Parliamentary questions
Jackie Baillie
9,397 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
21 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses have approached the Post-Referendum Business Network; how many have received assistance; how much funding the network has received, and how many staff it employs.
Answer · Keith Brown: In August the First Minister announced plans to establish a new Post-Referendum Business Network which would work more closely and collaboratively with the main business bodies, the STUC and the Scotland Office to help shape future policy and support for busi…
21 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the value of exports has been for businesses in its identified growth sectors in each year since 2007.
Answer · Keith Brown: Statistics on the value of international exports from growth sectors are published in Table 5.2 of the Growth Sector Statistics Database on the Scottish Government website here: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Business/Publications/GrowthSectors…
21 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs the £100 million capital stimulus funding announced after the EU referendum has supported, and what contribution this has made to economic growth in 2016-17, expressed as a percentage.
Answer · Derek Mackay: Information on the number of jobs supported has been included in the answer to question S5W-09849 on 7 July 2017. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at www.parli…
21 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which businesses received support from the £100 million capital stimulus funding announced after the EU referendum, broken down by date and amount of support.
Answer · Derek Mackay: The information, including the anticipated number of jobs supported, is as follows. Unless stated otherwise, the support was provided between September 2016 and March 2017. Project £k Business Supported Estimated Jobs Supported where known Higher Educati…
21 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what inward investment there has been for each of its identified growth sectors, broken down by year.
Answer · Keith Brown: The number of inward investment projects in each identified growth sector over the past five years, as recorded by Scottish Development International, is set out in the following table: 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Energy Oil & Gas 5 11 …
21 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses have approached the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service; how many have received assistance; how many staff the service employs, and what its budget is.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service have dealt with 4,051 unique businesses since inception in December 2005. All of these businesses have received advice while some have progressed beyond this – producing 1,848 Business Improvement Projects and deliv…
21 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of its (a) past and (b) present trade envoys.
Answer · Keith Brown: Trade envoys are yet to be appointed. There have not been any previous Scottish Government trade envoys.
21 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the (a) Berlin and (b) Brussels hub will be operational.
Answer · Keith Brown: Plans to establish the Berlin Hub are currently in development and details will be made available in due course. The Scottish Government has had a presence in Brussels since 1999 and the work on developing the Innovation and Investment Hub, building on the …
21 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses and academic institutions have sought assistance from operational trade hubs, and how many have received assistance.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government is committed to establishing four Innovation and Investment Hubs in Dublin, London, Brussels and Berlin as an integral part of wider work across the Scottish Government, partners and businesses to support trade, investment, innovation …
20 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5T-00595 by the Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities on 20 June 2017 (Official Report, c. 5), what involvement the Scottish Futures Trust has in ensuring that the best possible building standards are deployed in public buil…
Answer · Derek Mackay: The current building standards system legislative framework under The Building (Scotland) Act 2003 has been in place since 2005. The purpose of the system is to protect the public interest. Local authorities are responsible for managing the building standards…
20 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5T-00595 by the Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities on 20 June 2017 (Official Report, c. 5), what guidance is given to local authorities regarding the frequency that they should carry out fire risk assessments.
Answer · Annabelle Ewing: A series of sector specific guides published by Scottish Government provide practical fire safety guidance for those with responsibilities for fire safety in non-domestic premises under Part 3 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005. Where possible, the guides do not…
20 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5T-00595 by the Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities on 20 June 2017 (Official Report, c. 5), how often technical changes have been made to the building standards and guidance that is issued to local authorities in each of …
Answer · Kevin Stewart: Scottish Government keeps the building regulations and supporting guidance under regular review. The guidance on fire safety measures for new buildings was changed in October 2010. Minor changes were made in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. The changes intro…
20 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5T-00595 by the Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities on 20 June 2017 (Official Report, c. 5), what the building standards requirements are for the installation of (a) sprinklers, (b) heat detectors and (c) smoke detectors f…
Answer · Kevin Stewart: The functional standards in the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 for fire safety do not differentiate between new public buildings and work to existing buildings, including schools. The requirements include occupants being alerted to the outbreak of fire …
20 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5T-00595 by the Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities on 20 June 2017 (Official Report, c. 5), what differences there are between the building standards regulations for high- and low-rise flats.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: The functional standards in the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 for fire safety do not differentiate between high and low rise flats, the requirements are the same. These have, limiting fire spread, means of escape of occupants and assistance to the fire…
20 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5T-00595 by the Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities on 20 June 2017 (Official Report, c. 5), whether it will revise and extend the requirement for sprinkler systems to all public buildings, including schools.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety was convened to oversee a review of building and fire safety regulatory frameworks, and any other relevant matters, in order to help ensure that people are safe in Scotland’s buildings, and make any re…
20 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5T-00595 by the Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities on 20 June 2017 (Official Report, c. 5), when it will publish all of the background information relating to its letter to local authorities of November 2013.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: The background information will be published on the Building Standards pages of the Scottish Government website in the week commencing 10 July 2017.
