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-04710

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 18 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting charities assisting homeless people from Scotland in London.

The Scottish Government has not routinely received requests from charities supporting homeless Scots in London so no support is currently being provided. However a charity called Borderline have applied for funding in 2017-18 through the Scottish Government's Housing Voluntary Grant Scheme. Their application will be considered in line with our usual appraisal processes, the result of which will be known by 31 December 2016.

Question reference: S5O-00328

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when ministers last met representatives of NHS Borders and what issues were discussed.

Question reference: S5W-03716

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been employed in the (a) fishing, (b) farming, (c) textiles, (d) manufacturing, (e) renewable energy and (f) tourism industries and (g) as teachers in each year since 2007, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

The information requested has been lodged with SPICe - Bib number 58299. Seven tables have been lodged with SPICe as follows:

For a) fishing, table 1 shows the level of fishing and aquaculture jobs in each parliamentary constituency from 2009 to 2015. The data are sourced from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES). The BRES commenced in 2009.

For b) farming, table 2 shows the agricultural workforce in each parliamentary constituency from 2007 to 2015. The data are sourced from the Scottish Agricultural Census.

For c) textiles, table 3 shows the level of textile jobs in each parliamentary constituency from 2009 to 2015. The data are sourced from BRES, with textiles defined as Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2007 codes 13 (manufacture of textiles), 14 (manufacture of wearing apparel) and 15 (manufacture of leather and related products).

For d) manufacturing, table 4 shows the level of manufacturing jobs in each parliamentary constituency from 2009 to 2015. The data are sourced from BRES.

For e) renewable energy, the ONS now publish official statistics annually from the Low Carbon and Renewable Energy Economy Survey. Data at parliamentary constituency level between 2009 and 2015 is available for the wider energy sector (which includes renewables) – these estimates, sourced from BRES, are provided in table 5.

For f) tourism, table 6 shows the level of tourism jobs in each parliamentary constituency from 2009 to 2015. The data are sourced from BRES, with tourism defined according to the Scottish Government Growth Sector Sustainable Tourism definition – details of the SIC 2007 codes used in this definition are available at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Business/Publications/GrowthSectors/Database

For g) as teachers, table 7 shows the level of teaching jobs in each parliamentary constituency in 2015. These figures are sourced from the Teacher Census, and are expressed in terms of Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) jobs. Table 7 shows data for the 2015 year only, for previous years the school location data held is not suitable for matching to parliamentary constituency.

Question reference: S5O-00263

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on plans to re-open rail stations at Reston and East Linton.

Question reference: S5O-00240

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 6 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many new jobs it expects the recently announced funding for Hawick to generate and whether it supports the creation of an Enterprise Zone for the town.

Question reference: S5W-02156

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what work has been carried out by the Phase 2 Borders Railway Feasibility Study.

Question reference: S5W-02157

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with (a) Scottish Borders Council and (b) Transport Scotland to discuss the Phase 2 Borders Railway Feasibility Study.

Question reference: S5W-02154

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the remit is of the Phase 2 Borders Railway Feasibility Study.

Question reference: S5W-02155

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the preliminary findings of the Phase 2 Borders Railway Feasibility Study.

Question reference: S5O-00163

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 September 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Visit Northumberland, Visit Cumbria and local authorities regarding promoting cross-border tourism.