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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-22424

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 August 2014
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 12 September 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many partnership nurseries there were (a) in 2012-13, (b) in 2013-14 and (c) at the start of 2014-15, broken down by local authority area.

The number of local authority funded nurseries (including partnership providers) is collected annually via the early learning and childcare census which takes place over a named week in September. The data therefore relates to a particular point in time, i.e. as at September 2012, 2013 etc., rather than across a full academic year.

Data for 2012 and 2013 is shown in the following table. The 2014 census is due to be undertaken in September 2014 with results scheduled for publication in December 2014.

Number of partnership early learning and childcare providers by local authority:

	2012	2013
Aberdeen City	51	50
Aberdeenshire	74	78
Angus	32	33
Argyll and Bute	26	24
Clackmannanshire	4	4
Dumfries and Galloway	42	44
Dundee City	19	22
East Ayrshire	9	9
East Dunbartonshire	26	25
East Lothian	16	16
East Renfrewshire	9	9
City of Edinburgh	111	117
Eilean Siar	6	6
Falkirk	5	9
Fife	52	49
Glasgow City	76	82
Highland	67	68
Inverclyde	6	4
Midlothian	14	13
Moray	32	35
North Ayrshire	23	22
North Lanarkshire	36	33
Orkney Islands	2	2
Perth and Kinross	33	33
Renfrewshire	36	35
Scottish Borders	34	33
Shetland Islands	4	4
South Ayrshire	11	11
South Lanarkshire	57	57
Stirling	14	14
West Dunbartonshire	9	9
West Lothian	11	9
SCOTLAND	947	959

Question reference: S4W-22214

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 July 2014
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 21 August 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much it will spend on its early learning and childcare advertising campaign.

Question reference: S4W-22045

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 July 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 July 2014

Question reference: S4W-21684

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether a business regulatory impact assessment was carried out on the white paper on independence and, if so, whether it will publish its findings.

A Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) was not required for Scotland’s Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland. The policies within the white paper will be subjected to scrutiny and assessment as they come forward for implementation and that would be the appropriate point at which BRIAs would be completed.

The government of an independent Scotland will be able to create a more supportive, competitive and dynamic business environment. Future Scottish Governments will have the ability to make choices over tax, use measures to boost innovation and exports, promote good industrial relations and support small and medium enterprises.

Question reference: S4W-21685

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether ministers decided that a business regulatory impact assessment was not required for the white paper on independence and, if so, on what basis.

Question reference: S4O-03367

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the rising cost of rent for housing.

Question reference: S4O-03301

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to launch its National Litter Strategy.

Question reference: S4W-21050

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2014
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 20 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what historic buildings it (a) owns and (b) is responsible for maintaining under guardianship agreements in the West Scotland region.

The Scottish Government and associated public bodies either own, lease or maintain under a guardianship agreement, a number of properties in the West Scotland region and these can be broken down into two broad categories: properties in care – managed by Historic Scotland; and heritable property otherwise owned/occupied by Scottish Government (including public bodies).

Properties in care – managed by Historic Scotland:

Historic Scotland currently cares for 345 ancient monuments on behalf of Scottish Ministers. They are referred to collectively as the Properties in Care and have been taken into state care due to their historical, archaeological, architectural or cultural significance or interest. There are 17 such Properties in Care in West Scotland region.

Properties in Care are held either by guardianship (by far the majority), ownership (around a fifth of the estate), or a small number by lease or other agreements. Guardianship gives Ministers powers to manage the property and requires them to comply with a range of obligations, rights and constraints arising principally from the legislation or from the terms of the specific deed of guardianship or leasehold.

Name of Property in Care	Ownership/guardianship/lease
Antonine Wall, Bar Hill, rampart, ditch, fort and Military Way	Ownership
Castle Semple Collegiate Church	Ownership
Dumbarton Castle	Ownership
Kilwinning Abbey	Ownership
Bearsden Station, Roman bath-house	Ownership
Auchengallon, cairn	Guardianship
Barochan Cross	Guardianship
Carn Ban, chambered cairn, Arran	Guardianship
Kilpatrick, dun, enclosure, hut circles, cairn and field system 1km	Guardianship
Lochranza Castle, Arran	Guardianship
Moss Farm, Machrie Moor, stone circles, cairns, hut-circles	Guardianship
Moss Farm, cairn	Guardianship
Newark Castle	Guardianship
Skelmorlie Aisle and Largs Old Parish Church	Guardianship
Torr a'Chaisteal, dun, Arran	Guardianship
Torrylin, chambered long cairn	Guardianship
Antonine Wall, N of Whitehill Avenue, Hillhead, Kirkintilloch	Guardianship

Other Heritable Property owned or occupied by Scottish Government (including public bodies):

There are no properties owned or occupied by the core Scottish Government in this Region.

The following table includes property owned or occupied by public bodies. Where known, whether or not each is listed is noted. A comprehensive list has been provided, in recognition that some of these properties may be regarded locally as of historical interest even though they are not listed buildings or Properties in Care.

