Parliamentary questions

Kezia Dugdale

1,684 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

13 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to support the growth of the fintech sector in (a) Edinburgh and (b) Scotland.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: FinTech offers Edinburgh and Scotland the opportunity to access new markets and attract new entrants to enhance the financial services sector in Scotland, utilising our existing strengths in financial services and our skills and expertise in innovation and di…

13 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with The City of Edinburgh Council to discuss a city region deal, and what was discussed at the meeting.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government has met regularly with The City of Edinburgh Council throughout the year. Since July officials have facilitated a series of workshops looking at each of the proposed Deal's themes - Housing, Transport, Digital, Employability and Skills…

13 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the proposed city region deal for Edinburgh, and whether it will make representations to the UK Government supporting this.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to supporting a City Region Deal for Edinburgh and South East Scotland and has been consistent in its support for a considerable amount of time. We were proactive in securing a commitment from the UK Government …

12 Sep 2016 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister when she will next meet the Scottish Association for Mental Health.

9 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on using social advertising to highlight the need for people to be aware of the provisions of the Disabled Persons’ Parking Places (Scotland) Act 2009.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government recognises that disabled persons’ parking places play a vital role in enabling disabled people to carry out day-to-day activities that non-disabled people can take for granted. The disabled person’s parking places provided for blue bad…

9 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that local authorities use the powers available to them under the Disabled Persons’ Parking Places (Scotland) Act 2009.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The role of the Scottish Ministers, under the Disabled Persons’ Parking Places (Scotland) Act 2009 (“the 2009 Act”), extends to: making regulations in relation to the content of the applications made by relevant persons; making regulations relating to the c…

9 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its social advertising budget is for 2016-17.

Answer · Shona Robison: The anticipated total for the social advertising budget in 2016-17 is £5,620,000. This will deliver 33 campaigns which are designed to improve or save lives and which will help deliver the Scottish Government’s priorities.

9 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the announcement by the UK Government that the Autumn Statement will be published on 23 November 2016, on what date it will publish the draft 2017-18 Scottish Budget.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The timetable for the 2017-18 budget is currently being discussed with the Finance Committee.

9 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government under what criteria a business will be eligible to apply to the Scottish Growth Scheme that is referred to in its 2016-17 Programme for Government; which body will determine the businesses that will receive support, and by what date the first guarantees or loans will be issued.

Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-02378 on 28 September 2016. 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/parliamentarybusin…

9 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what projects it has identified for support from the £20 billion infrastructure programme that it referred to in its 2016-17 Programme for Government.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Infrastructure Investment Plan 2015, published in December 2015, sets out the Scottish Government's infrastructure priorities over the next 20 years. An update on the Scottish Government's plans for infrastructure will be provided in the Budget.

9 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how much has been spent on research and development in each year since 2006, also expressed as a percentage of GDP.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government publishes the Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) report on an annual basis. The latest report was published on 30 March 2016 and can be found at: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0049/00498541.pdf The following table sho…

9 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided to support research and development in each year since 2006, also expressed as a percentage of GDP.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes the UK Government Expenditure on Science, Engineering and Technology report. The latest report was published on 15 July 2016 and can be found at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/r…

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will provide the “additional investment in high quality public services” that is refered to in its 2016-17 Programme for Government, and whether includes using the tax powers that were made available by the Scotland Act 2016.

Answer · Derek Mackay: As noted in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2016-17, the new tax powers delivered by the Scotland Act 2016 will be used to help grow Scotland's economy, promote fairness, and provide additional investment in high quality public services. Sp…

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the (a) roles and (b) responsibilities of (i) Scottish Enterprise, (ii) the Scottish Funding Council and (iii) Skills Development Scotland.

