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-12251

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will be involved in the recruitment process for the new chief executive of Prestwick airport.

Question reference: S5W-12252

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to appoint a new chief executive of Prestwick airport.

Question reference: S5W-12250

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether the chief executive of Prestwick airport, Ron Smith, will be asked to repay any relocation expenses from when he started in the post, and what factors it has taken into account to reach its position on this matter.

Question reference: S5W-12186

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 8 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the disability employment gap has been in each year since 1999.

The following table provides the estimated Disabled Employment Gap for Jul 2004-Jun 2005 to Jul 2016-Jun 2017, sourced from the Annual Population Survey. There are discontinuities in the disabled employment gap series between Jul 2009-Jun 2010 and Jul 2011-Jun 2012 and again from Jul 2012-Jun 2013 onwards.

The main discontinuity from Jul 2013-Jun 2014 was when the definition of disability was changed to reflect the Equality Act 2010 legal definition of disabled, measured according to the Government Statistical Service Harmonised Standard. Further smaller discontinuities exist between Jul 2009-Jun 2010 and Jul 2011-Jun 2012 due to a change to questionnaire format and between Jul 2011-Jun 2012 and Jul 2012-Jun 2013 due to a change in coding of survey non-responders.

Disability Employment Gap, Jul 2004-Jun 2005 to Jul 2016-Jun 2017, Scotland

	Disabled Employment Rate	Not Disabled Employment Rate	Disability Employment Gap (percentage points)
Jul 2004 - Jun 2005	43.1%	80.4%	37.3
Jul 2005 - Jun 2006	44.0%	80.3%	36.3
Jul 2006 - Jun 2007	46.6%	80.7%	34.1
Jul 2007 - Jun 2008	46.1%	81.1%	35.0
Jul 2008 - Jun 2009	45.4%	79.4%	34.0
Jul 2009 - Jun 2010^‡	47.4%	77.4%	30.1
Jul 2010 - Jun 2011	46.4%	77.9%	31.5
Jul 2011 - Jun 2012^T	46.2%	78.0%	31.8
Jul 2012 - Jun 2013**	-	-	-
Jul 2013 - Jun 2014	40.8%	78.7%	37.9
Jul 2014 - Jun 2015	41.2%	79.7%	38.5
Jul 2015 - Jun 2016	42.9%	80.0%	37.1
Jul 2016 - Jun 2017	43.4%	80.7%	37.3

Source: Annual Population Survey, July-June datasets, ONS

Notes:

1. Employment rates cover those aged 16-64.

2. Proportions are calculated on unrounded figures.

3. The disability employment gap is calculated as the Not Equality Act Disabled Employment Rate minus the Equality Act Disabled Employment Rate.

4. The Annual Population Survey data collection started in 2004.

‡ - In January-March 2010 there was a change in the reporting behaviour of survey respondents, mainly reflecting a change in the wording of the survey questionnaire, which is believed to result in more accurate estimates. Consequently data pre and post Jan-Mar 2010 are not directly comparable.

T - In January-March 2012 there was a change in the way those who did not respond to the question on disability were recorded, with those who did not respond no longer being automatically coded "not disabled".

** - In Apr-Jun 2013 there were significant changes to the questions relating to disability and long-term limiting health conditions to reflect the Equality Act 2010 legal definition of disabled. This has led to a discontinuity in the series and no data is currently available for Jul 2012 - Jun 2013 due to the change mid-year.

Question reference: S5W-12188

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what equity stakes in businesses have been held by (a) (i) Scottish Enterprise and (ii) Scottish Investment Bank in each year since 1999 and (b) the Scottish Investment Bank in each year since it was established.

Question reference: S5F-01678

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 November 2017

To be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-11841

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 6 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the contract value of the Fair Start Scotland programme was awarded to (a) the private sector, (b) the voluntary sector, (c) supported businesses and (d) local authorities.

Fair Start Scotland has been designed nationally but will be delivered locally, through new and innovative consortia and partnership approaches to delivery. It will see unprecedented levels of partnership working in provision of employability support, offer flexible, tailored support which focuses on those who need help to find work, and to stay in work.

The percentage breakdown of the contract value by sector based on the status of the lead provider is as follows:

Sector	% Share
Private and Third Sector Partnerships	33
Supported Businesses	30
Private Sector (excluding supported businesses)	26
Third Sector (excluding supported businesses)	6
Public Sector	5

Each lead provider has proposed a collaborative approach to delivery of Fair Start Scotland involving a mix of Public, Private, Supported Businesses and Third Sector organisations. Based on the status of the lead providers and their first tier delivery partners, the number of contract lots each sector is included in and the percentage of the overall contract value these lots represent is as follows:

Sector	Number of Contract Lots	% of the overall contract value these lots represent
Private and Third Sector Partnerships	2	33
Supported Businesses	5	61
Private Sector	6	74
Third Sector	8	95
Public Sector	2	11

Below the first tier of delivery partners, supporting contractors will come from across a range of sectors. It is anticipated supported businesses, the third sector and public bodies will deliver more than half of the provision of Fair Start Scotland service as either lead provider, first or second tier delivery partners.

Question reference: S5O-01445

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether its new sexual harassment hotline will accept calls from bystanders who witness inappropriate language and behaviour.

Question reference: S5W-11834

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 2 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) budget and (b) outturn was for the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service in each year since its establishment.

The information requested is set out in the following table. SMAS has a proven track record of high impact projects and track record of delivering very high returns on public investment that make an immediate and attributable difference to business competitiveness.

Budget 2006-07 – 2016-17

2006-

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

£000

Total expenditure	883.7	1544.7	1678.6	1839.5	2157.6	1950.2	2128.7	2232	2212	2123	2119
SE funding	641.5	886.8	1385.7	1481.5	1649.6	1415.4	1661.9	1685.6	1699	1588	1609
External funding	242.2	657.9	292.9	358.0	508.0	534.8	466.8	546.4	513.0	535.0	510.0
Efficiency Savings delivered	1548	11912	17066	16498	21873	20045	21346	25264	27000	30300	29100

Outturns - Business Support Activities 2006-07 – 2016-17

	2006- 07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17
Manufacturing Reviews completed	198	220	228	260	396	359	342	294	322	291	314
Improvement Projects started	45	83	75	153	229	229	182	239	216	211	139
Improvement Projects completed	12	51	64	136	214	214	184	186	203	202	143

To be noted that SMAS also introduced a new service in 2016-2017 – The Business Improvement Academy. During this year a total of 37 businesses completed the Academy programme. This is focused on workplace innovation which does not count as individual company projects on here due to the way in which the service is accounted for, and therefore, not included in the table.

Question reference: S5W-12037

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 13 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what research it plans on the potential disaggregated income impact on each local authority of the proposed national deposit return scheme for plastic and glass bottles.