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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: S4W-25499

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on (a) job creation, (b) turnover and (c) growth for (i) large, (ii) medium, (iii) small and (iv) micro businesses in each of the last five years.

The statistics available – on the number of businesses, employment and turnover by business size – are provided in the following table. The statistics are sourced from the Scottish Government Businesses in Scotland 2014 publication, which provides data for 2010 to 2014. Figures for 2015 will be published in November 2015.

Table: Number of businesses¹ in Scotland and their total Scottish employment and turnover² by business size³, 2010 to 2014

Number of businesses in Scotland

	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Micro (0-9 employees)	281,265	290,405	320,930	321,685	313,090
Small (10-49 employees)	14,585	14,255	14,540	15,450	15,855
Medium (50-249 employees)	3,655	3,630	3,635	3,705	3,780
Large (250+ employees)	2,260	2,230	2,250	2,270	2,295

Total Scottish employment

	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Micro (0-9 employees)	524,820	531,760	575,790	574,760	575,800
Small (10-49 employees)	276,470	268,390	270,060	286,710	292,240
Medium (50-249 employees)	256,050	252,950	246,730	252,030	256,260
Large (250+ employees)	942,000	904,530	912,040	921,110	928,560

Total Scottish turnover (in £ millions)

	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Micro (0-9 employees)	39,064	37,204	37,843	37,368	39,527
Small (10-49 employees)	26,909	24,354	25,359	25,706	27,319
Medium (50-249 employees)	32,295	30,153	30,827	35,173	36,494
Large (250+ employees)	164,322	158,487	155,368	169,232	169,203

Source: Businesses in Scotland 2014

Notes:

1. Excludes central and local government.

2. Turnover data for financial intermediation enterprises are not available. Totals exclude turnover of such enterprises.

3. Business size is based on the total number of UK employees.

Question reference: S4O-04272

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 April 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making toward ensuring that every child has the opportunity to undertake on-road cycle training.

Question reference: S4T-00996

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 April 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what response it has received to its letter to the UK Government regarding the rescue of migrants attempting to enter Europe across the Mediterranean.

Question reference: S4O-04156

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to achieve parity of esteem between academic and vocational education, as recommended by the Commission for Developing Scotland's Young Workforce.

Question reference: S4W-24745

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 17 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the contract to supply water services to public bodies is one contract rather than split into lots.

Question reference: S4W-24690

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the threat to (a) the beekeeping industry and (b) wild bees from the small hive beetle.

The Scottish Government take the threat of the introduction of the small hive beetle (SHB) extremely seriously and have already taken, and continue to take, a proactive approach. In order to keep abreast of the latest developments we are in frequent contact with the National Bee Unit (NBU) in York who provide reports from the European Commission and the Italian authorities.

Several initiatives have been put in place to ensure early detection of SHB, these include:

Providing training and guidance materials on pest recognition to Scottish Government Bee Inspectors and to inspectors responsible for checking UK imports of plants and plant products (e.g. Plant Health and Seeds Inspectors and Horticulture Marketing Inspectors);

Monitoring and inspecting imports of honey bees;

Checking imports of fresh fruit and herbs both at point of entry and from supermarket shelves;

Establishing a series of sentinel apiaries around the country focussing on risk points (e.g. airports or sea ports) where voluntary beekeepers monitor the apiaries for a range of pests and diseases and report their findings to the Scottish Government.

Checking for SHB through our honey bee health surveillance programme which covers the whole of Scotland in an intensive inspection programme;

Working with beekeeper associations, government agencies and importer trade associations to raise awareness amongst beekeepers, plant produce importers and growers who use managed bees for pollination services.

Question reference: S4W-24691

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on restricting the import of bees.

The free trade of animals and their products within the EU represents an important and significant contribution to the UK economy. The rules governing membership of the EU prevent Member States taking actions that interfere with free trade.

However trade may bring a risk of animal diseases, therefore imports (including bees) from EU Member States and third countries are subject to strict controls under EU and national rules. In order to further reduce risk, countries where a notifiable disease or pest has been confirmed must apply ‘safeguard measures’ to control and prevent the spread of infection, this includes a ban on exports from an area around infected sites.

It is also important that beekeepers exercise care to ensure that pests and diseases are not imported into the UK. The best defence is for beekeepers to be proactive in making themselves aware of the signs of diseases and to source bees that are healthy.

Detailed guidance is available at:

https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm?pageid=126

Question reference: S4W-24746

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 11 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the supply of water services to public bodies being (a) exempt from the need for commercial tender and (b) reserved for a bidder with a public service mission.

The Water Services etc. (Scotland) Act 2005 established the framework for retail competition. This framework introduced competition into the Scottish water market. When there is competition in a market, EU rules stipulate that public contracts must be competed, even when a publicly-owned company is capable of delivering the service. As a result of the 2005 legislation, Scotland has had a fully competitive water market for commercial and public sector customers since 2008.

Question reference: S4O-04097

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with representatives of the European Commission.

Question reference: S4W-24449

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how Parliament House came to be in its ownership and that of the Faculty of Advocates, and what role the City of Edinburgh Council played in that process.

The Scottish Government registered a title to Parliament House in the land register after consulting, amongst others, City of Edinburgh Council. These enquiries were made in the context of the need for very substantial investment in the Parliament House complex, for example, to ensure suitable fire safety measures, etc. The council stated in writing that it held no right, title or interest in the property and gave its consent to registration. The Scottish Government subsequently transferred to the Faculty of Advocates a title to the Laigh Hall which was first used as part of the Advocates’ Library in the early part of the 18th century. Ownership of the Parliament House complex was transferred to the Scottish Court Service, an independent public body, by the Transfer of Property etc. (Scottish Court Service) Order 2010. A £58 million redevelopment of the complex overseen by the Scottish Court Service was completed in 2013.