20 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5T-00595 by the Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities on 20 June 2017 (Official Report, c. 5), who the members are of the ministerial working group on fire safety; what the group's (a) scope and (b) remit is, and whether all…
Answer · Angela Constance: The Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety have developed a website that includes the information requested by the member. This can be found at https://beta.gov.scot/groups/building-and-fire-safety-working-group/. As stated in response to the …
19 Jun 2017 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it last organised a nationwide street count of rough sleepers.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: Information on whether someone has slept rough within the past three months is collected by local authorities when a homeless application is made. The Scottish Government has been working with third sector organisations such as Glasgow Homelessness Network a…
19 Jun 2017 · Topical Question
To ask the Scottish Government what checks have been undertaken on residential tower blocks and new public buildings, including schools, in light of the recent tragic event at Grenfell Tower.
16 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance (a) has been and (b) will be delivered to (i) housing developers and (ii) local authorities to ensure that social housing developments announced as part of its £1.75 billion investment in affordable housing take account of the needs of ethnic minority families, including th…
Answer · Angela Constance: In 2014, the Scottish Government issued guidance on Scottish Planning Policy, Housing Needs and Demand Assessments (HNDA) and Local Housing Strategies. It is the responsibility of local authorities, using the framework provided by this series of guidance, to …
16 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) guidance and (b) enforcement measures there are to ensure that its £1.75 billion housing investment meets the (i) equalities goals in the Race Equality Framework, in particular Goal 25 that Scotland's public sector workforce is representative of its communities, and (ii) Fairer …
Answer · Angela Constance: Guidance on Local Housing Strategies (LHS) was published in 2014 and refers to the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 which requires an LHS to state how a local authority will comply with its duty under Section 106 of the Act. Section 106 states that local authorit…
16 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take against colleges that do not fulfill the pay awards that were due on 1 April 2017 by the end of July 2017.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Colleges Scotland have indicated that the first 25% of migration to new National Pay Scale for un-promoted lecturing staff will be made in July.
16 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that all colleges have sufficient funds to honour the pay deal that was agreed by Colleges Scotland and the EIS.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: In his letter of 12 June 2017, the CEO of the Scottish Funding Council advised Colleges Scotland that additional funding made available in 2017-18 was sufficient to meet the costs of the lecturers' pay settlement alone for 2017-18. The letter was copied to a…
16 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which colleges do not have sufficient funds to honour the pay deal that was agreed by Colleges Scotland and the EIS.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: In his letter of 12 June 2017, the CEO of the Scottish Funding Council advised Colleges Scotland that additional funding made available in 2017-18 was sufficient to meet the costs of the lecturers' pay settlement alone for 2017-18. The letter was copied to a…
15 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will bring forward a retail strategy working in collaboration with the sector.
Answer · Keith Brown: Yes. The Scottish Government and the Scottish Retail Consortium are now working together to develop a retail strategy or action plan.
15 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the chief economist publishing analysis of the impact of Brexit on the economic outlook, whether similar analysis has been produced examining the impact of independence and, if so, whether it will publish this.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government believes the people of Scotland should be given the choice between Brexit - and the risk we know that this poses to our economy - and becoming an independent country and having the opportunity to pursue policies designed to grow the ec…
15 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses have been registered in Scotland in each year since 2007.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The number of VAT and/or PAYE registered enterprises, for 2007 to 2016, in Scotland are provided in the table below. Note that these figures refer to all registered enterprises operating in Scotland regardless of where the enterprise is based. Number of reg…
15 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the business (a) birth, (b) death and (c) survival rate has been in each year since 2007.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Business births, deaths and survival rates – based on VAT/PAYE registrations and deregistrations - are produced by the Office for National Statistics within their Business Demography publications. Table 1 below provides the business birth and death rates as …
15 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the economic inactivity rate is reportedly higher than that for the rest of the UK.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Data from the ONS’ Labour Force Survey for the most recent quarter (February to April 2017) was published on 14 June 2017. This shows that the economic inactivity rate in Scotland during this period was 22.7 per cent. The economic inactivity rate for the UK o…
15 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the economic inactivity rate was in March 2017, and how this compared to the rest of the UK.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Official regional labour market statistics produced by ONS are only available for rolling three month periods, rather than individual months. Data from the ONS’ Labour Force Survey for the quarter ending March 2017 shows that the economic inactivity rate in …