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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S5W-08864

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the percentage change has been in the level of railway (a) services and (b) rolling stock in each year since 2007; what the per capita investment was in the last year for which figures are available, and what information it has regarding how this compares with England.

The Scottish Government's record investment of £5 billion in the current control period is unprecedented, this recognises the valuable contribution our railways make to the wider economic outcomes. This has led to a high number of new services, rolling stock and infrastructure investment. The details requested are given in the following tables;

a)Train Services

Year	No of services	% increase from reference year of 2007
2007	2090	100%
2008	2124	2%
2009	2159	3%
2010	2159	3%
2011	2270	9%
2012	2286	10%
2013	2358	13%
2014	2358	13%
2015	2381	14%
2016	2448	17%
2017	2450	17%

b)Rolling stock (No of trains)

Year	No of Trains	% increase from reference year of 2007
2007	251	100%
2008	259	3%
2009	259	3%
2010	259	3%
2011	293	17%
2012	293	17%
2013	293	17%
2014	293	17%
2015	289	15%
2016	297	18%
2017	322	28%

And) Investment within Scotland (based on a population of 5,262,000)

The cost for Franchise is £314,874,000.00

The cost for Network Rail £446,972,000.00

Other £249,000.00

Investment per capita is £144.82

The Office of the Road and Rail (ORR) web site has financial information publicly available on rail investment across the UK. The web link is as follows;

http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/uk-rail-industry-financial-information

Question reference: S5F-01229

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 April 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 May 2017

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to Scotland's population rising to an all-time high of 5.4 million.

Question reference: S5W-08828

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason only six Scottish hospitals offer endometriosis patients the opportunity to undergo a procedure known as laparoscopic helium ablation, and what plans it has to extend this treatment to all NHS board areas.

NHS Boards take decisions on whether to adopt technologies based on evidence of their safety and proven clinical and cost effectiveness. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has said that further research is required to support the use of this technology as standard.

Where deemed clinically appropriate, there are existing arrangements in place to allow patients to access this treatment at one of the 6 centres currently offering this treatment.

Question reference: S5O-00864

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 19 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the environmental impact will be in Scotland of reductions to UK-wide feed-in tariffs.

Question reference: S5W-08335

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 18 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many council houses have been built in each year since 1997.

The following table is based the most recent quarterly official statistics on local authority new build housing completions to end December 2016, that were published on 14 March 2017 and are available at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/NewBuild.

Year	Number of Council Houses Built (units completed)
1997-98	114
1998-99	120
1999-00	69
2000-01	112
2001-02	65
2002-03	94
2003-04	0
2004-05	0
2005-06	0
2006-07	6
2007-08	28
2008-09	336
2009-10	413
2010-11	614
2011-12	1,114
2012-13	963
2013-14	1,140
2014-15	1,157
2015-16	1,138
2016-17 (to Dec)	817

Source: Scottish Government Housing Statistics for Scotland, quarterly new build housing tables. Data provided by Local Authorities in NB1 Returns.

The next quarterly official statistics release, covering local authority new build completions across the period from January to March 2017, is due to be published in June 2017.

Question reference: S5O-00856

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 30 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how mental health can be affected by unemployment.

We recognise that there is strong and well established evidence on the impact that unemployment can have on the mental health of those affected. Employment is important to people, not just in providing an income to live on, but also helps to give an individual a sense of worth and a social context.

Mental health and wellbeing can decline with prolonged unemployment and make return to work more difficult. Unemployment can also exacerbate underlying mental health conditions, again presenting challenges to return to work.

Our newly devolved employment programmes, which begin in April this year, will offer access to support including skills, training and help with physical and mental health conditions. We are aiming to reach those who are harder to help, to meet their needs and help them achieve sustained employment which we know can help improve health and wellbeing, as well as income levels.

Question reference: S5F-01131

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2017

To ask the First Minister what further initiatives the Scottish Government will take to boost tourism, in light of a 15.6% increase in attendance at Scotland’s visitor attractions in 2016.

Question reference: S5O-00824

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 23 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what impact air pollution is having on human health, flora and fauna in Scotland.

Although emissions of air pollutants have fallen significantly over recent years, poor air quality continues to have an impact on the health of vulnerable individuals and on sensitive ecosystems.

The sensitivity of individual plant species to nitrogen pollution is variable and the critical loading is not known for all species. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee is currently undertaking a project, in partnership with Scottish Natural Heritage and others, to gain a better understanding of the contributions from different sources of air pollution to enable us to develop a more strategic approach to minimising the impacts of air pollution on sensitive habitats.

The Scottish Government's wider strategy for delivering further air quality improvements over the coming years is set out in 'Cleaner Air for Scotland - The Road to a Healthier Future', published in November 2015.

Question reference: S5O-00788

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses in North Ayrshire pay no rates because of the Small Business Bonus Scheme, and how many will be exempt in 2017-18.

Question reference: S5W-07355

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 7 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies that warns that Scotland could face substantial budget reductions following the renegotiation of the fiscal framework in 2021.

Scottish Ministers will, in re-negotiating the Fiscal Framework, seek to achieve a funding settlement which maximises the resources available to deliver Scottish Government priorities and is fair to the people of Scotland.

The Fiscal Framework is clear that the method for adjusting the block grant will be agreed as part of the review and that the method adopted will deliver results consistent with the Smith Commission's recommendations, including the principles of no detriment, taxpayer fairness and economic responsibility.