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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5O-02446

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 4 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ask NHS Ayrshire and Arran to review its policy on providing cataract operations.

Question reference: S5O-02323

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 August 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the completion status and final outturn costs of the William McIlvanney school campus in Kilmarnock.

Question reference: S5O-01999

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 April 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what progress the Scottish Sentencing Council is making with guidelines on sentencing in relation to deaths caused by driving.

Question reference: S5O-01943

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 March 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the Treasury’s draft audit and accountability framework and its proposals for effective scrutiny of shared services.

Question reference: S5O-01884

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 15 March 2018

To ask Scottish Government when it last met East Ayrshire Council and what matters were discussed.

Question reference: S5O-01929

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 March 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the provision of more direct rail services between Ayrshire and Edinburgh.

Question reference: S5O-01813

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how it assesses and monitors flood risk in the Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley constituency.

Question reference: S5O-01760

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 7 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on the Ayrshire economy, particularly the hospitality sector, of the UK leaving the EU.

The Scottish Government has clearly set out the implications of Brexit and the impact that leaving the single market and customs union will have on Scotland’s visitor economy.

Our rural communities, such as Ayrshire, depend on workers from the EU across a range of sectors and, of the 200,000 jobs provided by hospitality and tourism, right across Scotland, more than 21,000 of those are currently held by non-UK EU nationals.

We strongly advocate that Scotland is, and continues to be, an outward-looking, welcoming and open nation, enjoying the benefits of freedom of movement to ensure we recruit and retain the talent and skills the sector needs and to maintain our current open skies agreements and visa-free European travel.

Question reference: S5W-12520

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4O-04782 by Alasdair Allan on 12 November 2015 (Official Report, c. 2), how many people have graduated in computer science from Scottish universities in each year since 2013-14, broken down by gender, and whether it will provide an update on the action it has taken on this issue.

The latest Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data shows there were 3,450 qualifiers from computer science courses at Scottish Universities in 2015-16. Of this, 2,700 were male and 755 were female which is a split of 78% male, 22% female.

Related figures for 2013-14, and 2014-15 are in the following table:

Computer Science qualifiers from Scottish HEIs split by gender 2013-14 to 2015-16

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

Subject area	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Computer Science	2,525	625	3,150	2,615	660	3,280	2,700	755	3,450
%	80%	20%	100%	80%	20%	100%	78%	22%	100%

Source: HESA Data (SG Analysis)

Numbers in this table have been rounded to the nearest 5. Percentages based on unrounded numbers

"Other" gender has been omitted from this table due to small numbers but are included in the total.

The STEM Strategy published on 26 October 2017 will help to close equity gaps in participation and attainment in STEM so that everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their potential and contribute to Scotland's economic prosperity. This will include the launch of a new social media campaign in 2018 to increase gender balance in participation in STEM study and to address STEM occupational segregation. This campaign will be led and championed by Scottish Government, Scottish Funding Council and the college and university sectors.

Question reference: S5O-01284

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the economy in the Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley constituency.

This Government is committed to promoting economic growth across all our communities, including those in East Ayrshire. Our substantial investment in infrastructure, regeneration and business support helps to deliver inclusive growth and economic resilience, creating and retaining jobs in communities across the area.

On 30 August I announced investment of £5.3 million for the HALO project in Kilmarnock that will transform the site of the former Johnnie Walker bottling plant into a low carbon development to support the local economy. East Ayrshire Council has also been successful with recommendations for two projects from the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund. The projects will receive £2.2 million to support a new business hub in Kilmarnock Town Centre and create a unique, dynamic community facility on the site of the former Crossroads Primary School in Hurlford.