Property	Property Centre/NDPB	Owned or Leased	Listed Building?	Date built
AIB Office, 1 Pennyburn Road Kilwinning, KA13 6SA	AIB	Leased	N/A	N/A
Unit 6, 12 Rivergate Centre, KA12 8EH	SDS	Leased	N/A	N/A
Rivergate House, KA12 8EH	SCRA	Leased	N/A	N/A
Brodick Vic, The Pier, Isle of Arran, KA27 8AU	Visit Scotland	Owned	N/A	N/A
FC Arran Office, Auchrannie Road, Isle of Arran, KA27 8BZ	Forestry Commission	Owned	N/A	N/A
Scottish National Water Sport Centre, Isle of Cumbrae, KA28 0HQ	Sport Scotland	Owned	N/A	N/A
National Sports Centre Inverclyde, Burnside Road, Largs, KA30 8RW	Sport Scotland	Owned	N/A	N/A
1/3 Brisbane Street, Greenock, PA16 8LH	SCRA	Owned	N/A	N/A
Sheriff Court House, 1 Nelson Street, Greenock, PA15 1TR	SCS	Owned	N/A	N/A
1^st Floor, 112 West Blackhall Street, PA15 1XR	SDS	Leased	N/A	N/A
Victory Court, Arlsburn Maritime, Greenock, PA15 4RT	Crown Office And Procurator Fiscal	Leased	N/A	N/A
Tourist Information Centre (TIC) Helensburgh, The Pier, Helensburgh, G84 7NY	Visit Scotland	Owned	N/A	N/A
TIC Tarbet, Arrochar, G83 7DE	Visit Scotland	Owned	N/A	N/A
The Loch Lomond Park Centre, Alexandria, G83 8PA	Loch Lomond And Trossachs National Park Authority	Owned	N/A	N/A
Dumbarton Church Court, 55 Church Court, Dumbarton, G82 1SU	SCRA	Owned	N/A	N/A
Dumbarton Sheriff Court House, Church Street, Dumbarton, G82 1QR	SCS	Owned	N/A	N/A
32-36 High Street, Dumbarton, G82 1LL	SDS	Leased	N/A	N/A
High Street 2a-2b, Dumbarton, G82 1LL	Crown Office And Procurator Fiscal	Leased	N/A	N/A
Dumbarton Castle Depot, Castle Road, Dumbarton, G82 1JJ	Historic Scotland	Owned	Y
Duncan Mills Memorial Slipway, Pier Road, Alexandria, G83 8QX	Loch Lomond And Trossachs National Park Authority	Owned	N/A	N/A
Tourist Information Centre, The Old Station Building, Balloch, G83 8lq	Visit Scotland	Leased	N/A	N/A
20 Carrochan Road, Alexandria, G83 8EG	Loch Lomond And Trossachs National Park Authority	Owned	N/A	N/A
Tourist Information Centre, Dumbarton Road, Dumbarton, G82 2TZ	Visit Scotland	Leased	N/A	N/A
235 Dumbarton Road, Clydebank, G81 4XH	SCRA	Owned	N/A	N/A
SNH Clydebank Office, Clydebank Business Park, Clydebank, G81 2NR	SNH	Leased	N/A	N/A
Ground Floor, Blair Court, North Avenue, Clydebank Ind Est, Clydebank, G81 2LA	Education Scotland	Leased	N/A	N/A
Spectrum House, Clydebank Business Park, Clydebank, G81 2DR	Scottish Enterprise	Leased	N/A	N/A
Unit 5 Upper Level, Kilbowie Road, Clydebank, G81 2UA	SDS	Leased	N/A	N/A
Sheriff Court, St James Street, Paisley, PA3 2AW	SCS	Owned	Y	1885
Glen Lane, Paisley, PA3 2HU	SCRA	Owned	N/A	N/A
The Piazza, Smithhills Street, Paisley	Care Inspectorate (Social Care & Social Work Improvement Scotland)	Leased	N/A	N/A
27 Causeyside Street, Paisley, PA1 1UL	Scottish Enterprise	Leased	N/A	N/A
VW Office Paisley, 6 School Wynd, Paisley	SCS	Leased	N/A	N/A
Anchor Mills Paisley, Unit 5, PA1 1JR	Risk Management Authority	Leased	Y	1886

Question reference: S4O-03246

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many women with children under the age of 5 are seeking employment.

Question reference: S4W-20866

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much additional tax revenue would be raised in an independent Scotland if (a) 14,000 and (b) 64,000 economically inactive women with young children entered the workforce.

The Scottish Government publication ‘Childcare and Labour Market Participation – Economic Analysis’ estimated the impact on tax revenues of increases in female participation under three different scenarios:

An increase in two percentage points in female activity, equivalent to 35,000 of women becoming active in the labour market is estimated to increase annual tax revenues by £200 million in the long-term.

Matching Norwegian female participation rate would be equivalent to 68,000 more economically active women. It is estimated that this could increase annual tax revenues by approximately £400 million in the long run.

Matching the Swedish female participation rate, equivalent to an additional 104,000 economically active women, is estimated to raise £700 million in annual revenues in the long-term.

The full report is available from

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0044/00441783.pdf