Parliamentary questions
Jackie Baillie
9,397 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
28 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been leveraged from European Investment Fund accredited fund managers as part of the Scottish Growth Scheme.
Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish European Growth Co-investment Fund is a partnership between Scottish Enterprise and the European Investment Fund (EIF) involving co-investment by European Venture Capital Fund Managers who are accredited by the EIF. There has been no funding leve…
28 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, since SME Holding Fund Strategic Interventions was introduced (a) how many and (b) what value of applications for support have been made to Scottish Enterprise in each year; of these, how many were (i) successful and (ii) unsuccessful; what the total value was of both, and whether it wi…
Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-14979 on 7 March 2018. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/2…
28 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated gap in SME finance in Scotland has been in the (a) debt and (b) equity market in each year since 1999.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government does not routinely produce estimates of the size of the gap in the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) debt and equity finance markets in Scotland. However, an estimate of the size of the gap in the SME debt market in Scotland was…
28 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses have received support from the Scottish Growth Scheme.
Answer · Derek Mackay: Up to 6th March 2018, £30.1m has been invested in 31 companies under the Scottish Growth Scheme.
28 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs the SME Holding Fund has created.
Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-14261 on 21 February 2018. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at ttp://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness…
28 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the overall leverage target of £4 per £1 grant from the SME Holding Fund has been achieved.
Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-14261 on 21 February 2018. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at ttp://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness…
28 Feb 2018 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average school clothing grant payment was in 2017.
27 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many people who register as self-employed do not start their own business.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Businesses in Scotland 2017 publication provides a breakdown of enterprises into those that are registered for VAT and/or PAYE, and those that are not (so called unregistered enterprises). Unregistered enterprises are the smallest businesses that are not …
27 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many new businesses started up in each year from 2011.
Answer · Keith Brown: Business births are measured using new business VAT/PAYE registrations, sourced from the Office for National Statistics Business Demography publications. Table 1 shows business births in each year from 2011 to 2016. Table 1: Business Births (VAT/PAYE registr…
27 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people work in the gig economy.
Answer · Keith Brown: There are no official estimates for the number of people working in the gig economy in Scotland. However, on 7 February 2018, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy published a research paper on the characteristics of those in the gig eco…
27 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses are co-operatives, broken down by year since 2011.
Answer · Keith Brown: The main source for official statistics on the number of businesses in Scotland is the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR). The IDBR, maintained by the Office for National Statistics, is a database of all businesses registered for Value-Added-Tax (VAT…
27 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people registered as self-employed in each year since 2011.
Answer · Keith Brown: Table 1 shows the level of self-employment in Scotland in each year from October 2010–September 2011 to October 2016-September 2017 from the Annual Population Survey (APS). The October 2016-September 2017 is the most recent data available from the APS. Table…
27 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to ensure that the justice system does not discriminate against people with learning disabilities.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Both the Justice Board and the Justice Board’s Equality and Diversity Sub-Group works collaboratively across the justice sector to help to ensure that the justice system does not discriminate against anyone. Disability is one of the nine protected characteri…
26 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the court orders that are applied to people with learning disabilities are longer than those for other people and, if so, for what reason.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Information on length of court orders that are applied to people with learning disabilities is not held centrally. Scottish Courts and Tribunals Services are unable to differentiate between people with or without learning disabilities.
26 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it offers to help young people with learning disabilities into employment, and what plans it has to extend this.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government provides a range of employability support to help young people, including those with learning disabilities, into further education, training or employment, such as: careers advice and employability programmes. Disabled people are also …
26 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many school leavers with learning disabilities have gone on to (a) work, (b) further education, (c) higher education, (d) unemployment and (e) another destination in each of the last five years.
Answer · John Swinney: The initial destinations of school leavers with a recorded ‘Learning Disability’ Additional Support Need, for the last five leaver cohorts for which data are available, are detailed in the following table: Percentage of secondary and special school leavers f…
26 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it offers people to with learning disabilities in accessing the justice system.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring a fair and effective justice system that is accessible to all. We recognise that people with learning disabilities may require additional support to enable them to secure that access. There are a number of spe…
26 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners have learning disabilities.
