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-14988

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 7 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been leveraged from European Investment Fund accredited fund managers as part of the Scottish Growth Scheme.

The Scottish European Growth Co-investment Fund is a partnership between Scottish Enterprise and the European Investment Fund (EIF) involving co-investment by European Venture Capital Fund Managers who are accredited by the EIF. There has been no funding leveraged to date although a number of active discussions are ongoing. Given the scale and nature of potential funding it understandably takes time for discussions between companies and potential investors to conclude.

Question reference: S5W-14981

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, since SME Holding Fund Strategic Interventions was introduced (a) how many and (b) what value of applications for support have been made to Scottish Enterprise in each year; of these, how many were (i) successful and (ii) unsuccessful; what the total value was of both, and whether it will provide details of each business and their location.

Question reference: S5W-14985

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs the SME Holding Fund has created.

Question reference: S5W-14632

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 6 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-11841 by Jamie Hepburn on 6 November 2017, (a) how it calculated the share for each sector and (b) who the (i) first delivery partners and (ii) supporting contractors are, broken down by value of contract.

a) To calculate the percentage share of delivery for each sector, the following methodology was applied:

i) calculate the indicative volumes for each supplier and their partners based of their estimated proposed percentage share of delivery in each Lot as set out in the tenders;

ii) aggregate the volumes for each sector;

iii) determine the estimated percentage share for each sector based on the Scottish indicative volumes.

b) The following table provides information (as at February 2018) about the suppliers; current partners; sector and share of delivery for each Lot.

Lot

Anticipated Participant Volumes

Suppliers

Sector

% share of Delivery for Lot

Glasgow

7,600

PeoplePlus – Supplier

Momentum – Partner

Remploy – Partner *

The Lennox Partnership – Partner

Private

Third

Private

Third

23%

24%

35%

18%

Lanarkshire

5,000

Remploy – Supplier *

Enable Scotland – Partner

Routes to Work South – Partner

Private

Third

70%

15%

Tayside

2,900

Remploy – Supplier *

Rathbone – Partner

Private

Third

90%

10%

Forth Valley

2,000

Falkirk Council – Supplier

Clackmannanshire Council – Partner

Forth Valley NHS – Partner

Stirling Council - Partner

Third Sector Providers (25) – Partners

Public

Third

37%

23%

14%

22%

East

8,400

Start Scotland – Supplier

Triage – Partner

Momentum – Partner

Private and Third Sector

Private

Third

77%

15%

South West

4,100

Start Scotland – Supplier

The Lennox Partnership – Partner

Rathbone – Partner

The Wise Group – Partner *

Private and Third Sector

Third

50%

18%

24%

North East

2,200

Momentum – Supplier

Life Skills – Partner

Enable Scotland – Partner

SAMH – Partner

Aberdeen Foyer – Partner

Enterprise Mentoring – Partner

Third

Private

Third

Private

25%

15%

Highlands

2,400

PeoplePlus – Supplier (managing agent)

Third Sector Hebrides – Partner

Argyll and Bute Council – Partner

Lochaber Hope – Partner

Life Skills – Partner

Momentum – Partner

2020 Clearview – Partner

Private

Third

Public

Third

Private

Third

Private

19%

41%

20%

West

3,400

The Wise Group – Supplier *

The Lennox Partnership – Partner

Working Links – Partner

Enable Scotland – Partner

Enterprise Mentoring – Partner

Street League – Partner

Third

Private

Third

43%

27%

15%

10%

* Supported Business

Contract values

Suppliers are currently finalising their commercial arrangements with their partners. It should be noted that the contract values are not determined by the percentage share of participants allocated to each partners. The contract values are determined by the fees agreed between the suppliers and their partners for the type and level of support they will provide to individual participants accessing Fair Start Scotland to help them progress into work. Therefore this will change over time because the nature of the service required by individual participants will vary.

Question reference: S5W-14750

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 6 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14024 by Derek Mackay on 6 February 2018, what information it has regarding when the UK Government's consultation on retention payments in the construction industry is scheduled to end.

Question reference: S5W-14749

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 6 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14023 by Derek Mackay on 6 February 2018, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding what its position is on introducing measures to ensure that all public sector procurers operate a so-called yellow/red card system to ensure that, if the lead contractors do not pay their supply chain within 30 days, they will be barred from bidding for public sector works for at least two years.

The Government is committed to improving the current level of performance in public sector construction contracts. This includes ensuring prompt payment practices at all levels in the supply chain. A red/yellow card system, along the lines described, is potentially one way in which this might be achieved; however, there are other possible approaches. Therefore, I want to be satisfied that whatever approach we adopt is the most appropriate for public construction contracts in Scotland and is also consistent with our underpinning public contract legislation. The Government will publish its conclusions following a full consideration of all the issues.

Question reference: S5O-01857

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the average school clothing grant payment was in 2017.

Question reference: S5W-14634

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it can provide that bidders for Carillion rail contracts in Scotland will undergo proper due diligence to ensure that they are suitable to manage contracts, including the employment of workers on direct employment contracts.

Question reference: S5W-14762

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 28 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to mark the 100th anniversary of the Education (Scotland) 1918 Act.

2018 marks 100 years of Catholic state education in Scotland, and the First Minister and I will be involved in a number of events which will mark this significant anniversary.

The First Minister will give the Cardinal Winning lecture at the University of Glasgow on 3 March, and I will attend the Caritas Awards Ceremony in June. I also look forward to hosting a reception to celebrate the contribution that Catholic schools make to Scottish education later in the year. These events will be part of a programme of wider events taking place to mark this occasion.

Question reference: S5W-14389

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 27 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-12919 by Derek Mackay on 6 December 2017, how many of the invoices that it has received in each year since 1999 have not been paid within 30 days of receipt at all stages of the (a) prime- and (b) sub-contract chain, broken down by the total value of the contracts.

The Scottish Government no longer holds data going back as far as 1999 and does not have this information at all stages of the prime and sub-contract chain. We have provided in the following table, payment performance for those invoices that were not paid within 30 days of receipt, from April 2012 to date.

Financial Year	Percentage number of invoices not paid within 30 days
2012-13	1.1%
2013-14	0.5%
2014-15	0.6%
2015-16	0.3%
2016-17	0.2%
2017-18 (April-January)	0.3%