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-00021

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 31 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it made of the human rights record of China Railway No.3 Engineering Group and SinoFortone before signing the memorandum of understanding on 21 March 2016.

Question reference: S5W-00017

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 31 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that it would be appropriate for it to sign an agreement with China Railway No.3 Engineering Group and SinoFortone to build homes in Falkirk, following its signing of the memorandum of understanding on 21 March 2016, if Falkirk Council had already rejected such a proposal from these companies.

Question reference: S5W-00010

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 31 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the £10 billion investment associated with the memorandum of understanding with China Railway No.3 Engineering Group and SinoFortone that was signed on 21 March 2016, and how this figure was arrived at.

Question reference: S5W-00004

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 31 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government on what dates (a) officials, (b) the First Minister and (c) other ministers have held discussions with China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group and SinoFortone.

Officials became aware of SinoFortone’s possible interest in investing in Scotland in June 2015 via the Chair of the Asia Scotland Institute.

The First Minister’s office was contacted in July 2015 and in October 2015 regarding Sinofortone’s interest in investing in Scotland.

Officials held discussions with Sir Richard Heygate and Dr Peter Zhang representing SinoFortone on 16 December 2015, 3 February 2016, 9 March 2016 and 10 March 2016.

The First Minister met with Sir Richard Heygate and Dr Peter Zhang representing SinoFortone on 3 February 2016.

I was introduced to Sir Richard Heygate and Dr Peter Zhang on 9 March 2016 at an event on ‘Chinese Invests West Infrastructure Investment’ hosted by the legal firm Pinsent Masons.

Officials and the First Minister held discussions with Sir Richard Heygate and Dr Peter Zhang representing SinoFortone and China Railway No 3 Engineering Group on 21 March 2016.

There have been no meetings with representatives of China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group and SinoFortone since the memorandum of understanding was signed on 21 March 2016. Officials spoke with Sir Richard Heygate by phone on 8 and 9 April 2016 to clarify issues raised in the media.

Question reference: S5W-00018

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 31 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) interest rate, (b) timescale and (c) financial return for the companies would be in relation to the £10 billion of investment planned by China Railway No.3 Engineering Group and SinoFortone in projects across Scotland in accordance with the memorandum of understanding signed with the Scottish Government on 21 March 2016.

The memorandum of understanding between the Scottish Government, China Railway No.3 Engineering Group and SinoFortone is focused on developing a working relationship to explore possible investment in Scotland. There is no confirmed investment and no legal or contractual obligations, any discussions on interest rates, timescales or financial return would only take place in the event of confirmed investment and would take place between the partners in any investment.

Question reference: S5W-00007

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 31 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers it appropriate that the Chinese media was informed of the signing of the memorandum of understanding with China Railway No.3 Engineering Group and SinoFortone that was signed on 21 March 2016 but the Scottish media was not.

Question reference: S5W-00005

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 31 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it first came into contact with representatives of China Railway No.3 Engineering Group and SinoFortone.

Question reference: S5W-00003

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 31 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government on what date (a) officials, (b) the First Minister and (c) other ministers became aware of the proposals by China Railway No.3 Engineering Group and SinoFortone to invest in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-00028

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 31 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what information China Railway No.3 Engineering Group and SinoFortone provided about their activities and those of their subsidiaries elsewhere in the world prior to the signing of the memorandum of understanding on 21 March 2016.

Question reference: S5W-00006

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 31 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the press release agreed between the Scottish Government and China Railway No.3 Engineering Group and SinoFortone regarding the memorandum of understanding signed on 21 March 2016 was published on the companies’ English language website only, and who took the decision not to publish it on the Scottish Government’s website.