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-03817

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 16 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the expansion of Heathrow Airport will have on Scottish airports.

The impact on each Scottish Airport will be determined by how airlines and passengers respond to increased capacity being available. Potentially, airports with no service or limited services to London Heathrow could benefit, with wider benefits for Scotland from improved connectivity for business and new opportunities for inbound tourism.

Expansion at Heathrow Airport offers the potential for the establishment of a new supply chain hub at Glasgow Prestwick Airport to support the building of the third runway. Heathrow Airport will work with the Scottish Government to investigate this opportunity.

The Scottish Government announced its support for a third runway at Heathrow after securing a number of other key commitments for Scotland, including the creation of up to 16,000 new jobs and a minimum of £200 million worth of construction-related spend during planning and construction. There will also be a significant marketing campaign at Heathrow Airport worth £1.5m and beginning in 2017 to promote all that Scotland has to offer. To support existing services and incentivise new ones, from January 2017 there will be a reduction of £10 per passenger on charges paid by airlines operating services from Heathrow to Scotland. There will also be a £10 million route development fund to further help support new domestic routes.

Question reference: S5W-03968

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 16 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what Scottish Development International's budget has been in each year since 2011-12.

Scottish Development International (SDI) is a tripartite arrangement between Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. SDI provides support for companies to establish and grow their businesses in Scotland and help companies to expand their international trade.

A breakdown of SDI’s budget in each year since 2011-12 is provided in the following table:

SDI Operational Budget

	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
TOTAL	32.3	38.8	33.5	35.5	31.6	30.3

* Figures rounded to nearest hundred thousand

Question reference: S5W-04473

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 15 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, what its response is to the comment by Dr Fabian Zuleeg of the European Policy Centre, and a member of the First Minister’s Standing Council on Europe, to the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee on 1 November 2016 (Official Report, c.43) that “if the UK leaves the single market, I think that it is highly unlikely that any part of the UK will get a special deal to remain in the single market”.

Question reference: S5W-04400

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 14 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much direct foreign investment there has been (a) in each year since 2011-12 and (b) since April 2016.

The Ernst & Young (EY) Attractiveness Surveys provide data on the number of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects and associated planned jobs, note that the investment value is not reported. Table 1 provides the FDI projects and planned jobs figures for 2011 to 2015. The latest published figures are for the 2015 calendar year.

Table 1: Number of FDI projects and planned jobs, Scotland, 2011 to 2015

Year	Projects
2011	51
2012	76
2013	82
2014	79
2015	119

Source: Ernst & Young Attractiveness Surveys

Question reference: S5W-04403

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 14 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what additional staff and resources it has provided to Scottish Development International to help increase the level of exports to the rest of the UK.

Our trade and investment strategy published in March this year set out a comprehensive action plan to boost Scotland’s export activity and to make it clear that Scotland is open for business, including with the rest of the UK. Scottish Development International currently has sufficient resource within the UK to deliver that. The opening of an innovation and investment hub in London will play a crucial role in promoting Scottish goods and services to existing and new customers and markets in London and beyond.

Question reference: S5W-03827

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 14 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the classification is in the risk register of each college property.

Question reference: S5W-03826

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 14 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the maintenance budget has been for each college in each year since 2011.

Question reference: S5W-03828

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 14 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost is of meeting all assessed maintenance requirements for each college, broken down by individual college.

Question reference: S5W-04404

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 10 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that proximity is a key driver of exporting levels and, if so, what action it is taking to increase exports to the rest of the UK.

The latest published figures for 2014 estimate that Scottish exports to the rest of the UK are worth £48.5 billion making it Scotland’s largest export market. We are therefore well aware of the importance of this market to the Scottish economy. Our trade and investment strategy published in March this year set out a comprehensive action plan to boost Scotland’s export activity and to make it clear that Scotland is open forbusiness, including with the rest of the UK. The opening of an innovation and investment hub in London, for example, will play a crucial role in promoting Scottish goods and services to existing and new customers and markets in London and beyond.

Question reference: S5W-04399

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 10 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the value of exports has been (a) in each year since 2011-12 and (b) since April 2016.

The Scottish Government produces a National Statistics publication, Export Statistics Scotland, which estimates the nominal value of Scottish exports for calendar years. The latest data is for 2014. Estimates of Scottish international and rest of UK exports for 2011 to 2014 are shown in the following table.

Year

Exports (£ billions)

International

Rest of UK

Total

2011	26.5	44.3	70.8
2012	26.9	45.5	72.3
2013	28.4	47.0	75.5
2014	27.5	48.5	76.0

Source: Export Statistics Scotland, 2014