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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 1356 questions Show Answers

Order by |

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-00020

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 advice on China Railway No.3 Engineering Group and SinoFortone it sought from external stakeholders before signing the memorandum of understanding on 21 March 2016.

Question reference: S5W-00022

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 officials were aware before the memorandum of understanding was signed on 21 March 2016 that China Railway Group had been blacklisted for investment by the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global, and whether it has subsequently contacted the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global or considered its recommendations.

Question reference: S5W-00014

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 large railway project Sir Richard Heygate referred to during an interview on Good Morning Scotland on 8 April 2016.

Question reference: S5W-00001

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 place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) copies of (a) all correspondence and (b) the minutes of meetings that it had with representatives of China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group and SinoFortone (i) in advance of and (ii) after the signing of the memorandum of understanding on 21 March 2016.

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-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-00024

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 carried out due diligence prior to signing a memorandum of understanding with China Railway No.3 Engineering Group and SinoFortone on 21 March 2016; what its position is on this matter, and whether it is standard procedure for the First Minister or other ministers and officials to sign agreements with companies for which the Scottish Government has not conducted background checks.

Prior to signing the memorandum of understanding, Scottish Government officials sought advice from the Scottish development international team in China and also assessed Sinofortone’s credibility in terms of their existing UK activity.

As the memorandum of understanding does not involve any legal, contractual or funding obligations or commitments on behalf of the Scottish Government full due diligence was not undertaken.

Whenever the Scottish Government is seeking to award a contract in relation to construction or the purchase of goods or services, procurement legislation sets out the criteria that can be used to select which companies will be invited to submit a bid. Criteria include the company’s suitability to pursue a professional activity, its economic and financial standing, and its technical and professional ability and include provisions in respect of when a bidder should be excluded from bidding because of, for example, conviction for corruption and/or child labour and other forms of trafficking in human beings.

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.