Parliamentary questions

Dean Lockhart

573 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

19 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that NHS facilities are accessible to disabled people.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Under the Equality Act 2010, NHS Boards have a duty to ensure that people with relevant protected characteristics, including disability, are not placed at a disadvantage or treated less favourably than those who do not possess that characteristic. This duty i…

19 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how often it expects NHS boards to consult with or meet disability-led organisations regarding access issues.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: NHS Boards either have their own community engagement/equality access groups, and/or regularly consult with their local Access Panels, or their umbrella group: Disability Equality Scotland. There is no set interval for these meetings/consultations and NHS Boa…

19 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that accessibility features on NHS premises adhere to British Standard 8300:2009 and other such legal standards.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: NHS Boards are required to adhere to equality and disability standards for general public facilities, which currently include:Scottish Building Regulations – Non Domestic Technical Standards 2017 - Section 4BS 8300-1_2018 Code of Practice: accessible and incl…

19 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what audit it expects NHS boards to take of the accessibility of their premises to disabled people; whether these are carried out in-house, and how it ensures that the boards implement the recommendations.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: NHS Boards are required to comply with relevant legislation and standards for accessibility, which includes assessment and monitoring of their compliance against such requirements: The Equality Act 2010 requires listed public authorities, including NHS Board…

19 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the tendering processes for new NHS premises must take account of (a) accessibility for disabled people and (b) British Standard 8300:2009 and other such legal standards.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: All equality and disability standards for general public facilities also apply to all NHSScotland facilities.

13 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the FinTech Scotland virtual hub is fully operational and, if so, on what date it became so.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: FinTech Scotland has an interim digital virtual hub platform that was created at the end of 2017 to act as a ‘test and learn’ environment for connecting FinTech stakeholders and the wider ecosystem across Scotland. Plans are now being progressed by the FinTe…

30 May 2018 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to prevent further business closures in Stirling city centre.

17 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with the feasibility study on introducing a junction improvement on the A84 near Blair Drummond Safari Park.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Transport Scotland has commissioned its operating company BEAR Scotland to undertake a feasibility study and outline design, including indicative costs, for potential improvements to the existing junction between the A84 and A873 junction. The study will exam…

17 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what account it takes of the number of injuries, fatalities and near misses on a road when considering whether there is a need to introduce additional road safety measures.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government is committed to achieving safer road travel in Scotland, which is why Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2020 contains challenging casualty reduction targets and an ultimate vision where there are no fatalities on Scotland roads. The…

17 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how Transport Scotland ensures that communities can engage in the monitoring of how well (a) speed cameras, (b) speed limits, (c) traffic calming initiatives and (d) other road safety measures are operating in their areas, and what review it carries out of the effectiveness of this engag…

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Transport Scotland engages with individuals and communities across Scotland on a range of road safety issues and initiatives. In all cases, we seek to support the delivery of the Scottish Government’s established casualty reduction targets by using appropriat…

17 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what mechanisms are in place to allow (a) communities and (b) an area's businesses to make a financial contribution to local road safety measures.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government’s role is to work in collaboration to support partners in reducing risk through a range of road safety measures and this is supported through the Road Safety Framework to 2020. However, while the Framework offers this structure and gui…

16 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when its revised China Engagement Strategy will be published.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The revised China Engagement Strategy will be published shortly.

9 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the Scottish GDP per capita has been in each of the last 12 years.

Answer · Keith Brown: GDP per capita statistics are published in Table B of Quarterly National Accounts Scotland. The latest publication, for 2017 Quarter 4, is available at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Economy/QNAS2017Q4

8 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many looked-after children in the Mid-Scotland and Fife region have progressed to S (a) 5 and (b) 6 in each of the last five years, also broken down by how many received Education Maintenance Allowance.

Answer · Maree Todd: We don't hold the requested information on Education Maintenance Allowance. We also do not have figures for looked after children progressing to S5 or S6, but we do have information available for looked after children leaving school. Table 1 shows the stage …

2 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) quarterly and (b) annual changes there have been to inclusive growth since this was included as part of its economic strategy.

Answer · Keith Brown: Similar to question S5W-16345 answered on 21 May 2018, I direct you to the National Performance Framework (NPF) which can be accessed at the following link: http://www.gov.scot/About/Performance/scotPerforms The NPF underpins delivery of the Scottish Gover…

2 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it measures changes to inclusive growth over any given time period.

