Parliamentary questions
Dean Lockhart
573 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
9 Jan 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding the Scottish University Innovation Fund has received in each of the last five years.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The University Innovation Fund (UIF) was introduced in AY2016-17 and as such the Scottish Government can only provide funding figures from that date, rather than the 5 years requested. The annual baseline figures for UIF are presented in the following table: …
8 Jan 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) cabinet secretaries, (b) ministers and (c) officials accompanied the First Minister on overseas engagements in the calendar year 2019, and what the total cost was, broken down by (i) travel, (ii) hotel and (iii) other expenses.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Ministerial engagements, overseas visits and travel are proactively published on the Scottish Government website. This can be found at https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/
8 Jan 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what overseas engagements were carried out by the First Minister in the calendar year 2019, and what direct impact each visit has had for business in Scotland, broken down by the (a) number of jobs created or secured and (b) level of investment attracted.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The First Minister conducted the following international visits in the calendar year 2019 to further a range of Scottish Government objectives.US and Canada (3-8 February)France (18-19 February 2019)Ireland (26-27 May 2019)France (5-6 June 2019)France (9 June…
8 Jan 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost was of the overseas engagements that the First Minister carried out in the calendar year 2019, broken down by her (a) travel, (b) hotel and (c) other expenses.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Ministerial engagements, overseas visits and travel are proactively published on the Scottish Government website. This can be found at https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/
3 Jan 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of (a) adults and (b) children in the NHS Forth Valley area have access to an NHS dentist.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: As of September 2018, 91.8 per cent of children and 93.9 per cent of adults in the NHS Forth Valley area were registered with a NHS dentist. These figures show the percentage of people who have actually registered for NHS dental services. All patients who ch…
3 Jan 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many (a) accidents and (b) fatalities there have been on the A84 between Stirling and Doune in each of the last five years.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The accident statistics that we hold for the last five years for the requested location are provided in the following table (note these relate to the trunk road section only). Year Fatal Serious Slight TOTAL 2014 1 2 9 12 2015 0 0 10 10 201…
3 Jan 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to protect rural nurseries from the threat of closure.
Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government is providing a range of support to enable nurseries, including rural nurseries, to have a positive and sustainable future. As a result of the substantial investment already made to support the expansion of early learning and childcare …
3 Jan 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with banks regarding the cost of operating ATMs at their branches.
Answer · Kate Forbes: While I have regular meetings with banks, I have raised the particular issue of the costs associated with operating ATMs with the Payment Systems Regulator, Link and the Economic Secretary to the Treasury emphasising the importance of free access to cash for …
3 Jan 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many commercial properties in each local authority area are subject to the large business supplement in 2019-20, broken down by business sector, and how much revenue it expects will be generated.
Answer · Kate Forbes: A copy of the table presenting the number of private sector properties that are subject to the large business supplement, broken down by local authority and business sector, in 2019-20 has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre under Bib No…
9 Dec 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the investment that it has made in the business, what discussions it has had with Burntisland Fabrications Ltd (BiFab) regarding the reason that the firm's complete 2017-18 accounts are reportedly overdue for submission to Companies House, and by what date these will be subm…
Answer · Derek Mackay: Responsibility for preparing and filing the company's annual accounts sits with BiFab's board of directors. I understand that the 2017-18 accounts were published on Companies House's website on 17 December 2019 and are now publicly available.
14 Nov 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors satisfaction levels among patients who have made a complaint against the NHS, and whether it will publish the results of satisfaction levels recorded, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The NHS Model Complaints Handling Procedures and associated regulations require NHS Boards to seek feedback from those making a complaint, about their experience of the complaints process. Findings are published by individual NHS Boards in their Annual Feedba…
13 Nov 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has completed its outline business case for its proposed publicly-owned energy company and, if not, by what date it will do so.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The public energy company outline business case has been completed by the independent consultants and received by officials. The outline business case will be published once the Scottish Government has been able to discuss next steps with our local authority…
30 Oct 2019 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve public safety at popular tourist sites.
22 Oct 2019 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it is giving to Business Improvement Districts.
1 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the funding that has been delivered by the Scottish Growth Scheme in each year, also broken down by the proportion that was delivered by (a) European funding streams and (b) Scottish Enterprise and other public sector bodies in Scotland.
