Parliamentary questions
Rhoda Grant
2,396 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
8 Jan 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-26120 by Roseanna Cunningham on 13 November 2019, whether the sums referred to as being reconciled on a regulatory accounting basis exclude any other capital expenditure incurred by Scottish Water in the period and which may not fall within the defi…
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: No, the sums provided in the previous response to S5W-26120 as being ‘reconciled on a regulatory accounting basis’ do not exclude any other capital expenditure incurred by Scottish Water in each period.
8 Jan 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether Scottish Water is expected to meet the capital expenditure for the period 2015-21 that was agreed prior to that period commencing, and whether it considers that all the capital projects planned at the outset for the period for delivery within 2015-21 are capable of being delivere…
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Prior to the start of the 2015-21 regulatory period Scottish Water published its Delivery Plan setting out how it would deliver Ministers Objectives within the financing set out in the independent economic regulator’s Final Determination. Prior to each financ…
8 Jan 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-26120 by Roseanna Cunningham on 13 November 2019, whether it will publish the Scottish Water Governance Direction 2009.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Water Governance Directions 2009 were already available online but have been moved to a more prominent position at https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-water-governance-directions-2009/ . The Directions are reviewed prior to the start of …
8 Jan 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much a 1% increase in water charges raises from (a) household and (b) business customers.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Scottish Water’s latest published annual accounts are for 2018-19. These report revenue from households of £881.7m and wholesale revenue associated with businesses of £323.6m. Based on these figures a 1% increase in charges would generate an additional £12m o…
8 Jan 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government where the Water Industry Commission for Scotland reports Scottish Water's performance against the tramlines set in the determination of charges for the period 2015-21.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Commission reports on Scottish Water’s overall performance against the tramlines and other key elements of the final determination in its annual Performance reports at https://www.watercommission.co.uk/view_Performance%20reports.aspx . In addition to f…
6 Jan 2020 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to be able to proceed with the R100 procurement for the North area, in light of the legal challenge from Gigaclear Ltd.
9 Dec 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how Skills Development Scotland determined the (a) membership and (b) terms of reference of its Gender Commission; whether details of the work of the Commission, including the minutes and agendas of its meetings, will be published online, and what the timescale is for the Commission to r…
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Gender Commission was set up in response to findings by the SAAB Group Board, which identified a need to provide visible industry leadership by setting up a commission to address gender imbalance within the work-based learning offer. Consequently the Scot…
4 Dec 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to update the 1996 guidance to NHS boards regarding patient transport and travel expenses.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government provides guidance for patients as part of its publication: “Are you entitled to help with health costs?”. The latest version of this publication was issued in November 2018. The Scottish Government are currently reviewing the necessar…
26 Nov 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the total expenditure has been on the (a) Ayrshire strategic resilience, (b) Oban water treatment works, (c) Bradan water treatment works and (d) Amlaird and Corsehouse strategic main project since 1 April 2015.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Total expenditure for the requested projects is as follows: Oban Water Treatment Works Total investment is £32.3m. The project is now complete. Bradan Water Treatment Works Investment is £14.8m. The project is now complete. Amlaird and Corsehouse strateg…
18 Nov 2019 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking in response to reports that one in 20 households that use food banks has an unstable income due to self-employment or being on a zero-hour contract.
