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-03189

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many local-action research-based projects regarding closing the attainment gap have been established, and where they are located.

Local action research projects to close the attainment gap are driven locally and no central register is kept.

The Scottish Government through its improvement agency, Education Scotland, promotes the use of action research based approaches across all local authorities and is actively engaged in supporting this work, for example through opportunities for local authorities to share their projects and the learning from them. This will build upon a conference held earlier in the summer.

Question reference: S5W-03110

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2016
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 6 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of jobs in Scotland’s retail sector.

The following table shows the number of jobs in the Scottish retail sector from
2009 - 2015.

The figures are the latest retail jobs figures as published by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday 28 September.

Table 1: Retail Jobs, Scotland, 2009 to 2015

Year	Full-time employee jobs	Part-time employee jobs	Working proprietors	All Retail Jobs
2009	98,300	140,900	12,100	251,300
2010	95,300	142,600	8,500	246,400
2011	93,000	144,600	12,900	250,500
2012	87,400	142,000	11,500	241,000
2013	89,500	139,100	12,400	241,000
2014	100,200	144,400	9,000	253,600
2015	101,500	134,300	8,700	244,400

Source: Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES) Office for National Statistics

Question reference: S5W-03112

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 6 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government who it has met from the European Commission since the decision by the UK to leave the EU; when the meetings were held, and what was discussed.

The First Minister met with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on 29 June 2016 to raise awareness of the result of the EU Referendum vote in Scotland and to highlight Scotland’s desire to protect its relationship with the European Union. In addition, discussions between the European Commission and the Scottish Government take place regularly at both Ministerial and official level. Routine discussions have continued since the EU Referendum to ensure continuation of EU related business and to underline the Scottish Government’s commitment to working with the European Commission.

Question reference: S5W-02453

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 6 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Brexit, what steps it is taking to assess and protect the body of Scots law that is underpinned or connected to EU law, and what (a) timescale and (b) resources it proposes for this work to be carried out.

The result of the EU referendum clearly has considerable potential consequences for Scots law. For example, the Faculty of Advocate’s recent evidence to the European and External Relations Committee of the Parliament identified a number of legal issues that will need to be addressed. Consideration of the impact on Scots law is therefore a key element of the Scottish Government’s work on the options for Scotland’s future relationship with the EU and the rest of the UK following the EU referendum.

Question reference: S5W-03115

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 4 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in infrastructure in each year since 2007, also given as a percentage of GDP.

Question reference: S5W-03111

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government which European governments it has met since the decision by the UK to leave the EU; when the meetings were held, and what was discussed.

On 28 June 2016 the Scottish Government received a clear mandate from Parliament to pursue all options to protect Scotland’s relationship with the EU and to engage with EU Member States to explain Scotland’s position, the work it is taking forward to protect its EU relationship and understand their concerns. EU Member State engagement on this basis has been progressing well. Since the referendum, Scottish Government Ministers have met with the Governments of the following fifteen EU Member States:-

Austria

Belgium

Croatia

Czech Republic

Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

Ireland

Italy

Luxembourg

Netherlands

Poland

Slovakia

Sweden

The Scottish Government is committed to regularly reporting progress on its EU engagement to Parliament including through regular engagement with relevant Committees.

Question reference: S5W-03113

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 4 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it makes of the age of publicly owned infrastructure.

Question reference: S5W-03114

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 4 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the average age of Scotland's (a) roads, (b) pavements, (c) hospitals, (d) schools and (e) colleges was in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S5W-02743

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 4 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how the pilot deposit guarantee scheme for childcare costs referred to in the Programme for Government will operate; how much it will cost to introduce; what the budget will be; on what date it will be introduced, and how many people will be able to access it.

The pilots will allow us to explore approaches to reducing the burden of upfront childcare costs for parents in low income households. There is a concern that these costs may present a real barrier to some parents starting or returning to work, or increasing their hours, after a period caring for young children.

We will work with delivery partners to identify potential approaches for delivering the pilots, and will announce more details as to how they will be taken forward in early 2017.

Question reference: S5W-02741

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 30 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the timetable is over the next five years for the delivery of the 1,140 hours of free early learning and childcare for three- and four-year-olds referred to in the Programme for Government.

We are committed to ensuring that the necessary infrastructure, workforce and delivery models are in place to meet our commitment to expand early learning and childcare entitlement to 1140 hours per year by 2020. As I announced to Parliamentary on 29 September 2016, we will shortly be publishing a Policy Blueprint consultation document which will seek views on the Scottish Government’s vision and principles for the expansion, and will set out a timetable for key next steps.