Answer · Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows: SPS does not routinely screen prisoners for learning difficulties or disabilities (LDD). As SPS fully recognises that LDD is a signif…
26 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many modern apprentices have learning disabilities, and what percentage of modern apprenticeships this represents.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Skills Development Scotland collects information on disability as part of the initial registration of a Modern Apprentice. Disclosure of disability is self- declared by Modern Apprentices through their response to a disability monitoring question which asks i…
26 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what target it has set to increase the number of people with learning disabilities in the workplace, and what action it is taking to achieve this.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government has committed to seek to reduce by at least half the employment gap between those with disabilities and those without. Helping more people with learning disabilities into work will be key to achieving this ambition. Since the publicat…
22 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there is a reported backlog of complaints relating to the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, and what action it is taking to resolve this.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) is a Non-Ministerial Department and part of the Scottish Administration. OSCR is an independent regulator and does not form part of the Scottish Government. In line with the framework agreement between the Scottish Gover…
22 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the longest time taken is by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator to deal with a complaint.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) is a Non-Ministerial Department and part of the Scottish Administration. OSCR is an independent regulator and does not form part of the Scottish Government. In line with the framework agreement between the Scottish Gover…
22 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average time taken is by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator to deal with complaints.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) is a Non-Ministerial Department and part of the Scottish Administration. OSCR is an independent regulator and does not form part of the Scottish Government. In line with the framework agreement between the Scottish Gover…
19 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to mark the 100th anniversary of the Education (Scotland) 1918 Act.
Answer · John Swinney: 2018 marks 100 years of Catholic state education in Scotland, and the First Minister and I will be involved in a number of events which will mark this significant anniversary. The First Minister will give the Cardinal Winning lecture at the University of Gla…
19 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14025 by Derek Mackay on 6 February 2018, what its position is on whether the threshold of £2 million in Wales and Northern Ireland is the prevailing practice.
Answer · Derek Mackay: The operational aspects of PBAs in Wales and Northern Ireland, including thresholds, are a matter for their respective governments. The Scottish thresholds will be reviewed in the light of the experience of using PBAs in Scotland.
19 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14025 by Derek Mackay on 6 February 2018, when the review of the thresholds of public sector project bank accounts will take place.
Answer · Derek Mackay: It is important that a review of PBA thresholds is only taken in the light of experience of their operation. As noted in my answer to S5W-14390 on 21 February 2018 , the first contracts containing a PBA will be awarded over the next 16 months. Therefore, a re…
19 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14024 by Derek Mackay on 6 February 2018, what information it has regarding when the UK Government's consultation on retention payments in the construction industry is scheduled to end.
Answer · Derek Mackay: The UK Government consultation on retention payments in the construction industry closed on 19 January 2018.
19 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14023 by Derek Mackay on 6 February 2018, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding what its position is on introducing measures to ensure that all public sector procurers operate a so-called yellow/red card system to ensu…
Answer · Derek Mackay: The Government is committed to improving the current level of performance in public sector construction contracts. This includes ensuring prompt payment practices at all levels in the supply chain. A red/yellow card system, along the lines described, is poten…
13 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it can provide that bidders for Carillion rail contracts in Scotland will undergo proper due diligence to ensure that they are suitable to manage contracts, including the employment of workers on direct employment contracts.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Network Rail has confirmed it has employed due diligence in the governance and case by case approvals of its transition plans and the associated migration of Carillion works to alternative suppliers. In all instances, the recipients of this work are establish…
12 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-11841 by Jamie Hepburn on 6 November 2017, (a) how it calculated the share for each sector and (b) who the (i) first delivery partners and (ii) supporting contractors are, broken down by value of contract.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: a) To calculate the percentage share of delivery for each sector, the following methodology was applied: i) calculate the indicative volumes for each supplier and their partners based of their estimated proposed percentage share of delivery in each Lot as se…