12 Nov 2019 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to protect heritage sites in the Highlands and Islands.
1 Nov 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25827 by Humza Yousaf on 15 October 2019, what assistance will be available to make homes secure once a protective barring order has been put in place.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government consulted on proposals to introduce protective orders for people at risk of domestic abuse earlier this year. That consultation sought views on whether breach of a protective order should be a criminal offence. In developing legislatio…
31 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25799 by Roseanna Cunningham on 29 October 2019, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding whether the expenditure for capital projects reported in the Scottish Water annual report and accounts in each of the last three ye…
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Scottish Water operates within a regulatory framework agreed with Scottish Ministers which is subject to regulatory monitoring, scrutiny and audit. Their capital programme has both planned and unplanned cost allowances for reactive interventions. Consequently…
11 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23670 by Paul Wheelhouse on 7 June 2019, by what date it will publish the revised intervention area list.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: As I announced to Parliament during General Questions on Thursday 10 October, BT plc were the only bidder for both the Central and South lots of the R100 procurement and, subject to due diligence and governance, we intend to proceed to contract signature with…
10 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the number of households there have been in each of the last five years, and what annual rate of growth in household numbers this represents.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: The latest available information is given in the following table. The mid-2019 household estimates are planned for publication in June 2020. Mid-year household estimates, Scotland, 2014–2018 Year Estimated number of households Percentage change on previou…
10 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government in what form of (a) investments and (b) other assets are the retained earnings reserve reported in the 2018-19 Scottish Water annual report held.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The retained earnings reported in the 2018-19 Scottish Water Annual Report and Accounts represent the accumulated profit and loss of Scottish Water since its inception. Together with the other ‘Equity’ reported in the Balance sheet (Government Loans, Cash flo…
10 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the expenditure for capital projects reported in the Scottish Water annual report and accounts in each of the last three years that has been published in accordance with Section 45(2) of the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002 represents unplanned expenditure each year above that …
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The expenditure for capital projects reported in the Scottish Water Annual Report and Accounts in each of the last three years represents all capital expenditure in those years to support delivery of the Objectives set by Ministers under Section 56A of the Wa…
10 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many properties in each of the last five years have been subject to council tax, broken down by the proportion in each band.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The number and proportion of properties the Scottish Government has recorded as being subject to Council Tax by each band in the last five years is as follows: Number of Chargeable Dwellings in Scotland Year Band A Band B Band C Band D Band E Band F …
10 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the UK Government regarding the Comprehensive Spending Review.
Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government has not received the clarity it needs regarding the UK Government’s Spending Review, despite our engagement with HM Treasury. Despite previously promising a multi-year Spending Review in 2019, the UK Government has now delayed this in…
1 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the large business rates supplement has been in each of the last 15 years, broken down by how much tax revenue this generated.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The large business supplement to the non-domestic rate in each of the last 15 years is set out in the table below, along with the estimated associated revenue. The estimated net revenue up until 2011-12 is based on the Assessor's Valuation Roll. The Scottish …
30 Sep 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its paper, Government spend over £25,000: January 2019, for what purpose it spent £98,651.60 on Amazon Web Services EMEA SARL, UK Branch.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: In line with the Scottish Government Digital Strategy, the Social Security Directorate, Chief Digital Officer Division, has adopted a cloud first approach and are delivering the vast majority of Social Security Scotland technology from the cloud. This figure…
25 Sep 2019 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to protect families who have been affected by domestic abuse.
16 Sep 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much each local authority has been allocated from the Town Centre Fund, also broken by how this has been spent.
Answer · Derek Mackay: The £50 million Town Centre Fund was developed in partnership with COSLA and launched on 1 March. The fund has been distributed across all local authorities to enable them to stimulate and support a wide range of investments which encourage town centres and c…
3 Sep 2019 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support Highlands and Islands businesses experiencing losses due to cuts in rural banking services.
21 Jun 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the results of the Good Food Nation consultation.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Good Food Nation Proposals for Legislation consultation responses are currently being analysed and the report is expected to be published shortly.
10 Jun 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action NHS boards are (a) taking and (b) expected to take to increase the diversity of their workforce.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Action NHS Boards are (a) taking and (b) expected to take to increase the diversity of their workforce are matters for each individual NHS board within the framework of the current legislative requirements under the Equality Act 2010, and the Equality Act 201…
10 Jun 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS boards have published annual workforce data for (a) 2017-18 and (b) 2018-19.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Workforce data for all 22 NHS boards for 2017-18 and 2018-19 is published on the workforce section of NHS National Services Scotland's Information Services Division (ISD) website: https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/ .
10 Jun 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what figures are used for benchmarking NHS boards equality and diversity data, and whether the figures are nationally or locally based.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Data on equality and diversity is published on an annual basis in June within the workforce section of NHS National Services Scotland's Information Services Division (ISD) website: https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/ . This data is broken …
4 Jun 2019 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to provide facilities for female prisoners in the Highlands, in light of the plans for the new Inverness prison being shelved until 2023.
23 May 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the health of the country's natural pollinators.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government co-funded the development of a National Pollinator Monitoring Scheme which was commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in 2014. The project, led by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), deve…