Answer · Derek Mackay: To 31 August 2019, under the Scottish Growth Scheme, some £149.5 million has been invested in 233 companies. The following table contains a breakdown by year of the funding delivered by the Scottish Growth Scheme and also the proportion that was delivered by…
17 Sep 2019 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve mental health waiting times in NHS Fife.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Since 2016, the Scottish Government has invested nearly £2.4 million in NHS Fife for capacity building and workforce development to improve mental health waiting times. All Boards, including NHS Fife, now have improvement plans in place setting out milestones…
11 Sep 2019 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the FSB Scotland report, Transforming Towns: Delivering a Sustainable Future for Local Places.
10 Sep 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what regulations are in place to ensure the appropriate maintenance of category (a) B and (b) C listed buildings.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: All building owners have a general responsibility to maintain their property. There is no specific obligation on the owner of a listed building to maintain their buildings, but there are statutory powers available to Ministers and local authorities to take a…
5 Sep 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its Foreign Direct Investment Growth Plan, and what specific sectors this will focus on.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government will publish its Foreign Direct Investment Growth Plan in summer 2020. The plan will take the same robust evidence-based approach to the identification of target sectors as for the Export Growth Plan and these will be articulated when …
5 Sep 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to simplify and streamline support for research development, and when a single application route for businesses will be operational.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government is working with our enterprise agencies to consolidate existing research and development grants to help simplify and streamline support for businesses. Further information will be available over the course of the coming year however, i…
5 Sep 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have received support from the Digital Start Fund.
Answer · Kate Forbes: Launched on 29th May 2019, the Digital Start Fund is designed to offer those on low or no incomes the opportunity to develop new digital skills and fill one of the many vacancies in digital occupations in Scotland. Four providers have been awarded contracts t…
5 Sep 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review how Scottish legislation takes account of cryptoassets and other related technologies.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The legal status and treatment of crypto-assets and related technologies is currently unclear. An expert panel co-chaired by myself and the Lord Advocate will initially meet in October to examine this complex fast moving area. The panel will identify options…
2 Sep 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-24525 by Kate Forbes on 27 August 2019, whether there will be any analysis of the broader economic impact of the Business Growth Accelerator in addition to the audited statistics to be released in November 2019.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government keeps all non-domestic rates reliefs under review on an on-going basis. We continue to assess the impact of the Business Growth Accelerator through consultation with stakeholders and membership groups. This includes, the Barclay Implem…
28 Aug 2019 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what actions it is taking to encourage small businesses to take advantage of e-commerce.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government are active on a range of fronts to support Scottish businesses to take advantage of e-commerce. Our £1.6m Digital Boost programme, delivers e-commerce workshops, training and 1-2-1 mentoring for small businesses across Scotland. Elsew…
30 Jul 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much the Business Growth Accelerator has cost each year, and how much was budgeted for it.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Business Growth Accelerator was introduced on 1 April 2018, following the recommendations of the independent Barclay Review of Non-Domestic Rates. The independent Scottish Fiscal Commission forecast that the relief would cost £24m in 2018-19, the first ye…
30 Jul 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to publish an analysis of the impact of the Business Growth Accelerator.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Business Growth Accelerator was introduced on 1 April 2018, following the recommendations of the independent Barclay Review of Non-Domestic Rates and has been widely welcomed by Non-Domestic Rates Stakeholders. We anticipate audited expenditure statistics…
30 Jul 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many commercial premises have been in receipt each year of the Business Growth Accelerator business rates discount, and how many applications there were.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government sets the legislative framework for Non-Domestic Rates and it is for councils to interpret and administer the system in accordance with that framework, including processing applications and awarding reliefs. The Scottish Government coll…
20 Jun 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what activity and initiatives it has planned to promote (a) trade, (b) business, (c) education and (d) other cultural links between Scotland and China.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government’s revised China Engagement Strategy https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-international-framework-china-engagement-strategy/ was published in June 2018, setting out our strategic approach to building trade, business, education …
20 Jun 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what activity and initiatives it has planned to promote (a) trade, (b) business, (c) education and (d) other cultural links between Scotland and Japan.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: We are committed to delivering maximum value for Scotland through our overseas engagement which is guided by our International Framework, published on 8 December 2017, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-international-fram…
20 Jun 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what activity and initiatives it has planned to promote (a) trade, (b) business, (c) education and (d) other cultural links between Scotland and the United States.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government US Engagement Strategy was published in 2017. It sets out our approach to promoting Scottish trade, business, educational and cultural links and is available here https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-international-framework-eng…