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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-23340

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 4 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of Brexit on consumer confidence in relation to VAT receipts in Scotland; whether it will clarify comments by its official at the Finance and Constitution Committee meeting on 8 May 2019 that VAT receipts in Scotland had been lower than in the rest of the UK due to household confidence being lower in Scotland than in the rest of the UK as a result of a higher rate of scepticism towards EU withdrawal in Scotland; what analysis it has undertaken to support that assessment; whether it can provide any evidence that this is the case when compared with London, which had a similarly high remain vote; whether it considers that VAT receipts are affected by consumer confidence in relation to constitutional issues, and what analysis it has undertaken of consumer and business confidence in relation to its policy of pursuing another referendum on independence.

The uncertainty relating to Brexit is impacting key economic indicators for Scotland with business and consumer sentiment surveys reporting notable falls in confidence.

The Scottish Government assesses consumer confidence through its Consumer Sentiment Indicator. The indicator is at its lowest reading since the series began in 2013 and has been negative since quarter 3 2016. In their latest forecasts, the SFC highlight that Brexit is likely to be a significant driver of this declining consumer confidence.

The Scottish Government does not hold comparable statistics on consumer confidence in Scotland and London. However, the latest OECD leading indicators data shows that consumer confidence has also fallen in the UK.

Forecasting VAT receipts is the responsibility of the Scottish Fiscal Commission.

Question reference: S5W-23293

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 28 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will offer people in Scotland who lost money due to the collapse of London Capital & Finance to seek compensation.

This is a stressful time for all who are affected by the collapse of London Capital and Finance (LC&F). The regulation of financial services, including the services your constituent has highlighted, is a reserved matter to the UK Government. Consequently, Scottish Ministers are unable to intervene in the practices employed by financial services companies or in individual complaints.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has agreed with HM Treasury that there should be an investigation by an independent person into the issues raised by the failure of LC&F and whether the existing regulatory system adequately protects retail purchasers of mini-bonds from unacceptable levels of harm.

The FSCS is working closely with the administrators and the FCA to try to establish whether LC&F might have carried out any other regulated activity for which they could compensate customers. The FSCS investigation is focusing on whether there was any regulated advising, arranging or other activities that may trigger compensation.

Question reference: S5W-23070

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 16 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the reported decline in catches of salmon and sea trout is having on the (a) economic value of wild fisheries and (b) economy in rural areas.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken any new assessment of the impact of the most recent salmon and sea trout catch statistics. Our most recent assessment comes from a report by economic consultants PACEC, commissioned in 2015 and published in March 2017. This can be found at https://www2.gov.scot/Resource/0051/00514801.pdf .

Separately, Scottish Enterprise is currently leading a study with the Tweed, Spey, Tay and Dee rivers to look at both the impact of the decline in salmon numbers and the opportunities that there might be to develop the total fishing offer for the future. I understand this work is progressing well and look forward to seeing the outcomes later in the summer.

Question reference: S5O-03269

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2019
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop resources to support the expansion of tourism and culture.

Question reference: S5W-22580

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20098 by John Swinney on 4 December 2018, in light of the cabinet secretary's comment that he had "paused the publication of the revised presumption of mainstreaming guidance and research into the experiences of children receiving additional support for learning...to enable further reflection...of the report Not Included, Not Engaged, Not Involved: A report on the experiences of autistic children missing school", for what reason the recently published, Guidance on the presumption to provide education in a mainstream setting, does not make reference to that report.

The Guidance on the presumption to provide education in a mainstream setting was informed by a wide range of information and evidence including the Not Included, Not Engaged and Not Involved report. The guidance takes account of the matters raised in the report, and these are framed within the advice and guidance to schools and education authorities in relation to the implementation of the presumption to mainstream education. The document therefore focusses on the legislative and practice requirements, for pupils with additional support needs and particularly highlights the need to focus on the individual needs of pupils. This is consistent with the recommendations of the Not Included, Not Engaged and Not Involved report.

In addition, and as part of our wider response to the Not Included, Not Engaged and Not Involved report the Scottish Government has convened a short life working group to consider Autism in schools. The group includes a wide range of stakeholders and the conclusions of the group will be made public in due course.

Question reference: S5W-22737

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 3 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of concerns regarding illegal licencing practices by some caravan park site owners, whether it will review the maximum 10% commission entitlement to mobile home owners specified in the Mobile Homes (Written Statement) (Scotland) Regulations 2013.

The Scottish Government has carried out a considerable amount of work on mobile home issues since 2012. The Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment of Schedule 1) (Scotland) Order 2013 significantly enhanced the protection of mobile home residents in Scotland. As part of this work we conducted a full public consultation which included consideration of the commission rate and the decision was taken for it to remain at up to 10%. The key objective of the order was to provide better protection for site residents while ensuring the viability of privately owned sites. There are no plans to review the commission rate again.

A new site licensing regime for sites with permanent residents, set out in Part 5 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 was introduced on 1 May 2017. The new system puts in place a robust licensing regime which provides a range of measures to improve standards and further protect residents. This includes the introduction of a fit and proper person test for the licence applicant and anyone involved in the day to day management of a site. All existing licence holders were required to apply for a licence under the new system by May 2019.

Question reference: S5W-22818

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2019
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 3 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what safeguards are in place to ensure that windfarms are decommissioned correctly and, in particular, where companies owning windfarms are in liquidation or insolvent.

Question reference: S5W-22505

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 1 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) staff, (b) external legal and (c) other costs it incurred in its action against Ineos and Reach Coal Seam Gas regarding fracking.

The Scottish Government did not take “action against Ineos and Reach Coal Seam Gas” as has been asserted in the Member’s question.

However, on 09 January 2018 INEOS Upstream Ltd and Reach Coal Seam Gas Ltd announced their decision to seek a judicial review of the Scottish Government’s preferred policy position of not supporting unconventional oil and gas development in Scotland. On 19 June 2018, the Court of Session rejected their petition against Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Government does not hold information relating to the staffing costs of this specific legal case. Civil servants do not record the proportion of their time that they spend working on particular matters as a matter of course. Dealing with this case was part of the normal range of duties undertaken by a range of civil servants across the Scottish Government. It is therefore not possible to say what the internal staffing costs for dealing with any particular matter is.

I can confirm that the fees paid to external legal counsel came to the total of £173,928. Court fees came to £1,200. All figures include VAT.

Question reference: S5W-22492

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with setting up low emission zones in (a) Aberdeen, (b) Dundee and (c) Edinburgh.

We are working in partnership with Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh city councils to deliver our commitment to introduce low emission zones in these cities by the end of 2020. Aberdeen is in the early stages of developing their plans and will be collecting new traffic data to help inform their LEZ scenario testing. Dundee is developing options and objectives for their low emission zone with elected members due to be updated by the end of April. It is expected Edinburgh will publish their detailed LEZ plans in May.

Question reference: S5W-22542

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2019
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 17 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many acres of land are and (b) what percentage of (i) land and property titles and (ii) land mass coverage is registered in the Land Register.