Gordon MacDonald

28 Aug 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support can be given to the City of Edinburgh Council to manage traffic congestion across the city, especially during periods where visitor numbers dramatically increase.

12 Jun 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any action being taken to ensure that the Edinburgh festivals do not experience the same difficulties as last year regarding complex visa rules faced by some artists.

29 May 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to address the oversubscription of primary schools in Edinburgh.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Local authorities have a duty to ensure there are sufficient school places and we expect them to manage demand effectively. If there are insufficient places available at the catchment school for all the pupils who want to attend the school, we expect the loc…

20 May 2019 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on the creation of 500 highly-skilled tech jobs in Edinburgh by Lloyds Banking Group.

15 May 2019 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making towards the commitments contained in Scotland’s Energy Strategy, which was published in December 2017.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Yesterday the Scottish Government published three important documents – setting out our progress since publishing Scotland’s Energy Strategy, the actions that we have taken and those which we will be focusing on during the coming months. These included the pu…

15 May 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the UK Government’s immigration policy is having on the Edinburgh festivals.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has longstanding concerns around how readily artists and performers can come to Scotland for the Edinburgh Festivals, and the problems that delays visa processes and indeed refusals that are overturned on appeals and after a late stage…

30 Apr 2019 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to boost Scotland’s export performance.

Answer · Ivan McKee: A Trading Nation: a plan for growing Scotland’s exports will be announced today, 1 May, by the First Minister at the National Economic Forum. The plan will be published today on the Scottish Government’s website.

3 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in the food and drink sector since 2008.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Since 2008 the Scottish Government has directly invested over £125m in grant funding to support capital expenditure in the food and drink sector through the Food Processing Marketing and Cooperation grant scheme, the European Fisheries Fund and the European M…

3 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government in what ways it has invested in restaurant and mobile food service growth since 2008.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-22504 on 23 April 2019. 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 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact a no deal Brexit could have on Scotland’s economy.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government’s Chief Economist published analysis on 21 February indicating that a No Deal Brexit could be expected to push the Scottish economy into recession during 2019. The analysis indicated that there is the potential for the economy to contr…

13 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many modern apprenticeship starts there have been in each year since 2007, including to date, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The following tables set out modern apprenticeship starts in each local authority area, from 2007-2008 to 2012-2013 and, 2013-2014 to the most recent data published for quarter 3 of 2018/2019. Local Authority 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 201…

16 Jan 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what SEPA's responsibilities are regarding maintaining water levels in reservoirs in the Edinburgh area, in order to ensure public safety, wildlife protection and continued recreational use.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: SEPA is the regulatory authority for reservoir safety under the Reservoirs (Scotland) Act 2011. SEPA is also responsible for regulating the flow of water from reservoirs for the purpose of protecting the river downstream, but they are not responsible for main…

18 Dec 2018 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide an update on progress towards implementing the new Funding Follows the Child approach and finalising the new National Standard for Early Learning and Childcare Providers.

Answer · Maree Todd: In March 2018 the Scottish Government and COSLA published a joint consultation on the Funding Follows the Child approach which will be introduced from August 2020. This approach is underpinned by a National Standard that all settings who wish to be a funded p…

12 Dec 2018 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the National Infrastructure Mission announced in its Programme for Government will be taken forward.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The 2018 Programme for Government announced our intention to increase annual investment in infrastructure by 1% of current GDP by the end of the next Parliament. The 2019-20 Budget, published yesterday, confirmed the 2019-20 baseline of £5,195.8 million an…

4 Dec 2018 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on the review of employability services, which was one of the actions from the report, No One Left Behind: Next Steps for the Integration and Alignment of Employability Support in Scotland, which was published in March 2018.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Review of Employability Services was published today. We have listened to users of employability services and people who work in the sector, and set out a series of actions that we will now develop with our partners in order to meet the following objectiv…

13 Nov 2018 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to continue its support for veterans.

Answer · Graeme Dey: As I set out in the recent parliamentary debate on veterans and the Armed Forces community, veterans are assets to our country, which is why the Scottish Government’s support for them is absolute. I am therefore pleased to announce today, in the week where we…

31 Oct 2018 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding calls for the ban on the import of chlorinated chicken to be lifted and for the UK to adopt US environmental and food safety regulations.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: In my discussions with the UK Government, I have repeatedly made clear that there should be no weakening of current environmental and food safety regulations as a consequence of Brexit. I will expect Mr Gove and his Ministerial colleagues to deliver on their …

26 Sep 2018 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to provide flexibility for recipients of universal credit.

20 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding in the Vibrant Economy Index that Edinburgh has been ranked as the most vibrant place in Scotland, with the highest levels of dynamism and opportunity.  

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government welcomes the asset-based approach used in the Vibrant Economy Index. A range of evidence is used to inform policy development and implementation, and to assess the assets and needs of Scotland's people and places.

17 Sep 2018 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the recent Migration Advisory Committee report and its implications for Scotland.

12 Sep 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its Programme for Government means for the long-term level of infrastructure spend in Edinburgh and across Scotland.

4 Sep 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to develop the food and drink sector, including through the tourism industry.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: This is such an important area for us in Scotland. The industry-led food and drink strategy “Ambition 2030” sets out our partnership vision for development of the Food and Drink Sector, including the importance of working closely with the tourism industry. O…

4 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to grow exports, in light of the possible impact of Brexit.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government recognise that action is required to maintain and improve our export performance. The Programme for Government highlighted a range of measures designed to boost the value and range of Scottish products, services and businesses in overs…

4 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making with delivering the Edinburgh and South East City Region Deal.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Edinburgh and its city region is an area of huge importance to the Scottish economy, containing over a quarter of Scotland’s population and contributing around £36 billion annually to the Scottish and UK economies. The Edinburgh and South East Scotland City R…

28 Aug 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the potential impact on Scotland of the UK Government’s recently published technical notices to prepare for leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

13 Jun 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the NHS supports the health and wellbeing of prisoners in HM Prison Edinburgh.

11 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will continue to attract foreign direct investment.

Answer · Keith Brown: There is a range of actions that the Scottish Government is taking to attract foreign direct investment, which according to the 2018 EY Attractiveness Survey places Scotland as the top in the UK outside of London for foreign direct investment projects and lea…

29 May 2018 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what powers it has to intervene in semi-rural areas where broadband provision is inadequate.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The delivery of telecoms services in Scotland is a matter reserved to the UK Government. In spite of this, the Scottish Government has chosen to act, and is now working to build upon the success of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband roll-out, which - c…

25 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in the college estate since 2007, also broken down by college.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Since 2007 (1) the Scottish Government has invested £704 million in the college estate ( 2) This investment, broken down by college, is noted in the following table.   Since 2012-13 a further £330 million has been invested through Non-Profit Distribution (N…

14 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what input it has had in the UK Government’s discussions regarding a customs union or partnership when the UK leaves the EU.

Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Government has made its views clear repeatedly to the UK Government that if Brexit is to happen then Scotland and the UK should remain within the Customs Union. However, it is not clear what the UK Government’s position is regarding customs arran…