, including as part of the Conservative-DUP Confidence and Supply arrangement, will not result in additional consequentials for Scotland. To date, Scotland has lost out on equivalent funding of around £3.3 billion. This is completely unacceptable.

The UK Government must use its fiscal headroom to provide additional finance and flexibility to Scotland, in line with the Barnett Formula.