Answer · Keith Brown: I direct you to the National Performance Framework (NPF) which can be accessed at the following link: http://www.gov.scot/About/Performance/scotPerforms The NPF underpins delivery of the Scottish Government’s priorities and monitors the delivery of the Sco…

2 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the findings of the Review of the Office and Functions of the Scottish Road Works Commissioner, what action it has taken to (a) widen the commissioner’s scope to issue directions to contractors and apply penalties for non-compliance, (b) give the commissioner the power to re…

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The forthcoming Transport Bill will contain measures designed to improve the quality of road work reinstatements and promote a culture of getting it right first time. This will be supported by improved enforcement and strengthening the powers available to the…

2 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it defines "inclusive growth" for the purposes of its economic strategy.

Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-15066 on 14 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…

26 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the gender pay gap for Scottish Enterprise (a) employees and (b) senior management has been in each of the last two years.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have passed your query to Paul Lewis, the Interim Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, who will provide an answer to you directly.

26 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) average annual wage increase and (b) total annual remuneration increase has been for Scottish Enterprise (i) employees and (ii) senior management in each of the last 10 years.

26 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of what expenditure items there were in excess of £500,000 in each area of (a) operating and (b) management expenditure as set out in the Scottish Enterprise Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2017.

19 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14837 by Keith Brown on 21 March 2018, how many people have been part of the GlobalScot network in each year since 2007.

Answer · Keith Brown: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have passed your query to Paul Lewis, the Interim Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, who will provide an answer to you directly.

16 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the outcome was of the £500,000 College Innovation Fund pilot, and whether it will provide a breakdown of where the funding was allocated.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The College Innovation Fund is managed by the Scottish Funding Council on behalf of Scottish Government. Since our announcement of the funding as part of the Enterprise and Skills Review last year, we have been working with partners across the sector to deter…

16 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made toward meeting the target in its strategy for engagement with China to double the number of teachers of Mandarin in local authority schools.

Answer · John Swinney: The current number of General Teaching Council for Scotland registered teachers of Chinese in local authority schools is 14. The target was 24. However, due to the expansion of the Confucius Classroom network, there are currently an additional 46 native speak…

5 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the construction of Doune Health Centre to be completed and by what date it expects the facility to be operational.

Answer · Shona Robison: In December 2017, the Scottish Government approved the Outline Business Case for the new Integrated Primary and Community Care Centre in Doune. NHS Forth Valley are currently developing the Full Business Case which I expect will be submitted in June to the NH…

5 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15325 by Derek Mackay on 28 March 2018, whether it will provide a breakdown of the origins of the £30.4 million dispersed by the Scottish Growth Scheme and how much of this was in the form of (a) equity and (b) loans and guarantees.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The £30.4m was equity investment to companies across a range of sectors such as software development, textiles, energy, multimedia, Fintech and healthcare.

29 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the targets in its Five Year Strategy for Engagement between Scotland and the People’s Republic of China in 2012, what progress it has made on (a) Target 1.1 to double the number of Scottish companies, based on 2010 levels, supported to access Chinese markets by 2017, (b) Ta…

Answer · Keith Brown: Progress towards the relevant targets is as follows: TARGET PROGRESS NARRATIVE Target 1.1 : Double the number of Scottish companies (based on 2010 levels) supported to access Chinese markets by 2017 2010-11 – 176 companies assisted to market 2011-12 – 1…

29 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, following the end of its Five Year Strategy for Engagement between Scotland and the People’s Republic of China in 2017, what plans it has for a new strategy for engagement with the country.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The refresh of Scotland’s China Engagement Strategy is currently under development. We expect to publish the revised strategy in spring 2018.

28 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the geographical source of inward investment in Scotland from (a) within and (b) outwith the UK in each of the last five years, also broken down by (i) percentage, (ii) value and (iii) number of projects.

Answer · Keith Brown: Details are as follows: 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 Country Number of projects Number of jobs* Percentage Number of projects Number of jobs* Percentage Number of projects Number of jobs* Percentage Australia 4 50 4.9 2 112 2.3 3 15 3.…

28 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work on 22 March 2018 (Official Report, c. 44), for what reasons there were delays to the timing of public utility diversions on the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route building project, and who was responsible f…

Answer · Keith Brown: As I mentioned in my statement to Parliament on 22 March 2018, Aberdeen Roads Limited has full responsibility for the creation and delivery of the project programme. Work is currently underway to investigate the purported delays to the timing of public utilit…