Answer · Keith Brown: The First Minister announced a review of the enterprise and skills support on 25 May 2016. The Enterprise and Skills review is currently considering the role of the support offered by our enterprise and skills agencies, including Scottish Enterprise, the Scot…

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the revenue it will receive from the Apprenticeship Levy will be allocated to the provision of (a) skills and (b) employability support.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government recently concluded a consultation on the Apprenticeship levy. There were almost 400 responses to the consultation and we are currently analysing the responses. The outcome of the consultation will inform the decisions we will make in t…

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to freeze the basic rate of income tax throughout the fifth parliamentary session.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Our Programme for Government, published on 6 September, reaffirmed the plans for income tax in Scotland set out on 22 March to freeze the basic rate of income tax throughout this Parliament. We will announce specific proposals for income tax as part of the 20…

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether its replacement for air passenger duty will raise more or less revenue than the existing system.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Devolution of powers over air passenger duty (APD) provides an opportunity to put in place new arrangements which better support the Scottish Government's objective to boost international connectivity and help generate sustainable growth. The Scottish Governm…

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a definition of the (a) investment guarantees and (b) contingent liabilities in the context of the Scottish Growth Scheme that is referred to in its 2016-17 Programme for Government.

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what research it has commissioned on the value and impact of air passenger duty.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government undertook a public consultation between March and June 2016, seeking views on how a Scottish replacement for air passenger duty should be designed and structured to best support our strategic objectives, building on the work of the sta…

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date Scottish Enterprise will publish its decommissioning action plan.

Answer · Keith Brown: Scottish Enterprise has indicated that its Decommissioning Action plan will be launched by the end of December 2016.

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether its forthcoming digital strategy will seek to (a) reduce the number of government domain names and (b) develop a one-stop hub for business interaction with all arms of government.

Answer · Derek Mackay: We are currently engaging with partners to refresh the digital strategy. I can confirm that we remain committed to building on mygov.scot as the single, but not exclusive, point of access to public information and services for citizens and businesses in Scotl…

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has commissioned any research since May 2016 on the introduction of a 50p top rate of tax and how this could impact on the country's finances.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government has commissioned no new research since May 2016 into the introduction of a 50p top rate of tax and how this could impact on the country’s finances. In March of this year the First Minister invited the Council of Economic Advisers to co…

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how its replacement for air passenger duty (APD) will impact on people, broken down by socio-economic class, and how this compares with APD.

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the budget will be for Returners project that is referred to in its 2016-17 Programme for Government; which agencies will administer it; when it will be established, and how many women it will support in its first year.

Answer · Keith Brown: We are currently developing arrangements for a ‘Returners’ project so that women can get help updating skills and knowledge and employers can retain skilled staff after a career break. Further details will be announced in due course.

5 Sep 2016 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister when she will next meet the new Prime Minister.

2 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that a decision on making pre-exposure prophylaxis available on the NHS should be a public health priority.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government recognises that reducing HIV transmission is a public health priority. The Scottish Government is clear that the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) should consider pre-exposure prophylaxis as soon as possible, and therefore as soon as…

2 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether, in light of the commitment in the 2016 SNP manifesto to consider the availability of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), it is planning a national roll-out of PrEP.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-01777 on 29 August 2016. 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…

27 Jul 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the (a) First Minister, (b) Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Constitution and (c) other Cabinet members last had discussions with the Governor of the Bank of England and what matters were raised.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The First Minister last had discussions with the Governor of the Bank of England on 13 July 2016 to discuss the economic outlook following the EU referendum.

27 Jul 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the process will be for the selection of the new commissioner of the Scottish Fiscal Commission and by what date the appointment will be announced.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government has appointed Professor Charles Nolan as a member of the non-statutory Scottish Fiscal Commission for the period 1 July 2016 to 30 March 2017. I proposed the appointment of Professor Nolan in a letter to the Finance Committee on 28…

27 Jul 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason its report, Provisional Outturn 2015-16 and Budget Estimates 2016-17, records (a) an underspend in the financial transactions budget and (b) a £128 million overspend in the health line.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Financial transactions, through rules set by HM Treasury, are ring-fenced for loans and equity investment outside the public sector. The nature of the programmes and projects mean that such expenditure within this area is generally demand led, for example wit…