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: S4W-15238

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government to what extent independence would give Scotland the ability to design and implement a tax system best suited to Scotland’s needs.

This government believes that Scotland’s interests will best be served by all decisions affecting Scotland being made in Scotland. Taking full fiscal responsibility would allow this Parliament to legislate for and set all taxes in the interests of stimulating economic growth, supporting the public services of Scotland and building social cohesion. Decisions about what specific taxes to apply in an independent Scotland, and at what level, would be taken by the Scottish Parliament and government of the day.

Question reference: S4F-01442

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 June 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 June 2013

To ask the First Minister what impact the UK Government's proposed spending reductions for 2015-16 will have on the Scottish Government's budget.

Question reference: S4W-15293

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the impact on the Scottish economy, what its response is to the recent warning from the International Monetary Fund about growth prospects for the UK economy and that bringing forward infrastructure spending would be a "wise course of action".

The Scottish Government welcomes the International Monetary Fund’s statement on the 22 May 2013, calling on the UK Government to accelerate the infrastructure spending to support the UK's recovery. Capital investment can make an important contribution to the economic recovery, and the Scottish Government has repeatedly called on the UK Government to do more to boost investment. Indeed, recent Scottish Government analysis has estimated that had 2009-10 levels of capital spending been maintained in real terms, this would have boosted investment by £7 billion over the following five years and would have supported approximately 19,000 jobs.

The Scottish Government is using all levers at its disposal to maximise investment and support economic growth in Scotland. Over the three year Scottish spending review period (between 2012-13 and 2014-15) we will support investment of more than £10 billion through the capital budget, revenue-financed investment through the non profit distributing pipeline, regulatory asset base rail enhancements, capital receipts and switching resource to capital. It is essential that the UK Government changes course and adopts a similar approach to supporting economic recovery.

Question reference: S4O-02208

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the State of Nature report and the challenges it contains to prevent further loss of biodiversity.

Question reference: S4W-14879

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 23 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many people (a) over and (b) under 18 have received NHS speech and language therapy for stammering in each year since 2010, broken down by NHS board.

Information is not held centrally to enable us to identify the specific issue for which people are referred for speech and language therapy or to distinguish between those under and over 18.

The number of people referred to NHS speech and language therapy services in the period April 2011 – March 2012 is set out in the following table:

NHS Board	Total Attendances
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	4,738
NHS Borders	2,661
NHS Fife	12,458
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	14,016
NHS Highland	621
NHS Lanarkshire	15,571
NHS Grampian	2,604
NHS Orkney	157
NHS Lothian	4,293
NHS Tayside	14,852
NHS Western Isles	3,461
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	729
NHS Shetland	364

Question reference: S4F-01398

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 May 2013

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the claims in the Treasury analysis paper regarding an independent Scotland's ability to provide protection for savers and pensioners.

Question reference: S4O-02142

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria are used when selecting set Scottish texts for the new national qualifications for English.

Question reference: S4O-02129

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what improvements have been made to dental services in NHS Ayrshire and Arran since May 2007.

Question reference: S4W-14615

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2013
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by John Swinney on 2 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it will (a) allocate the financial transactions' Barnett consequentials that it has been allocated and (b) manage the £54.8 million reduction in its 2013-14 resource DEL budget arising from the 2013 UK Budget.

The UK Budget 2013 and the UK Government’s Help to Buy initiative have generated financial transactions consequentials for Scotland of £109 million in 2013-14 and £157.5 million in 2014-15. There are also financial transactions consequentials of £24.3 million available in 2014-15 as a result of the UK Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012. All of these financial transactions consequentials are only available to the Scottish Government to support loans and equity investment, with a requirement to repay funding to the Exchequer in future years. This is not normal capital expenditure which can be allocated to directly support the social housing sector.

I can confirm to Parliament that the Scottish Government will allocate all of these financial transactions consequentials, amounting to £290.8 million over two years, to measures that will provide substantial further support to the housing sector. As part of this approach, I can confirm that the Scottish Government will allocate significant additional funding to support shared equity schemes in Scotland.

The Scottish Government will work with stakeholders to determine arrangements for the operation of these schemes, ahead of a further announcement in the course of May.

In addition, I confirm to Parliament that funding for the sector will be further boosted by the allocation of an additional £20 million capital grant funding for the affordable housing supply programme in 2014-15. This will be funded through available Capital DEL consequentials, generated by the Autumn Statement 2012 but not yet allocated by the Scottish Government.

Finally, I confirm to Parliament that the Scottish Government will minimise the impact of the £54.8 million reduction in its 2013-14 Resource DEL budget on frontline public services and public sector employment in Scotland, by adopting the following approach.

Under existing spending plans for 2013-14, £12 million of loans finance that is being made available through the Warm Homes Fund and open market shared equity scheme is being supported through the Scottish Government’s Capital DEL budget. The allocation of financial transaction consequentials to these schemes will enable the Government to reduce the level of planned switch between Resource and Capital budgets in the Housing portfolio by £12 million.

I will utilise £10 million of Barnett consequentials received in the UK Autumn Statement 2012. I had intended utilising this sum to boost college funds but I have been able to provide for this through an allocation to the Scottish Funding Council of emerging 2012-13 underspend to the college sector in academic year 2013-14.

I can also confirm to Parliament that, as a result of the reform of police and fire services, the Scottish Government will gain access in 2013-14 to a share of accumulated police reserves estimated to amount to between £20 and £30 million, which will accrue to the Scottish Government Resource DEL Budget.

Between them, these three steps will almost fully offset the cut that has been made in the Scottish Government Resource DEL budget in 2013-14, without detriment to existing programmes and spending plans.

Adjustments to budgets will be given effect in the normal way through in-year budget revisions.

I also confirm that local government has not been required to make any contribution to the reduction in the budget that we have faced.

Question reference: S4O-02069

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the statement in the Electoral Commission advice on spending limits for the referendum on independence for Scotland that “It is clearly important that the campaign rules should not encourage perceptions of unfairness that could damage voters’ trust in the referendum process or result.”